Busy Bee Cafe was a great way to complete our San Diego Zoo adventure. HOLY MOLY this was such a cute cafe and outside seating was overlooking the wildlife basecamp. The food was great, I loved my burger and the fries were amazing. Crispy warm goodness all in one. The sauce / spread they used on the burger was rich and savory. My mom had told me her burger was a tad bit dry, but overall she enjoyed her meal. I believe that for a zoo / amusement park, this was a really good burger. THANKS SD ZOO! read more

Busy Bee Cafe - exterior view - Cafes Near Me - San Diego, California

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I love SD Zoo food. This little cafe surprised my family on the price, food quality and portion size. Everyone thoroughly enjoined their food. The drink sippers were a great deal. If allowed us to get refills throughout the day. read more

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Busy Bee is a kid-friendly location with lots of kids playing around the cafe. My toddler loved their chicken tenders. I had the chicken sandwich which was also delicious. My toddler did not like the animal crackers that comes with the kids meal. I found this place easy to find. However, the zoo is so big that you can't just walk around looking for something to eat with hungry kids, so it's better to go where is closest if you're on the other side of the zoo. Service was good. Staff were friendly. read more

16 inch family pepperoni pizza was actually a decent size for 3 adults and 2 toddlers. I also got a Caesar's salad. Prices are... pricey, it's the zoo so I wasn't surprised. They also sell honey in various sizes inside! Membership discounts available and they ask at the register. Plenty of outdoor seating with shade (today was pretty warm!) and close to all the kids play areas. -- Update: Went back a second time and got the personal pan for $12.99. Just get the 16 inch because the small one is super small. In the photos for you guys to see! read more

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Warm welcome. The line moves quickly - good system. The chicken wings were delish! Although, I wanted the Nathan's hot dog with chili. read more

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Great location inside San Diego Zoo at the foot of the Skyfari Aerial Tram and near entrance to the children's water play area. Interior is new and feels spacious, and all seating is outside. Not cheap and Family Meal combo prices ($70+) including only 1 pizza or 4 hot dogs are astonishingly high and seem to cost more than the parts. We ordered a cheeseburger and skinny fries kids meal which was above average taste/quality for zoo food and came with a nice little zoo souvenir bag. Kids wanted some flavored honey filled straws so why not, didn't cost too much. Upgraded drink to the mango frozen lemonade....a bit sweet but probably ok given all the walking we did in the zoo. Hard to believe the San Diego Zoo has gotten so expensive with general admission but it is a memorable & fun experience for kids and lots of healthy walking for adults. Good thing we saw the panda this time (laid back & chomping on bamboo), last time they weren't here. read more

Fast service restaurant in the zoo. Got ice cream soft serve in a cup. They have vanilla and pineapple ice cream. It is soft serve ice cream from the machines. I got the swirl. It was good and refreshing especially after walking on such a hot day. Delicious. I don't know what smells so good but something here smelled yummy. They have lots of honey inspired item. Hope to come back and try some honey item like the busy bee honey bun. It is located inside the zoo in base camp and near the canopy ride. read more

Busy Bee Cafe - Ice cream - Cafes Near Me - San Diego, California

Was a busy day at San Diego Zoo... took 55 minutes to get my order, many people ahead of me got their orders first. I asked politely 3 times, "0h, I'll check" , "Oh you are 2d", "let me check", then I loudly said they had my receipt, my notice buzzer & still no food!! About 5 minutes later, I got my tray of food, my grandkids were hungry & I was irate! They need to reexamine their process. Many, many other irate people around me. That said, the fries and corn dogs were great. read more

My mind cannot comprehend a poor review for this place. Is it overpriced... YES YOU ARE AT THE ZOO! You are not at a sit down upscale restaurant, it's not going to be the absolute best for of your life. With that being said, as far as park food goes, it is top tier. There service is very fast. They are very friendly. And they make a great burger. The fries are also very good, very thin but crisp. The Double Trouble Burger can be made a triple for just $1 extra!! read more

Busy Bee Cafe - Double Trouble Burger - Cafes Near Me - San Diego, California

Worst service ever. You wait in line for 30 minutes to order food. You wait for another 15 for food to be made outside with a buzzer. You drink your drink while waiting. Whe you get your food you ask for a refill and they tell you to wait in the 30 minute line for a refill instead of walking two steps and refilling in 15 seconds. This makes zero sense. read more

Good selection, quick service! This is one of my go to fast service food places when I go to the Zoo

