⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was our first time dining at Hua Mei Cafe but it definitely won’t be our last! Great food and friendly servers. Highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved the food and it was quick. The Orange chicken is amazing.

One of the best orange chicken I've tasted

Great veggie rolls. Quick and delicious.

Pretty busy on weekends but lots of tables to sit at

Very tasty orange chicken.

Food was pretty amazing ..

I ordered the Asian Chicken Salad and it is really good, fresh veggies, and they didn't skimp on the chicken.

I don't know why other reviews have so much hate for this place. I got the Asian chicken salad and the tofu rice and they were awesome. Also we were there around 1 on a Friday with plenty of people and our food was ready in about 2 minutes. The servers were all super nice.

The food at the Hua Mei Café was surprisingly really good for a zoo restaurant. The teriyaki chicken and orange chicken entrees were both fantastic with large portions. The kids meals were also a good value for a zoo restaurant.

Cameron Griffith

I don't know why other reviews have so much hate for this place. I got the Asian chicken salad and the tofu rice and they were awesome. Also we were there around 1 on a Friday with plenty of people and our food was ready in about 2 minutes. The servers were all super nice.

Jeff Shurtliff

The food at the Hua Mei Café was surprisingly really good for a zoo restaurant. The teriyaki chicken and orange chicken entrees were both fantastic with large portions. The kids meals were also a good value for a zoo restaurant.

Food was pricy but not surprising considering it’s a zoo! The food was very good and fresh; we all enjoyed it. The line was long but kept moving. I really want to shout out Senee at the counter for helping my family out and their great service! We were able to get our order in quickly, correctly and with excellent service! Thank you Senee!

We were pleasantly surprised by the variety of food offered at the zoo. This place has a small variety of Asian food that was pretty good for a zoo/theme park. Everyone in our family of 4 were satisfied with their meals.

Justin Tebo

We were pleasantly surprised by the variety of food offered at the zoo. This place has a small variety of Asian food that was pretty good for a zoo/theme park. Everyone in our family of 4 were satisfied with their meals.

Kristin Higginbotham

Food was pricy but not surprising considering it’s a zoo! The food was very good and fresh; we all enjoyed it. The line was long but kept moving. I really want to shout out Senee at the counter for helping my family out and their great service! We were able to get our order in quickly, correctly and with excellent service! Thank you Senee!

Recommend the spicy beef bowl. Not really that spicy, just a bit of a kick.

판다를 보고 나오면 바로 앞에 있는 카페. 키즈메뉴는 기념품가방, 음료수, 음식, 작은 스낵 등이 나와 아이가 좋아함. 데리야끼 치킨 맛은 괜찮았고 밥도 가득 있어서 좋았음 :) 동물원 안 식당인 걸 감안하면 괜찮은 곳임.

Food was suprsingly good after reading the reviews. It is expensive but that's zoo prices

The food was good but nothing special. You can't expect much from a eatery at the Zoo..

$$$ 👍🏻👍🏻

+2

Surprisingly good, had orange chicken and caesars salad.

More selection than other restaurants at the zoo.

Okay this place was shockingly good. They served large portions. The food was very appealing, looks, and flavorful. The price was very affordable and reasonable l.

The food here is pricey, but that's to be expected inside any zoo or amusement park. That being said, I like it because there are vegetarian options. I got the mandarin orange salad with spicey tofu, I thought it was pretty good. Food is a little on the salty side. There's a combo of american and Asia food here. Line can get long, especially during lunch in the summer. I would like to see more vegetarian options, like gardein 'chicken' or beyond burger patties. The tofu is okay here. If you feel like eating Asian-style food at the zoo, this is the place to come.

Some of the BEST orange chicken I’ve ever had… some of the worst teriyaki chicken I’ve ever tasted.. ehh. I’m considering going back to the zoo just to have their orange chicken again.

It's theme park food. What do you expect. I was just grateful to be eating organic tofu with sweet chili sauce on a bed steaming hot rice at the Zoo. To me, that is a stand-out offering. Lots of shaded seating even on a busy weekend. There was no white meat chicken for my kids and no options for just plain vegetables. Again it was a wonderful surprise to be able to eat organic tofu instead of pizza, burgers, fries, frozen chicken strips. They had compostable paper plates/bowls and aluminum fountain drink cups rather than plastic! That's another star. Kids menu - very good price and it came with a reusable souvenir bag, mini souvenir cup with straw, and whole wheat animal crackers. Portion was huge, adult sized.

