Review The Zookeepers Son - Auckland Central

Food is absolutely delicious! Enjoyed the buffalo wings and cheesy pizza bread the most. Loaded burger had nice fresh garnish and a smokey taste. Prawn linguine had a zesty finish. Thanks team!

The food was great. Pizza tasty. Fries crunchy. Onion rings perfect. Everyone enjoyed their meals. Pity the coffee machine broke down. However, the food, cheeky waitress, and warm ambiance more than made up for it. I do recommend this place. 2nd visit to the Zookeeper's Son with #fastfoodfriday and #foodiebumz crew Fri 29th September. Was told after our order was taken that they had only 1 Sirloin as we wanted two. No prob. An extra chicken schnitzel was ordered. Krispy Korean ribs were tender and falling off the bones. Sauce was a bit too rich. However, it was still tasty. Wings are 99c on Fridays, so a dozen of them went down well. Pank crumbed Scallop bites delicious. Chicken schnitzels with chips and salad, Sirloin and nachos well received by the crew. Desserts Apple and Rhubarb crumble Citrus Cheesecake and chocolate Brownie slice. Cheesecake base could've been more crumbly not soggy. Citrus taste was refreshing. Wait staff smiling and helpful. Still can't believe there was only one Sirloin steak at the start of a dinner shift. Anyhoo nice job Zookeeper's Son. 7/10 coconuts 🥥 on the island scale. 👌🤙

Saturday nights are my fave the band from.9pm til midnight and the bottomless chicken and waffles and beer and prosecco for $45 is a good start to a Saturday night 😁

The food was Amazing, the service though...it was phenomonal. We had Tikara serving us. She was so polite and made sure we were all comfortable. Thank you zookeepers :) Would definitely come back again.

Our first time at this stunning & unique restuarant which offers free parking! - huge bonus! 😆 The food was superb & prepared to our liking. Great atmosphere with wonderful service, especially for my little one. Will definitely be back. Well done Lisa & your amazing team for making us feel at home👍🙂

Does anyone appreciate what light is? I do. I found it. Here. At Zoos. With Shay. Guys if you’re thinking about coming down here just remember we are spending our hard earned coin on a night out. Shay was not only present but he set the atmosphere for what was our best night out. Attentive, considerate, and most of all understanding. We went of the menu, which in its own deserves a 5 star review. The food the atmosphere but most of all Shay, was our highlight of our night. My family and I will be back. Shay thank you 🙏🏾

Been here a few times but the staff, atmosphere and beers were exceptional tonight. Alex was a standout. He served us in a timely manner even though he was quite obviously busy. Appreciate the communication and the whole night was just choice! Will be back for some more cold beers and the best garlic pizza in town.

We booked the rooftop bar for a 30th birthday and right from booking all the way through to the party the experience was awesome! Thank you to our amazing bar staff for the evening - big ups to Shay and Emma! Absolutely lovely and helpful humans. We’d love to have them for an event again!

Friendly and efficient service, excellent food and drinks made. Great outdoor seating, pleasant interior decor. Spacious, good selection of music not too loud. Apparently they have Tuesday quiz nights, bottomless chicken and waffles on weds for $45, 2 hours max and live band on weekends. Decent amount of parking around the back especially for a week day :) This place sounds like it's packed full of fun and flavour for everyone :) We'll be back.

First time @ Zookeepers. Slow Tuesday night in the restaurant but nice if you want quiet. Ordered ribs, cheesy garlic pizza & warm lamb salad which arrived in around 10 mins. Kai was reka and priced accordingly. The kai reminds me of Woodside in Manukau. Highly recommend people try this place.

Great food, lovely environment and fabulous service, can't go wrong. 5 stars all the way.

Really really nice place. Staff are always very friendly, great atmosphere and even better food. Love coming here for a few chill drinks and there’s lots of open space for a late night boogie

Great place to have a little cosy birthday dinner. There is an upstairs for functions or parties, which is separated from the public, along with a play space on the side to chill and sit on beanbags and play some giant connect 4. If you're looking to catch some sports games while snacking and drinking a few drinks with the boys, there are a few TVs around so you won't miss a moment. The food here is pretty good too, as you would expect from any bar. Good portion sized meals and taste great! Would recommend.

Had my son's surprise 21st birthday celebration upstairs in the Rooftop Bar recently, Lisa was very helpful & great to deal with when booking our event. The staff working that night did an outstanding job as the venue was quite busy(being a Friday). The rooftop space was clean, private & large enough for our 80+ guests & a photobooth setup. Thank you to the awesome bar staff - Stella, Fredelle, the wonderful May & all the security staff, a huge thank you to the Chefs/Kitchen staff as the food was amazing & delicious! (We chose platters from the sharing menu & option3 from the Feasting Menu) salads were fresh, roast meats were tender, moist. Platters and food was well presented & large servings/portions! My son, family, & friends enjoyed a wonderful, safe, fun, & memorable night!

Had my 30th here a month ago! Lisa, the event manager was amazing, so easy to deal with! Food was amazing and came out right on time and the space was perfect too! Only downside was we didn’t realise there was a cut off time for cocktails & the bartenders were so busy they seemed to keep ignoring some of our guests until it was brought to their attention! It was perfect otherwise

Great experience, quality food and family friendly establishment. Ended up dining here for 4 hours and never got bored or felt obliged to leave.

