Food in the Zoo - Highs and Lows?

[filovirus]

Apologies if this isn't the best subforum for this lol.

One part of zoos that I find incredibly hit or miss is the food. It's fun sometimes to go out for a nice long day trip and not have to pack your lunch or snacks... but it can feel like a bit of a gamble, even at otherwise great facilities! I've had some of the best ice cream I've ever had at the Minnesota Zoo, and I've also had some mysteriously stale pretzels with cheese dip that was only legally fit for human consumption. I am not proud of how much that pretzel cost, nor am I proud of how voraciously I consumed it anyway.

I'm autistic with some severe food-related sensory issues, so I am somewhat fixated on figuring out food before I go somewhere. I like to plan exactly what I'm gonna order and roughly gauge what it's gonna look like. But I've also found that a lot of zoos don't really list menus online!

So, my questions are this: What is food like at your local zoo? Have you had any notably delicious or atrocious experiences? Do you prefer your food to match thematically with the exhibits surrounding it (example: Tusker Grill in Omaha at least at one point offered some African cuisine)? Do you have any guilty pleasures that you know are gonna be bad and that you know aren't worth the money, but that you always get anyway?

If anyone has info on the food offerings at the Omaha zoo i'm particularly interested. I'm having some trouble finding menus online and I'm visiting the first week of November.

The Minnesota Zoo has a whole food court area with, last I went, the following:
- An ice cream shop
- Generic burgers/chicken fingers/hot dog/pretzel fare
- Pizza
- Some type of salad/greens shop
At least, that's as far as I can recall. As of 2016 they had an Erbert and Gerbert's but I'm pretty sure it has long since disappeared.
Outside of the food court...
- Several food booths near the outdoor bird show stage, though they seem to only really be open during late-night events (concerts etc)
- A snack-type booth in Discovery Bay, with dippin' dots, pretzels, cotton candy, etc- though this never seems to be open
- Similar booths out by the moose and carousel, but again, never seems to be open. This one sometimes also offers shaved ice and popcorn
- What was previously a super incredible ice cream shop out on the farm, though this has dramatically changed and on my last visit was super disappointing. Overpriced and underserved.

Basically every food experience I've had at the MN zoo has been dramatically underwhelming. Their food court always feels dirty and kind of abandoned... it's carpeted which feels like a strange choice in the realm of sanitation. I used to absolutely adore their ice cream shop on the farm but something shifted over COVID and now it kinda sucks.

Como Zoo has a cafe in the visitor center that offers a limited Starbucks menu along with general zoo fare- hot dogs, chicken fingers, burgers, etc. They also offer mac and cheese and a chicken caesar salad which is kinda nice! Unfortunately it's all SUPER expensive for the amount of food you're getting. The price you pay for free entry, I guess.

My guilty pleasure is soft pretzels with cheese. They always taste kinda bad and always leave me feeling a little bad about spending the money... but I love pretzels. Favorite food 100%. Any opportunity to put some artificial cheese sauce in my tummy, I'll take.

Would love to hear thoughts from others!! I think food is an often overlooked part of the zoo experience but it can really make or break my day.

 

[Tim May]

See also this thread too

https://www.zoochat.com/community/threads/poll-eating-at-the-zoo.485041/page-2#post-1412635




Sent from my Galaxy

 

[birdsandbats]

I always think it's interesting when zoos have a chain restaurant within the grounds. Does Minnesota not have an Erbert and Gerbert's anymore? I know I've seen a Starbucks at Saint Louis and I remember hearing one zoo has a Chick-Fil-A.

For the most part, while I do order food at zoos occasionally, it factors very little into my zoo experience - I just get something basic like a thing of chicken tenders or a slice of pizza, finish it up quickly and move on. I don't really care about the the quality all too much, and I prefer that I do not have to wait at all if possible.

Unsurprisingly though, the stand-out zoo food experience I've had was at DAK. They have a huge variety of food there and I did indulge in quite a bit of interesting foods there - shoutout to the curry corn on the cob in particular for being excellent and unique. I saw one food stand there offering a ham sandwich on a donut. I wasn't adventurous enough to try it but it sounds - interesting to say the least. One issue here though is that nearly all of the food stands in the entire park close at about 3 PM - so it's really difficult to get dinner there unfortunately.

 

[Bunnyrich]

It seems to vary incredibly from place to place. My own institution has a really good cafe, although that's also based on the fact we cater for events in the aquarium itself. I'm eating there almost daily. Pretty solid dessert bakery as well with some of the best sugar cookies I've ever had, all while being reasonably priced.

The San Diego zoo however when I was there was impressive. Fries with truffle, Au jus, etc- very good options, just expensive overall.

 

[birdsandbats]

Also, I seem to recall Smithsonian National Zoo used to offer bird nest soup? Or was it some other expensive east Asian delicacy?

 

[Dassie rat]

Also, I seem to recall Smithsonian National Zoo used to offer bird nest soup? Or was it some other expensive east Asian delicacy?

