Third times a charm posting again wasting time after 2 previous reviews deleted (why have NO clue did I offend the dead chickens used for the tenders???) Look I get it, tourist traps gotta trap, but this is criminal here. So for a total rip-off but nothing else to eat before bus ride so no choice, Plunked down an absurd 70 bucks for 3 soft drinks, 2 orders of beyond awful chicken tenders that tasted like a rubber duck (they refused to take back) best can do was refry them to at least be minimally edible. (they wouldn't take back!) and 2 salvageable burgers that I wished I ordered for myself which would've looked like filet mignon compared to the most traumatizingly awful fast food Ive ever eaten. Me and my son had to eat those terrible chicken rubbers. I had 4 baskets of food and 3 drinks, and they wouldn't even give me a service tray to carry them! Shameful and disgraceful place. They should shut this shithole down. read more

Chiefs Galley Cafe - The only condiments you get even for chicken tenders which are the worst I've had in any lifetime - Cafes Near Me - San Simeon, California

I am re-posting this review without the apparently offensive comments about William Randolph Hurst's moral deficiencies. Getting back to this cafe, the food was pretty terrible. I read the bad reviews so thought it would be safe if I stuck to a hot dog. I am not sure why I was surprised, but the hot dog was taken out of a tray of water and put into a bun. Who doesn't love boiled hot dogs? Apparently me. My kids got chicken tenders and they were made of some kind of mysterious part of the chicken that was inedible and disgusting. The pretzel and fries were just okay. We paid $50 for these 3 food items and a few fountain drinks. I wish I would have read another review earlier that advised to arrive with a full belly, bring your own snacks, or go literally anywhere else to eat. read more

Quick, expensive cafeteria food We grabbed a bite to eat here after exploring the Castle. It is located inside the Visitor's Center and is the only place where guests could eat. We were not allowed to bring food during the tours. Originally, we weren't planning on eating in the premises but I saw the sign that said "locally raised Hearst Beef" so we had to try. I got the cheeseburger. It was like an assembly line where they take a concession stand-type paper food tray, plop some fries on one side, grab the pre-prepared lettuce w/ tomato and place it next to the fries, take the buns and head to the grill and scoop one of the burger w/ cheese sitting and place it in the bun then they hand me my food. LoL! Food was okay, good fries, but, damn! so expensive... castle prices of $12.99 for the cheeseburger and $3.09 for a soda. This cafeteria-style restaurant is formally called the Chief's Galley Cafe and is immediately right next to the gift shop. There is no seating available inside the visitor center but plenty on their outside covered patio right next to the Hearst Castle Theater. Review #1463 read more

Chiefs Galley Cafe - 08.10.19 cheeseburger... lettuce and tomato and fries all underneath the burger - Cafes Near Me - San Simeon, California

Wait/check out staff are extremely rude. They will not tell you their hours of operation, but they will tell you that they are closed, even though the doors are open, and it's mid afternoon on a Tuesday afternoon. They operate at the privilege of exclusivity, no one else at Hearst Castle has food or beer. Staff will then turn their back on you and not provide anymore useful information. Sad state of affairs. read more

Review from January 26, 2011 I needed to get some lunch before I watched the IMAX movie at the Hearst Castle Visitor Center and decided to try out their cafeteria (called the Chief's Galley). They use Hearst Ranch beef in their burgers, and I added bacon. It was cooked just right, not too dry. They serve the cheeseburger with a pickle and kettle chips. Unfortunately the chips should have been kept separate because they got soggy under the cheeseburger and pickle. I will definitely eat here again if I am at the Visitor Center. There was a special burger that had avocado and bacon on it, this was probably the most popular item. When I got there around noon there was a totally long line, and a wait while they cooked the burger, but by the time I picked up the burger the line was totally gone!! Weird. There 32 ounce drink cup is $4.00 and is a refillable souvenir cup. I brought it back and refilled on my way out the door after the movie and museum. I will keep the cup in my car so I can get free refills if I ever come up here again. read more

See all

If you are visiting Hearst castle, please avoid eating or drinking anything at the cafeteria. Either arrive with a full belly, or take-out food from elsewhere and eat it inside your car before entering. The cafeteria has outrageous prices for awful food. I got a $13 pulled pork sandwich which was literally two scoops of grease-dripping meat inside a hotdog bun. It made me sick and ruined the remainder of my day. My wife got the grilled chicken sandwich which was slightly better, but not really. And the staff people are rude and kooky. I had left the sandwiches with my wife who was getting ketchup and paper towels on the other side of the counter. The lady at the counter said the items only 'ding' when they are ON the counter. I told her, "The sandwiches are right there, you can see them!" "Nope, they have to be here." "Ughh" read more

