Academy Café

Browsing a museum is hard work. Take a break and fuel up here.
The Academy Café has your typical options like pizza and sandwiches, but you’ll also find some less common things like clam chowder, phở and poke.
Alas, we didn’t have high expectations for the poke, so the wife and I both opted for the clam chowder — in a sourdough bread bowl for her ($ 10), and in a regular bowl for me ($ 7).
The chowder was enjoyable but a bit salty. Interestingly, it seemed like my $ 7 bowl had more chowder than the wife’s $ 10 bread bowl, and mine also came with a roll on the side. So in this case, it seems like paying more actually gets you less!
There’s a moderate amount of seating in the café, but if the place fills up, there’s more seating in the Piazza in the middle of the museum. Overall, the food prices here seem fair given that it’s not only a museum, but also in SF.

Horrible! food used to be amazing before new company took over food contract. Now it’s just really sucky cafeteria food pretending to be hip for waaaay too much money. In SF were used to paying top dollar for food. But we have expectations. A 12 dollar burger not even worth $ 2.
Tandoori chicken? covered in a «NOT RAI-​TA «sauce. It was like a betty crockers recipe of
chicken biryani you might expect at the Supermall in Minnesota. sorry, I used the word recipe quite liberally. It was 2 drumsticks on top of rice covered in a weird unfriendly flavor to chicken yogurt sauce. Not the work of «a 100 foot journey». More of a 10 foot journey to throw it into the trash. (after finally figuring out which of the three garbage options to use)
Good for: Breakfast-​NOPE Brunch-​NOPE Lunch-​NOPE Dinner– UH-​UH! Latenight-​NOT EVEN IF YOU’RE WAY STONED. Dessert– MAYBE! didn’t try it.
SF we DESERVE BETTER!

Absolutely decent museum cafeteria! Everything is a GRIP but you are paying for the convenience. In addition to the basic grill items (pizza, burgers, salad) they have a sushi station and a «San Francisco street foods» counter. We liked everything we got — giant slices of pizza, burger, pork tostadas and udon.
Your wallet will sting a little, but you will leave satisfied and FULL!

I was forewarned by the 2014 Foder’s guide to San Francisco that the food here was poor and expensive. Well, when I saw the food offerings it looked delicious even if it was a bit pricey. I figured they had received enough negative feedback and had improved it. Bad assumption. The appearance and presentation looked great, we had pizza, Vietnamese bahn mi sandwich, and tomato mozzarella pesto panini. All were bland and tasteless. It was like fine dining in a retirement home where everyone was on a sodium restricted diet. You have to go out of your way to create such tasteless food. Also brought back memories of fine dining on a Princess cruise. Bring a Subway sandwich instead.

Not bad, but not great. I will say it was much better than I was expecting. Mac n cheese was top notch, as were the chicken tenders. Large selection of drinks including alcohol for the adults.

The Academy Café is located to your right when you enter the Academy of Sciences. Be prepared for a little bit of sticker shock for the quality of what you’re getting (although I imagine that’s not outrageous, considering museum food is usually pricey). Hit or miss food, very pricey for what you get.
THE OVERVIEW.
+ Surprisingly good selection of food in terms of diversity (from steamed pork buns to bahn mis to pizza and more, it’s here)
~ Average tasting food (no nice words from me about their salads or grilled cheeses)
~ Very pricey for the small portions that you receive ($ 6 for a slice in pizza in SF feels like highway robbery)
+ They do sell beer, wine, and cupcakes, though, which is all anyone really needs to be happy, anyways
If you’re coming with a big family (or looking to NOT spend ~$ 30/​head for lunch), I’d highly recommend you pack your own lunch. Otherwise, it’s not a bad option for a day (or night) at the museum!

The food is terrible now. It used to be the highlight of my visit. What a downgrade and disappointment.

Nice little cafeteria, they have many food options: pizza, sandwich, salad, sushi, wrap, grill section + cafeteria
We tried tune sandwich (toasted)and pizza.
Tuna sandwich was pretty good
The pizza Margherita is a pure joke… ¹⁄₃ of the pizza doesn’t have tomato sauce.
I’ll come back here next time cause it’s very convenient but I’ll make sure to avoid the pizza

Went to the Terrace on a Monday. Waited 20 minutes in line only to be told it would be 40 minutes for soup. Terribly disorganized.

Nice café, have everything. It was a hard decision but I decided to go w healthy and got a sashimi box, tuna was cut up in small pieces and it was yummy, i enjoyed :)
They have both indoor and outdoor seating and although it is self service they have workers coming around to pick up your finished dishes.
Yes it is pricey here but then everything is pricey in San Francisco…

Mediocre food, surly service. One major bonus of an Academy visit USED to be delicious food made by same company as Slanted Door. Looks like the Academy went way downmarket for a cheaper, non-​local vendor (Sodexo) and the results are really disappointing. Chicken tacos and soggy soba noodle salad were low quality and not good, would not eat here again. Additionally, after we got our food, there were no tables except across the patio which apparently is a separate café. As soon as we sat down, a pretty rude hostess came over and told us we couldn’t sit there. Nice way to treat your members! Also a mysterious $ 4 «upcharge» was added to our bill.

This café is in the California Academy of Science. It is at the first floor. I ordered a pressed Cuba sandwich. The bread is crisp-​a little hard to cut off with knife, but tastes good. The flavor mixed by cheese, mustard and pork is excellent. I like the sandwich. It is $ 11. But I don’t really like the chips.