I remember seeing David Attenborough partaking of birds' nest soup. He said it tasted of nothing at all.

 

[FBBird]

Human food on offer in UK zoos tends to be rather poor, with a few honourable exceptions. Great was my delight to find an excellent halibut and chips at Wrocław Zoo in Poland

 

[Lafone]

Food in UK zoos tends to be focused around core zoo visitors which are families and kids. Menus reflect the sort of fast food people seem to like when out for the day and which kids enjoy...chips, sausages, nuggets, pizzas, 'brown goods' (sausage rolls, pasties and the like) and then sandwiches, crisps etc. And of course lots of different ice creams for the warmer months.

There are some exceptions (Chester has a couple of restaurants and cafes serving food themed around the zoo area they are in, for example), quite a few zoos do really good homebaked cakes and some offer other freshly cooked food.

This isn't to say all the faster food is bad if people want to eat it..the pizzas at Banham, Africa Alive and Beale always look rather good.

Quality varies but the core offer is much the same. If you go and read zoo reviews it's also the sort of food that is expected.

As mentioned in the other thread I don't tend to eat much at the zoo (though I had a lovely piece of cake at Chester yesterday!). I am however always on the lookout for good coffee and a few zoos now do good roasts and have milk alternatives and that's lovely. Lots have a standard machine with only cows milk as an option (that probably suits most people fine).

Overall I am a bit indifferent to standard zoo food so anything nice is a pleasant surprise.

 

[Strathmorezoo]

Food in UK zoos tends to be focused around core zoo visitors which are families and kids. Menus reflect the sort of fast food people seem to like when out for the day and which kids enjoy...chips, sausages, nuggets, pizzas, 'brown goods' (sausage rolls, pasties and the like) and then sandwiches, crisps etc. And of course lots of different ice creams for the warmer months.

There are some exceptions (Chester has a couple of restaurants and cafes serving food themed around the zoo area they are in, for example), quite a few zoos do really good homebaked cakes and some offer other freshly cooked food.

This isn't to say all the faster food is bad if people want to eat it..the pizzas at Banham, Africa Alive and Beale always look rather good.

Quality varies but the core offer is much the same. If you go and read zoo reviews it's also the sort of food that is expected.

As mentioned in the other thread I don't tend to eat much at the zoo (though I had a lovely piece of cake at Chester yesterday!). I am however always on the lookout for good coffee and a few zoos now do good roasts and have milk alternatives and that's lovely. Lots have a standard machine with only cows milk as an option (that probably suits most people fine).

Overall I am a bit indifferent to standard zoo food so anything nice is a pleasant surprise.

I always found the choice and quality quite acceptable at Cotswolds and better than most other collections

 

[Fallax]

I usually bring my own food to zoos since it can be quite expensive and the food is usually fine but nothing amazing. However, when I have actually sat down and had food at zoos before I have been pleasantly surprised. I had a lovely toasted sandwich on a chilly February morning at Berlin Zoo back in 2018 followed by a quite nice pasta dish at the Tierpark a few days later. The restaurants were also quite nice from an aesthetic point of view. I also had a pretty good curry near the elephants at Zurich in 2019.

As for some UK offerings, I quite like Chester's food. Some of the meals they do at the Islands restaurant are pretty good and a bit out of the ordinary compared to the usual stuff. Some are pretty basic though by comparison, Blackpool's main eating area feels exactly like a school cafeteria (though this was back in 2017, no idea what it is like now) and Welsh Mountain Zoo is a mixed bag... View from the Penguin Cafe is great but the food is honestly pretty poor for the price, but a lot of that is the presentation.

 

[elefante]

Detroit Zoo had some excellent French fries with sour cream, cheese, bacon and chives. They were hand cut and were like a baked potato. Unfortunately that was not there on subsequent visits. Other than that, I've found most food at zoos to be nothing to write home about.

 

[TinoPup]

As an autistic with a sensitive stomach I've learned to be good with a basic hamburger or chicken tenders. Other stuff, whether it's deli sandwiches or entire restaurants dedicated to different cuisines, is nice, but seems to vary a lot in the USA and is often not available outside of peak season. I prefer cheaper pricing, shorter lines, and drinks/food available at spots throughout larger zoos over the quality of food.

I do like chains in zoos because I know what to expect the food to taste like, even with a limited menu.

 

[cloudedleopard611]

I haven't had many awful experiences with zoo food. Its generally relatively enjoyable, but not particularly good. I suppose I have had days at the Saint Louis Zoo where the food is a bit off but that's inevitable for someone who visits at the rate I do and almost always eats there (only time I have not are when my visits are cut short by last minute call-ins from work, which does not happen anymore now that I work a job with a set schedule). I can appreciate zoos that give a variety of cuisines and base that off of the theme of the area within the zoo the restaurant happens to be in. The San Diego Zoo is a really good example of this. The thing that is kind of frustrating though is the portions. A lot of the time, the portion is too big to comfortably eat in one sitting. That was the case at the San Diego Zoo. Its unfortunate because it was expensive and actually tasted good, so I wanted to save it, but there really isn't an effective way to do so especially when you're on vacation. I ended up having to throw away a good amount of perfectly good food, which felt bad. I know a lot of zoos, including my home zoo do allow you to bring in outside food, but to be honest its more trouble than its worth for me. I would rather just pay the money for the convivence of not having to deal with it.

