Safari Cafe At Fresno Chaffee Zoo

Food is really good and the prices aren’t bad given the quality and preparation of the food. Fire oven pizza is really good.

Fresno Chafee Zoo has upgraded it’s food and exhibit’s! The new upgrades are stunning and delicious. The zoo has come a long way in the past 15 years since I moved here from L.A.

This café is very organized and clean. The staffs here did a great job assisting us with our meals. It’s made freshly, which is a great thing about it. The price of the burgers were excellent for its taste and portion. (You’ll get a side of fries with the burger.) all the condiments are places outside. It’s easily accessed rather than going back inside just to grab condiments and napkins. The view of the safari park is gorgeous! I’m so glad it’s doesn’t smell while I’m eating. So great view and fresh air! The tables are cleaned after well by most customers, so no complaints are trash. Layout of the café is nice and simple.

Fine restaurant with luxurious design overlooking spacious lawn of animal landscape in outdoor patio with ample seating area.
Inside food serving area is accessible with various stations for grilled foods, pizza, & salad/​soup bar which features mac & cheese.
The beverage station is also separate but I would recommend water bottles that are plentiful.
Condiments including plastic utensils are on a shelf located in patio.
Bring a sweater in cooler weather as shaded patio seating can be a little drafty.

Wow… A café with wood fired pizza, burgers, garlic fries, gourmet made-​to-​order salads and other options… all reasonably priced? And with the most unique dining view in Fresno (possibly the Central Valley)?
That is what you find at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo’s new café in the African Safari area. It includes a generously large shady and covered outdoor dining area overlooking the rhinoceros, ostrich, wildebeest, and impala enclosure, complete with overhead fans and what looks like a fireplace. There is even a small couch seating area adjacent to the lion enclosure which is almost always filled with zoo guests.
As for the food… The garlic fries are fresh and tasty. The burgers are decent with a nice char flavor, but cannot be customized. The pizzas are my least favorite as the bottom of the crusts tend to be a bit heavy with grease. My favorite option is the freshly made to orders salads which have such optional ingredients as toasted almonds, chicken, kale, cranberries, quinoa, beets, Parmesan, etc. all for under $ 10.
There are also fruit cups, milk cartons, pretzel cups and other kid-​friendly options.
I used to end a zoo visit when the kids got hungry for lunch. With this new awesome dining option at the zoo, we can stay and enjoy a healthy and affordable lunch.

We have a family annual pass to the zoo thanks to an awesome family friend that gave it to us for Christmas! While walking around the new African Exhibit, it was impossible to not smell the amazing food cooking here. I knew we had to try it out.
I was dumbfounded at the selection of food here. This is not zoo food! I had sliders and they were amazing. Tri tip topped in cole slaw in between house buns. I would come to the zoo just to eat this again.
I plan to keep this review as an open running document so check back for more!

I was pleasantly surprised that this café was not over priced for second rate food similar to how other theme park/​attractions are. The food was good and definitely did not break the bank, plus the view is amazing in the new safari expansion to the zoo.

As far as zoo food goes, this café is a real winner. To be sure, pretty much any food would taste good while sitting in a South-​African themed lodge and staring out onto a savanna teaming with herds of wild animals. But, the Safari Café really does have great (almost gourmet) food like you would expect to find in the likes of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There are five different sections you can enjoy, including a salad bar, burger bar, wood-​fired pizza station, a deli, and an ice cream & coffee bar. All of the food we had tasted great. There was also free wifi and (very) ample seating. The dining experience is so pleasant here, it really makes you want to stay for the day and enjoy everything the zoo has to offer. Not many zoos can say that about their restaurants.
The one thing I would add would be local beer and wine. There are so many great breweries and vineyards in the Fresno area, and nothing would make a warm Fresno evening better than sitting under the Kopje Lodge with a cold beer.
In summary, the next time you are at the Chaffee Zoo (and you should visit soon!), walk a little past the old snack bar and enjoy some great food!

This zoo and its food avenue is definitely world class! It makes Disneyland’s/Sea World/​Universal Studios/​other zoos’s food avenue almost ghetto when compared. I thought it was amazing how Fresno Chaffee Zoo now offers gourmet selection of food. Their new food avenue allows patrons to choose what they like to eat at individual food counters where they get to put out an order, and pick up their food followed by a selection of fountain and bottled drinks, then finally make their way to the payment counter– its a cafeteria style of ordering. Patrons then get to walk to the gorgeous dining area where they are able to dine, relax and enjoy the african savannah view as they munch away.
The offerings of food now offers an assortment of gourmet new american cuisine. Such as Angus burger with fries, brick oven pizza’s, artisanal salads, build your own salads, seasonal soups, gourmet sandwiches, and so much more. The zoo is yet to offer ethnic selection such as Chinese food, and Korean food, nevertheless they are outstanding as it is. The standards were so high, that its quite comparative to the Cindy’s waterfront café at Monterey Bay Aquariums. While the quality has inflated in class, the price hasn’t. The price is very affordable, with food priced under $ 10 per serving, and each serving is quite generously portioned. For those of us taking our kids in the morning and need a coffee or drink fix, they even offer a wonderful coffee area near the gift shop, and caffe latte is as low at $ 3.50.
The new Kopje Lodge offers an aesthetically pleasing seating layout almost mirroring a luxurious resort atmosphere in the african savannah, allowing patrons like me to rest and take a bite, while overlooking the luscious wide savannah, where animals are in the natural state. There were countless resort style table and chairs at the Kopje Lodge– finding a seat isn’t an issue here, even when it does get crowded.
I tried their Angus beef burger basket for $ 6.99, very affordable first of all, and the portion was really generous for the price, it was a large square container half filled with its jumbo size burger and half filled with crispy steak fries. I honestly thought I would be paying more, since fun parks and tourist traps always charge a higher margin, however for what I would pay here, is basically what I would be paying outside, so I honestly thought the price was really affordable for a zoo/​fun park. I mean have you been to San Diego zoo or Monterey Bay Aquariums and paid $ 15 for the same thing? Well I have.
Overall great job with the new Safari Café ! Beautiful Interior, delicious new gourmet food, affordable pricing, and a unique experience altogether, I am beyond impressed! and did I forget to mention Free wifi too? Just wow Fresno Chaffee Zoo !