Miyako Igari

It's theme park food. What do you expect. I was just grateful to be eating organic tofu with sweet chili sauce on a bed steaming hot rice at the Zoo. To me, that is a stand-out offering. Lots of shaded seating even on a busy weekend. There was no white meat chicken for my kids and no options for just plain vegetables. Again it was a wonderful surprise to be able to eat organic tofu instead of pizza, burgers, fries, frozen chicken strips. They had compostable paper plates/bowls and aluminum fountain drink cups rather than plastic! That's another star. Kids menu - very good price and it came with a reusable souvenir bag, mini souvenir cup with straw, and whole wheat animal crackers. Portion was huge, adult sized.

太鹹了，記得說醬汁放一半就好，崩潰

I didn’t come for the food, but I wanted to eat. It was good, not great. The fries were bomb however!

Orange chicken was too dry. Burger was basic.

Waiting for service here felt like watching a panda climbing a tree.

Got a pretzel and water . They were out of ice cream.

Zoo food. Not great, but good enough.

The taste of McDonalds at double the price. Pineapple teriyaki chicken sandwich was dull and unappetizing. I literally felt like I got a Artisan burger at McDonald’s. The atmosphere was nice and tranquil and the customer service was above average. Little bump quality of the meat and fries and everything would have been perfect.

This location is called Hua Mei Café, in honor of the zoo's first panda in residence. It serves a few Asian inspired dishes, but offers quick service and even has a side window for fast snacks like soft pretzels and popcorn.

A nice little asian cafe in the heart of the San Diego zoo. Food here is not exceptional but decent enough to keep you satiated through the day. We tried the chilli tofu rice and it was good. The egg rolls were a disappointment. The quantity was sufficient enough for a single person. It’s a self-serve place. Nothing to talk about the ambience except that it has plenty outdoor seating.

Chinese fast food in a zoo? Refreshing, Orange chicken flavorful. Teriyaki chicken with vegetables chicken a tad dry. Plenty of rice. Order and pickup after buzzer notification. A good price value. Oh and they serve milk and tea.

Beggars can't be choosers. Too little restaurants around, and food is overpriced. The staff is good, but it's really just the food portions its price, and lack of options.

ATS

A nice little asian cafe in the heart of the San Diego zoo. Food here is not exceptional but decent enough to keep you satiated through the day. We tried the chilli tofu rice and it was good. The egg rolls were a disappointment. The quantity was sufficient enough for a single person. It’s a self-serve place. Nothing to talk about the ambience except that it has plenty outdoor seating.

H. Yee

Chinese fast food in a zoo? Refreshing, Orange chicken flavorful. Teriyaki chicken with vegetables chicken a tad dry. Plenty of rice. Order and pickup after buzzer notification. A good price value. Oh and they serve milk and tea.

Jason Foo

Beggars can't be choosers. Too little restaurants around, and food is overpriced. The staff is good, but it's really just the food portions its price, and lack of options.

The food was fine, but way over priced. That shouldn't be surprising though. There was also very few options. The orange chicken had a disproportionate amount of rice to chicken and sauce, so you just ended up with a bunch of plain white rice. The pot stickers were kind of tough. The dining area had limited shade.

Carolyn Dearden

The food was fine, but way over priced. That shouldn't be surprising though. There was also very few options. The orange chicken had a disproportionate amount of rice to chicken and sauce, so you just ended up with a bunch of plain white rice. The pot stickers were kind of tough. The dining area had limited shade.

American food is ok, but asian is terrible. $11 for bland teriyaki chicken and steamed vegetables on rice

So so so slow, 50 mins wait at a not so busy weekday? Taste is just OK

Hardest pretzel I’ve ever had

This place suffers from the typical Zoo convenience syndrome. A $4 burger costs $12 because they can get away with it. I had burgers in High School that were culinary masterpieces compared to this. The girlfriend got "teriyaki chicken" that was basically grocery store rotisserie with teriyaki sauce drizzled on it. Service is nice and fast. Seating is ample. However, there have to be better places to eat in the zoo.

Not surprised when I went on a field trip to the zoo and stopped at this place. So when I went to the register, I ordered an orange chicken and some boba. Anyways, it took sometime but I ate the food the rice was mid. But the chicken is extra cred along with the boba. But overall, not recommended in my opinion because of the food. Also the burger was sorta meh personally.

eren yeager (Akari)

Not surprised when I went on a field trip to the zoo and stopped at this place. So when I went to the register, I ordered an orange chicken and some boba. Anyways, it took sometime but I ate the food the rice was mid. But the chicken is extra cred along with the boba. But overall, not recommended in my opinion because of the food. Also the burger was sorta meh personally.