 

[BerdNerd]

Usually I'm too preoccupied with the zoo itself to take notice of any restaurants or food stalls that they may offer. Sometimes I don't even feel hungry or thirsty at all when I'm visiting a zoo or aquarium, so I guess you could say that when I'm at a zoo, the animals are my brain's primary focus. The long lines in the often blazing sun don't help either.

The only facilities where I actually remember sitting down and having a meal is Honolulu, Omaha, and Smithsonian. All three had your typical American fast food: pizza, chicken wings, potato chips- and were thus not very memorable. They didn't taste horrible, but nothing that made me stand up and get back into the line to order more.

However, from what I've heard, SDZ food is pretty good, but even after 15+ years of periodically visiting the place, (apart from getting an occasional ice cream or drink) I have never once sat down in one of their restaurants and had an actual proper lunch.

 

[birdsandbats]

Sometimes I don't even feel hungry or thirsty at all when I'm visiting a zoo or aquarium, so I guess you could say that when I'm at a zoo, the animals are my brain's primary focus.

This is something I occasionally experience too, during zoo visits or (more often while birding, which I do much more frequently than visit zoos). My body just seems to ignore things like hunger, thirst, needing to go to the bathroom, ect when I'm doing these things. It's a legitimate problem and other people that are with me will often have to remind me to do those things, otherwise it won't cross my mind until I'm done - which can often be an entire day. I've also almost collapsed a few times from somehow forgetting to breathe - perhaps not my best moments.

 

[TinoPup]

This is something I occasionally experience too, during zoo visits or (more often while birding, which I do much more frequently than visit zoos). My body just seems to ignore things like hunger, thirst, needing to go to the bathroom, ect when I'm doing these things. It's a legitimate problem and other people that are with me will often have to remind me to do those things, otherwise it won't cross my mind until I'm done - which can often be an entire day. I've also almost collapsed a few times from somehow forgetting to breathe - perhaps not my best moments.

It's because you're young I used to be like that, but as I've gotten older, my body will insist I need to eat or I'll start getting shaky (not good for photos!). Drinking especially, need to stay hydrated. I don't like devoting time to food stops at bigger zoos especially, when I'm trying to fit everything in, but I can spend the time or I can pass out and in that case the former is much more preferable.

 

[pachyderm pro]

I've touched on my experiences with zoo food in the past, including the thread linked above, so I won't retread old ground. However, this thread just reminded me of the greatest piece of zoo cuisine I've ever seen; the legendary Zoo Duisburg gourmet lunch! The epitome of five star dining in zoos.

@Newzooboy

 

[Jonathan Petersson]

From my experience, zoo food seems to be very bland. In the US you are just going to find the usual line up of chicken tenders, hamburgers, fries, and pizza along with a Dippin' Dots stand (It is really a US Zoo if it doesn't have Dippin' Dots?) Every once and a while zoos will have restaurants with a more varied menu but unfortunately often brings higher prices. Disney's Animal Kingdom has some great dining options from a wonderful curry restaurant to that delicious pineapple soft serve. I also found SeaWorld to have quite the menu which often comes with most theme parks. Cincinnati, my local zoo has a couple spots with quite good food such as Hops Beer Garden with great flatbreads, pastas, and other italian foods along with a Cincy favorite, our unusual Skyline Chili.

 

[Newzooboy]

I've touched on my experiences with zoo food in the past, including the thread linked above, so I won't retread old ground. However, this thread just reminded me of the greatest piece of zoo cuisine I've ever seen; the legendary Zoo Duisburg gourmet lunch! The epitome of five star dining in zoos.

@Newzooboy

Well remembered!! I had erased this debacle from my mind!

 

[Crowthorne]

I, too, have had the infamous Zoo Duisburg wurst. It looked abysmal, and was eaten in a covered dining area surrounded by very many small children, but it was actually pretty decent for a quick lunch when very hungry. When I was there in 2018 they had upgraded the plain wurst to a crusty roll (the currywurst was still a slice of plain bread).

The best food I ever had in a zoo was an October seasonal pumpkin/parsnip pie at Whipsnade Zoo many years ago, in the restaurant by the covered aviary/tigers; I only had it once and never saw it again on the menu, which is a terrible shame as it was lovely. London Zoo used to do a lovely chickpea curry but that disappeared from the menu a long time ago unfortunately. The fish and chips at Twycross is also pretty good, standard fare (they also have a Costa in the entrance building).