After working as an educator in Pittsburgh Public Schools for over three decades, Verna Arnold only had one box left to check.
Growing up, Arnold says she often bemoaned the city's scarcity of “coffee shop-style tea shops” — a communal oasis where people can not only receive a quality cup of tea, but also meet to converse.
Apparently, she wasn't alone.
Since opening Arnold's Tea Shop and Cafe on the North Side's East Ohio Street in March, Arnold has watched her once-distant vision quickly burgeon into a sought-after commodity, receiving “serious offers” to franchise the store in other Pittsburgh and East Coast locations.
“I never expected to be this well-received so quickly. ... Sometimes, I sit back in my office and say ‘Wow, this has become a real business,'” she says of the store she proudly characterizes as a “Starbucks of tea.”
The shop serves 38 (and counting) fresh, hand-bagged loose-leaf teas — black, green, herbal and fruity brews — with sizes priced from $2.55 to $4.25 for basic and signature flavors.
The cafe's selection, all of which are served unsweetened and without added concentrates, spans from chai and Earl Grey, their best-sellers, to more interesting flavors, such as chocolate marshmallow and coconut-cream banana. Lapsang souchong, a tea noted for its smoky taste, has been “selling like wildfire,” Arnold says. “Pun intended.”
Many iced teas are available, including peach-apple cobbler and various carbonated teas ($3.75, $4.25 and $4.75 for small, medium and large).
Customers can purchase tea leaves by the ounce with accompanying instructions of what temperature to steep the bag at and for how long.
And in case you were wondering, the shop does serve coffee, which Arnold will only “give to you if you ask.”
“That's the alternative drink here,” she says. “I've already been able to convert some of my regulars to tea.”
In addition to warm beverages, the cafe's menu includes a dozen freshly made sandwiches, all priced under $8 and constructed with Boar's Head meat and Breadworks bread, in addition to bakery desserts and breakfast pastries.
While food and drink is what has attracted North Siders to the store, the rustic modern cafe's 900-foot seating area and coffee shop-climate has made them stay.
“You see that girl in the corner?” Arnold whispers. “She's been here since 9 in the morning … for six hours.”
The tranquil space amid busy urban surroundings has attracted local organizations to rent the room for meetings and networking events, she says.
“I didn't plan for this much space. I just wanted a tea shop, but it's became much more than that,” Arnold says of the lounging area, which is booked for all of July and has begun bookings for the fall.
As for possible expansion of the 4-month-old shop, Arnold says she would like to “get her feet underneath her” before opening a second, smaller location by the end of next year.
Arnold's Tea Shop and Cafe, 502 E. Ohio St., North Side, is open 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. Details: arnoldsteapittsburgh.com or 412-322-2494
Matthew Zabierek is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at 412-320-7948 or mzabierek@tribweb.com.
