Zoo Restaurants At Peak Times

[Shorts]

After commenting on my concerns on whether Marwell's restaurant would be adequate to serve visitors at peak times it got me thinking about whether any major UK zoos* have catering facilities to handle peak visitor numbers?

I've personally endured long, slow, queues at Twycross (tills too slow), Chester, Cotswold (always seems to struggle), Bristol (terrible bottlenecks) and Edinburgh (although to be fair the main restaurant was shut). Colchester's little and often approach seems to work reasonably well (and I suppose they can shut some of the outlets at non-peak periods)

Thinking about it the smaller places seem to operate more efficiently (less visitors? less enticing food?) but I'm struggling to think of big places that cope.

Any comments?

*I know it's arguable whether Twycross is a major UK zoo anymore

 

[pipaluk]

I have to agree on Colchester, it's probably the easiest place to eat, with so many outlets. The main restaurant has more seating, inside & out, though the quality of food isn't great & i usually go to one of the other places: it used to be the pizza bar before they changed that, now usually the wrap bar by the lake.

Whipsnades's main restaurant has woefully inadequate indoor seating, even more so at times when the other cafe on the downs is shut(though it seems to be open more often lately).

Cotswold's restaurant seemed quite large, but it was packed at lunchtime and the queues at the hotdog/chip kiosks were terrible. Lucky i went in for breakfast when i got there!

Marwell's is always packed at peak times.

 

[zoomaniac]

Poor guys. Staying in line for a long time just to get british (zoo) food...

(Not that food in zoo restaurants in other European countries is so much better, but at least it is eatible.)

 

[stubeanz]

I love shepreth but it's restaurant is the slowest I have ever come across anywhere on earth!

 

[TeaLovingDave]

(Not that food in zoo restaurants in other European countries is so much better, but at least it is eatible.)

I like the food at quite a few UK zoo restaurants on my recent trip to Germany I have to say the best food was at the restaurant at Zoo Magdeburg, although the food at both Tierpark Berlin and Zoo Berlin was very nice too.

 

[Maguari]

Poor guys. Staying in line for a long time just to get british (zoo) food...

(Not that food in zoo restaurants in other European countries is so much better, but at least it is eatible.)

Of European countries where I've been to more than one zoo, the country I'd rank lowest is Poland - almost everywhere (Wroclaw an honourable exception) had the same ghastly microwave burgers with more insipid veg and mustard-overwhelmed sauce than actual meat.

Most other countries are pretty good - the Czech Republic in particular is always reliable for food (in- and outside the zoos!).

In the UK, if you can get a jacket potato you're usually OK - anything else you take your chances! Yorkshire WP is pretty good for food.

 

[FBBird]

Zoo Restaurants....

Wroclaw is amazing -- we had Halibut which was really good.
Paignton is well organised in this area, as is Jersey.

 

[Indlovu]

Chester's food is excellent, but the new queuing system, paying at each individual kiosk, is horrendous and has slowed things down quite considerably. Queues were getting on towards the hour mark on bank holiday Monday, even with all hands on deck amongst staff.

We experienced a similarly lengthy wait at Twycross in October at the new fish bar, we had already paid and received no warning of the wait. Working in the restaurant was a young gentleman operating the tills, one person preparing food and one member of serving staff who was serving every single customer. There were also another four members of staff behind the bar doing absolutely nothing, despite about twenty tables waiting to be served at any given time.

As for Durrell, I'd agree that they're very efficient, but on the other hand they have very little traffic coming through. London is also fairly quick but a bit low in terms of indoor seating.

 

[chizlit]

I like the food at quite a few UK zoo restaurants on my recent trip to Germany I have to say the best food was at the restaurant at Zoo Magdeburg, although the food at both Tierpark Berlin and Zoo Berlin was very nice too.

Well that's something else you need to include in your report then!

 

[Arizona Docent]

Let me see how many zoos in the UK I have been to (and eaten at):

London Zoo
Highland Wildlife Park
Edinburgh Zoo
Port Lympne
Howletts
Wildlife Heritage Foundation

All of them, without exception, has better food choices than the vast majority of American zoos. Even on busy days (and I have been to some on very busy days), I never had a problem getting served in a rapid manner. (Note - the last one on the list WHF is private and only the tour participants are there - so that one doesn't count).

 

[jbnbsn99]

What's a "jacket potato?"

 

[TeaLovingDave]

A baked potato

 

[Davef68]

The quality at Edinburgh is really quite good, albeit a bit on the pricey side. I've not had too much trouble with qs the last couple of times we visited.

 

[Panthera1981]

I have to agree on Colchester, it's probably the easiest place to eat, with so many outlets. The main restaurant has more seating, inside & out, though the quality of food isn't great & i usually go to one of the other places: it used to be the pizza bar before they changed that, now usually the wrap bar by the lake.

Whipsnades's main restaurant has woefully inadequate indoor seating, even more so at times when the other cafe on the downs is shut(though it seems to be open more often lately).

Cotswold's restaurant seemed quite large, but it was packed at lunchtime and the queues at the hotdog/chip kiosks were terrible. Lucky i went in for breakfast when i got there!

Marwell's is always packed at peak times.

Whipsnade certainly suffers from a lack of undercover areas which, given its size, it could easily rectify without harming its parkland appeal. Theoretically, the Lubetkin Elephant House could also be made into some form of facility.

What I do notice a lot, and what the main restaurant suffers from, is the blatant refusal by some to give up their seats to others even though they've finished eating or aren't eating at all! There also seems to be a general ignorance towards the location of the Lookout Cafe.