Scott A.
Yelp
I'm a big fan of the educational aspects of visiting zoos and try to visit a new one every year with my family. This year, because of the nearby Aquarium, I chose the Chattanooga Zoo. I was surprised by how small it was!
The zoo itself is in a ball park. While I visited, there were baseball games going on and every so often while checking out the camel ride - great fun, but quick - I'd hear the next batter being announced. It was jarring.
As far as exhibits go, there aren't a lot that really stand out. The snow leopard was great to see, but there was only one on my visit and it was laying down the while time. There were two jaguar, and they were awesome to see! The two bobcats were different to see at a zoo as was the coyote. The one animal that we watched the longest was the peacock. Several seemed to be in mating season and had their feathers out, shaking them. I've never seen that before and it was pretty neat.
For those that play Pokemon Go, there are 3 or 4 gyms, and a half dozen more stops. We got a lot of playing time in.
Something that set Chattanooga Zoo apart from other zoos I've visited was their single restaurant, Wild Burger. All the beef is responsibly raised! I ordered several meals to try out and was happy with all of them:
Pimento Burger: the beef taste was bland but the cheese was tasty with jalapeno mixed in with regular pimento. It wasn't melted, which was a bummer. But it tasted great all together. 4/5
Phat Pig Burger: this is a bacon cheese burger and tasted good, especially for a place like this. Basic, but good. Note the pork is not responsibly raised. 3/5
Kids meals were big with chicken strips or mini corn dogs. Everything came with generous fries.
Of course, it was expensive. But not crazy so. Less than $11 a person for burger, fries and drink (plus tax.) I've eaten at a lot of theme parks and zoos and I found that to be very reasonable.
Getting in to the park was very reasonably priced as well. Chattanooga discounted the entry price because I had a zoo membership to Nashville. The price, even without the discount, seemed right for the size of the zoo.
This was a nice place to visit once but I won't go back or make a special trip out to see it. If I lived in Chattanooga I'd probably buy the membership just because of the educational aspect and the hope that they get more moment to expand.