Staff were sooo super friendly and provided great customer service!!! Harry, Davyn, Kayla, Nina and May, you guys are an asset to The Zookeeper’s Son & I hope you continue the great work you do and give on behalf of your employer!! Cocktails were reasonably priced and were tasty...namely the long island iced tea 😊 See you guys next time 🤗

Came here for lunch last weekend on a first table deal. The food and service was excellent. The food came out quickly after ordering and tasted delicious. They didn’t have some of the cocktail or food options available but the other options were just as good. Would definitely go again :)

We had a disappointing experience here for our first time. My chicken curry main and the cauliflower popcorn was way too salty and i couldn't eat it except plain rice with bits of the chicken strained from the sauce. I should say too that i love a lot of salt and normally i salt everything so when my cousin tasted it, it was way way way too salty for him. He was disappointed because he's eating keto and wanted to eat the plain cauliflower but left that as well because it was too salty. The brocollini came out as normal brocolli and was nice except there was a really really tiny amount of whipped feta on the plate. Only enough for a few of the pieces to have a little smidge. It would be great if a substitution is made (brocolli for brocollini) that the rest of the dish make up for it for example, with a generous or even standard amount of whipped feta. We nearly didn't notice it on the plate until we parted the brocolli. Particularly for how expensive everything is, you'd expect more. I told the waitress that i couldn't eat the curry because it was too salty when she asked how the food was going and she said she'd pass it on but good service at other restaurants has been to replace it so the person still has a meal. She didn't capture our order properly when asked for no butter on the naan bread and no croutons on the caesar salad so both came with that. The older lady out of the two was very prompt to replace the naan though and had really excellent service but the girl who took our order and that we paid the bill too was a bit flippant with us and made us feel a bit like a hassle which was a shame. Really lovely atmosphere for us to have a catch up in though and looked like the place was filling up for after work drinks. We went to pay the bill too and realised later on looking at the receipt that we were overcharged as well. With a first table discount applied (to food only) and ordering just 2 drinks off the menu, our bill still came to nearly $120 for 2 people and i still left hungry. Bit of a shame.

They have put on an extra charge to use your credit card? We are becoming a cashless society? Its not like they serve cheap drinks to warrant this so I will not be back. From reviews I have read this is not that popular with customers, probably costing them a lot of customers like me.

food was average

We hosted a special bday at the Zoo on Sat Feb 29th. From the minute we made contact about the venue NOTHING has been a problem. Preeti and Lisa were so accomodating and made us feel so at home. Sian and Jess were our staff on the night and they were so professional. They kept the bar running quickly and smoothly, they checked in regularly to make sure things were all going to plan, but they were not in your face all night. They were just so friendly and lovely. The rooftop bar is a lovely place for an event on a warm afternoon. Thank to all the staff involved this that we didn't see like the kitchen staff etc. You helped ensure a very special bday run like clockwork.

We’ve enjoyed our time here at zoo keepers son. Wonderful staff and table service sitting outside. Jess was a great waitress suggesting options for food and wine. She was knowledgeable and friendly and because of Jess we will be back.

Loved beer :)

Hosted an event recently, was a great venue, with fantastic service and tasty food. Thank you Preeti for helping organise it and the bar staff from the night.

We were celebrating a family birthday and it was our first time at this pub. And what a lovely surprise it was. Our waiting team, especially May, was just superb. Super-friendly, thoughtful and accomodating, she served us efficiently and helped us to have a memorable celebration.<br/>The food was exceptional value, very tasty and the servings were ample for our very capable appetites.<br/>Thanks May and Team, we'll be back soon.<br/>

Lack of training ,people skills and manners on waiting staff.maybe not there fault but managements.have been customer since it opened but unfortunately wont be back.has big potential but its good reputation going down hill.😪

I came with some friends for dinner tonight. I had the market fish for $33.90 which is one of their mains and the flavours weren’t that good. The meal wasn’t that filling and for the price tag. I Just left feeling quite disappointed. <br/>If I had of known that it was a small serving I would have paid the $3 more for the steak. <br/>

Hosted an event here on a Sunday afternoon. Staff were super helpful and nice. It's such a lovely venue and the food was great too! Would definitely recommend for events.

This place was pretty lit on a Sat night. I had the Ringmaster's Mess to share with a mate and it fed us well. There was live music playing which was loud enough to negate any meaningful conversation unless you started shouting haha. The candles on the tables were nice and overall felt good vibes here 👌

Came here with a friend tonight for dinner. The food was absolutely disgusting! We had the lamb shank and chicken pasta. The shank was covered in salt, the whole meal tasted like the lid had fallen off the salt and they decided to serve it anyway. My pasta was dripping with the fat from cheese which it definitely shouldn’t. We complained to our server. We had to repeat ourselves several times as she didn’t seem to understand what we meant by our food is gross. She said she would sort it and never came back until we were already at the cashier (well over 20 minutes later). When we went to the cashier, she knew nothing about it, refused to get another staff member to discuss and said we had to pay for it. Completely unprofessional and disappointing service. Will never be back and would recommend that if you want a nice meal to go elsewhere.

Xanthe and her team was on the ball from start to finish. Very helpful and understanding with all our special request. I've only heard everyone gossip how awesome to the event was at The Zookeeper's Son, so well done. Keep doing what your doing, because you are rocking it.

