About Us

The Sweet Afton Tea Room and Restaurant has a long legacy of wonderful times and memories. The original site, established and named in 1988 by Christine Banion and Norma Reynolds,was on Mill Street in Plymouth’s Old Village. After two years they moved the tearoom to the current gaslight street location at 450 Forest Avenue in historic downtown Plymouth.

Sweet Afton Tea Room was named after the Afton River in Ayrshire, Scotland. The river is known the world over because of the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns. His poem Sweet Afton, written in 1791, is a lyrical poem describing the River Afton. The poem was presented by Robert Burns to Mrs. General Stewart of Slair in 1791 and was inspired by her home Afton Lodge in Ayrshire on the banks of the Afton River. The Mary in the poem probably refers to Mary Campbell, whom Burns courted in 1786. The poem was later set to music as “ Flow Gently Sweet Afton” and is sung to the tune of the popular Christmas Carol Away in a Manger. Many artists have performed it over the years, including the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek in 2000.

In May 1997, Sweet Afton Tea Room was sold to Cynthia Belanger, a Sweet Afton employee, and her mother Nancy Burton. They ran the tearoom and restaurant until 2005 when they sold it to another Sweet Afton employee, Mary Ann Rye and her son Scott. The Rye’s ran the tearoom until April 2008, when Phyllis and Al Wilkerson, retired educators, purchased the establishment. They are working hard to keep the history and legacy of the Sweet Afton Tea Room and Restaurant in place. Tea Map.com recently named the tearoom to the list of the Top 500 tearooms in the United States. The Wilkerson’s goal is to continue to serve excellent home cooked food and offer an outstanding tea drinking experience with a personal touch to each patron.