Watering Hole at Kijamii Overlook

I am not expecting top 5 star at the animal park, but was pleased that was very good. Home made potato chips and pulled pork sandwiches. They have a full bar. The atmosphere the best eatery around. Overlooking the valley with it's animals (giraffes, rhinos, water buffalo, etc) to view while resting your feet from walking, it is very beautiful scenery. Opens at 11 pm.

The roast beef sandwich was excellent, fresh and not greasy at all. Service was excellent. The host was friendly and accommodating, and the server was always checking on the table. The view was amazing, and the place was relaxing and quiet.

Great food at this restaurant. My daughter, and I shared the nachos added chicken and my husband had the club. The nachos were huge. It was comfortable in the restaurant despite it being in the high 80s the day we visited.

What a view! Nothing like lunch while watching giraffe and rhinos. Food was good. Ordered an open face tuna sandwich....my friend and I split it and we were both full. It was a lot of food. Had a cocktail, also delicious. I will absolutely be heading back. Make sure to make reservations before you go or you will have to wait quite a bit.

Awesome view and good food. We often come. Yesterday we arrived late and they wouldn't take any walk-ins anymore. But the staff went above and beyond, managing to squeez us in. As I had already left, an employee ran after me for quite a distance to let me know. Truly appreciated the effort. Kudos to him!

Food is amazing. It would be helpful if they had more servers, but the employees that were there were wonderful. Grace was a great server. She was positive and attentive. She made it a very enjoyable experience. I would love to eat here again.

We had the truffle mushroom grilled cheese and the toasted ruben. Both were delicious. The service was great and of course you can't beat the views.

Has to be one of the coolest restaurants I have been to. Had 5 rhinoceros’s grazing about 100 feet from our table. Food was good, I’d call it elevated bar food. When considering the price and atmosphere I would say it’s easily the best value for your money for dining in the Safari Park. Try and make a reservation though, as hours are limited and they sometimes do not take walk ins.

We love the Watering Hole! We came yesterday for my sisters birthday and Justus was so kind and accommodating in making our reservation. He was sweet on the phone and in person! Our table had a great view too! And our server was awesome!!! Sevannah was so sweet and helpful and our food was delicious! We LOVEEED the truffle mushroom grilled cheese! And the ahi app was great too!

If you time your visit weekday mid afternoon, you may have the place to yourself! Popular menu choices, great service and reasonable prices. Great views of the Savannah and animals.

The Watering Hole was a decent spot to grab some grub while exploring the Safari Park. It hit the spot when we were hungry and needed a break from all the walking. Nice to sit and watch people (and maybe some animals in the distance!).

What a great experience! This was our Niece’s first visit, so we wanted to have her eat lunch while watching the Safari animals. We were lucky to see rhinos, giraffes, and wildebeest? The food was good, we had the rhino sized pretzel, the hummus plate, the chicken club, Caesar salad, and the lemon pasta (AMAZING!) we shared a flourless cake, and the brownie sundae. We were helped by Nikki, Kali, and Maddi who were all great, and made my niece feel welcomed, and happy!

The Watering Hole at the Safari Park in San Diego is awesome! STUNNING VIEW OF THE SAFARI makes it a great spot for lunch. Try to get seating on the side and bring binoculars to see things clearly. The sandwiches and salads are yummy—especially the chicken club sandwich, which took the cake! If you're having trouble deciding, that's definitely a good choice. We also tried the pretzel charcuterie board, and it was really yummy, shareable, and fun. Overall, we had a great experience! Highly recommend.

Amazing views of the park, food was good but limited options available. Sevannah was very nice and took very good care of us

Great place to take a break and dine. Gorgeous views and good food. Not too many vegetarian options but pretty good ones. Definitely try their Margarita flight (3 specialty margaritas with 1 house margarita). Remember to reserve the table in advance or else you may have to wait. Preferable to reach by 11(exactly when restaurant opens) if walking in. Sharing current week's menu in the pictures.

Came to (The Watering Hole) today for our 3rd year anniversary. The food was amazing, and our waitress, Savannah, was amazing! She was very attentive and kind. Thank you so much, Savannah, for being such a great, PATIENT waitress! She addressed our every concern, and she paid attention to the details. Great restaurant. Great waitress. Great experience. Thank you, all, at the San Diego Safari Park!!

This is the best spot to eat and drink in the Safari Park due to it's views. The restaurant overlooks the plains with the African Plains exhibit with the rhinos and cape buffalo. The restaurant is table service and they have a good selection of menu options for food and drink. We ordered the wedge salad and the giant rhino pretzel. The salad was great and I liked the addition of roasted tomatoes instead of raw. The pretzel was huge(sorry no picture) and included delicious beer cheese and a spicy mustard. They had a 4 beers in tap to chose from including a couple of local craft beers. Their Charging Rhino cocktail was also delicious with a kiwi puree and citrus vodka. While dining they had a crown stork fly in for exhibit that added additional entertainment.

