Young Chefs Academy

I went there for a field trip with my class, it was a wonderful hands on experience, we were learning about the Five Senses, instructors were very nice and fun. We had Chef Ciara she was really fun and amazing with the kids. She knows how to explain information to Kindergartners and 1^st graders. There was also another instructor Jana she was also very good with the kids and read a book to the children as they were eating the yummy pizza. The kids had a BLAST and were very happy.

We came here twice for birthday parties. Both times, my son had very cranky instructors. I am very surprised that a place that caters to kids would have such irritable staff.

We hosted my daughter’s 7^th birthday party here and it was a complete hit. It sparked an interest in cooking, and later on she and my 5-​year old enrolled in a weeklong camp last summer. The teachers do an excellent job engaging the kids and making cooking fun.

I used to love this place when I first registered my child to summer camp. My child had a great time and the staffs were organized. However, this year I am kind of disappointed. They used to prepare lunch for camp kids and the menu was good. Well balanced menu. This year they still provide lunch but they did ask kids to bring their own lunch and this was not state in the agreement or email reminder. They have more kids at camp but staffs just lazy to prepare. My child said they have to ask for food and all they prepared was omelet.
Checkin and out is not very organized as well. In the past years, kids got to take food they cooked and show the parents. They got to take home if there is extra. This year, staffs distribute the food to kids and they don’t necessary get what they cooked. That defeats the purpose of learning cooking. If you don’t get what you cooked, then don’t bother to cook at all. After many years of attending this camp, this is first time I heard my child complained about the receipts. Way too sweet and salty. Someone should taste it before they teach. Also, this year they somehow used too many dishes and kids were joking they are attending washing camp then cooking camp! The main teacher is kind of mean too. She is not mean to the kids but just have this mean face on her all the time. That kind of scare little kids. Overall, it’s not organized this year and won’t return next year!

I’ve held two cooking parties with Young Chefs Academy in the past 2 years and in both cases the kids had a wonderful time.
The first party I held there was for my son’s four year old birthday party. Most of the kids attending the party were 5 – 6 yrs old. The kids made pizza from scratch. The kids had fun measuring out the ingredients, rolling out the dough, adding toppings and eating their creations. What I loved was that YCA cleaned up the mess! My friends (the parents) also had a good time because unlike many birthday parties for that age group, the YCA staff took care of everything, leaving the parents available to socialize.
The second party was for a school fundraiser. We sold «tickets» to a cooking event held at their locations. The kids made pizza and decorated cupcakes. The kids attending were 1^st and 2^nd graders, a good mix of both girls and boys. Everyone attending had a great time. I really appreciate how YCA was very accommodating to our group, not only on time but also price.

Based on my visit to get information about having my child’s birthday party here, I will never go back. The woman was rude, didn’t give us a tour of the place and was very curt while answering any questions. Terrible! Place was not very clean either.

A BIG Thank you especially to Brynna who works so hard and makes it a fun and positive experience for both the kids and parents! The staff in general are always patient, professional and helpful. My daughter really enjoys the warm, friendly and fun environment! Thank you!!!

I have my five year old son enrolled in the cooking class through LGS recreation where a teacher from Young Chefs Academy is teaching. I was sitting right outside the classroom (and the teacher had no idea i was sitting there). I just could not believe the insulting way she talked to the kids to keep them under control. My son has attention problem and thought this class would be good for him. A big mistake. The teacher clearly does not know how to deal with the kids in a respectful manner. I was so heart broken to hear her talk to my son and see the embarracement on his face. I will be wasting my money since I have several more sessions left here but I am not putting my son through this again!

I came here with my 2 year old daughter for a toddler cooking class. It was fun and she enjoyed it. The little ones got dressed up as little chefs and they baked a soda bread and every toddler was allowed to «help» in one step of the recipe. She really enjoyed and had a good time baking and eating the bread, but it was not really worth the money. You can easily do this at home or with a bunch of friends on your own.

