The Patio at Cafe Brauer

It’s nice to sit at patio area. Nice pond and park view!! We shared two different salads and hummus dip. Salad green wasn’t that fresh and just lettuce, no variety of veggies. Don’t expect food too much.

I have been to Cafe Brauer many times over the years while visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a great spot to get away from the masses of school and day camp groups. 😁 First and foremost, the patio is located at the Nature Wildlife Boardwalk on the South Pond, so the view is amazing. We were seated right away and the server was great. We ordered the Summer Berry Salad and Baja Fish Tacos. The service was quick, the food was yummy and the service was super. The cafe has brunch on the weekend and will need to try it out.

HAPPY HOUR WITH A VIEW 🌄@patioatcafebrauer 📍 Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago What a great way to enjoy the sun with a nice view and live music 🎵. Had the best time drinking their house Patio Mule (tart & refreshing) and margarita (got the original but they also have strawberry, peach, mango, or wild berry) # sponsored (more on Instagram @midwestmunching) Biggest highlights for food was their shrimp ceviche, market salad , chicken tacos & house chips. Shrimp ceviche came with tomato & avocado, nice and light. Market salad was huge as you can see here - added grilled shrimp . They mixed the ranch in their which made every bite just tasty! Chicken tacos had a nice flavor throughout, came with pico de gallo, cabbage, and fresh pineapple. Which kept the tacos light And their house chips. WOW I can eat these all day. Nice thick cut & double fried till super crispy. We also ordered their burger (super juicy as you can see), fries & fruit cobbler 😋

The chicken tacos were nice but nothing to write home about. I enjoyed the Prickly Rabbit cocktail and of course the view. Thankful for the shade on a sunny day! Service was relaxed and friendly on a weekday afternoon.

The server changed the tip amount and hesitated to give out our receipt. Unprofessional. Makes people wonder how many times these types of “mistakes” happened to customers.

Food was really good!!!

This was an amazing stop on my road trip. Loved my puppies were able to hang with us.

Eating lunch at the patio every summer has become a yearly tradition for my mom and I. It's a beautiful spot, service is always good, and the food is very good. They change the menu each year slightly it seems, so it's hard to have a favorite item. If you're going to the zoo, make sure to check this spot out.

This was a very cute cafe. They had many choices for your sweet tooth The coffee was fresh and delicious I liked the area and surrounding neighborhood There was a lot of parking options The staff was friendly and busy . It was order and sit down with your number and you will be served I plan on trying this cafe again

Went here for bunch, and all I have to say is $18 for bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast I'd pay for! Just not at this place. Y'all, just use fresh eggs! Why are we using powdered eggs when this plate is 18 dollars?

In terms of food, I would give this restaurant 5 stars-it was delicious. But the service was pretty bad. The waitress missed an item on our order, and mumbled everything. The food took 30 minutes-people who were seated after us got their food before us. The view of the pond is nice, but honestly the service quality really bugged me, and as good as the food was, I wouldn't come back here.

HAPPY HOUR WITH A VIEW @patioatcafebrauer Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago What a great way to enjoy the sun with a nice view and live music . Had the best time drinking their house Patio Mule (tart & refreshing) and margarita (got the original but they also have strawberry, peach, mango, or wild berry) # sponsored (more on Instagram @midwestmunching) Biggest highlights for food was their shrimp ceviche, market salad , chicken tacos & house chips. Shrimp ceviche came with tomato & avocado, nice and light. Market salad was huge as you can see here - added grilled shrimp . They mixed the ranch in their which made every bite just tasty! Chicken tacos had a nice flavor throughout, came with pico de gallo, cabbage, and fresh pineapple. Which kept the tacos light And their house chips. WOW I can eat these all day. Nice thick cut & double fried till super crispy. We also ordered their burger (super juicy as you can see), fries & fruit cobbler

