The Huntington's Rose Garden Tea Room

Service and ambiance are delightful. Food is mediocre except for the scones which were excellent. Bread was stale though. Unacceptable for the price.

My friend and I felt the sandwiches and scones could be greatly improved.

Beautiful tea experience with my family. We are members of the Huntington and decided to try the tea. We went with our son. We all loved it. Great service and ambience. Price was good. Great tea selection.

One of the hostess (there were two) not Izzy the other one with no name tag, was very rude to us.

The experience of being at the Gardens was nice. The food overall for tea service was great including the caviar, desserts, scones, and mini sandwiches. The service was pretty good. The biggest down side is that the tea room is very dated and not super cozy.

Always a treat to have high tea looking out at the rose garden. The staff is wonderful.

The Tea Room is always lovely. I still long for the return of the Tea Buffet however.

Holiday special menu seems to be a noticeable downgrade in quality relative to the more typical selection of savories and sweets. Was a bit disappointing compared to prior visits but service is still very good and friendly. Hope they bring the standards back up after the holidays.

The wait staff was entirely too casual. I expect a level of formality at The Huntington.

Haven’t been in a while, but preferred the buffet setup and was not sure if it was unlimited orders. Rose pictures on wall were tacky.

Wonderful spot to have afternoon tea! The food is delicious, the teas are devine, and I can't say enough good things about the service. Highly recommend!

We went to the holiday tea and it was exceptional! The servers were wonderful and everything was fantastic! I highly recommend and can’t wait to go back!

It’s a beautiful setting. The food is excellent, service is exceptional. It’s a little gem in Pasadena. Something special for tea lovers.

Enjoyed lunch but really missed the buffet they used to have. Really liked the salads and fresh fruit.

Our experience was “lovely”, yes I felt so well cared for and the food was definitely delicious and ample. Will definitely return with friends.

Way too expensive for the food presented. Will never go back.

I took my aunt here for her birthday. She was pleasantly surprised. We enjoyed every single item served, and then walked in all off in the gardens :) It was a great Sunday afternoon.

I've had tea here many times, although not for a few years, when I understand it was under different management. What a disappointment. First, we weren't seated until almost half an hour after our 1:15 reservation time. I was literally faint with hunger. Then although there were many teas to choose from, there was only one traditional tea, an English Breakfast that was quite good. But no Darjeeling, no Assam! And the waiter brought our tea, but no milk or sugar. We had to ask the hostess for some and by that time the tea had steeped too long. The cheese board was good, but the sandwiches were disappointing. While the smoked salmon was good, the others were either dry or tasteless. And the service was so slow that it seriously cut into our time in the Gardens, so we took our desserts home. They were generally better than the sandwiches. Definitely not worth the price. Next time I go to the Gardens, I'll eat elsewhere.

We did not enjoy the food.
It was displayed nicely however the taste was average. It was also very loud. The outside gardens are ,of course, beautiful. Service was good. Price was a bit high for the quality.

Another outstanding Tea at the Huntington Library. I ordered the cheese tray ($12 additional) which was very good. The holiday food and tea selections were delicious!

I was surprised to have to pay $90 (3 people)
To enter the garden when I didn’t want to do that. I did not see the extra charge just to eat at the tea room. I traveled 3 hours to enjoy a bday luncheon not expecting to pay an additional charge. That I was disappointed with. I probably would not do that again. :( too much travel and too much $$

Lovely experience! Our wait person was very helpful. She even managed to get a sample of tea for us to try when we asked. The setting is beautiful with the large windows overlooking the rose gardens and herb garden. Elegant without being pretentious. So special.

$38 for a couple of molecules of tea sandwiches and pastries? I was shocked, as was my guest. I have visited Tea Room several times in the past, when they had a buffet and it was all you can eat. This time I arrived famished. The waiter somewhat reluctantly allowed me 2 extra sandwich molecules. oh puhleeze! The rose garden is a lovely setting; the food, tho skimpy, was good. We enjoyed the experience. But don't come hungry!

My Mom & I went to the tea room yesterday to celebrate my birthday. Both of us have visited the tea room this past year, but not together! We are both gluten free individuals and each of our past tea room visits were very nice. The tea room has recently updated their menu, but on Yelp I could see recent pictures of both the regular and vegetarian teas from others. Unfortunately, I'd say that on this visit the gluten free tea was just lacking and not worth the money. Unless something drastic changes, I won't be going back to the tea room.