Is don't get stung by busy bee Café's prices just kidding what do you expect when you're visiting in amusement Park. Located near the Explorer's Basecamp and right off the Skyfari ride is an excellent place to grab a drink and a snack or meal. The staff are always friendly and welcoming. The AC is always on full blast which is perfect for summertime. It's hit or miss though with a margarita machines so double check before you decide that you're thirsty for an adult beverage. read more

Busy Bee Cafe - Cheers! - Cafes Near Me - San Diego, California

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Whatever bad reviews there are .. take them with a grain of salt. Our food today here was much better then expected. Yes you're in a zoo it's not for fine dining. My corn dog was much bigger than expected. The fries were great. The chicken sandwich looked very good, well cooked and fresh garnish. It's also not far from the entrance . read more

Great food for a zoo. If you are a family of 4 or 5. Order the pizza! It is so much bigger than what you think. Fries are decent. Ice cream servings are massive! My son was able to split this and share with his cousins. Margaritas are okay not strong and not worth the price by any means. read more

soggy nuggets and cardboard fries. very very bad. service was nice though and had lots of chairs

Overpriced food for zoo pricing Worst burger you can buy for 19 dollars Bad salad Bad customer service Every one is seem to upset Fresh chicken wings but taste average read more

Probably the worst burger in the zoo. For the 20 minute wait and the a$17.99 price, the two tiny patties of what did not quite look like burger meat was a disappointment. I'd skip this burger and get in and out instead. But the fries were good, the staff were friendly and the kids hit dog seemed to be popular with the 10 years and younger demographic. I would also skip the frozen margarita. For $15 bucks i was hoping to at least get a few colors and enjoy the adult version of frozen lemonade. But it was basically just like frozen lemonade with a questionable amount of alcohol. It tasted like they forgot to add the alcohol to this batch. read more

This small restaurant is located in the SD zoo in the new area for new kids zone. The line moves fast. They don't have a large menu. We came for just fries and a lemonade. They have kids sized beverages. Seating is outside only with all tables having an umbrella. It's a busy little dining area. It is right next to the bathrooms. Our fries were delicious, don't forget to tell them if you have membership discounts, the young lady forgot to ask us and I forgot as well so I was charged full price. I'd only be back if my kid wants fries again, otherwise there really isn't anything I'd purchase here. I wish there were more health conscious items on the menu. read more

Busy Bee Cafe - Cafes Near Me - San Diego, California

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Not only is it very overpriced, even for zoo food, but the cashier could not handle the simplest of orders and it took more than a half hour to negotiate a line of less than 30 feet. Then, they run a soda scam on you. The menu describes the normal, no refill soda as a "fountain drink". There's also a souvenir cup for $4 more that lets you refill for $2 each time. They have ads all over their cash registers trumpeting free refills. If you order a "fountain drink" you WILL get a souvenir cup and they'll charge you for it. And you think you'll get free refills at least but you won't because the free refills are if you order the super expensive deluxe souvenir cup. So, everyone thinking they're ordering a normal fountain drink is paying $4 more. On the plus side, their cheeseburger is decent. read more

It's hard to know how to rate this place, since it's in the zoo. If Busy Bee were a restaurant in a random strip mall, I'd give it one star, no questions asked. But I guess I have a slightly higher tolerance for price gouging at amusement parks and similar attractions. In a word, Busy Bee is a ripoff. There was some value meal for a family of four for $60! Salads were like $16. We settled on the $26 pizza as the most economical way to feed our family. Suffice it to say, I've had better $26 pizzas. Be that as it may, this is the only realistic option for the budget conscious. My advice to zoogoers? Eat outside of the zoo, or brown bag it. read more

We visited the zoo on a Friday, and you'd expect long lines and busy-ness everywhere but not here! We didn't really see anywhere else we can sit down and eat and enjoy our food that was kid friendly (2 teens and a baby). the service was quick! you order your food, take a buzzer and you can either wait inside (in the air conditioning) or wait for a table to be empty outside (plenty of seating!) the people attending us were extremely friendly and the food actually came out quicker than expected! all together we ordered a big pizza, a corn dog (which is MASSIVE) and two personal pizzas and a couple of sodas and an icee. we didn't wait more than 10-15 mins before our food came out and there just happened to be a free table at the same time (and it was clean!) Pizza was pretty good for being zoo pizza. a little overpriced but nothing unexpected at the zoo. the cups were aluminum! and kept the drinks pretty cool on a hot day. even though they weren't "souvenir cups" we still took them home as souvenirs and they're sturdy and keep drinks pretty cold. great experience and will be back next time we're at the zoo (i'd love to try their honey!) read more