Not a bad atmosphere after walking around the park and the outside seating offers a really nice view of the water and people walking by. The seating situation was a little confusing, not sure if it was due to Covid or not but I wasn't sure if we needed to be seated at the hostess stand or just to seat ourselves so it was kind of a first come, first serve for tables and it was a little awkward to manage during the height of lunch time. We got the patio burger and the carne asada tacos. My husband isn't a big fan of sauces so the tacos came with just the meat and hot sauce on the side. The meat itself was pretty good though. My burger was decent and I liked the house chips that it came with. The sweet pickles on top were a little strange to me and I wasn't really a fan. Pretty much your basic little patio restaurant in the park. It was decent and convenient but not a huge deal to go to again the next time we visit.

Very shaky food, quite mediocre in fact. Everything is "pretty bad," but the views and patio are nice. Sometimes there's insanely loud music playing making it impossible to talk to people, even if they are inches away. Keep this in mind. Service is okay.

The only thing good about this place is the view. Everything else is shabby and run-down, in my opinion. Here's an example: The website says they're open most nights till 9PM. It also has a link to make reservations. You'd have to hunt around on Google to try and find a phone number. 1) The restaurant officially closes at 7, but often staff choose to close the kitchen earlier so they can start their commute earlier (their words, not mine)*. 2) The reservation link is broken. 3) No one answers at the phone number, other than an automated recording for the restaurant management company that has the contract to run this place. I tried going here three times before I caught them at one of their unpredictable hours of operation. * P.S. The sign outside the restaurant says they close at 6PM. If someone invested a little time in this place and updated the info to be consistent, they could avoid all this needless confusion. Another example of how shabby this place is: the menu says they have a rotating selection of beers on tap. Guess what. The taps are there but not being used. Just bottle selection. Why? My guess is management doesn't want to invest in the maintenance. Why should they? I would guess they're raking in the cash from unsuspecting folks wowed by the view. The view is stunning, but you can do yourself a favor and avoid wasting time, being disappointed, and spending a fair amount of cash by just finding a bench or walking around the park yourself. The food is ok. The guacamole isn't from a powder, but underseasoned. Don't ask for the salt, as it's caked shut. The servers are trying their best, but are really just going through the motions. Had to ask multiple times for water while they talked among themselves. Yes, these are first-world problems. But also yes, you freely chose to browse this free website that's about posting opinions of businesses. And in my opinion, this restaurant is run-down.

I've been to The Patio at Cafe Brauer a few times now. Once for dinner with my family two years ago, brunch and last night. After last nights experience I think a review is needed. The view and ambiance of the place score a 5/5. It's a gorgeous view looking at the skyline over the pond. The seats are fairly comfortable and it feels like you're in a very secluded place. Unfortunately that's the only thing really going for The Patio. The service is fairly blah and nothing special. I will say that it makes you feel like you're in vacation because they seem to be on vacation time. The food is a bit sad. The menu has changed over the years I'm sure due to food costs, etc but even the items that have stayed on the menu don't taste quite the same. I've ordered the turkey burger twice now and this most recent time - last night - was terrible. It was sooo incredibly dry that I asked for more aioli and really that didn't do much to mask the bland, dry flavor. The fries were good but clearly frozen from a bag. The rest of my dinner mates last night felt the same about their food. Bland. Plain. Nothing special. The theme of previous reviews- nothing special about the food but the views is nice- will remain true as long as the patio continues to coast on the good views instead of priding itself on a well designed, flavorful menu.

Fabulous place. Great views in Lincoln Park Zoo. Drinks and food are reasonable. Live music several days a week from 5:30-7:30 with live music. I'll definitely return!

Four stars for the Training Manager who politely apologized that the Cafe will not open until April 29, 2017 when I tried to eat lunch here today. They are training their staff. I was given a new menu (paper) and he wrote the opening date on the top. The food sounded great and there are many options that I would like to try such as the steak nachos, the cuban sandwich, the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich with tomato, bibb lettuce on a toasted brioche bun, or the blueberry crisp! Extensive wine and cocktail menu. The training manager, Derek said that a music school located in Lincoln Park will be performing live music every Wednesday (after April 29, 2017) and will include jazz (live music 5:30-7:30 pm). He also stated that there will be cocktail specials on Wednesdays from 5:30-7:30 pm.