Favorite place to eat in the park! In a beautiful location overlooking the savanna where you can dine and leisurely look at the animals down below. Open air restaurant in the shade, but with wide open grass area in front for busy toddlers to run around after eating. Kids can see their favorite large animals from a high vantage point. Food is also quite good 👍🏼 and they have a full bar in a giant baobab tree. Staff is friendly with kids and always willing to take our photo! Would be a great date (no kids) lunch spot as well. I would love to have a glass of wine overlooking the animal park.

The Kijamii overlook has an amazing view of the African Safari. The food was delicious and satisfying and it came out quickly. After visiting the highest parts of the park (walkabout Australia, tiger trail, etc.) the watering hole was a great place to relax and recharge before seeing the rest of the safari park.

Fabulous staff, good margarita flight and great snacks like a to die for olive platter with cheese and toast, and hummus platter. Love the view and the vibe!

Amazing overlook over the Safari Zoo, you can see the giraffe right from the patio! great food too

Beautiful restaurant with a lovely view. The prices are reasonable and the food was delicious. The kids meal comes with a meal, drink in a take home cup, and a cute tote. The staff was very friendly and accommodated us in a shaded area for our little one. Make sure to make a reservation first!

Great sit down restaurant at the Safari park. Food was good for a zoo. We enjoyed the view as well!

Jared Bender

The Watering Hole at the Safari Park in San Diego is awesome! STUNNING VIEW OF THE SAFARI makes it a great spot for lunch. Try to get seating on the side and bring binoculars to see things clearly. The sandwiches and salads are yummy—especially the chicken club sandwich, which took the cake! If you're having trouble deciding, that's definitely a good choice. We also tried the pretzel charcuterie board, and it was really yummy, shareable, and fun. Overall, we had a great experience! Highly recommend.

Damon Erfan Ghetmiri

Amazing views of the park, food was good but limited options available. Sevannah was very nice and took very good care of us

Vikram S

Great place to take a break and dine. Gorgeous views and good food. Not too many vegetarian options but pretty good ones. Definitely try their Margarita flight (3 specialty margaritas with 1 house margarita). Remember to reserve the table in advance or else you may have to wait. Preferable to reach by 11(exactly when restaurant opens) if walking in. Sharing current week's menu in the pictures.

Raul Chavez

Came to (The Watering Hole) today for our 3rd year anniversary. The food was amazing, and our waitress, Savannah, was amazing! She was very attentive and kind. Thank you so much, Savannah, for being such a great, PATIENT waitress! She addressed our every concern, and she paid attention to the details. Great restaurant. Great waitress. Great experience. Thank you, all, at the San Diego Safari Park!!

Daniel S

This is the best spot to eat and drink in the Safari Park due to it's views. The restaurant overlooks the plains with the African Plains exhibit with the rhinos and cape buffalo. The restaurant is table service and they have a good selection of menu options for food and drink. We ordered the wedge salad and the giant rhino pretzel. The salad was great and I liked the addition of roasted tomatoes instead of raw. The pretzel was huge(sorry no picture) and included delicious beer cheese and a spicy mustard. They had a 4 beers in tap to chose from including a couple of local craft beers. Their Charging Rhino cocktail was also delicious with a kiwi puree and citrus vodka. While dining they had a crown stork fly in for exhibit that added additional entertainment.

Tricia Bounds

Favorite place to eat in the park! In a beautiful location overlooking the savanna where you can dine and leisurely look at the animals down below. Open air restaurant in the shade, but with wide open grass area in front for busy toddlers to run around after eating. Kids can see their favorite large animals from a high vantage point. Food is also quite good 👍🏼 and they have a full bar in a giant baobab tree. Staff is friendly with kids and always willing to take our photo! Would be a great date (no kids) lunch spot as well. I would love to have a glass of wine overlooking the animal park.

Alexander Photography

The Kijamii overlook has an amazing view of the African Safari. The food was delicious and satisfying and it came out quickly. After visiting the highest parts of the park (walkabout Australia, tiger trail, etc.) the watering hole was a great place to relax and recharge before seeing the rest of the safari park.

Jay Knight

Fabulous staff, good margarita flight and great snacks like a to die for olive platter with cheese and toast, and hummus platter. Love the view and the vibe!

Vladimir Keptene

Amazing overlook over the Safari Zoo, you can see the giraffe right from the patio! great food too

Cady Goodson

Beautiful restaurant with a lovely view. The prices are reasonable and the food was delicious. The kids meal comes with a meal, drink in a take home cup, and a cute tote. The staff was very friendly and accommodated us in a shaded area for our little one. Make sure to make a reservation first!