First off, call it a 2.5 more than a 2 ! Work function for 8 to play the quiz night. Booked way in advance but given a gloomy table upstairs. We requested and got changed seating. We ordered shares of Pizza bread which was very very good as were the fries.. The Ciabatta garlic bread was so-so. 2 types of dumplings, the prawn ones edible, the mushroom ones awful.<br/><br/>A variety of mains some good (Lamb shank but hard to spoil that !), some average, and some (bao buns ...of which only one, not plural and not good at all as one leaf of coriander is stingy) and fish and chips also poor.<br/><br/>Some of us had dessert, the chocolate brownie being fine, but the ginger pudding simply awful. If it wasn;t by then getting late and I wasnt paying for it myself, I would have sent it back and refused to pay for it. It was cold, flavourless, dry, and must have been cooked hours or days before.<br/><br/>Service throughout was good; friendly and efficient.<br/><br/>There i;s pub food and there is;s pub food, but this was below standard on that front. At least the quiz started on time, was well run, some difficult questions but some easy ones and was fun.<br/><br/>Not a place I will venture for personal dining or drinking either.

We dined on a Sunday night upstairs with a group of 8 adults and 2 kids. Service was friendly and the wait wasn’t very long for our food. Kids dine free on Sundays and their dinner came with a dessert. <br/><br/>Between 2 adults, we ordered the ringmasters mess platter and a side of beer battered fries. So delicious! I thought the combination of hot and cold meats was odd at first but when it arrived and we ate we were very pleased with everything. So Yum! <br/><br/>Other orders on the table were Sunday lamb roast, chicken fettuccine, chicken burger, beef burger and salmon. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals

Dinner for 6 last night. Wasn't busy, but there was a function up stairs. We went for pre dinner drinks, and booked a table for 7pm. Time came and there was no booking, strike 1, all good, plenty of tables,only 20 people in the restaurant, sat down and the waitress brought menus and drink menu and advised there was an hour wait for food...strike 2, we asked if there was any possibility of breads and dips whilst we waited , 1 hour wait for anything, strike 3, by this time it was pouring down outside so no possibility of moving, so we duly ordered. 45 minutes went by and our meals appeared, minus 1 of them, strike 4, waitress came back and advised another waiter/waitress had taken our meal in error, still part of strike 4, asked if there was anything she could do whilst we waited for the last meal, free glass of wine, duky taken, minus 1 strike. Food was actually OK, service was good. There is NO excuse for such a long wait, the function was long pre planned, so staff shortage is NO excuse, unlikely to return, the other reason for not going back, drinks are WAY TOO EXPENSIVE.

Great atmosphere. Quick service and great menu choices. Had fantastic service from our waitress Sally. Loved my chocolate desert and my partner enjoyed the live sport on the tv.

Great atmosphere, great food and fantastic service. Sally was our waitress and she was on the ball. Been there a couple of times now .Love it!

I enjoy have enjoyed coming to the Zookeepers son over the last few years and love the food, ambiance and service I receive.  I have also recently had my wedding at the rooftop bar.  I had wonderful assistance with planning this event and was impressed with the service on the night.  I also had lots of comments from guests about the cool location and feel to the room as well as the great food (especially the chicken and lamb).  It was a lovely wedding and nice to continue the garden theme of the ceremony into the theme of the reception with the lovely plants in the room.

It's a great local bar and restaurant. Environment is nice and clean, service is good. My husband and i love their hot spicy wings. Beer taste quite nice too

Just went to have a quick bite we had the Caesar salad, 1/2 kilo ribs, kiwi burger and kiddie cheese burger. All really nice especially the ribs. They have great daily specials and the service was good. We will be back

Have been going here for years. Lovely atmosphere, food and staff. Jess and the team always looks after our group on Tuesdays evenings at quiz night

Huge thank you to Xanthe and the team at Zookeeper’s for helping make my 21st so seamless! From the communication leading up to the night and how helpful the team was on the night, we can’t recommend enough how good the service was. Nothing seemed too much trouble for the team and we were very grateful for the high quality customer-centric attitude. Loved the rooftop bar venue as well, perfect for larger groups and awesome atmosphere. 10/10! <br/>

Thank you Helena for looking after our group. We had a special request to play a farewell video tribute and Helena helped set this up as well as taking good care of us. You’re a star, made our night stress free and relaxing.

Great work, Sally! Excellent work sorting out my hungry children with a cheeky ice cream! Lovely food and easy option for supper. All the staff deserve a big smile for service!

Food was average, but awesome service from the really nice waitress (Theanna) that made the experience that much better. Will definitely consider the quiz nights!

Zookeepers Son is a really good local bar. Great atmosphere and food. Jess consistently looks after our table well. Definitely recommend it!

Zookeepers is hands down amazing!!! You have to try the Southern Chicken👌 We had our wedding reception at Zookeepers last Saturday in the Rooftop Garden Terrace. Everyone of our guests was complimenting us on how awesome the food was, the location and the staff. Xanthe, Zookeepers Event Coordinator, really helped us plan out everything to make it so much easier for us, she was fantastic with communication, fast and efficient with any ideas we had and helped us find solutions with the rainy weather. Thank you Xanthe for helping take the stress off when it came to our wedding! All the other staff were also great. Making sure guests had enough to eat, drink and cleared away plates after dinner efficiently. I have only good things to say and would highly recommend to anyone looking for an event venue with great food, attentive staff, on site parking, and amazing decor. They have options to help suit your budget with plenty of food so people dont leave hungry. Our guests even were able to take food home for the next day. Thank you again the team @ The Zookeepers Son!