SKIP this place. Last meal when my grandmother and mom were visiting and so disappointed. It was a Friday at lunch time, place was packed. No biggie, I figured because the weather was nice, it's literally outside one of the zoo entrances and plenty of tourists in town. We waiting 15 min; they can text you when your table is ready so we walked around the pond. I'll give the benefit of the doubt since I've been once but the service was awful. They gave a burger to the guy at the table next to us then came back and took it right from under him saying they needed to remake it. I watched, he waited a LONG time. We were seated, hungry and thirsty and never greeted by a server. Several different servers took care of the neighboring tables, looked at us and walked away. I had to get up myself to ask for a server and also get ourselves a water carafe. We just got the steak chili nachos to share; also a hard pass. Cheese was bleh. Steak chili and guacamole were good though. Overpriced place for food. The only nice thing would be to sit outside on the patio on a good day

I have been to Cafe Brauer several times over the past few months and the staff wears masks, menu offered using your scanner on your phone, social distancing enforced and you can't beat the food and the view of our skyline is gorgeous! Check it out.

We had such high hopes for this place. It has a gorgeous location overlooking the pond with a great view of the city skyline in the distance. We were seated right away, but then waited for over 10 mins while we watched the person who identified himself as our waiter just stand around and talk with other staff without even bringing us water. We tried to get his attention several times to which he made eye contact and ignored us. Finally we got up and left. It was not busy time either. Shouldn't have ignored the other poor reviews about terrible service here.

We ate outside at the patio while it was drizzling. Love the scenario and our waitress. Our waitress was very friendly. It was basically fenced in so I felt ok eating outside with my kids. I ordered a steak chili nachos salad and it was huge. Will order again. My husband likes his tacos. My son wasn't a fan of his Mac and cheese but loved their fries. Their cookie skillet with ice cream was good. Definitely will come back. We also discovered free parking and can get into the zoo after eating!

Exceptionally nice location Friendly waiters Decent food

If you want to sit down and eat, take a load off, enjoy your friends and/or family while at the Zoo, this is the place. It sits a bit off the beaten zoo path, directly on Stockton, beside water with beautiful views of the city. After many trips here, I like it. 1. We've had INCREDIBLE service and Meh service. Lately, they've really really picked up their game. On a trip in during the pre-fourth week, the service was excellent. We were seated quickly, our server was great, etc.. 2. The menu. Given the location of Cafe Brauer and the fact that it is part of the zoo, the menu is pretty good. It is a rounded Pub menu; burgers, salads, paninis, wings, guac- etc. There are also a few desserts. I tried the Beef and Cheddar Panini. It was A-Okay. 3. The bathrooms. The bathrooms are located inside and often have a line. ***Accessibility Thoughts*** All servers and seating were accommodating to our needs. On one trip to this establishment, the location of the bathroom made it difficult to reach. A door needed to be unlocked as it was easiest to roll the member of our party in from the outside to get closer. That took quite awhile, the bar staff ignored feverent knocking. After this hullabaloo (and weaving through a packed bar area), the line for the restrooms (2) was very long. It was not ideal. However, the situation may have changed. Given this situation, plan ahead :) .

Official last day of summer and another wonderful visit to the Patio at Cafe Brauer! The restaurant is quite busy and their always pleasant staff is working hard, and successfully, to keep all patrons happy. I had the Black Bean Burger which is always excellent. We were also able to bring our dog who thoroughly enjoyed having his own water dish supplied by the cafe! Kudos, Patio of Cafe Brauer! Another perfect visit!!