The food is so terrible, had the Asian chicken salad. It came right out of the fridge, it was almost frozen. Absolutely tasteless. Way overpriced. Everything in this zoo is way overpriced. At least was lucky enough to see the Pandas being quite active that day

Someone listed my meal, an expensive meal, as spicy. I’ve had better from Panda Express, though I admit I’ve not had Tofu from Panda, it Is also cheaper. As a means to consume calories, I would probably eat here again. It doesn’t seem poisonous, or flavorful, though it does include calories. It does have a beautiful atmosphere though, shaded and clean outside at a beautiful zoo. If you didn’t bring a lunch, consider it, though you should not expect anything “spicy” and the Siracha seems weak on the side also. Highly disappointed at a meal over $20 with tax.

John Anderson

Someone listed my meal, an expensive meal, as spicy. I’ve had better from Panda Express, though I admit I’ve not had Tofu from Panda, it Is also cheaper. As a means to consume calories, I would probably eat here again. It doesn’t seem poisonous, or flavorful, though it does include calories. It does have a beautiful atmosphere though, shaded and clean outside at a beautiful zoo. If you didn’t bring a lunch, consider it, though you should not expect anything “spicy” and the Siracha seems weak on the side also. Highly disappointed at a meal over $20 with tax.

Coffee was watered-down

我的天 我終於找到大家喜歡panda express的原因了 因為這家熊貓賣的食物讓人驚訝 雖然可起來還是很多人排隊 但他的中餐真的讓我嚇到了 我們點了豬排飯 有著厚厚醬的豬排撒上酸黃瓜跟香菜 下面一層飯 原本很餓到我們竟開始叫對方多吃點 來著邊的人記得點他們的漢堡比較安全

+2

the woman scheduled to sanitize the tables is rude. we requested her if she could sanitize our table so my family can sit down already but she said she will clean and finish other tables first that no one is sitting. we see most of the tables are left unsanitize and letting other people to just use it.. july 7, 2020 12nn

Terrible food! worst teriyaki chicken ever.. I went there with my dad and we both hated it..never eat there! It's food poisoning. I wish I could give it a 0 star.

Slowest line in the entire zoo. Not sure if it's literally every client or the staff but good God they take forever just to order.

Worst food ever. They are not even making an effort. Ordered sriracha tofu. Hard flavorless tofu.

Grossest teriyaki chicken I’ve ever had. The meat looked like it wasn’t even chicken. I

The most disgusting Mongolian beef that was ever made

Cannot express how terrible.

Never come back to this place. $51 for a burger and orange Chicken

Worst food ever !!! We had shriracha tofu and veggie burger , the only 2 options we found for vegetarians/vegans . For the dish Sriracha Tofu, it seemed they just tossed it in sauce, do not think they even cared to saute` it . As far as the burger , it seemed they just slapped a room temprature veggie patty between bread along with some veggies, didn't even care to warm/grill the patty .

Brutally overpriced for mediocre food. Rice tastes like cardboard. No drinks included. Bottle of water is $7. Calling this in any way, shape or form "Asian food" should be against international law.

Sorry to say but reaalllyy bad food. You can see most of my reviews are 5 stars. I am not a picky eater and generally find that most things are tasty. The teriyaki chicken and (canned green beans??) were pretty gross. Like I actually took one bite and wanted to return it but at that point it tasted so bad I wouldn’t want to eat anything they made and would just want my money back. Decided to just eat the chicken and a few bites of the rice. The “vegetables” literally looked and tasted like canned green beans with a few mushy broccoli thrown in. Who adds canned green beans to chicken teriyaki?? I felt sick after eating. The worst zoo food I have eaten. I know lots of the zoo food rated pretty poorly. But I actually have rated most the other places 4 or 5 stars. This place is like a 1 star which is saying how bad it was for me. See pics. For $18 just not acceptable.

We ordered a kids lo mein and to our surprise we found what appears to be a baby cockroach in the dish. Look at the photos and decide for yourselves. Unfortunately we had just left the park and noticed it too late, but this is extremely unacceptable and absolutely disgusting. Especially since I was serving this to my two year old. So make sure to check your food before you eat if you still decide to order from here, because this place has a cockroach problem.

To experience & low quality food, to much grease it doesn’t even taste good. My sister ended up throwing up. Never buying again

Terrible food, don't waste your money, chicken wrap has no chicken, tasteless, overpriced.

Terribly tasteless. Waste of money, portions are large but I don't recommend this place! Terrible

Daniel Rosser

We ordered a kids lo mein and to our surprise we found what appears to be a baby cockroach in the dish. Look at the photos and decide for yourselves. Unfortunately we had just left the park and noticed it too late, but this is extremely unacceptable and absolutely disgusting. Especially since I was serving this to my two year old. So make sure to check your food before you eat if you still decide to order from here, because this place has a cockroach problem.