Such a amazing place to be at. Cool, Calm and Perfect chill out place. The beers and music also makes you tap your feet. Will come again there for sure ! 😁

Came here for dinner. And found it really hard to choose as everything on the menu sounded really nice which doesn't happen very often. I ended up choosing the beef cheek with gnocchi. I asked the waitress if it was quite small and she said it was a bit compared to other mains but I thought I would give it a go anyway cause it sounded so good. She must have thought I was crazy when I left so much. I really wasn't sure whether to give a 2 or 3, but the girl who served us was great. the beef was very tender, I guess because if the sous vide but the flavour was so rich and super over powering, and way too much aniseed, which I hate. The gnocchi, I'm not sure how it was fried? But it was nice. No sage existed on the plate and the pumpkin was underwhelming. Guess I chose the wrong meal at a pub. The chips I had of my cousins were really good. Service was really good and friendly. And they brought out a special birthday desert for my uncle which was really nice, so great service!

(2/11/18) friday night is always the best time for drink with friends, went to this place for the first time, like the ambience, they have live music after 9pm. We took a seat in the second floor, they have a nice balcony however still too cold to seat outside at this spring.. we ordered pizza, battered beer and pork ribs bourbon bbq.. they served nice food with a lot fabulous beer option

We came here for a late lunch bite ... great friendly service ... it’s a pub so.. pub food.. we ordered:<br/>Beer battered fries-nice<br/>Seared beef-nice<br/>Fried chicken- abit overcooked<br/>

Beautiful venue, really friendly staff and wonderful, accommodating service from Xanthe Smythe (Event Manager). My guests loved the venue. The rooftop bar is beautiful xx I would definitely come back here again - maybe for my 50th 😉

Hosted our Quiz Night in the RoofTop Bar at the Zookeeper's Son. With the help of Xanthe Smythe and the team, we had a very successful night! Our team is still buzzing from the positive vibes. Would highly recommend this venue for your next event!

Went here for my birthday dinner and was super happy with the food, it came out nice and fast even though they were a bit busy. The staff however weren’t the greatest (customer service wise) but was still worth going!

So very friendly, food was average. Kids meal(steak) was the absolute worst. Burnt af. Good sociable spot but wouldn't go back for food. Great friendly staff

Food + drinks + set up + music is all great, but i dealt with about three different angry waitresses that were taking their anger for something else on me and my friends which was really upsetting to ruin the night.

I looooooooooooooved this place! Cutest setting and amazing atmosphere, plus customer service. My Bffl and I came here for brunch and ordered calamari, fries, chicken pieces and rosés. Its a really nice and quiet place for lunch!

We recently had my daughters 21st in the private upstairs Rooftop Garden bar. It was awesome!!! Thank you so much it's such a great venue with a lovely atmosphere and the staff William and Sam were so nice and helpful. Really appreciate all the hard work they did. Would highly reccommend A+

Celebrate my brothers 21st at the roof top bar. Xanthe and her team were very accommodating! Great communication! Great food options! Great service! It has my stamp of approval for recommendations to eat; chill; drink and celebrate!

Great food, service and a great team. I would definitely put my trust back in to the events team in helping me organise another event here. Thank you so much for making my 21st an incredibly awesome night.

Really welcoming, food took around 20 minutes but I had the fried buttermilk chicken which came with fries, it was really good. My partner had the fettuccine which was quite a small portion. The desert menu only had 3 options which was disappointing. Also the pricing was a tad much but it was overall a nice dinner.

Just finished having lunch here. Ive been here for drinks half a dozen times and never had a problem. However today was piss poor. Ordered a jug of chomp and it tasted flat so i complained to the guy. He said it was a fresh keg and the lines have been cleaned recently. Ok, well then you poured it wrong mate cause it was flat. And at $48 for a jug that's unacceptable. We then ordered 'the aucklander' pizza and some fries for lunch. The pizza was aweful and the chicken on it was grey and tasted off. I complained again and the guy said sorry sir and went to tell the kitchen. Never heard back from him. So we left. We wont be back. Pretty pissed off I spent $69 on a horrible lunch. I wished i had read the other reviews on here first because there seems to be a common theme here.

I’ve been here before for drinks and the atmosphere is amazing. Last night we had a function upstairs and booked everything prior. We arrived on time only to find nothing was set up. The area we booked had people eating and only 2 of 6 tables had reserved signs on them (we advised them to cater for roughly 30 people); Less than 30 people arrived and there weren’t enough seats. The waitress who served us had an attitude the whole night and would always push the blame back on the manager for being (in her words) unorganised. I would not recommend having any big functions here because it seemed they couldn’t keep up. The food took 45mins and was average at most, chicken was burnt, steak was cold. I would’ve given a higher rating but I just can’t get past the waitress and her bad attitude.

The service if you can call it that was comical. We had to ask our waitress for everything, including water three times and cutlery twice. The food was just as dissapointing. Pork belly and fish and chips... Very expensive for pub food and tasteless. I will not go back.

Ordered nachos they were cold and so were the smoked hapuka fish cakes. Had them both sent back but overall the food was disappointing especially how much you get for the price you pay for the smaller plates of food.

Fell in love with this place at first sight, then chosen here for my daughter's 1st birthday party, what a good choice ! All guest enjoyed food and the atmosphere, kids also had fun in their area, perfect place for function with reasonable price ,highly recommended

Steak meal was nice. My green salad side order was forgotten but the really lovely 'Maria Tutaia' look alike waitress compensated me with a free salad. I liked the upstairs part of the restaurant with a cosy TV and play corner for children.

Nice pub food, friendly atmosphere :) prices a bit hefty for some things, e.g. hapuka sliders which was 3 little smoked fish burgers for $18. But other items more reasonable like pizzas around $20.

