Panda Grill

The day we went their fryer was broken. That left us with pizza and sandwiches for options. Even with the limited menu it still took forever and was expensive. The employees seemed irritated and had to ask us 3 different times what drinks we ordered. I would say to eat somewhere else, but unfortunately the zoo doesn’t have a whole lot of other choices available. I wish they would open a nicer full service restaurant on the property. It would be a nice way to break up a long visit at the zoo.

This was our first time visiting the zoo. We found the food to be marginal and the service was the same. After paying $ 50 for four people we were treated to a manager cursing one of her employees in front of the guests and, of course, children.
Apathetic service and marginal food.

As park concessions go, this one really isn’t bad. Today was a really nice day at the zoo, and after a long walk up the hill (remember at the National Zoo to always start at the bottom), we needed something to eat. This was the only option on a January afternoon.
The menu is limited to pizza, chicken fingers, fried popcorn shrimp, and fried catfish. Of course there are fries and sweet potato fries as sides. My wife and I had the chicken and shrimp. Remarkably, they both had some seasoning to them. I could have used more, but I know they can only do so much for a general audience. The fries were not overdone or soggy like you often see at places like this.
I must admit the line was long, and did not move as fast as it should have. But due to the limited menu, the cooks just kept making stuff and putting it up. The counter people just turned and grabbed the next one available. So when we got the food back to our table, it was still hot enough to burn your mouth.
The food is not great by any stretch of the imagination and all the seating is outdoors. But for a park concession, this is pretty good.