Food is bland and dull. I guess since options are limited inside the zoo, they feel they don't have to try. We had the brunch... no garnishes on the plates... bare and unappetizing. No seasoning on eggs or the hamburger patty... not even salt. Wait staff was mediocre. It was a sunny fall day, and there were so many bees (yellow jackets?) on the patio, that we had to move inside. There was zero evidence of any attempt to get rid of the bee problem. I give it two stars for the view.

Friendly waitstaff, nice menu items, nice food. Nice ambience, try the beer on tap. It would be nice to have more choices for coffee and deserts.

They get a star for the patio being on s pond... that is the only reason to be here. The food we had was awful! The buffalo cauliflower was a soggy mess and the nachos reminded us of something you could get at speedway or Wendy's. The food quality was definitely low compared to the cost.

This place is confusing, and I think the servers were confused as well. You can walk up and get a drink at their outdoor bar/station/set up but it's just a walk up bar, not the kind you sit at. So then there are also tables and people being served. Do we seat ourselves? Do we go inside and see a hostess? Do we get drinks at this walk-up bar and then just sit, or are we then wasting a table in someones section drinking drinks we just paid for already? After we decided to just sit and see what happens, a server came over and got our drink orders. Shortly after that a different server showed up apologizing for not having helped us yet, as if no one had waited on us at all. Confusing. Nice little stop-off after or before the zoo though, great views.

Sat outside and had the best brunch and bloody Mary's. Light salads and sandwiches before a stroll next door at the zoo.

After we snagged a great parking spot across the street, my mom and I decide to check out this cute little place because of its great location. Seated right on a beautiful little pond with a great view of the city, it's the perfect little oasis nestled right by Lincoln Park Zoo. We ordered the cheese platter as a starter and it was delicious- especially while enjoying a glass of wine and the great view. Our waitress was extremely accommodating as we mulled over the menu as we ate our cheese. My mom and I ended up settling on splitting a pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries and macaroni and cheese as sides. We loved the sandwich (the coleslaw on it was a nice touch), enjoyed the fries, but thought the Mac and cheese was mediocre at best. However, the cookie skillet for dessert made up for it- a sizzling hot chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzle. Definitely a great way to end the meal. Overall, a spot with great ambiance, food, and service.

Good food even for vegetarians (impossible burger). Love the view of the pond. The staff is great especially our favorite waitress Chiquy

Well, I am kind of sad. I loved The Patio at Cafe Brauer the first few years. Of course it is still a beautiful setting. But they have changed the menu and eliminated some of the best things (e.g. the flatbread pizzas) and the prices seem to have gone way up ($18 for a burger and chips? $5 for iced tea? Really?). Service is spotty and inconsistent; it really depends on the server. There used to be a manager on site always, not sure if (s)he still is. I will still go occasionally, just because I love the setting and like to support Lincoln Park Zoo but I am no longer a big fan (Oh and they stopped taking reservations through OpenTable - or at all!)

Number 1 pet peeve in a restaurant. NEVER assume your guest is finished unless they tell you. Cafe Brauer has such an amazing location and yet continuously drops the ball on service. I come here because it's close to my house and I love the pond. However there has only been one time where service was passable. Today everything started off great, my server did me a favor and grabbed the WiFi password, he took my drink order and dropped it off. 25 min later he came back to ask me if I wanted anything else. That didn't bother too much because I did tell him I had a lot of work to do. Then I ordered. No check back and no offer of another beverage (which I ordered) (What I did notice was the lady sitting at the table next to me looking around for water, got irritated, and left. The staff was just hanging out inside, perfect example of service doesn't end just because someone pays) Then when I asked for a box from the manager, he was the quickest he was the entire time and just dropped off the check. No "hey would you like anything else" I must have made a face because he tried to back track and at that point I didn't want to stay. I was thinking about dessert and possibly another cocktail. Shame, I'll start looking elsewhere for a new patio spot. I honestly don't blame the server too much, I blame the managers for not helping and inspiring their staff. With the amount of bad service, it isn't bad eggs, it's bad leadership.

