Annalisa P.
Yelp
It's been about 4 or 5 years since I went to the Houston zoo for Zoo lights during the Christmas holidays. One of my best friends and I decided to check it out after the pandemic. I believe masks were optional by then. I loved seeing the lights, unique decor and large signs. You can get your photo professionally taken at the oversized JOY signage.
There are many events that are held here throughout the year aside from zoo lights. I remember a while back going with church friends in the summer for their scavenger hunt with snow cones hosted by TXU Energy. I recently got to attend another event hosted by them. Feasts with the Beasts is adult only tasting menu event and held in the early evening. Many vendors participate such as Tumble 22, Sweetgreen, Nothing Bundt Cakes, several chocolatiers such as Cacao & and Cardamom chocolate, Gus' Fried Chicken, North Italia, Blood Bros. BBQ, Michael's Cookie Jar, etc. What's great is that they give wooden utensils in a canvas pouch and a very secure, recycled tray to carry your drink and mini food plates. I accidentally threw away my fork, and I asked for another utensil pouch for a full set. They were kind enough to give me another one. The tray held up very well and didn't fall apart considering it was made of paper and got soaked in the rain. This activity is rain or shine, and unfortunately it rained when my friend and I went. What was nice was that they moved the vendors inside the covered areas/exhibits and under covered walkway/seating areas. Since it progressively rained harder, some of the vendors did not show up or left early. Towards the end around 9:30 - 10 pm, they were giving away boxes of pizza and all the desserts. It was nice to see some of the animals at night, but the price point was higher at $149/ticket than the Tastemaker awards (even though I went free as a +1 from a chef friend). Tastemaker was more Michelin-ranked restaurants for $99 or so.
Then there's the gorilla treehouse. My work place rented the treehouse conference room for a team building event. The table was beautiful and grand. There were several TVs to view the presentation around the room. There was a framed window for the gorillas to come and watch us while we chatted. It was fun to see them. They would bring their snacks to eat at the window. There was also a covered balcony to view the gorilla habitat from above. There were private restrooms upstairs. We added catering for our event, and they served us fajitas, rice, all the fixings, cookies, lemonade and tea. The food was delicious. We walked around during our lunch break and got to visit the birds, cats, reptiles, elephants and giraffes. Before I left, I looked at the water/aquarium area with the seals. Love that cool underground water tunnel.
There are plenty of groups and schools that come here during the day or at night during Zoo lights. It's a great place to bring your kids. If you're not a fan of crowds and children then I recommend Feasts with the Beasts or another time where there aren't as many children. I've been to the San Diego zoo where it is grand, and for Houston to have a zoo in the middle of the city near the world renowned Texas Medical Center, I'd say it's a decent size. If you go often, you can save by getting a membership.