Megan Monsanto

Sorry to say but reaalllyy bad food. You can see most of my reviews are 5 stars. I am not a picky eater and generally find that most things are tasty. The teriyaki chicken and (canned green beans??) were pretty gross. Like I actually took one bite and wanted to return it but at that point it tasted so bad I wouldn’t want to eat anything they made and would just want my money back. Decided to just eat the chicken and a few bites of the rice. The “vegetables” literally looked and tasted like canned green beans with a few mushy broccoli thrown in. Who adds canned green beans to chicken teriyaki?? I felt sick after eating. The worst zoo food I have eaten. I know lots of the zoo food rated pretty poorly. But I actually have rated most the other places 4 or 5 stars. This place is like a 1 star which is saying how bad it was for me. See pics. For $18 just not acceptable.

Josue Hernandez

To experience & low quality food, to much grease it doesn’t even taste good. My sister ended up throwing up. Never buying again

Kseniia Garshina

Terribly tasteless. Waste of money, portions are large but I don't recommend this place! Terrible

Robert R.

Terrible food, don't waste your money, chicken wrap has no chicken, tasteless, overpriced.

Bezaye

Never come back to this place. $51 for a burger and orange Chicken

A very dysfunctional establishment. From 5 ordering windows only two are open. The manager, Tim, is walking around with their hands in their pockets when the line goes around the corner. Cashiers serving drinks heavily slow everything down, as you will give me a pager for my food, serve the drinks along with the food as I need to wait anyways! The person handing out the food can take care of the drinks. That way the queue goes fast, everyone goes to sit down, there are no delays and we get everything together in one go. I've been in this queue for 40 minutes now! UPDATE: I finally got my food. 3 sad chicken strips on the kids meal which are as dry as they come. The chicken teriyaki is very salty, fatty and has massive chunks of veggies. The orange chicken is ok. I would not recommend this food.

I should have read the reviews before coming here. I didn’t have high expectations but the food was almost inedible. The edamame was actually good and a pretty good value. The orange chicken was WAY over-cooked, and the rice was mushy. The teriyaki chicken wasn’t over-cooked but it’s texture and flavor made it seem like it came out of a microwave bag. We ended up throwing away both chicken dishes after a few bites.

Do NOT order anything here, for the food here is not only pricey but also tastes horrible. We visited a few days ago and ordered 3 meals: an orange chicken bowl, a chicken nugget & fries, and a teriyaki chicken bowl (kids meal). Total cost was over $40. We thought despite the high price tag we could satisfy our craving for some Chinese food. Only a few bites revealed how wrong we were. The orange chicken was too sweet and too sour, the teriyaki chicken was too salty, the chicken nuggets were so dry and salty, even the rice wasn't cooked right because it's way too mushy. We're not picky eaters, but no adult or child in our family liked any food there at all. After trying a few bites, my wife almost puked. Had to throw most of the expensive meals into the garbage. We have been cooking and eating Chinese food for 5 decades. This restaurant offers the worst we've ever tasted.

Christopher Vallés

A very dysfunctional establishment. From 5 ordering windows only two are open. The manager, Tim, is walking around with their hands in their pockets when the line goes around the corner. Cashiers serving drinks heavily slow everything down, as you will give me a pager for my food, serve the drinks along with the food as I need to wait anyways! The person handing out the food can take care of the drinks. That way the queue goes fast, everyone goes to sit down, there are no delays and we get everything together in one go. I've been in this queue for 40 minutes now! UPDATE: I finally got my food. 3 sad chicken strips on the kids meal which are as dry as they come. The chicken teriyaki is very salty, fatty and has massive chunks of veggies. The orange chicken is ok. I would not recommend this food.

Olen

I should have read the reviews before coming here. I didn’t have high expectations but the food was almost inedible. The edamame was actually good and a pretty good value. The orange chicken was WAY over-cooked, and the rice was mushy. The teriyaki chicken wasn’t over-cooked but it’s texture and flavor made it seem like it came out of a microwave bag. We ended up throwing away both chicken dishes after a few bites.

Simon Joe

Do NOT order anything here, for the food here is not only pricey but also tastes horrible. We visited a few days ago and ordered 3 meals: an orange chicken bowl, a chicken nugget & fries, and a teriyaki chicken bowl (kids meal). Total cost was over $40. We thought despite the high price tag we could satisfy our craving for some Chinese food. Only a few bites revealed how wrong we were. The orange chicken was too sweet and too sour, the teriyaki chicken was too salty, the chicken nuggets were so dry and salty, even the rice wasn't cooked right because it's way too mushy. We're not picky eaters, but no adult or child in our family liked any food there at all. After trying a few bites, my wife almost puked. Had to throw most of the expensive meals into the garbage. We have been cooking and eating Chinese food for 5 decades. This restaurant offers the worst we've ever tasted.