We stopped in originally just to grab something cold to drink and sit in the shade because it was hella hot today. After sweatin' up a storm in the hot primate house at the Zoo, a cold drank was in order. We were seated under an umbrella that didn't have that great of a view of the skyline. Boo, but whatever. My brother and I ordered Green Line on tap and my sister in law ordered a mojito. The beer and glasses were refreshingly cold and my sister in law said her mojito was made really well. Woo! We soon realized we should probably eat something and proceeded to order food. My brother and I had the burger, he asked for a fried egg to be added to his, and my sister in law had the turkey burger. Our server said the burgers came with chips but we could add fries or onion rings for extra. We all ordered fries (I had the sweet potato fries). The food came out like in 15 minutes, pretty quick. Not too long after our food arrived, another worker (manager maybe?) came to our table and notified us that a severe storm was headed our way and that we could move to a table under their awning instead. After we agreed, he told us he'd grab our food for us and take it to us at our new table. Our new table had a much better view of the skyline. Score! So we ate while we watched the storm. Luckily it didn't hit Lincoln Park too bad. It was nice and relaxing actually. Oh and the burgers were pretty damn good, including the turkey burger! The burgers came on nicely toasted brioche. A bit greasier than I expected, but all in all, not bad for this cafe. I guess we had pretty low expectations for this place, so it was a nice surprise that this cafe right next to the zoo actually had good food and drinks. My only complaint was the price. We weren't really keeping tabs on the extras (avocado, egg, fries substitute) and a couple of drinks each. For 3 of us it came out to be over a $100. BUT, that's pretty average Chicago prices. I'm just happy everything was made well or else I'd complain that they over charge for convenience, location, view, etc. Overall, I liked this place!

Great for weekend brunch! Menu choices and service were both good. Of course, the view and casual ambience were special. We will be back.

My family and I love Brauer. We are regulars and enjoy the view, the outdoor seating, the suitability for kids, the ability to bring dogs. Food is always consistent - no frills and not a huge menu, but always hits the spot. Latest menu addition - the vegetarian Impossible Burger - is our new fave. Prices have gone up a bit this year, particularly for dinner, which isn't ideal and it's a little overpriced, but the location can't be beat. Certain weekday evenings feature live music - great way to spend the evening. Management is working on the service - hard to blame them as it's hard managing a seasonal staff. The returning servers are usually pretty good while the new ones need extra coaching, and the manager Rene does a good job with that and keeps a close eye on his guests as well as on his servers.

I was hesitant to come here after reading some of the reviews about poor service. My husband and I did a long bike ride on Memorial Day (which was an especially busy day) and came for lunch at the end. We had a lovely lunch. The service was actually notable. Our waitress was very attentive, and quick to bring us new drinks, and the food was actually very tasty. We split the burger, which was juicy and prepared to the temperature requested, and the turkey BLT was great and very filling. It's maybe on the more expensive side for lunch, but we live in Chicago and are pretty used to these prices so it didn't seem outrageous to us. We'll come again!

The food was terrible and I had told the server who was the so-called manager from last year and he didn't do anything about it ! usually restaurants would say OK let's exchange it for something else or offer discounts Since I didn't eat anything except for the fries and on top of it was overly priced!!! I will never go back there again just bring your own sandwich and sit by the park really bad service really bad food bad experience !!!! Such a waste of money!

I ran the zoo 5/10K today and came here after with my husband and daughter for brunch because we were hungry and it seemed convenient. I approached the hostess stand and was not greeted with a smile or hello, just a "yes?" Kinda rude but whatever . I said three people. A second hostess held up an iPad and whispered to the first hostess (again, rude) who then said 30 minutes. I only thought that seemed long because I could see half the tables were empty. After a 30 minute wait I came back to see how close we were. She said there were still five groups ahead of us. Weird because half the tables looked open. We were just deciding to go somewhere else and then our name was called. Food was mediocre, like college cafeteria quality, service was fine but the rude hostess put me in a bad mood. The only reason I could think of to have so many tables open is they were understaffed but you would think on the day of the zoo run they would be better prepared.