I went here a few weeks ago for a function at their rooftop. First off, it was raining pretty heavily and you'd think the roof would provide adequate shelter but as the night grew longer I was only proved wrong. The sides of the tables were (unsuitably) wet and pretty much nobody could sit by the window. Nice. Their audio system went bust on us and we had a special video made for a friend for a birthday & it carried on with just the video. Awkward. The chicken was dry as anything and none of those in my table cared for it. The sauce was nice, I guess. That was the only edible thing on that platter. The beef was flavourful enough, so was the salad, and the potatoes were acceptable but needed way more seasoning than just herb butter. The food was mediocre and the only saving grace of this place was the fact that it's pretty. The experience with my friends was the only thing I remembered of the night which we could have had absolutely anywhere else. Service was underwhelming. Overall, pretty so-so. Expected better but couldn't deliver.

Good little local bar and restaurant. Chicken wings are delicious. Pina colada cocktails are 🙋<br/>Good atmosphere, music and great service.<br/>Highly recommend up stairs area for friday afterwork drinks and nibbles.

Great food attentive staff highly recommend I'm vegan so could be more plant based options but enjoyed meal I made up from sides etc will be back great drinking spit on lazy sundays even have courtesy can A1

Amazing friendly service from Monique! Left very very full! Not a great selection of <br/>Vego options but enough to satisfy. Always return to a place with such great service.<br/>

great service and great vibe, watching the rugby with a few mates and the food was brilliant (the lamb for 2 and the seasonal vegetables). totally recommend and to make the experience better we had a bubbly, friendly lady called Uli looking after us.

Great ambience and with the Lions in NZ it was real buzzing. Liked the new menu and Uli was really helpful and friendly as are all the other staff. Will be back again soon.

Always good to visit The Zookeepers. The new menu offers plenty of choices, both old favourites and new things to try. Ulrika and Stevie provided great service.

It's a nice place. Burgers are yummy and salads are great. Nice environment and lots of people. The only drawback is that we cannot get our water refilled in a timely manner. It might due to Friday night or , we were sitting remotely.

Neat place. Went for drinks, ordered only starters. Nice selection. Bit more pricey for just pub food. But didn't disappoint. Tasted good. Looked nice. Cool atmosphere up on rooftop.

Great local in Royal Oak, went there over the weekend and the staff are amazing and nothing was an issue.  Keep up the good work and look forward to seeing you next time, thank you.

Food was terrible, the staff didnt seem to think that there was anything wrong with food so over cooked that it was almost burt. I could have used the squid as a ball to play fetch with a dog, andthe dog could still use it as a chew toy.<br/>I complained and they said "Ohh, I will see what I can do.......we will discount that for you" it was totally ineddible and I even sent it back full of food and they still expected me to pay for it.<br/><br/>Only go there to be ripped off by people whom do not care about the quality of food or customer service.

A couple of my work colleagues and I finally made a trip to the Zookeeper's Son the other night for an after work drinkie (or two) - we'd been talking about making a visit for months. When we were walking in on Friday at about 5.30pm, the place looked packed and we were worried that we wouldn't be able to get a seat, but when we got inside, we discovered that the place was so much bigger than we initially suspected. We went upstairs to the rooftop bar & were incredibly impressed! While it was busy enough that there was a great vibe about the place, there were still plenty of places for us. We ordered a drink & some beer battered fries from the friendly staff at the bar & took a seat - the rooftop bar was gorgeous; the perfect, smart but relaxed venue for anyone who works in the Royal Oak/ Onehunga/ Penrose area. The staff were lovely - friendly & helpful, drinks & food were tasty & a reasonable price, and the atmosphere was great - comfortable, exciting, but not pretentious. We will definitely go back :)

Came here for a friend's farewell dinner. Place was pretty busy at the time. I probably wouldn't choose this as an intimate venue.<br/><br/>The music was so loud we had to shout at each other and couldn't really have a conversation.<br/><br/>It would be a great party venue though. Upstairs area is a bit more private but still very difficult to have a conversation over the music.<br/><br/>Staff were not very tentative. Food was very average, nothing memorable about the flavours or anything really.<br/><br/>I think it's more of a venue for drinks.

Service was fantastic, unfortunately the food was horrible.<br/><br/>Burger King put together a tastier, healthier burger than the zookeepers. The honky tonk burger is bland, even with the entire bottle of BBQ sauce which made the bun soggy. The chips were either under done or burnt. My medium-well done steak was not a steak, just a standard processed patty - and there was nothing medium about it.<br/><br/>The mussels were strange to say the least.<br/><br/>Reading through the previous reviews (which I wish I read first) it looks like they got a new chef recently who just doesn't know how to chef.<br/><br/>Maybe they should just keep to drinks and bar snacks - like pretzels.

Came here for a catch up with a friend! Great service - very friendly and prompt! Unfortunately the food was sub par. I ordered the Chicken Caesar burger.. chicken was dry and didn't have a lot of flavour plus the bun was alittle stale. Such a shame as the place has great atmosphere and service. Will be back but only for drinks!

Can't comment on the food, we never got it!! We arrived at 7pm and 8.30pm still waiting only to be told it was 10 minutes away. We ordered the calamari and a burger, not rocket science you would have thought. We gave up, went to Wendy's and got quick service and FOOD!!! We had a few excuses given to us such as: a new menu, a restaurant upstairs, very busy(half the tables were empty), the kitchen is in a bit of chaos(hasn't guessed that one)they gave us a free drink which was nice. Really disappointed as have come here before and received good service and nice food. Won't be returning in a hurry.