One of most delicious food fare - burgers and kids meal with a few veg options. Only reason it is a 4 not 5 is because of extraordinary wait on Boxing Day. Service took 45 mins from order to receipt. Ambience is typical but they kept tables clean. read more

Great spot for lunch when at the zoo! I love the French fries here- shoestring and seasoned. Yum!! My son orders the kids cheese pizza, portion size is perfect. Comes with a kids drink, applesauce, zoo shaped graham crackers in a cute reusable bag. I get the veggie burger, the patty is made on site which is special. I appreciate all the employees here at the cafe. The service professionals deal with large groups of people and manage to keep the line moving in a friendly, efficient way. The eating areas are always clean as well. Perfect spot to grab lunch and some local honey! read more

Good place to get a chicken sandwich at the zoo. Depending on the time of day the line can be long but that is expected. Staff was great and kept the line moving. Sandwich was tasty and the thin fries hit the spot. Seating outside under umbrellas. read more

The familiar size pizza was $26 and was extremely disgusting, the cheese was blocky and not cooked well clearly.I do not recommend for people who sensitivity issues as the cheese is chunky.The service here and employees are also a little ignorant as well, I overheard them talking about their customers.The fruit salad was also $10 for only a sized box like this.Never coming back to buy again. read more

Busy Bee Cafe - This for $10 ? - Cafes Near Me - San Diego, California

Zoo food is like low tier theme park food. Over priced and not good. That said they have pineapple soft serve which is surprisingly pretty good and the sandwiches come with shoestring fries which are also pretty good. The chicken sandwich though is really dry. read more

5/5 food. good for "amusement park food" 2/5 service. Bad setup for ordering food, which leads to mistakes and poor communication between staff. I get that working in food service is stressful and quick paced. But no excuse for rude staff. Made my order wrong three times and the cashier had the nerve to say "what do you need now" after I explained to them the person who took my order didn't take it right (had to go back and tell them they forgot to add an item) and the person who served my drink didn't get the right drinks. Supervisor was not helpful and telling staff to hurry up on the registers instead of helping them. I wouldn't be surprised if this restaurant has high turnover because management doesn't help staff during busy hours 5/5 ambiance. Clean read more

$8 for a soft serve cone? Wow! Crazy! Get it in the cup as they give you more. Overprices

Went to the zoo on a field trip for work and decided to check this place out. It was a good burger and fast service compared to the other shops around there. read more

Busy Bee Cafe - Burger - Cafes Near Me - San Diego, California

The pizza was pretty bad, even for zoo food. Just barely editable. Even the kids didn't really like it.

I had one thing from here, the wings. Parmesan truffle wings and holy cow they were yummy. My mom and I got them to split as a snack while my son napped in his stroller. It came with an arugula salad on the side that was also delicious. A solid meal for one and a nice appetizer for sharing! read more

Rude cashier, with bad customer service. I would be a little more understanding if the line was extremely long and they were busy, but there was like 5 people in line. Once he printed my receipt he just stuffed it in my backpack. I scolded him for it but he didn't seem to care. read more

$7 for water down coffee. Complete ripoff. How do you screw up brewing coffee. Ask Busy Bee cafe.

Personal pizza was good but it was like 5-6 inches long. Other than that, the cashier by the name of John was very rude & condescending. I brought my family that was visiting out of town and he talked to them like they were stupid. We heard him being rude to other customers as well. We called the manager & guest services to file a complaint. He does not deserve to have a customer facing job with that kind of attitude. They need to switch his role into folding pizza boxes instead. read more

Complete chaos at busy lunch hour. Makes no sense to order and get the beeper but get in another endless line to pay.

We only tried the honey bun, but it was delicious! It was like a cinnamon roll made out of croissant dough that is then drizzled in honey glaze. 10/10 would get it again! My only issue with this place is that the hours are wonky. Apparently they close it if there isn't enough business. So it can be hard to find open. read more

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Super cute food here and I ate a kids meal to save money because I went on a high school trip here

I was VERY impressed with the food quality, portion sizes, and freshness here. Most Zoo/theme park food is nothing special but I can tell they put a lot of effort into this food. The crispy chicken sandwich is high quality, lightly crisp, and juicy, whereas the burger features hefty, thick pieces of bacon. The fries are fresh with nice seasoning and the fruit side is generous and fresh. Besides Albert's, Busy Bee has the best food at the Zoo! read more

Bagels good but staff extremely rude. I will definitely avoid going in there again even though I live across the road - the manager especially is rude read more