Hi Great view good beer selection just so so food. Calamari was greasy and burger was gray well done and Should have been rare .cooking a burgers is probably one of the hardest thing to cook and takes experience that being said we will be back

Cafe Brauer at LPZ is the place to be. Why am I just finding out about this hidden gem...NOW?! So they have a fantastic patio space on the boardwalk overlooking the pond. This place is not just for events. This is a summer bar, hang out patio. This place is the place to go for socialization. This place is to go for drinks with friends new and old. This place is the place to go for appetizers and even main food dishes. They have a menu, specialty drinks, Goose Island Beers on draft (one is especially made JUST for the zoo), and bottled beers too (even Three Floyds and Two Brothers). Service is fantastic! Staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They let you relax on the patio and do not rush you out. The patio has a roof that is retractable but they leave it open. You have more than enough breeze that comes through the open area. The roof is a nice shade from the blazing sun too. Music playing the background is simply that, a nice background. It does not interfere during conversations and it is nice when the conversation has died down. The drinks here are awesome. They can make margaritas, various flavored mojitos, vodka lemonades, and martinis. They are all tremendously good. YUM! So go enjoy a day at the zoo and follow it up with a visit to this Cafe. It is open until 9/10pm You will find me here enjoying my summer free time because this is my new favorite spot!!! Bike parking north and south of the Cafe.

A nice gem outside of Lincoln Park Zoo. After a short 30 minute wait (which they text you when your table is ready), was seated with a great view of the Chicago skyline. The place was slammed for a Wednesday afternoon (7/23) and the food took a little longer than expected. That was fine as I was in no rush. My Garlic Herb chicken breast sandwich was good though a little heavy on the aioli. My friend enjoyed her salad wrap which came with homemade chips. Def go chips over fries.

Beautiful location, gf and I just got drinks. My berry mojoto was abysmal, looked great but tasted like sugar water. My gf's drink was nothing special either. Maybe we had a bad bartender that day but I wouldn't recommend this place for cocktails.

First time here at Cafe Brauer. I've visited the zoo so many times and have never been here. I ordered the Carolina BBQ Sandwich, it was delicious! Very tender, and BBQ sauce tasted very original. Service was really good and attentive. Highly recommended.

Great location overlooking the pond/nature boardwalk. Surprisingly reasonable prices at breakfast. Portions were small but very nicely done and presented.

We waited 15 minutes to be seated...even though more than than half the tables were open. Hostess was snippy and rude. When we were finally seated we waited another 15 minutes for a waiter, but no one showed up. Not sure if they were just having an off day or if it always runs like this. The patio is very cute, but the inside is dark and dirty. After seeing the inside I'm glad I didn't eat anything.

Cant' get enough of this place. Our food has always been amazing - we've done both breakfast and dinner. And they always have a good drink list. Love love love the view. My husband and I will often stop by for a drink after a run in the park. The only downside is an occasional whiff of the zoo in the evening. But, honestly, that is rare. I think the wind has to be blowing in just the right (or, I guess, wrong) direction. And...if I had my way, I'd make them stay open until 10pm.

5 stars for setting, 4 stars for food, and 3 for quality of service. Fried calmAri was delicious, buffalo salad good, burger ok, but took about 40 minutes to get out meal. Still would come back for location and setting.

Stopped in for a drink. We had a carafe of sangria and it was good! The outdoor space is cute and I'd come back to check out the food.

Here's what I love about this place: drinking at the zoo! The view is fantastic and I could easily throw back a few drinks while enjoying the view and chilling by the new nature boardwalk. I had two of the margaritas (the Sunset and the Dragonfly) and they were both really good and packed a punch. They were about $7 which I think is really reasonable for what you get. They also had 3 beers on tap (312, green line and another blueberry beer). I also got an order of hot wings which were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. The bartenders were very friendly and I saw them out busing tables and chatting to guests.