After eating here previously a while back I was keen to go back as the food was great. However they must have changed the chef because this experience was horrible. I went with three friends who all ordered the deep fried chicken bites. All three were burnt so we sent them back. This was the first time I have ever sent food back anywhere or even complained. The whole staff and chef then had a big discussion about the food and then bought back three more. The new ones were half of the old burnt ones mixed in with some new ones - they wouldn't even redo a whole new batch. My steak for the main was the chewiest steak I have ever eaten. At least half of it was inedible but I didn't like to complain again so attempted to eat it. On a positive the Buffalo wings were great and the beers good. Won't be eating here again.

Went there for lunch. Got the bar tender's offer "today special of fish of day" cost me $33 for a small piece of snapper! It's definitely not worth for a special! Rude service as well<br/>

Had the Tandoori chicken salad (coleslaw) tonight on melon. It was just delicious and also at a very reasonable price. The place was buzzing as always on a Saturday night.

I hoped into the bar yesterday for drinks and dinner. .. but as I stood at the bar, the tender walked left to right.. about 5 times.. without even acknowledging me.. or saying he will be with me in a moment.. that already dampened my mood. And I was already thinking of other places to go to.<br/><br/>I did stop a waitress and told her my grief who responded (politely) with she was undersage and Joe was the only person who could help me. <br/>When he did scoot over was polite and lovely. I ordered my drink and waited for my friend.. when someone hurried to the table to check up on us.. we just had one drink and left.<br/><br/>In general I guess the first impression matters.. and sadly I do not intend to walk through those doors again.

Yummy food really nice clean restaurant. Like how there is a smoking area where you can take your drink. <br/>Only downside is that the staff are always changing. I average going to this restaurant once a month and there are always new staff & the meals do take a while to come out. Other than that very happy & will be back.

There is a special every night but Friday night is $1 buffalo wings night, which is my kinda heaven. This place is lively, atmosphere is great with attentive service. Also tried their Mac n cheese side and pizza. Delicious! <br/>Do not rate their Philly cheesesteak though. I've tried the real deal and this is not even close. <br/><br/>And even has live music on the Friday I went. Will be back!

It was Wednesday night and I was very hungry so thought of going to somewhere near so thought of Zookeepers son as I've seen quite a lot of people out there so thought it to be a good place to be ..so me and my sister decided of sitting inside as it was raining outside the decor is averse to be honest. We were greeted by a waitress and gave us the menu, we took time to decide what are we having and finally decided of having a bowl of chips ,chicken tikka salad , Alberto pizza for entrees and tofu dish and chicken curry for mains..fries was alrite aioli was good too and so was chicken tikka salad where grilled watermelon just added more taste to the dish but I was not happy with the pizza as it was too dry and I dint find any sauce in it. It took decent time for the entrees to come out but I was really not happy with the mains where my chicken curry was too sweet and so was the tofu dish there was too much sweet chilli sauce in tofu and it could have been better even the dish dint go well on the plate on which it was served. With chicken curry the curry was sweet and the naan was too dry aswell and it took around 40 mins for my mains to come out and once it was on the pass at the Kitchen I could see my food being kept there even wait staff passed from there but no one picked up the food they were cleaning cutleries talkin to each other and then they paid attention towards food kept on pass and we finally got it and it was bit cold. But we dint complained as we were too hungry . At last we decided to have brownie and it was delicious and worth the money ..would we go back ?? Depends on the new

This place is always busy! With plenty of seating inside, upstairs and also outside you should be fine getting a table. The crowd is a mixture of sports fans, locals, large groups, and even the odd family. The atmosphere is loud, casual and cool. It's obvious this place is a regular for those that work nearby. Parking isn't as bad as it looks, they have some dedicated to customers behind the building.<br/><br/>We ordered the calamari starter, the steak sandwich and the Java burger . The calamari was decently portioned and was thick and tender. The steak sandwich was average - both in its presentation and taste. The star of the night was the Java burger. The chicken was crispy and smothered in a rich satay sauce, it was a little unusual but worked well with the other ingredients and toasted bun. We thought the burger and sandwich were a little pricey considering they did not come a side of fries or even a salad.<br/><br/>Service was very good! We were quite impressed considering the atmosphere and how busy this place is. We were checked up on regularly and water topped up when needed. Overall a great place to watch the sports or a casual catch up with friends.

This is my regular on a Friday night. After work finishing quite late at night, Zooies is a good place to relax and unwind. Live music on Friday night is great which always keeps the crowd happy. Drinks are reasonably priced and they have large variety. <br/><br/>A good variety of bar snacks available, I suggest The Aucklander Pizza, very tasty. The usual suspects are there too, eg wedges with cheese and sour cream, always good with drinks.<br/><br/>Staff are very friendly and the service is top notch. Nice work Zooies 👌🏽

The service is top notch. Really friendly staff. The place is spacious and if you're not keen on drinking theres a separate space from the rabble. Tried the philly<br/>Cheese steak which is better than any version ive had in the USA. Succulent meat and flavours and also quite filling! The beer batter chips were crispy and perfectly cooked. The tandoori and watermelon salad had a surprisingly good<br/>Combination of flavours and very filling. A really good restaurant if you're looking for a place out of town.