The room is still not decorated for the holidays, it was last year. They are offering a special Holiday tea, but cannot accommodate it for gluten free. So we had to opt for the normal tea menu. I had checked ahead of time and was assured that the tea room could provide a gluten free tea with same day notice, but I'd say they were not ready.

Let me start by saying our server, Kimberly, was amazing and the reason I know we both enjoyed ourselves, despite the food. She had great recommendations and was knowledgeable about the teas.

All of the sandwiches were dry, without any or barely enough condiment on the bread. The cucumber sandwich was literally just a small slice of cucumber on a round piece of bread. No spread - neither butter or cream cheese. The same with the mushroom "sandwich". The caviar canapes were nice and they were made on a toasted crostini.

For the sweets, instead of like 5 or 6 different little items, we had 3. A gluten free brownie and two tiny stale cupcakes that had no flavor.

Their gluten free scone is very nice and properly crumbly. That was the highlight of their food I'd say. Also their apple and pumpkin butters were amazing. The rose prosecco was also a very nice start to the tea.

I love going to tea, but realize that so few restaurants can accommodate a good gluten free version. I had thought the Huntington was my new go to location, but now I'll have to keep looking.

Food was not all cream cheese! It was delicious and server was attentive and great.

I have been going to the Huntington Library since my early teens, (approximately 50 years), and a visit to this Historical Gem is always very special to me. Although admission has increased substantially over the years I believe it is worth the price. Afternoon Tea is truly a wonderful treat. For some it might be a bit pricey but the lovely sandwiches, fresh scones and yummy tea selection along with the outstanding service makes the experience worth it!

Lovely service and perfectly attentive-without-being-intrusive server. We picked 2 seasonal teas that were delicious and enjoyed the selection scones, sandwiches, and dessert treats. Would definitely recommend an afternoon tea before a walk in their beautiful gardens.

Expensive but a fun treat.

Excellent!! I have had tea here many times and love the food, service and garden view

I brought two friends to tea...a first time for them. They loved the rose garden. And the beauty of having tea in such a lovely setting. The wait staff was attentive and we were seated within minutes of our reservation.

I was disappointed in the whole experience. Although the grounds are lovely the actual room for the tea was very plain. Instead of interesting or pretty china it was a very nondescript white. The food was good but there was very little of it. The little pastries were the size of a 50 cent piece. I really don't think that it was worth $37.00.

This is a favorite place for us...food was great, service was good until the waiter started rushing us out. It wasn't crowded and there were empty tables, but 3 times he came to the table to get the check. I couldn't finish my dessert and he let my tea get cold. He acted like it was no big deal. I will go back, but not soon. Very disappointed.

Wonderful place for catching up with friends. The food was terrific and the tea was tasty. I am not a fan of tea, but the tea here was favorable.

My family and I have been to the Tea Room many, many times and are members of the Huntington Library. But, this time was different. It seemed that every item offered was cream cheese on a piece of bread with a different vegetable on top. I understand that the menu changes seasonally and we have LOVED the last two menus, but this seemed like they found a sale on cream cheese. It was too much. You could basically have bread with cream cheese with cucumbers or salmon or arugula or onion or other toppings. We were a party of four and it did not feel like we got a good value at all. The ambience, service and tea cannot be beat, but the food was inedible.

Would I come back? Of course! But, I will always be sure to check the menu beforehand. We were there for tea the day before Thanksgiving to treat ourselves before we started cooking the feast, we have in store for the rest of our family. We left hungry and a bit annoyed.

If that had been my first time I would not return and I certainly wouldn't have been inspired to buy a membership, as I was the first time we came for tea.

Huntington: Please work on your menu. Whoever approved this new version does not have every member in mind.

Our waiter Edgar was fantastic! Very helpful and attentive. Not many choices of wine and drinks.

Tea at the Huntington Library is the best. The atmosphere is special and they the service is fine. We were there to celebrate a friends birthday and had an excellent table by a window with view of the gardens. It was just what we hoped for.

Love for special day with the gals in your life.

Lovely experience. Great service, food, ambiance. Recommend reserving table

The noise level was LOUD! Hard to hear the people at your table. Only recommend as a high tea treat. Too much green topping on sandwich style. Desserts were very ordinary this time. Scones were delivered as “hot from oven” but were cold. Coming with friends again on 28th & hope fare is a little different.

Enjoyed my annual holiday tea with my daughter at the Rose Tea Garden! A very special place to celebrate the holidays.