A Bookish Tea and Supper Club in Westerville

In this Westerville dining room, the menu arrives inside a book. That small flourish sets the tone for a restaurant that treats dinner, tea and a round of cocktails as occasions for a little playfulness rather than separate pursuits.

Bookshelves run through the space, while mismatched-looking teapots, cups and saucers give the tables a cheerful tea-party character. It is an inviting room for settling in with friends, but it also has enough visual personality to make a birthday lunch or a dressed-up afternoon feel pleasantly different from an ordinary meal out.

The concept brings a tea house, supper club and craft cocktail lounge under one roof. You can come for a tier of tea sandwiches and scones, order chicken pot pie for dinner, take a seat at the bar, or build a visit around all three.

The book-format menus make choosing a meal feel less hurried. They also suit a place where the room itself rewards a closer look: a shelf of books here, an unusual saucer there, another teapot at the next table.

The dining menu stretches well beyond tea service. Chicken pot pie has been a particular favorite, and the more substantial offerings have included short rib, meatloaf, burgers, sandwiches and pasta dishes. The meatloaf arrives with an especially elaborate presentation, a reminder that familiar supper-club food does not have to be plain.

Other savory choices have included a chicken sandwich, the Famous Chicken sandwich, jalapeño popper grilled cheese, carbonara and shrimp scampi. For a lighter but still rich starter, mushroom toast combines ricotta and caramelized onions with honey and black vinegar.

Fries come in plain and truffle versions. The plain fries have their own following for their crisp crunch, which is useful knowledge when the table is sharing a mix of sandwiches, burgers and small plates.

Afternoon tea is a recurring reason to visit, built around brewed tea, tea sandwiches and scones. The service can be arranged in different formats for a casual gathering of friends or a more formal special occasion, giving the restaurant unusual range for a place that also serves dinner and cocktails.

Tea sandwich assortments have included ham and Brie, caprese, cucumber and dill, pear and prosciutto, and egg salad. That mix gives a table both familiar tea-room standards and a few combinations that are a little more generous than the usual dainty triangle.

A tea spread can also include spring berry salad and warm seasonal scones. An apricot scone has been among the offerings, and the scones are petite enough that trying more than one variety is an appealing proposition.

The tea list has included lavender oolong, green tea, chestnut and apricot oolong, butternut shortbread and vanilla chai. With several styles available, a longer visit can turn into a small tasting session rather than a single cup and done.

After tea, the bar keeps the evening moving in a different direction. The cocktail menu is broad, and bartenders can create or adjust drinks around a guest's preferences, useful for a group whose members are not all ordering the same way.

Bar seating makes it easy to drop in for a drink and a bite rather than commit to a full tea service or long dinner. At other times, live music has added to the room's sociable energy; one such gathering even included musicians singing a birthday song for a bartender.

The live music should be treated as a welcome possibility rather than a fixed nightly promise. Still, it fits the restaurant's communal spirit, where an ordinary dinner can drift into a more festive evening.

Seating includes the bar, outdoor tables and community tables, including one large shared table. That mix gives the room flexibility: a pair can keep things casual at the bar, while a larger party can gather around a table that naturally encourages conversation.

The restaurant has hosted Mother's Day outings, ladies' tea gatherings, bridal garden tea parties and other celebrations. The book-lined surroundings and varied tableware do much of the decorating work before a host adds anything of their own.

For an off-site garden tea party-style event, catering can include food, setup and service. Tea-service arrangements have also been described as customizable for dietary restrictions, though those details are best confirmed when reserving.

Weekend reservations are recommended, and tea gatherings may require them. The menu changes, so an online listing may not be an exact preview of what is available on the day of a visit.

Parking can be tight enough to merit a little planning. Inside, the room can become livelier and somewhat louder when busy, though conversation remains manageable.

That liveliness suits a place designed for lingering. A shared plate of sandwiches, a few small scones, a book-menu dinner choice and a custom cocktail can comfortably fill an afternoon or evening without anyone needing to rush to the next stop.