A-MA-ZING.<br/>It was pouring with rain and we came in here to escape the weather.<br/>I'll say I was expecting typical bar food, but this place blew those expectations right out of the water!!<br/><br/>Firstly, I'll say the service was impeccable.<br/>The staff were prompt and friendly, where within minutes of walking in the door we were seated with a glass of water, a few minutes after that we had our drink orders in hand and a few minutes after that we had ordered our meals. <br/>The service was fantastic, and the staff didn't even need to write our orders down to remember them! Which is always impressive, especially since nothing was forgotten.<br/>If we needed anything extra during our meals (sauces, more drinks) all we had to do was look up and someone was with us to help. It was great 👌🏼👌🏼<br/><br/>I ordered the Tandoori chicken salad, beer battered fries and a starter of bruschetta and marinated olives/feta. My partner ordered the phill cheese steak sandwich.<br/><br/>The fries were, ugh, sooo good. They were crispy, chicken salted goodness! I can't say enough about how good they were.<br/>The starter was a generous portion, where the ratio of bread to olives/feta matched with hearty amounts of both (which is rare for starters).<br/><br/>The Tandoori chicken salad was portions of seasoned chicken on charred watermelon, with shredded slaw and kumara wafers. It sounds like an odd combination but it was delicious, and made my taste buds sing its praises ✨<br/><br/>Everything was well seasoned, everything was a generous portion with great pricing for what you got. <br/>The food was absolutely superb, the service was great and the atmosphere of the place was comfy.<br/><br/>A well deserved full marks from me!<br/>I would highly recommend checking this place out, great for a night out with a few friends. Throw in a few drinks and some sports on the big screens above the bar and you've got a recipe for a good night ☺️👍🏼 5/5

I hadn't been to The Zookeepers Son before & wasn't sure what to expect. From the outside it looks like a busy pub, which is great, but pubs don't always have a good menu on offer. I was pleasantly surprised. <br/>Meeting a friend here for dinner there is a kind of covered outdoor area out the front - very busy with people catching up for drinks. Inside there were several areas - an upstairs & downstairs dining area, bar & pool table.<br/>We were welcomed & seated in the dining area. They had a special on the Baby Doll wine range - Pinot noir was very nice. <br/>My friend had eaten there before & recommended the buffalo wings & baby back ribs. They also had a great range of specials on including pan fried snapper. In the end we decided to share a plate of the Buffalo wings as an entree. I must say they were the best I have tried in a while. Full of flavour & with a slightly crispy skin, they were served with a blue cheese sauce which nicely balanced the heat in the wing's sauce.<br/>For mains, continuing our theme of sharing, we decided to share the roast which was pretty good value at $55. It says on the menu that it is a main size for 2 people & light meal for 4, but we found it very generous & my friend took a 'doggy bag' home.<br/>The roast consisted of a decent portion of twice cooked lamb shoulder which was very juicy & tender. You carve it yourself which is a great touch. Also a nice range of Veges, gravy & mint jelly. All Veges were cooked well - especially the broccolini.<br/>Gravy was tasty & appeared homemade. <br/>We looked at the dessert menu & it looked great with a lot of tasty options - alas we were just too full.<br/>Service really topped the night off! Friendly, engaging, great banter from everyone we dealt with which really says a lot about the culture of a team. Really looking forward to another visit soon.

Good ambience, prompt service and follow up. Only reason I gave a 3.5 was the chicken starters came out salty and since we were short of time I did not ask them to change but did inform the staff. She said she was going to check and come back to me but never did. Understand it was Valentine's Day and they were pretty busy. Overall, good experience.

Have been here for lunch a couple of times. The staff are great and friendly and you never have to wait too long after ordering, even if the place is packed. Definitely try their pizzas! So yummy!

A perfect place to come for lunch. The atmosphere is really comfortable. I came with my friend and my one year son and the lady serving us was so welcoming cheerful and friendly, she interacted with my son which I totally look out for when I go out for a meal, babies are customers too and they love interacting with others. I love places like this especially when I have my son with me, I ordered a burger with lemon lime and bitters and my son had fettuccini. The burger was perfect the chicken was a little bit over grilled but still delicious. My sons fettuccini was a amazing big portion we had to get a doggy bag home! The only down fall from the pasta was the taste was a bit too bland. The zookeepers son is a very relaxing environment but the FLIES really got on my nerves. They would continuously fly around our food it got really annoying . Other than that it is a perfect place to grab lunch .

We have recently moved to the area so The Zookeepers Son was an easy choice for a mid week dinner and drink. Great selection of drinks and the menu had so many options to looked so tasty! Tuesday was $10 burger night, such good news!! I had the Honky Tonk burger, with fries. The burger was smaller than expected but had great flavours, beer battered onion rings were top notch. <br/>The decor in this pub is so cool, absolutely love the theme. Our waitress was thorough but way too intense. She came to take our food order every two minutes til we decided, so we felt a bit rushed even though it was quiet in the restaurant. <br/>I think this could easily become our regular, will have to come back on a Friday night!

I've travelled (and eaten) all over the world and rate The Zookeeper's Son as one of the best local eateries/pubs. Sometime I dream about their lamb flatbread... And their Indonesian Chicken Skewers... And their beer battered fries with secret seasoning... Clearly I eat in my dreams! Love The Zoo. Always a great meal and a great crowd.

This used to be a favourite but has got worse over the past year.  I used to go every week but now it's expensive for the food you get.  Even the specials have increased in price and the steak only comes with one side. There are often new staff who aren't sure what to do.

Bitchn bingo is a hoot, come every month. Food is always spot on. A++ mistress Viv rocks! .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

do not go here if you want any level of service.waiters are prepapared to have stand up aguments over very clear mistakes a simple apology from the individual staff member would of course been the correct course of action.managment just seem to offer a small credit without <br/><br/>Acknowledging<br/><br/><br/> the very clear failing of thier staff.we all go out for a dinning experince if you want one may be try mc donadals?not this place

We have been on a number of occasions for both drinks and nibbles, lunch and dinner. Definitely think that the pub grub (pizzas, burgers etc) are the way to go. On most recent dinner visit I had the eye fillet which was just too expensive for what it was at $37. Service is usually fairly efficient and friendly and they have a good wine list by glass and bottle.

