What a delightful experience! Here's the 411:
1) Read their website before you go!
This will give you the information you need.
2) Reservations: You really need a reservation if you want to make sure you can dine at the tea room. Reservations can be made on Open Table. However, the Tea Room is booked through September. And I believe you can only make reservations three months in advance. so it's tricky!
3) Walk in Dining: There is no guarantee that you will be able to dine if you just chance it and walk in. However, If you get there at opening time: 11:00 a.m. - and put your name on a wait list - you might be able to snag a cancellation. Also, if guests arrive later than 10 minutes after their appointed time the tea room releases that reservation, so that's also a possibility too. But don't arrive late if you DO have a reservation!
4) Where to Dine: There are 4 lovely choices. There are two indoor tea rooms, one overlooks the herb garden, and the other overlooks the Shakespeare garden. There is also an outdoor pavilion, and an outdoor patio. So, when you arrive for your table, tell them if you want to dine indoors or out.
5) The Traditional Tea Service includes a selection of wonderful teas, scones, tea sandwiches, & sweets. It costs $62.00. The Huntington Tea includes some bubbly and an extra salad. It costs 75.00. We had the Huntington Tea, and in place of the bubbly, the waitress provided a refreshing lemonade with rosemary and rose petals on top!
6) You do have to have a ticket to the Huntington in order to dine in the tea room - so this is definitely a special experience because, all added up, it can be a little pricey.
7) Many ladies were very dressed up in tea attire, some with hats! Others were very dressed down in jeans and t-shirts, in the manner of a regular tourist. So for attire, anything goes!
8) They allot 1 and 1/2 hours for a tea service, and while I am sure that you can stay longer, they do want to get people in and out because they have booked reservations all day! And from our experience an hour and a half was plenty!
Robert and I give it 5 stars!
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