Galileo’s Cafe

If you get the grapes and cheese pack, make sure to check the grapes. I got a box with mold growing on them, and the staff’s only response was a curt «What do you want?» after I told her about it. No apology, no offer to refund, and I wasn’t even bitchy about it, but that’s pretty rude. :/

I was real hungry after work and had made a date with a girl friend to tour Balboa Park as she has not visited that often. I got here early and was just ravenously hungry so walked in the first food place I saw which was Galileo’s Café. I had found street parking by Reuben H. Fleet as it was crowded per usual on a weekend.
I think Reuben H. Fleet could have done better for their snack area space. It was a small cramped corner for the workers to operate about. I came here twice as my friend got hungry later so we dropped in again. It was cramped and had a bit of a line when we went again. The line forming was also awkward as people could come from three different ways to stand online, but after ordering you have kind of warp yourself towards the wall nearby the gift shop so people won’t mistaken you for being on line. They always ask but we had to clarify a few times we were just waiting for the food.
Panini was very thin — and barely had much. I experienced better paninis for the same price in NY and for a larger portion as well as a great amount stuffed within. I was disappointed a bit, but it tasted okay — just very overpriced. My hazelnut latte tasted okay. We had to ask for hers as it was getting busy and we missed them calling her name before.
So unless you’re just really hungry — I suggest this to be your last option. Was not really worth it, but if you’re starving hungry, grabbing something to eat is better than having a empty stomach.

Extremely disappointed! First of all, they are understaffed. The same 2 people are taking orders and then going into the kitchen to prepare the food. Second, and most disappointing, is the quality of the food. Terrible! The grilled cheese sandwich lacked much cheese and was served to us burnt. The server seemed surprised! The second sandwich wasn’t much better. Save your money and go elsewhere.

I took the two boys I babysit here for lunch while we were visiting the museums in Balboa Park. I have always had a great time at the museums, but the food here left MUCH to be desired. For one thing, the food at Galileo’s Café was incredibly expensive. I spent close to $ 40 on lunch for an 8 year old, a 12 year old, and myself, a 20 year old girl with a fairly small appetite. I expected it to be on the pricier side, being located within a museum, but the food and service were absolutely not worth the money.
The café did have a nice selection of relatively healthy food for adults, which was nice to see, but their kids meal options were awful. Of course, children are picky, but when the choices are chicken tenders, pizza, or a hot dog, there’s no chance of feeding your child a healthy, filling meal. For the price, both the children and I expected quite a few chicken tenders, that were of decent quality. This is not what we received. The chicken tenders meal comes with three minuscule Dino nuggets. I think it’s best said by the 8 year old boy… «These aren’t good. They’re just not quality».
To think I waited nearly fifteen minutes for the staff to cook these tough, awful nuggets is unbelievable. I couldn’t even purchase another meal to help fill the kids up, still starving after eating only three nuggets and a bag of chips each, as Galileo’s had managed to run out of over half the food on their menu, at only 1pm. One would expect they would anticipate crowds during the summer, even on a Wednesday.
I’m sad to say that, though I will return to the Science Center and other museums at Balboa Park, I will never again waste my money on the tragic meals available at Galileo’s Café.

What a wasted opportunity. The Reuben H. Fleet is squandering their snack area space here. Mediocre food ineptly prepared. Overpriced? Sure… but not just for the sake of the cost but because the food is just so very lousy.
But even worse than the food here is the poor attitude of the people working the counter. We came in twice today, dealing with two different individuals. Both seem to resent their customers and to despise their job. This snack bar must be where the Reuben H. Fleet assigns the employees they hate.

nope. even if you’re dying of hunger, don’t bother with this café. it’s in such a tourist spot that you think it should be better, but it’s not, rather disappointing!!! we were super hungry and just gave it a shot, shoulda just waited.

This place is awesome if you like spending $ 3.78 on a 16 ounce Dr Pepper. I gave most of it to my wife so she would have a taste of the good life. I wouldn’t suggest this place to my enemies. Next time I’m down there I’ll definitely go to the restaurant upstairs from the train museum because it’s delicious and has fair prices. I don’t know the name. The businesses at Balboa Park should be fair and should be a representation of our city not a reflection of greed.

Their are other places you can eat at the park but Galileos is right by the fountain they have freshly made salads and sandwiches as well as great healthy alternatives for the kids. The staff is always friendly and helpful. Coffee fan? Try the Milky Way it’s amazing! They have recently started making stuffed grilled cheese sandwiches that are so good and made on the spot. If you go to Balboa Park and you haven’t eaten here before you really should give it a shot you won’t be disappointed

Bad food, end of.
Ordered 2 hotdogs for my kids and a club croissant for myself. That with 1 soda came to over $ 18. I wouldn’t have minded too much but the hotdogs were quite cold and my sandwich was beyond awful. Premade and just bad all over. Stale croissant, soggy lettuce, dry cheese and meat. Please don’t waste your money here. I am a member so come to the science center often but I will never waste a dime of my money buying from this café. Feel a little sick while writing this!

