Five Points Tea Shop and Bookstore Introduces New Head Chef

Open since 2018 at 611 22nd Street in Five Points, TeaLee's is a tea shop and bookstore that prioritizes atmosphere over flash. It offers a quiet space to read, sip tea, and slow down, which earned it our pick as Best Teahouse in 2019.

The menu focuses on an assortment of loose-leaf teas and accompanying light bites, the walls highlight works by Black artists, and its shelves showcase books by Black authors. It’s both a destination and a neighborhood fixture, shaped by the steady rhythm of regulars and its founders’ idea of creating a home for the community.

Now, it has a new leader in the kitchen as 22-year-old Riyan McNeal has joined the team in her first head chef role.

TeaLee's is owned by Rise Jones and her husband, Louis Freeman. The shop is named after Jones's grandmother, Evelyn Jones, whose nickname was T-Lee. Before opening the teahouse, Jones worked in training and development, organizing corporate meetings and events for INROADS and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Her interest in tea came pretty late in life. “I remember as a kid, my exposure to tea was being sick and having a glass of Lipton tea,” she says. It wasn’t until she visited the now-closed Wystone's World Teas in Lakewood, founded by Wy “Ms. Teas” Livingston, that she became intrigued. “She had about 26 different tea varieties on the wall. ... It was eye opening, and she was cooking with tea, using tea as an herb, so it was an exposure to the wide uses of tea as both as a drink and a culinary [ingredient].”

Over time, Jones became educated in the history, science and technique of tea, learning about the different regions in the world that grow tea and how various processing methods create black versus green versus white tea out of the same plant.
In 2011, she came back from a work trip feeling ill. Originally, she thought she was another victim of the listeria outbreak that was going around but after some tests and scans, her doctor told her the bad news — she had leukemia. Jones went through chemotherapy and eventually a bone marrow transplant. Afterwards, she was “not able to work for two years in order to rebuild my immune system," she recalls. During that  two-year period, she began thinking about what she really wanted to do with her life. “The experience of going through something that’s life-threatening and wanting to do something different other than going back into corporate America led me into wanting a tea house.”

So in 2014, she started working on her business plan and applying for funding, even fundraising through GoFundMe, while working at Wystone’s to gain experience. She settled on the historic Five Points location because “the building intuitively gave me a sense that it was the right spot,” she explains. After a significant renovation process and being held up on permitting (some things never change), she finally opened the doors in early 2018.

From the beginning, she modeled TeaLee’s on the hospitality her grandmother was famous for. “My grandmother’s home was a place of comfort and wisdom and good food and good conversation. And I think TeaLee’s has become that place,” Jones says.

Riyan McNeal describes it another way: “When you walk into the place, it feels like time stops, slows down. You can smell the amazing scents of tea and quiche in the background and everyone is so friendly,  and it’s just really good energy and vibes.”

The first time McNeal walked in, she “really wanted to go to La-Z-Boy, buy a recliner and put it in the corner and never leave," she says. McNeal fell hard for TeaLee’s and after an introduction from chef Tajahi Cooke to Jones, she left her current job to become TeaLee’s new executive chef.
Although she's just 22, McNeal has been working as a chef for years. Growing up, she had little interest in a career in the culinary arts but on the suggestion of her mother, she enrolled in the Work Options culinary program. The non-profit teaches adult students culinary skills training so that they can one day find and work a career in the food service industry.

“You learn things like knife skills, the proper ways to make eggs from over easy to scrambled, learning how to dice vegetables, how to cook meats and proper temperature,” McNeal says. After graduating from the program in 2023, she became an intern and was eventually hired full-time to work a variety of roles including running the nonprofit's food truck and catering program as well as managing the cafe.

As much as she loves and is grateful for Work Options, McNeal felt something special at TeaLee’s. “As an African-American, to walk in and to see Afrocentric-themed [decor] is always just comforting,” she says, describing how when customers first walk, in they’re greeted by a beautiful fabric art piece depicting Black women in simple, colored dresses. Right next to that is a framed recipe for Aunt T-Lee’s Spaghetti with Shrimp. There’s art and works by Black artists everywhere and jazz is usually playing over the speakers.

McNeal will be TeaLee’s first executive chef and she's not planning any major changes to the menu, which is centered on light bites like sandwiches, quiches and baked goods. The broccoli quiche is a customer favorite and McNeal makes it to-order, arranging the crust dough in a small tart pan, dropping in cheese and steamed broccoli before pouring over an egg mixture and baking it for twenty minutes — TeaLee’s is not a quick grab-and-go place. It’s full-service, with Jones delivering orders and chatting up customers, learning about where they work and what they like, and making recommendations.

Many customers also order the afternoon tea, which includes three egg salad crostinis, three cream cheese cucumber crostinis, the broccoli quiche, a scone with jam, and a selection of desserts sourced from local bakeries, Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s and served on a two-tiered cake tray. The high tea includes all of that plus a meal. Both come with bottomless tea.

With chef Cooke's help, McNeal will be making small tweaks and adjustments. “There’s a new salad called the garden root salad, so that’s going to be a carrot salad with local greens, fresh cucumbers, local tomatoes and a vinaigrette,” she describes. She’s also adding a breakfast burrito for “customers who come in prior to work that might not have the time to stay and have some quiche.”

Jones is quick to credit her community for the longevity of her business. “We really have become a destination. We have people who come from Colorado Springs and Boulder and Fort Collins. In the process of building the business and some of the trials and tribulations, it’s all about the community, family, friends,” she says. TeaLee’s reputation has led to it being featured on Black Travel Across America on Disney+ and in 2019, it was on the PBS show Start Up.

The business is still finding its grove after the double-whammy of COVID and downtown construction. “At that time in 2020, sometimes I wished we could just close down for a couple of months. ... And then you look up and it’s seven years later and so much has been about survival and it’s about getting beyond survival and really thriving,” Jones concludes. “Because I think TeaLee’s is a place where people enjoy being here, and that’s what drives me. I think it’s a needed place and we’re in a time where we need places of comfort and safety.”

TeaLee's Teahouse & Bookstore is located at 611 22nd Street and is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit tealeesdenverteahouse.com.