The Huntington's Rose Garden Tea Room

We really enjoyed our afternoon tea here. We originally made a reservation for inside dining room but found the noise inside to be significant, so asked to change to outdoors. The outdoor seating was lovely, and would be even better when roses are in bloom. Everything we had was good or great. We each tried a unique tea we both really enjoyed. The scones and desserts were amazing. The sandwiches were good to great. Overall for the price point this was very reasonable for a high quality experience.

Atmosphere: The Huntington Library, Museum, and Botanical Gardens is and always will be one of my fave places to hang out. The grounds are gorgeous, the library is fantastic, and the exhibits are awesome. Rose Garden Tea House- Atmosphere: The tea house itself is really lovely. There are different rooms with different views and even outdoor seating. It was fairly loud because people were having a really good time, but we didn't mind the noise. Food: The food is good. Don't be fooled by the portion sizes which are standard tea finger foods and such, it's all really filling. If you're familiar with and satisfied with this sort of food you'll enjoy the meal. If you're expecting some fancy smorgasbord then you may leave unsatisfied and angry at the cost. Price: We got the Huntington Tea. It ended up costing about $340 for the 4 of us (excluding hefty tip and entry tickets, parking is free). Service: The greeters were great, the woman who brought out and explained the food was absolutely lovely, and there were random servers who were extremely kind and attentive (refilling water, etc.). The waitress actually assigned to our table was pretty rude. She seemed fairly annoyed serving us, but all of the other staff made up for it. Bathroom: The only bathroom I saw in the tea house was an All Gender bathroom (I could be mistaken). The individual stalls are completely closed, you cannot see in, but men and women are in there together. If this makes you uncomfortable there are "traditional" single gender bathrooms in other areas. Personally the bathroom didn't bother me at all. RESERVATION RECOMMENDED- Use the Open Table App. Lastly, note any special occasions. A special, very cute little cake was brought out for my daughter because we were celebrating her birthday.

Very pleasant "high tea" experience. The finger sandwiches and sweets were nice, the selection of teas broad (and all of them tasty), and the ambiance (both inside the building and looking out at the rose gardens) was fine. The downsides? Service was just okay -- pleasant when there, but nobody every came by to refill water glasses, and the glass of prosecco one of us ordered didn't come until we reminded our waiter (he did fill is quite full as compensation). The experience was also quite pricey for what one got -- and, yes, you are paying for the "experience" as much as the food and drink, but the pricing felt like it was because we were supposed to *expect* it to be expensive, not because it was worth it. If invited back, I'd be okay with going, but I wouldn't make it the centerpiece of my visit to the Huntington.

Beautiful interior and ambiance. Made Reservations a few months ago for some much needed girl time. The food was pretty standard- we both ordered the traditional tea without all the upgrades. My friend loved the smoked salmon and I loved the onion sandwich. The tea, however, was absolutely fabulous. I enjoyed the Signature blend and she loved Illuminate- so much so that we sought out to buy some to take home in the gift shop but ruled it out due to price, unfortunately. All in all the presentation, the service, the atmosphere- it’s all very intentional and special. I would definitely come back!

After multiple attempts of trying, we finally secured a reservation at the popular Rose Garden afternoon tea. Unfortunately, the experience didn’t live up to the hype. The renovated room is beautiful and definitely Instagram-worthy, but beyond the aesthetics, the food was underwhelming. Everything felt average at best. The only standout was the lobster roll, and even that came at an extra charge. For the price and the effort it took to get a table, we expected much more. The overall evening was mediocre, not terrible, but definitely not memorable either. If you’re going purely for the photos, maybe it’s worth a visit, but don’t expect a culinary highlight. On a positive note, the service was lovely. We were running about 20 minutes late and tried to call ahead to let them know, but no one picked up. Thankfully, when we arrived, the staff still welcomed us and seated us without issue, which we really appreciated. In the end, while the decor and service were nice, the food just didn’t justify the price or the hassle. There are better high tea experiences out there that offer both charm and substance. Sadly, this one missed the mark.