A fireplace sits against one wall. Surrounded by high-back wooden chairs, the small tables are set with folded linen napkins and flowered china, the cups complete with sliver-colored tea strainers. Upon entering, the words that come to mind include “warm,” “cozy,” “inviting” or any other similar adjectives.

On a recent afternoon, one customer didn’t stop to give his name, but he offered an unsolicited comment.

“Take it from us, this is the best place in Bothell,” the man said as he exited with his female companion.

Launched in 1998 as an archetypal family business, Elizabeth and Alexander’s English Tea Room on Bothell Everett Highway is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week.

A celebration is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 14-15, and each night will feature a reading from local screenplay writer Debbie Kellogg, winner of the 2008 Washington Screenwriters Competition. The readings are free, but reservations are needed.

Owner and head chef Dean Hale said the history of the unique eatery goes back to Mother’s Day 1996.

Hale said he took his wife Sue and daughters Sarah and Amy to an English tea room in Seattle to celebrate that particular occasion. According to Hale, his daughters quickly decided they loved it and became convinced the family could start such a business on their own.

Hale was selling insurance at the time, but also taking business classes by correspondence from a Bible school. He floated the idea of an English tea room to some of his instructors, whom he claims urged him to move forward and even helped put together a business plan. Eventually, the family found a spot next door to Bothell’s Country Village and set about remodeling the home of their new enterprise themselves.

“We started it not knowing we probably shouldn’t start a business,” Sue Hale said.

By that point, the family encompassed two son-in-laws, including one who happened to have immigrated here from Eastbourne, England. According to Dean Hale, that son-in-law helped guide creation of the tea room, turning the original plans away from frilly and lacy, which Hale described as an Americanized version of a tea room. The middle names of the Hales’ eldest daughter, Sarah, and husband, Simon, ultimately were borrowed for the name of the establishment. Though they had no formal culinary training beyond a few high-school classes, both daughters put together the tea room’s original menu, which with some modifications and refinements is still in place today.

When the tea room first opened, Hale said he managed the paperwork, while Amy ran the kitchen. Sue Hale acted as hostess. Younger children Robert and Katie bused tables. One set of grandparents even got in on the act, washing dishes or otherwise helping in the kitchen. Eventually, the older girls moved on, letting Dean Hale take over the cooking. The girls still do some work at the shop along with their own children.

“We’ve had three generations in here, all on the payroll,” Dean Hale said.

The tea room’s menu consists of breakfast and lunch, along with high or afternoon tea. Fancy cookies, scones, torts, quiche and, of course, various types of tea, are staples. Hale said the tea room is, very deliberately, a far different place from the coffeehouses many Seattle area residents are used to visiting.

“With tea, you have to slow down,” he said. “You have to make time for it.”

Sue Hale noted the tea room’s teas also are a far cry from the common instant varieties. There are no tea bags in sight, with leaves placed directly in China pots of boiling water. The leaves are left to steep in the water, then poured into the cups with those strainers removing the leaves.

Dean and Sue Hale said the tea room routinely receives letters from satisfied customers, something that still somewhat seems to baffle Dean Hale.

“I’ve never thought to send a card to a restaurant,” he said.

“We’re on a hugging-and-kissing status with our customers,” Sue Hale said.

For 10th-anniversarycelebration information, call (425) 489-9210 or e-mail tearoom@e-a-englishteamroom.com.