San Francisco Zoo

This is it! This is the event I was the most excited for, and the event that made me start planning this trip!
And it lived up to, and exceeded the expectations I had for it!
It took me and my friends easily over 5 hours to experience the entirety of the zoo! And even then it was just, wow!
The variety of animals on show here is nothing short of extraordinary! As well as all of the little note cards and info that they have for each animal on display! There was very few animals without descriptive cards for them!
The sheer size of the zoo, a whopping 100 acres, was absolutely incredible! It kept going on and on with more and more to discover and enjoy!
This is definitely my highlight of the vacation! I cannot even begin to recommend this enough! It is truly an amazing adventure!

This review is for the San Francisco Zoo Cafe inside the zoo. You can scan the QR code and order online or inside or walk in or in the screens inside; however nothing in here is organized nor consistent, online they offered different prices and different choices of drinks, that they don't actually carry.

It seems faster to just walk in grab already prepared food and pay , however no one explains this to you. I placed my order on their screens , but I did tried first using the QR code, however quickly realized it wasn't accurate. They send me a message to confirm the order and another to let me know it was ready, however it was incomplete. If you order a burger or chicken sandwich they come with French fries but in the website it didn't say that so we bought extra fries...

The cheeseburger had NACHO CHEESE!!!! They don't have cheddar or American , it was ok but not my favorite. The pretzels were good & the lasagna was whatever, the prices are ok not too expensive.

Customer service was a mixed of nice & rude people like the gentleman cleaning and refilling ketchup he was very pleasant, but the guy at the register literally tells you "what you want" !!!!

The zoo is clean, is handicapped friendly, the parking is $13 and you pay at the souvenir store, they were very friendly.

The zoo is big and has a lot of great activities for children.

Well I'd like to start off that this place charges to rent wheelchairs for $15 unlike all the other laces in SF that we have been to that was ADA accessible.

Secondly, while seeing the animals were very cool, it was really sad to see some of them in singles when they should definitely be at least paired. I hope that the animals are having a good life but really, the oakland zoo had happier animals than this.

TIP: See if your work benefits gives you a discount! I got 20% off tickets for me and my friends :D

!!!!! I haven't been to the SF Zoo since I was a toddler (meaning, no memory whatsoever). Budget 4-5 hours to really see everything. Our group arrived around 1, took our time at each area and still wished we had more time to spare by the time we had to leave (closes at 5!).

MUST DO:
- Aviary before it closes at 4:30! This closes earlier than the rest of the park. Get up close to parrots free-flying around :)
- Penguin feeding session at 3:30, so adorable and educational. The staff are just lovely
- Amazon parrots in the outside enclosure-- they talk a LOT. Their little voices are so cute... Try to catch one of them mimicking the staff radio noise (bloop)

The Leaping Lemur food is very ok LOL. But I'll give credit that their options are UNEXPECTEDLY diverse considering that they're producing park food (Korean fried chicken?????? Ok I see you)

I actually prefer the SF Zoo over Oakland. So much more lush and clean and seemingly spacious. It looks like the enclosures are healthier for the animals. Even the footpaths throughout the forested areas flow so much more seamlessly and create an almost-zen atmosphere. For a Saturday, it wasn't crowded at all-- we could tour the park in peace, really taking in the sights. We noticed a central zone blocked off for construction-- hoping to come back once that's complete to see what else they have in store.

I was really looking forward to going to this zoo, but please let me warn you.

1) Parking is a hot mess. Arrived before 1pm and it was like parking wars in the parking lot. Everyone was fighting for a parking space. There is no one manning the exit or entrance and they have a very bad unorganized system. You enter and are trapped inside. You can't exit the parking lot unless you physically buy a ticket from the ticket booth that is NOT in the parking lot. This is at customer service area where you physically purchase tickets. I am warning you. It's a big headache if you don't know this information in advance because you can save a lot of time by just parking on the street and walking. I was lucky enough to find parking inside but realize what a struggle it was for everyone else therefore I am leaving this detailed review.