We had my daughter’s birthday party here 2 weeks ago and had a wonderful experience. They made pizzas from scratch and decorated pre-​made cupcakes. The instructors were really nice to kids specially a young male instructor was very very patience with all 8 year old girls and their endless questions.
They also allowed us to use the front room so that parents can hang out and few of the friends who stayed back along with us had a good time.
Overall a nice place to have a birthday party where as a parent you can sit back and enjoy the celebrations plus get a satisfaction of having a birthday party with some unique activity.
I will definitely recommend this place.

Big disappointment. This place is really poorly staffed. For a place that supposed to teach young kids learn to cook, table manners and have some fun, the owner (or as it appears to be) didn’t show us she is really interested in working with kids.
During the ¹⁰⁄₁₅ minutes we spent there, the staff kept telling us we can not pay the $ 15 trial class fee with a credit card, and non of staff even took notice our young kid was so excited and ready to cook. We offered to pay the full 4 sessions after the trial or get cash while the kid is in there cooking. We got a very firm no, DMV style.
We will not come back.

My daughter has been taking weekly classes here for a year and we have had a great experience. The teachers (Selena is the main lead in our classes) are patient, engaging with the kids, and make sure every kid gets equal chance. They take the time to explain ingredients, make sure they practice safe cooking (washing hands after handling eggs), and even read stories while the food is baking.
I was worried that they would only make cakes and cookies but they also make healthy recipes that actually taste good! Today is banana bread with yogurt (and puréed cauliflower.). I’ve noticed they are also sensitive to the teacher kid ratios. Because you can drop in, the class could get large. At one point, the class was getting to 8 kids. The next week, they had two cooking tables and split up the kids so each kids got to take more turns. The room is also quite spacious.
I’m glad we have this place. Of all the classes we have tried (gymnastics, ice skating, soccer, dance), this is the only one my four year old consistently loves!

Signed my kids up for a summer baking camp. When I saw how crowded it was at drop off I was a bit concerned about how it would go, but decided to hope for the best. There wasn’t even room for them to sit and color their small apron. Well at pick up, the first thing I saw was another child burst into tears when she saw her mom. Even then I was willing to think that maybe that was just a kid with separation issues.
Once I had my kids in the car, they both said, «please never sign us up for that camp. We are not coming back tomorrow!» When asked why, they described not getting to do anything and teachers taking and talking too much. They were not even called by their names, rather they were referred to as «friend» or «kid.» There were several food items prepared, I’m just not sure how much they got to prepare. On the bright side, they did refund my money for the remaining four days of camp.

We have taken the summer camp for my son when he was over 3 and it was hardly ok, just passable. But I will review the classes for the 2 ½ year olds. I just cancelled my series. I signed up through the Sunnyvale rec center and have been looking forward to this for weeks. I am actually a chef, and really will just be teaching this on my own now. I just thought, why not go through the school and not do it myself for a change? Nope. They proved me wrong, sadly!
They provided no water or snacks for neither the kids nor the adults upon arrival. No instructions except to wash hands and get an apron. We did not need aprons, ultimately. We never cooked anything. We did not assemble anything. We sat and waited, did not meet one another, nor were introduced to the instructors (whom were a bit surely.) We folded up a tortilla to bake off and were read to for half an hour while they baked, but the stories were for way older children, so of course the kids lost interest, but the instructor was not pleased with wandering children so the adults were left to be stressed with this factor while waiting wondering what is going to happen next??? Clearly, nothing.
Finally, the children were given scissors and one by one a bowl of an ingredient to fill their baked tortilla cups (which they were not allowed to eat yet) so they could cut up items and that was basically the entire ‘lesson.’ That was supposed to be an hour! I also paid a non-​refundable fee for these ingredients that were very sub par. I threw it out and fed my kid something way better later, what a waste! He was so confused and ended up in a major melt down because he wanted to do some cooking. Just because he’s young does not mean he doesn’t want a lesson, but yes, it does have to be on an age appropriate level. Get your act straight and don’t just take my money for the sake of it. I was really, really wanting this class to work out and just have fun with it.
I overlooked the last round of summer camp because my older son is sometimes overly sensitive and it was his first time really being away from me with summer camp experiences, but perhaps it was your classes after all. I had the suspicions the instructors were not too caring or even really into it and I saw a familiar face today. I am a former cooking teacher so I know what it takes, and it takes a great deal of positive energy and some F-​U-​N. Cancelled and disappointed! I was hoping to even take summer classes again and that they would work out, but I guess not!