This cafeteria food is a little bit over priced. I get it people that are hungry will pay for it, we sure did, especially if you come with kids. Try telling them to wait an hour for a stop somewhere if you have no munchies in the car. Pizza didn't look too bad and the little one seemed to enjoy it. The two older one's each got chicken strips with fries, ok now these I would recommend you stay away from. Not the fries necessarily but the strips those were really gross. And I eat just about anything people lol. I got a hot dog with fries that was ok. My sister got a chicken sandwich, that was actually pretty good. It was grilled with some rosemary. Now for all five of us the total came out to like $60 and none of us got any drinks, yup do the math. I really don't think it's worth spending that much for something we didn't enjoy. But kids have to eat. read more

It's the only place to eat once you're at the Castle. The menu is limited and overpriced of course, so choose wisely and go for the Harris Ranch 1/3 pound cheeseburger. Skip the saucy looking tri tip, mystery hot dog, chicken tenders, and anything on the Asian menu but don't pass up on the beer. At least that's available. read more

Chiefs Galley Cafe - 1/3 pound Harris Ranch all beef cheeseburger with fries - Cafes Near Me - San Simeon, California

Ridiculously priced food items. Star bucks iced latte- $5.89 (plus tax) Diet Pepsi small bottle and Haagen dazs ice cream stick- $10.60 (plus tax) To the management- I understand purchasing food inside are pricey however there is a limit to claim your profits. Be considerate and learn to cater food to all types of crowds. To all - try to avoid the food court..they are not worth it at least the food items which I purchased. read more

I had the sweet and sour pork over bowl of rice, I liked it. I think pork was deep fried first. It's like a food court style and they have salad and pizza on their menu. Oh and I think sandwiches too. read more

Chiefs Galley Cafe - Cafes Near Me - San Simeon, California

See all

I'm on a low iodine diet for medical reasons and needed fruit. Thank goodness for precut fruit salad boxes! A reason why this receives a 5 star. Just what I needed. Plus the box says $5, and I got charged only $2. :D read more

Chiefs Galley Cafe - $2 fruit plate! - Cafes Near Me - San Simeon, California

as much as i loved touring the chief's house, his galley/restaurant was nothing to ooh and ahh about. they offered standard american dishes such as pizza and mac 'n cheese as well as those with an international flare such as chicken teriyaki and sweet and sour pork. there were also boxes of fresh fruit and yogurt and granola parfaits for those seeking a lighter meal. i chose the chicken teriyaki since i was starving and was in need of some protein. for $8.95, i received a small portion of diced chicken, soaked in a ton of sodium (i.e. the teriyaki sauce), sitting atop a large bed of white rice. i ate as much of the chicken as i could, since it was somewhat decent, along with some of the rice, to balance out the saltiness. once the chicken was consumed, i threw out the rest of the rice that was still soaked in the teriyaki sauce. the galley was definitely VERY crowded at this time since it was about 1pm. i noticed that some of the food options were depleted since there were so many hungry guests! but this is unfortunately the only option since there are no restaurants nearby, unless you drive several miles south to cambria. my advice? bring your own lunch, or eat lunch before you come for your tour. read more

What's there not to love about Hearst Castle. All those walking tours will leave you hungry when you come down on the shuttle, just in time to enjoy the pulled BBQ beef sandwich. All the beef products are from the thousands of cattle they have on their own private family ranch. It's a tourist spot, but the beef is damn good. Their burgers are decent too. If you're not a beef eater, the chicken is decent, but nothing worth mentioning. In terms of pricing, it's standard tourist fare, but it stays under $10. Also, there really isn't a good restaurant for about 20 miles until you reach Cambria, so you better eat up! read more

Extremely disappointed but, what else can you eat in the area? Nothing!! The staff were nice but the food was horrible. We got the pulled pork sandwich and loaded potato with soup. The pulled pork was dry & had very little flavor. The loaded potato was under cooked, cold, and the minestrone soup was bland! Do to the fact of the isolated location, you have no other choice but, bring your own food! Will not attempt this cafeteria again in my lifetime. The seating inside is really bad too. 8 foot diameter table with 4 chairs. The table could seat a minimum of 8 people. There is a better covered seating area just outside but, it was in the mid 90's that day. Maybe we could have taken the potato outside to cook more before eating it? We will definitely be back but certainly not for the food. It will be for the castle tours!!!! The castle tours are 5 stars!!!! read more

Chiefs Galley Cafe - Pulled pork sandwich and loaded baked potato with minestrone soup. Looks good but, this time looks are very deceiving!! - Cafes Near Me - San Simeon, California