Megan Monsanto

Great sit down restaurant at the Safari park. Food was good for a zoo. We enjoyed the view as well!

Lindsey Elena Cottle

My sister and I had the coolest lunch EVER at The Watering Hole! The food was yummy and not too expensive considering the location – we got kid's menus to accommodate our budget and were not disappointed. Of course, the atmosphere was the best part of the whole experience. We saw giraffes, gazelles, rhinos, and more! Would absolutely recommend this restaurant if you're visiting the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Everything about this dining experience was top notch. You get the nicest views, some decent grub, but most importantly the staff were just great. Super attentive, kind, made sure we weren’t waiting long for anything. Shout out to the crew - David, Stein, Sebastian for elevating our trip to the safari park! Can’t understate just how relaxing and quaint it is to enjoy such good food with the views of the napping animals 😌

We absolutely loved this place! Very cool atmosphere with the bar in the inside of a cool looking tree and awesome safari vibes. The view overlooking the Savannah with all the animals was amazing and really made for a very special lunch! The food was excellent with large portions! But the best part of our dining experience was our server, Vu! She was so polite, friendly, and helpful! She made sure we had everything we needed and is the best server that we have had in a very long time! She is the best!

Nick

Everything about this dining experience was top notch. You get the nicest views, some decent grub, but most importantly the staff were just great. Super attentive, kind, made sure we weren’t waiting long for anything. Shout out to the crew - David, Stein, Sebastian for elevating our trip to the safari park! Can’t understate just how relaxing and quaint it is to enjoy such good food with the views of the napping animals 😌

Tauna T

We absolutely loved this place! Very cool atmosphere with the bar in the inside of a cool looking tree and awesome safari vibes. The view overlooking the Savannah with all the animals was amazing and really made for a very special lunch! The food was excellent with large portions! But the best part of our dining experience was our server, Vu! She was so polite, friendly, and helpful! She made sure we had everything we needed and is the best server that we have had in a very long time! She is the best!

Great views and location. Limited menu and pricey

+1

This is a fun spot to take a break from the heat and exercise of walking around this beautiful park. They’ve got a decent selection of beers and wine, but their cocktails (even the margaritas) are very sweet. Their food is like nice concession stand food, so don’t expect fantastic food. The burrata and olives is actually very good as are their nachos, but their nachos still have the orange cheese sauce that you’d get from a concession stand. Just know what you’re getting! We’ll be back for a drink and a snack for sure! The view is what you come for and the novelty of watching the wildlife while sipping a drink is truly amazing!

Lunch with a view in Escondido! We loved the view, and being able to sit down with a nice breeze and misters at a full service restaurant. There was a full bar, too, which was a nice option, though we stuck to beer. Our food was great. The pulled pork sandwich had the right amount of BBQ sauce to pork and roll ratio. The beef and cheese was oozing cheese sauce but not too much. There was just enough excess to dip the chips in. I hadn't had a Beyond Sausage before, but was really happy with my selection. It tasted like Sausage and peppers but wasn't real pork, so I felt better eating it. Especially as we watched the rhinos off in the distance. The rolls were perfect! Not dry or falling apart. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the menu was super limited. Kids menu was Mac & cheese and turkey sandwich. Not sure if that's the menu at other restaurants. I guess we were geared up for a burger or chicken fingers and fries like at the other quick serve restaurants in the Park and those weren't options here. Not a deal breaker. We'll go back for the peace and civility of full service and the break from the crowds.

Nice restaurant with a great view. Food tasted very fresh, not the best flavor but nice food especially for a zoo. I got the mapo tofu banh mi as I was curious what it would taste like. It's definitely more just an Asian inspired baguette sandwich and didn't really resemble a banh mi or mapo tofu. It was filling and tasted alright but I wouldn't order it again. We also had the chicken club and chicken tenders which were very nice.

Located in the Overlook area. Who doesn't want to have lunch and watch a baby rhino run around? Food was pretty good. Hubby had a nice pulled pork sandwich. I had vegetarian/vegan options. Beer selection was good too. Price was decent for being in the park. Staff was friendly and easy going. Sat in a front table excellent view. I recommend reservations during the busy season and weekends. Its pretty popular. Note there is no railing so keep an eye on the kiddos.

Great views, occasional animal interactions and pretty good food! If you want a good place to sit down, relax, enjoy some food and imagine you are on safari in Africa....without actually traveling to Africa, this is the place!

Elle Eg.

Located in the Overlook area. Who doesn't want to have lunch and watch a baby rhino run around? Food was pretty good. Hubby had a nice pulled pork sandwich. I had vegetarian/vegan options. Beer selection was good too. Price was decent for being in the park. Staff was friendly and easy going. Sat in a front table excellent view. I recommend reservations during the busy season and weekends. Its pretty popular. Note there is no railing so keep an eye on the kiddos.