When they first opened they were pretty good, but clearly their business has gotten ahead of their capabilities.
Understaffed (and poorly staffed) camp weeks.
We will not return.

We had my son’s 7^th birthday party at YCA. They made egg noodles (pasta) from scratch. There were 3 people helping our party of 20 kids. The staff was friendly. Selena is great with the kids and very patient with them. The kids made their pasta and then ate it. So not only did they learn something but was had dinner as well. Definitely an interesting birthday idea.
The location has lots of parking. The parents can sit in the art room or watch the kids cook. I would recommend that you bring something for the parents to eat or drink.

Cute concept for a kid’s party. Came here with my daughter and they seem pretty organized. The place looked clean and airy and the kids had a great time. They made pizza and then got to eat it. After eating, a book was read to them. They efficiently served the cakes to the children (which it looked like you can bring your own). Not sure how much they charged for the birthday so cannot go into details but it is a nice space for a party for up to like 20 kids or so…

My daughter had her birthday party there this past weekend. We’d been here in the past for cooking classes, this is the first time we were here for a birthday party.
Overall, I think it went pretty well. Our group was fairly small — hosting about 17 children. They broke our group down into two groups. The «head chefs» engaged the kids pretty well, which was nice, as it allowed my wife and myself an opportunity to catch up with friends we have not seen in a while.
It seemed to me that the kids enjoyed making their own pizzas, especially rolling out the dough. I agree with the previous reviewer that it seems a bit pricey, but at the end of the day, we knew how much the cost was going to be going in, and it seemed like kids and parents had a reasonably good time. Service was good as well — no complaints here!

Like a few other reviewers have said, 1 star is the minimum I have to give, otherwise I would be giving zero stars. We signed up for summer camp thru the Sunnyvale Rec. Center. First off the class is $ 150 for 5 days, 3 hours per day. On top of that you have to pay $ 100 for supplies on the first day. That is just exorbitant– given that the kids take home one piece/​item/​serving of whatever they cook (and it’s a kid sized portion)…the cost of supplies for what they make a day cannot equal an average of $ 20/​day… (4 recipes, and not all are baked– for example they made punch (pineapple juice and fruit) and icecream pie– which consisted of an oreo cookie crust, ice cream and canned whip cream– REALLY? That is not a recipe that you need to teach! For what they learn, and what they get to taste/​bring home the supply fee is way over the top. This place is all about profit.
My biggest beef though is that they have no process for securing the children– there is no check in/​check out process– so anyone can walk out with anyone’s child. They have no count during the day of who is there or not– I asked! The asian lady at the front desk does sit on her computer doing something– while the kids are fending for themselves– she doesn’t have any customer service oriented manners– as others have stated, I don’t know how they stay in business with such poor service. There is an art class they have that ends at 4. The Persian Art teacher leaves at 4 sharp. And after that there arekids running around shouting and screaming in the front room with no supervision. The exit door is right there, and they can easily walk out. I was there early (for half an hour) waiting for my child’s class to get out– she did not go check on them or supervise them at all during that time.
We will not be returning despite the fact that my child enjoyed learning about baking, and that the chefs she worked with for the most part– she liked– they are young high-​school aged girls. But I do not feel secure with their policy on managing the children and ensuring they are safe and accounted for while in their care, and I don’t think the City of Sunnyvale knows this is how they operate… it’s a risk I don’t feel comfortable taking… if there was an emergency– I don’t know how they would operate.

My daughter had B-​Day party 2 weeks ago and it was fantastic!
We found this place few years ago thru my daughter’s friend’s B-​Day party and, I decided to send her for cooking classes for about 6 month.
It was first time I actually had our own B-​Day party and it was amazing that my daughter’s classmates all liked it plus their parents loved it as well.
I ended up spending quite a lot of money but it was worth it.
This is one of those memorable B-​Day party for kids I think.