Audubon Tea Room

We had our wedding reception here and everything about it was incredible. First and foremost I have to say that the service was absolutely impeccable. Add to that awesome food, a beautiful venue and grounds, and lots of parking, and it was the best.

Went to a wedding this last weekend. The servers were aggressively /​abusively picking up just poured cocktails. I am sure that it added a substantial amount to an already pricy event. The room and the food are very nice. I have to call them on their business practices.

When I’ve been to the Audubon Tea Room, it has been as a guest at a wedding reception. It’s a beautiful room, quite large, with polished wooden floors. The ceiling seems to stretch up forever with a fantastic chandelier dominating the center. The food has always been good. I understand it is their catering that serves it. Plenty of parking, even when there is an event at the zoo. The back of the room has several sets of double French doors leading out to the Tea Garden. I can’t really comment on the gardens as the receptions have been at night. The bathrooms are always clean.

I went here for a very basic event. They have lots of parking, clean restrooms, and what seems to be an organized staff. The catering that the event had was minimal (chex mix and cookies), so I can’t really judge them fairly on the staff.
With such a large room, you would expect it to be really loud, but it wasn’t because the designer cleverly hid all of the sound dampening in the ceiling that’s designed to look like wood panels, but isn’t.
When the curtains around the room are opened, it’s a great view into the surrounding garden.

As my wife says: «your daughter’s wedding receptions will be here. Period.» convenient ample parking; the building is beautiful. The only downside is that you have to use their catering service. Not that it’s bad — the food is actually quite good, but its rather pricey. The bartenders know what they’re doing and mix the drinks strong and tasty. The room itself is a huge, circular structure with a very high ceiling. The room is surrounded with whimsical art and very impressive chandeliers. If the weather is nice, there is an entire wall of french doors that open into a patio/​lawn area in the back that is basically a large private garden. In my opinion, its one of the nicest event venues in the city.

Audubon Tea Room was the venue for an event at my job this past Sunday. It was a formal awards ceremony and the venue was perfect for the occasion. I was particularly impressed with the giant chandelier in the middle of the room.
The management staff and the servers were all delightful to work with, and when we sat down to enjoy the meal with the rest of the guests, the service we received was excellent.

According to the Audubon Institute website, «Audubon Tea Room is the most prestigious of [their] venues, with gleaming wood floors, soaring ceilings, silk drapes and an impressive series of double doors leading to the lush Tea Room Garden. Beauty and elegance is always waiting to welcome you and your guests.» Overall, this is a pretty accurate assessment of the space. (Which I guess is good, since it is the information they provide on their own website…)
It’s a large, circular room that’s host to all kinds of events, but I’ve mostly been there for luncheons and weddings. This is a magical (if, I presume, insanely expensive) place to have weddings (though the imaginary weddings I’ve attended at NOMA are prettier and more fabulous), and it’s a good place to rest for a bit during Zoo to Do, if you get tired of wandering around in search of food, booze and music, or whatever it is that other people do at this event.
This is totally a venue I’d use for an event someday. In the meantime, I’ll continue to enjoy attending other people’s events in the Audubon Tea Room, and perhaps I’ll see you there.