2) If you want a close up experience and plan on petting animals at the petting zoo, make sure you arrive before 1pm because they close the farm early and don't tell you this! We walked the whole zoo and ended up at the farm only to be greeted by a sign stating it's closed. Big bummer. Especially if you are paying $31.99 a ticket.

The park was crowded, windy and cold. The sun was out and I walked a lot but still needed to wear a thick jacket to stay warm. Also snack bar here is really overpriced.

I felt bad for the animals who seemed so bored out of their life. They must be feeling so lonely. Most of them were sleeping and I would think are depressed but idk because I'm not an animal psychologist.

Pretty crazy to leave the city and then have a full on zoo available at your leisure. It will be a trek, but worth it for these creatures. Maybe will come back with some sunshine to greet the animals.

I had gone here for elementary school field trips growing up, and now I've come to the stage in my life where the SF Zoo is a great option to spend time with my daughter. I haven't been here in over 25 years, and now I'm guessing for a good reason.

It seemed like all of the animals were sleeping when we went (10:30am), which was quite a bummer. In all honesty, there aren't many animals present in general, and the zoo is quite small. My highlights were the giraffes who were actively eating, the penguins that were actively waddling and swimming, and flamingos that were plentiful and making noises. I will say that there were plenty of zoo docents available if you had any questions, who were all very friendly and knowledgeable.

There's not really any shade, so it can get quite sunny and hot fast - bring a hat. The cute little train ride was down for maintenance on the day we chose to be there - disappointing. Also it seemed like certain paths were blocked off (for maintenance? Not sure). And the bathrooms I used were super stinky (think the stench of the streets of the Tenderloin) - like they hadn't updated it since my elementary school days!! Omg.

If you come on the first Wednesday of the month, and you are a SF resident, your entrance is free, valued at $28. A great deal! There is also plenty of free parking in the area, so don't fall for the $11 parking fee if you can help it.

Prior to coming to the zoo, I was actually quite excited, thinking of potentially becoming a member to bring my daughter here. She honestly didn't seem to really enjoy it either, and now I will think twice about going back. Definitely will wait for those free Wednesdays (it was surprisingly not even that crowded!), and when the train is in operation.

Great Zoo! Free for three days in February for Groundhog Day (Feb 2-4) to encourage people to incorporate a new environmentally friendly habit. They have done this two years in a row (this is the 2nd year) and I hope they keep up the tradition!

My favorites are the African Savannah (Giraffes, Ostriches, Zebras) and the Lemur exhibit.

The food in the cafes is pricey ($15-20) but large portions and tasty! If you came here in the past, I really feel they have upped their game in terms of food since I was last here a year ago. The cheeseburger in Leaping Lemur Cafe was delicious! I recommend Leaping Lemur Cafe over Pizza Station.

This place could be a lot better, looks like maintenance is struggling to keep up with it. Some exhibits were closed, it just looks wore down. Oakland definitely tops them. Gorilla also looked concerning but I'm not an animal expert

Visited the SF Zoo with two friends for the launch of their Sunset Friday (the last one of the year is this Friday), a new after hours experience. It cost $12 to get in and consists of live music, food, drinks, kid-friendly activities, and ambassador emails.

I'd never been to the SF Zoo before so it was cool to walk in and check it out. For Sunset Friday, only a limited section of the zoo is made available, with limited animals available as well. Flamingos were the ambassador animal of the night, which we actually got to see super close up, which was neat. There was also one bird area, and you could also see a zebra by the entrance.

Sunset Friday is definitely catered to families. The entire ambiance was really chill and there were tons of kids playing on the play structures. Beer and wine is available for purchase, which I'm sure the parents appreciate. We got two beers, which are actually really cutely branded to reflect the zoo. Food consisted of corn dogs, ice cream, and a guest chef that was actually whipping up some bomb looking crab cakes.

As mentioned, this is experience is definitely catered more towards families. We felt a bit out of place, but it was still neat to check out. I'd be down to check out the zoo again to see it in full, normal operations, but I probably won't come back to Sunset Friday (until later down the road and I have a family LOL)