San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park offers a serene stroll through koi ponds, pagodas, and lush paths with a cozy tea house serving classic Japanese treats.
"A historic fixture of Golden Gate Park, this exquisite garden also offers a small tea cafe. The green tea or matcha is accompanied by traditional Japanese snacks like dorayaki (red bean pancake), edamame, and arare (savory rice crackers), as well as afternoon tea staples like lemon bars and cookies. Every order comes with a fortune cookie, which was introduced to the U.S. right here (way back in the 1890s)." - Dianne de Guzman, Eater Staff
"If you’re just visiting SF, you’re shelling out $16 just to get into the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park (FYI—residents don’t pay). But locals know that plant and tea therapy is the best therapy, so just get here. Head straight to the small wooden structure near the entrance and order a hot hojicha tea, paired with perfectly soft green tea mochi before making your way to a bar stool overlooking the pond (the best seats in the house). There are also serviceable but not great snacks, like simple udon bowls and chicken karaage (that aren’t crispy and taste a bit like a reheated-in-the-microwave situation). So, stick to the tea, and reflect on life goals like how to make money and not work, before strolling around the zen garden." - ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1, lani conway
"If you’re just visiting SF, you’re shelling out $16 just to get into the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park (FYI—residents don’t pay). But locals know that plant and tea therapy is the best therapy, so just get here. Head straight to the small wooden structure near the entrance and order a hot hojicha tea, paired with perfectly soft green tea mochi before making your way to a bar stool overlooking the pond (the best seats in the house). There are also serviceable but not great snacks, like simple udon bowls and chicken karaage (that aren’t crispy and taste a bit like a reheated-in-the-microwave situation). So, stick to the tea, and reflect on life goals like how to make money and not work, before strolling around the zen garden. " - Lani Conway
"The oldest continuously operating public Japanese garden in North America, the Japanese Tea Garden, located in Golden Gate Park, is a wonderful spot to relax while exploring the park, but it's also worth a trip in its own right. Sitting among the perfectly pruned trees, small Japanese-style buildings, and gently flowing water features, sipping tea, it’s impossible not to relax, even on those Saturdays when the place gets a bit busier. Locals get a discount on entry ($7 instead of $10), so be sure to bring your ID." - Kimberley Lovato, Carey Jones
"While Japanese gardens have come to be an expected feature of many botanical parks around the world, the Japanese Tea Garden, which opened in 1894, was the first public tea garden in the United States. The original plot consisted of less than half a hectare (one acre), though it gradually grew to its current size of two hectares (five acres). Unusually for its time, a Japanese landscape architect, Makoto Hagiwara, oversaw it for decades until he was interned during World War II and not allowed to return to his position after the war. His legacy lives on, however, in this meticulous garden dotted with pagodas and crossed by stone paths."