Eric Pearson

Great views, occasional animal interactions and pretty good food! If you want a good place to sit down, relax, enjoy some food and imagine you are on safari in Africa....without actually traveling to Africa, this is the place!

Hard place to evaluate. The view of course is one of a kind and dining outdoors is always nice. There are a couple choices for non-meat eaters. The avocado was good on the avocado toast but left the bread behind. It wasn't worth eating. The mustard that came with the pretzel is what made the pretzel good. Great service and a nice cold beer!

Terri Vidals

Hard place to evaluate. The view of course is one of a kind and dining outdoors is always nice. There are a couple choices for non-meat eaters. The avocado was good on the avocado toast but left the bread behind. It wasn't worth eating. The mustard that came with the pretzel is what made the pretzel good. Great service and a nice cold beer!

Food is pretty eh at best. Nothing special and grossly overpriced even for theme park food. Service, although nice, is paaaaaaiiinfully slow. Not sure why the view is raved about - you can't really see that much.

Matt Russell

Food is pretty eh at best. Nothing special and grossly overpriced even for theme park food. Service, although nice, is paaaaaaiiinfully slow. Not sure why the view is raved about - you can't really see that much.

Ordered nachos and was disappointed with the plastic runny cheese and unbelievable amount of parmesan that had been dumped on to the cold dish. Stopped eating, just wasn't pleasant. Pretty expensive too at $21 with the chicken. Entire bill for 2 people was over 60 dollars, which is just outrageous.

The service here is terrible. 1st visit, it took over an hour to get our food. 2nd visit, it took over an hour to get our food, was cold when arrived, and our drinks didn't arrive until the bill came. 3rd visit, we asked to sit by the fire pit that is never on because it was freezing and we had a baby with us and they denied us, stating the firepit was for their upper management group who was visiting. Haha! 4th visit was this last weekend and the host refused to seat us with our reservation because we were a group of 2 but was seating parties of 3 and 4 who were walking up because "we had to wait for a 2 person table" and the only thing available were tables to seat 4. While standing there, we watched 2 parties leave extremely angry because they had been waiting for food for almost 2 hours. They need to close this place until they can figure out how to operate.

Absurdly long wait times, but it's the only real sit-down dining experience in the whole park. No real alternatives available unless you just want chicken strips. They told us to come back in 2 hours, so we ate garbage food in the heat. Bad customer experience!

Can’t complain about the service if they don’t give you any. Place is empty, it’s Thursday we have reservations and it took 35 minutes for drinks, he forgot water. We ordered our appetizers at the same time. Going on an hour now… no food, no water. Our server we’ll call him L a z y for review purposes had two tables of 2. Thanks Hersehell. Sorry we put you out buddy.

I tried to get a table there today and they told me no reservations anymore even that I saw many tables empty and I was with my 85 years old mom who has diabetes and needed to eat. So a nice customer told me to go to online to reserve it. So I did and after all this they only seated us because I asked twice and passed my online reservation. They never came to our table or even looked at us. Very disappointed we left with no food or even water .. it was very clear that nobody there wanted to work. Very disappointing

From being seated to the end, pretty disappointed. Seated at one of the two tables without shade but also infested with flies (there were a lot of empty tables and no other table seemed to attract all of these flies). Waited over 20 mins to order while all others seated after us were served. Food was good. Margarita was not worth it…tasted pretty much only Tajin...and another waiter confused me with another group multiple times (of the same ethnicity).

Rude staff accused me of smoking because I had a hand sanitizer bottle on my keychain then proceeded to tell me to leave because they were getting ready for a wedding, I understand if they are closing but there's no reason to accuse anyone about vaping in public which I wasn't anyway, she was triggered by my bright blue hand sanitizer keychain she mistook for a vape. She snapped at me and when I showed her it was hand sanitizer she just got mad. You shouldn't be rude to year pass holders for no reason, we wouldn't have bought them if people scold us for imaginary grievances.

Miche

From being seated to the end, pretty disappointed. Seated at one of the two tables without shade but also infested with flies (there were a lot of empty tables and no other table seemed to attract all of these flies). Waited over 20 mins to order while all others seated after us were served. Food was good. Margarita was not worth it…tasted pretty much only Tajin...and another waiter confused me with another group multiple times (of the same ethnicity).

ahlahlancha

Rude staff accused me of smoking because I had a hand sanitizer bottle on my keychain then proceeded to tell me to leave because they were getting ready for a wedding, I understand if they are closing but there's no reason to accuse anyone about vaping in public which I wasn't anyway, she was triggered by my bright blue hand sanitizer keychain she mistook for a vape. She snapped at me and when I showed her it was hand sanitizer she just got mad. You shouldn't be rude to year pass holders for no reason, we wouldn't have bought them if people scold us for imaginary grievances.