There's not much competition in the area so they don't have much to compete or benchmark against. To try, cafe's at similar type places, some are better some are worse. This place is in the middle. They have a reasonable selection, with burgers, pizzas and dogs. They also had an asian section to cater to the numerous asians that come to visit the castle. I went American. It was a bit like theme park food, the kitchen looked like you could create some wonderful dishes but it didn't quite live up to expectations. The cheese burger was ok, the patty wasn't that tasty but I've had much worse. At least it wasn't super oily. The chicken teriyaki sandwich was also ok. I only had a bite, the chicken meat was tender but there wasn't enough taste for me. To surmise, food that is par for the course for these types of locations. read more

I arrived early for my tour which was awesome. So I had an hour to kill before what I knew was a two hour tour and I was hungry and there was no where else to eat I looked at the Hearst Castle cafeteria. They had premade prepackaged sandwiches for about $10 which was outrageous . So I ordered a cheeseburger, thinking it would be made fresh. Wrong. The guy behind the counter pulled a bun out of a plastic bag and placed it on a plate and grabbed a cheeseburger patty with already melted cheese out of a warmer place to put it on the bun and handed me the plate. It was about $18 for cheeseburger fries and an ice tea. Cheeseburger was terrible, dry, And flavorless. read more

Overpriced and not that great quality, but what else can you expect from a tourist attraction cafe? I ordered the hot dog, which may be the best value out of all the dishes available, because at least you're not paying as much for the same quantity of food. The hot dog is good enough, just not worth the $9. The "Castle kettle chips" fall flat - they don't have any salt on them. My companion ordered from the Asian menu, which consisted of sweet and sour wings with rice. The rice was soggy and not good and the wings looked like they had been microwaved and tossed with sweet and sour sauce. My recommendation: just order from the American menu. read more

I'm giving 4 starts for their crispy huge portions of fries! They had adobo and it was way too salty. Lost of options for lunch... such as salads, fruit, sandwiches, pizza, Mac n cheese, burgers, and sweets. read more

My first trip to Hearst castle, I enjoyed it so much, the gift shop is a whole day in itself, we had,lunch in the cafeteria and the food was great tried the cheeseburger and it was great. Very impressed by the friendly staff and everyone just so professional i was very impressed with the whole day. I will definitely return. read more

Super expensive for what you get. A sandwich is $13 then add a drink for more. We ended up with a cup of lentil soup and a bowl of chili for $13. Ok but lentils were tough. Crackers were stale but the crows ate them. Outdoor patio is nice. read more

My last visit to Hearst Castle was more than 5 years ago. It seems like the price at the cafe had gone up quite a bit. We ordered two burgers ($12) and two hot dogs ($8) to share. They come with fries and pickle, but I asked to substitute the fries with steamed veggie on two of the orders. The burgers are clearly much better since the patties are grass-fed beef from Hearst Ranch. While the sausage in the hot dogs are too salty for my taste. read more

meh. what do you expect. its the only food place around before or after your hearst castle tour. the bbq place was closed when i went on a sunday. this place is decent. hamburgers, bbq sandwich, salad, pizza, and two chinese plates. prices are expected to be high. $10 for a bbq sandwich. i mean $25 for a tour ticket so i guess $10 isnt so bad. think of it as renovating and keeping the castle alive. then it makes the prices a bit better. a lil dry with not eno sauce. wouldnt really eat here again. did a quick lunch before the dream movie. support the castle. thats all. read more

Decent food, overpriced, great friendly staff....your typical tourist trap. I ordered the pull pork sandwich with fries.

We stopped by Hearst Castle to browse and needed to grab something quick since I was feeling lightheaded. Everything was just ok. Nothing special or fancy. If you can, I'd skip it and head to one of the local towns instead. I'm sure there are tons of better eateries. read more

Seriously overpriced food. Over $8 for a slice of cheese pizza? Clearly out to exploit a captive tour bus clientele.

Good burger as the beef is said to be from the Hearst Ranch. Value is par for a tourist attraction.

We ate the BBQ tri-tip in courtyard by Hearst theater. It was overpriced, but pretty good. My husband and I shared a plate, which held us over. Indoor cafeteria food didn't look bad, but didn't try it. Limited seating. read more

We did not buy a meal, but grabbed (much overpriced) water and snacks. Initial price for 2 waters, one can of tea and three candy bars was over $28... when we questioned the price, he re-rang it and it came to just over $22. His explanation was very sketchy and did not make sense mathematically. Buyers beware! read more

Terrible experience! The service was slow the soup was cold the hotdog was overpriced. It was $10 for a hot dog and fries. Eat before you get to the castle. read more

Poor everything! Bad quality food. Overpriced and rude staff. Go eat in morro bay or San Luis obispo