Worst food I’ve had in a long time! Lazy chefs serving up old food in long lines. We tried the grill. Got a cheeseburger, a chicken sandwich and a hotdog for $ 38. Buns were stale and crumbled to pieces. Burger was precooked and boiled to save time. Because of all the water in the meat, the bottom of the bun was soggy. Fries we’re old. Need I go on? Bottom line: don’t ever eat here. Think of the worst place you’ve ever eaten… It was probably gourmet in comparison.

What a shocking collapse in food quality!
We used to look forward to eating at the Academy when it was run by Charles Phan: the food choices were diverse, ingredients were fresh, and the results were tasty.
The new company that took over from Phan seems committed to producing bland and overpriced grub. Take this afternoon’s meal (actually, please don’t take it): the tandoori chicken was rubbery and way under flavored while the Tuna Poke tasted more like jello than fish.
Save your money and eat elsewhere.

The food is truly disgusting. Such a shame, especially at $ 11 for a burger. Bring your own snacks to the museum next time.

I have been a member of the Academy for years and have always enjoyed dining in the Café after it was taken over by Charles Phan. Recently, the Academy has changed food vendors. Phan is out and now a corporate food service has taken over. All I can say is what a disappointment. The food quality has dropped from excellent to overpriced cafeteria quality food. When my college age children came to town for the Thursday Night Life they noticed the vast difference in the food quality. Very disappointed with the Academy’s to downgrade the foodservice.

If you go back in time several months, you have a five-​star rating: The Slanted Door’s Charles Phan bringing you quite affordable, really tasty fare.
Today, you have a nondescript corporate food vendor bringing you food that’s unremarkable at every turn.
Some time ago, you might go out of your way to eat at the Academy Café. What a difference a few months make.

It’s a passable cafeteria, but the food isn’t very good and it’s pricey, as you might expect. I had the homemade chicken noodle soup, which was pretty tasteless (on the plus side, it wasn’t too salty), and a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, which was only OK. The agua frescas were decent and they’ll let you sample the different flavors.

Came here for Nightlife @ the Cal Academy was was shocked on the quality of service and food for such a grand SF event.
The workers are beyond rude. They roll their eyes and scuff at you if you don’t order right away. The prices are expensive for what little food they give you. The gumbo and rice I had tasted disgusting! Something from a microwaved meal would have tasted even better!
Eat somewhere else before enjoying your night here.

Time for a mid-​day snack from all the walking and exploring at the Academy of Sciences! This café offered an array of ethnic food choices to choose from: sandwiches, spring rolls, Filipino food, gumbo, stew, tacos, burritos, etc.
Entrees picked: Chicken and sausage gumbo $ 8 with organic jasmine rice $ 3. Topped with a bottle of beer $ 5. Perfect snackable portion devied among 2 people. Kind of bland, but that was fixed by sprinkling some salt.

I was pleasantly surprised by this not-​so-​small café located inside the California Academy of Sciences. With several stations that provide a wide variety of foods (i.e., Sizzle for burgers, hot dogs, etc.; Slow-​Cooked for things like curry, stew, chicken adobo; Espresso Bar; Dessert), there’s so many items to choose from. I got the Slow-​cooked combo of one entrée and two sides (veggies), which was more than enough for me. It cost $ 13 and it was a lot of food!
The staff is friendly, helpful, and very organized and efficient. You can get a menu while you’re waiting in line to decide ahead of time what you want and where the food is located. If you’re wanting to go to some of the stations that are in the back of the café, then you don’t have to wait in a long line.

The prices may be high, but the food is good! Portion-​wise it ranges from «that’s decent» to «do you expect me to finish that?!». So maybe for the prices we have to pay they could at least make sure that all the portions are at least a step above «that’s decent», but to be fair, most portions were more along the line of «do you expect me to finish that?».
Anyway, food is good, but try and come with a large group of people so you can taste different things from the very wide menu here. There is a lot on the menu, seriously. But that’s my one regret here: I didn’t get to try everything.
Note to self: come back with more people!

This is a decent café with tasty food that can accommodate moderate sized groups. Came here with a party of 8 for a friend’s birthday and we were able to grab seats during lunch rush at 1:30 PM on a Saturday.
{FOOD}
They consider themselves an «Asian fusion» café — you can get sandwiches, baos, noodles, soups, salads, etc. You can’t go wrong with a ham sandwich (lots of ham, provolone, in between two thick slices of sourdough) or the spaghetti (al dente and topped with lots of sharp parmesan). All sandwiches come with a side of light and tangy coleslaw, so you don’t have to worry about your veggies being drenched in mayo. My vegetarian friends were fans of the spring rolls and peanut sauce. SKIP the baos though.
{DRINKS}
They have Izze’s and other specialty sodas. Or you can get a fresh cup of OJ or lemonade. If you’re feeling fancypants, grab a ginger beer or a champagne cocktail.
{PRICING}
Yes, you will pay a tiny bit more for lunch here than other places in SF. But that is totally reasonable given the limited dining options in GGP. You can easily get food for about $ 10 if you don’t get a drink (they offer free water). However, the proceeds go back to the Cal Academy — think of eating here as making a donation back to education :)
{ATMOSPHERE /​SERVICE}
I’m a fan because not only do you get decent food, there is enough room for groups even during weekend lunch rush. Don’t be perturbed by the long line — it moves fairly quickly. And the staff is quick to recommend foods if you are overwhelmed by the vast menu (most of the Viet dishes were highly praised).
Overall, I’d give this place a solid 3.5 stars.