One of my favorite things about summer and visiting Lincoln Park Zoo is stopping by the patio and having a beer and a snack. The prices are an incredible value with a view to match! This has to be one of my favorite al fresco spots in the city. They have a nice beer selection that includes a special Goose Island blueberry brew made just for the zoo. I'm a poet and I do, in fact, know it. The menu is limited but everything I've had has been surprisingly excellent; far above what I expected. Even the servers have been consistently great.

I like this place for its location. Next to the Lincoln park zoo with a beautiful city view line. Sometimes they may have life music. Other than that they do not have special food nor drinks. Very mediocre. I would only come back there for the view.

What a disgraceful host. Such a shame. Put the reservation and we were told , wait is about 30 min. We were fine with the waiting time, that's not the issue here. The issue is that, as she was seating the other reservation that were before us , a couple just walked in front of us with out reservation and asked for a table. This hostess had the courage to seat this couple before us and in a table for 4 people, while 4 of us were still waiting. She had the guts to lie at me and tell me that , that couple had a reservation as well, when that couple just clearly said to her ,that they didn't have a reservation . Both my wife and I , have been working for over 18 years in some great restaurants in the city of Chicago. I'll make sure to spread the word how I was treated today but this hostesses. Patio management, you guys need to do a better job on training your staff on how to do their job correctly and respectfully.

Stopped in for a snack since I couldn't find a vendor in the zoo who had anything left in stock on a Sunday afternoon. One waiter, Martez (shout out!), was attentive to my snack desperation when I wandered in, looking forlorn and borderline low blood sugar. He offered a menu, stating that I could order an appetizer to go. He noticed when my wait seemed long and checked on my order status. Honestly, a little love goes a long way in the city. (Thanks Martez!) On top of the kindness, I was pleasantly surprised when the sweet potato fries were perfectly cut and cooked (thin crispy, nom nom). Overall, an afternoon at the zoo made better by The Patio.

Went to The Patio for their soft opening weekend and I was really impressed! I have been there in past seasons and they really stepped it up this year. The menu has so many more options. The beer list is great and the staff was super friendly. I spoke to one of the managers, I think his name was Zach, we asked him about the menu and the beers. He really knew his stuff and was super nice. We asked for a few suggestions and were really happy. I had one of their new burgers, The Firehouse, it was delicious!!! Loved the fresh jalapeños. I also tried The Perfect Old Fashioned, it was a really nice spin on that drink, they make it light and crisp, I could enjoy those on a hot summer day. I will definitely be back soon! Cant wait for them to open up for the summer!

This is a charming cafe by the Pond with sensational views. I love this place, but am giving it three stars because of the obnoxious, loud and terrible live music they had last evening. The entertainer made Bill Murray's Saloon Singer from SNL look good. WAY too loud and impossible to have a conversation. I understand they have a singer from the Old Town School of Folk Music on Wednesdays which is preferable. Their menu is high priced with burgers at $18. Our server was, fortunately, very good. The Manager was understanding and helped turn down the volume which barely helped. We rushed through our dinner and left ASAP. We then had a lovely stroll on the boardwalk around the Pond.

I have never eaten here and I will never eat here because yesterday (Mother's Day), my daughter and I were visiting the Zoo when she fell down and hurt he knee badly and I went to the ice cream store near by for a band-aid and they told me to ask the restaurant host at The Patio. So I did and they looked at me like I asked them to pull a rabbit out of a hat. I said surely you have band-aid in your kitchen in case one of your cooks gets hurt and they confusingly said no without even checking to see. Luckily a very nice lady visiting the Zoo as well overheard me and quickly whipped out a medical kit from her purse. NO ONE seemed to care or apologize. They were not concerned the slightest. People today.