HOLY SMOKES!
These sandwiches were worse than 7−11…no worse than that… like…something you might get in the «bargain bin/​expires today» at grocery stores AND they cost $ 5.50 each. Tuna sandwich was like sweet mush in my mouth. Mushy mush mush. And sickly sweet. Bleck!
Turkey sandwich was dry as a mofo. Nothing on it. Just two rubbery pale pinkish slices of Walgreens style «deli meat», one sad, crying, little wilted piece of lettuce, and two stiff pieces of wheat bread. All stuffed into an environmentally horrible plastic snap-​container.
With chips and one little drink our total was $ 17. Um. No. Next time I’ll opt for a hypoglycemic blood sugar crash and starve.

As a San Diegan, it’s very sad for me that this place exists. For a lot of tourists, this is their first introduction to San Diego cuisine. The Reuben H Fleet space theater can do much, much better. The premade and prepackaged garbage they sell here is almost inedible. I had the tuna sandwich. Not only was it «fishy», but the bread was hard, stale, and wet — all at the same time! The poor tourists next to me bought an entire cheese pizza. This was thin and covered with artificial cheese. There are a number of better places here in the park. Even the food carts sell better hotdogs and hamburgers.
Please don’t support this tourist trap! Eat elsewhere!

We stopped in here to get some ice cream after a couple of hours in the science center. The store was packed with customers. The store was clean, had a good selection, the staff was courteous and helpful.
I paid $ 5 for 2 big ice cream sandwiches. My mother-​in-​law had a turkey sandwich and enjoyed the entire thing. She is thrifty, as I am. The prices were not ballooned nor inexpensive. I would feed the kids here again. They even had macaroni and cheese!

YUCK! My pre-​packaged tuna sandwich tasted like tuna paste. Don’t eat at Galileo’s café which is attached to Reuben H Fleet science center in balboa park. I also had a look at what other customers were eating, and nothing looked remotely edible.)-: Galileo’s Café does have some outside tables on the patio, and that’s a good spot for people watching and resting, not far from the big fountain. Just don’t eat the food. Maybe try a drink? I had a water bottle.
Hungry in balboa park? Try The Prado at Balboa Park, which has decent food and a nice patio, or the hamburger stand between the puppet theater and Spanish village in Balboa Park. Or drive out of the park and eat at Amarin Thai in Hillcrest 1.2 miles away. A little further away is the friendly and casual Hanna’s Gourmet in University Heights (2.4 miles away), or Bronx Pizza in Hillcrest (1.6 miles away). These driving distances are assuming you are starting from Galileo’s Café, which is attached to the Rueben H Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.
I’m not sure why people assume that if the food is crap, it must be ok for kids. NOT! I wouldn’t feed my granddaughter anything that I saw at Galileo’s Café. You are what you eat. Don’t feed your kids crap. My granddaughter doesn’t like crappy food any more than I do.
I’m sad to report that the excellent Gro Café, which was near the San Diego Model Railway Museum, is closing for good! They used to have a great tuna sandwich, made from scratch, but I was just there today, and they were packing up for good! Goodbye Gro Café!

This review is just about the hot dogs. For us locals who want to munch on a hot dog and bottled water while enjoying the afternoon, you’re better off with the hot dog cart outside. The hot dogs served in this place are smaller while the prices are the same. The hot dog carts outside give you twice as much hot dog for the same price.

Meh, standard pre-​packed sandwich café, kid-​friendly. Staff is friendly, and the tropical iced tea is great, but there is better food to be had in the park at a similar price point. Try Gro Café for the grown-​ups.

I had the veggie sandwich and although it was premade, it was good. It had cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, and carrots. The sandwich was great except the shredded carrots were a tad dry. The price wasn’t bad either. It was 5.50.

If your in the area of Balboa Park and hungry I highly suggest this place. The ice tea is freshly made with lemon and the sandwiches are good too. They also carry Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream which I don’t see at many places. They also have a wide coffee selection.

seems to be the best bet in Balboa park… the food seems to be the same everywhere… but the prices are much better here… so since we are doing the Balboa park thing now… this will be our go to food spot.

I wish I had controlled my tapeworm for a bit longer to try one of the other café’s in the park.
I fell victim to eating at Galileo’s Café becuase it was the first place I saw after parking and entering the park. The food was blah and about the quality of truck stop refridgerated food. It wasn’t extremely over priced but it wasn’t cheap.
I had a tuna salad sandwich (soppy with too much mayonaise and on a hamburger bun??) and my dad had a steak burritto and chicken noodle soop. It was food. but it wasn’t great food.

For a fast food style café, Galileo’s has some healthy alternatives as well as your regular pizza, hotdog types of selections. There are healthy sandwiches, burritos, fruit, pretzels to choose from.
Lines are crazy long come afternoon and the wait for your hot food is anywhere from a couple of minutes to anywhere between 5 – 10 mins depending on what you order.
Seating is outside only as food is not allowed inside the center itself. On crowded days, it’s first come first serve on the seats but you can always sit on benches you can find dotted around the park.