Love this place so much! My local bar/restaurant which I go to so much. Lovely atmosphere, it's comfortable, always good music on and good people to talk to. Great place to take family and friends. In a nicely done up building which is well heated and well lit. The staff are amazing and so lovely. Always very efficient and helpful. Plus the food is great too. Just what you would expect at your local. Would definitely recommend to everyone!

The food here is always lovely and for the most part the customer service is good but I've had a couple of average evenings here. They have quite a high staff turnover and there are often quite catty wait staff- I've had girls that looked me and my friends up and down and had them whispering to each other which didn't really make us feel welcome. Also when I tried to bring my brother here for dinner he didn't bring his ID with him and after we were seated in the restaurant area the waiter made a scene because of this and other tables looked over and they made us leave even though no one at the table had ordered alcohol- it was awkward since they didn't ask for ID until after we were seated and it was embarrassing because all the other tables watched as we had to do the walk of shame out of the place...

Food is delicious! I got the chicken Caesar burger with a side of fries. Had it before and it's always good. The beer battered friend here are Amazing! Definitely must try these! On Wednesday nights they have a steak special. $16 for a 300g rump w mushroom sauce and a side of fries. Really good value for money. Loyalty programme is pretty good too, $1 back for every $8 spent. Signed up tonight!! 😁😁😁

Just had to eye filet medium rare perfect. Great staff, friendly and welcoming waitress that recommended a great red wine. Keep up the good work, many thanks.

Perfect spot to watch any sports on a large screen near Royal Oak. Good pub food too with wide range of items too. <br/>Must try : Bbq Ribs<br/>Verdict : Been there more than 5 times and will be back for more

TZK'S a fun bar to go, it's nice and local and we've dined there for dinner and lunch on several diff occasions, had drinks there and my wife's book group has even had a get together there. Friday nights are always pumping. The menu's like any other gastro pub menu, pricey, but the meals are big and you can always keep up to date w. any game scores on the big screen. <br/><br/>We once ordered a very watery creme brûlée and the staff happily refunded our money AND gave us complimentary coffees. They also offered to replace the dessert. Now that's service! Therefore we will always happy to spend our money there. It's great when the band starts up too. The staff's always helpful and friendly too. Looking forward to returning for catch up drinks w. some mates soon.

Absolutely love this place. <br/><br/>My family and i have been coming here since it opened, and every single time, i'm in awe at how great the food is. <br/><br/>I love dusky, dim interior the place has. It makes your time with the people you come here with feel somewhat intimate. The staff are always friendly, helpful and know what they're doing. It's a popular local restaurant because, the way i see it, it's open day and night to cater to both families with kids and adults wanting to sit down with a few drinks. <br/><br/>If there's one thing i'd recommend from the menu, it's their range of steaks. The steak is always cooked the way you ask, and whichever sides and sauce you choose, the whole meal is always a winner. And, oh, did i mention how great the steak is? Aside from that, no matter which main you choose, it's always a large enough serving to satisfy you.<br/><br/>The only downside is that the waiting times can sometimes reach about 40 minutes. I guess you could say the food is worth the wait, but it's still a pretty long time. <br/><br/>Overall: A little pricey, you could be in for a long wait, but it's oh so good.

I had wrung this place to change my reservation to a later time, when I arrived I was informed that there was no reservation! So was seated in the corner in the dark. OMG the buffalo wings I ordered were so spicy I gave them away and ordered a burger but by the time that arrived I was already full on the chips.... The venue was hip and cool but the severity of noise was off putting. My sister and I had to scream or orders to the wait staff. After dinner we just left and went to another venue to drink in a better atmosphere

Awesome service guys! After being let down by a local restaurant for a birthday dinner, we found you guys in passing on a Friday night you accommodated 17 of us when you were busy and made us feel at home.<br/>The food was great, really good variety and timely service and delivery of food. Very impressed.<br/>Just as we finished eating, a live band arrived and also sounded great. Top atmosphere, highly recommend.

Beautiful setting, service was great and the burgers were fresh and large. Very well thought-out layout. Had the Auckland pizza and it was fantastic!

Went there a while back. Had their Had their bread loaf and sunday roast. Both were really delicious but the bread was a bit hard and messy to cut.  No other complaints though.

We stopped in here for some lunch on Saturday, really friendly and attentive staff. Happy to make or little family welcome (go you guys!) We had the salt and pepper squid and the corn beef sandwich. Both tasty and appropriately priced. Would be happy to return if in the area.

Been here a few times. Friday night and we just wanted an easy meal... walked in (via the backdoor which is good once you discover it) and got a table straight away which was great as it was busy... then waited.... waited a bit more and finally got attention of the waitress by madly waving at her. Long story short... service was poor. The waitress was nice when she actually dealt with you but she didnt actually engage unless we made obvious come here motions. Anyway my ribs were great but the fish n chips needed somethinng more apparently, just plain f&c you could get in a newspaper.<br/><br/>Not bad value, food acceptable, service was just having a bad day....

Our party of four ate here on a busy Friday night. <br/><br/>The service was very attentive and friendly, and the big screens showing the Blues game were an added bonus (ignoring the result). <br/><br/>The food was ok, but not great. The ribs came with a tasty BBQ sauce, but were a bit dry, and the accompanying "wedges" (i.e. massive chunks of spud) were undercooked and raw in the centre. The spicy chicken wings were commendable and the fish n chips weren't too bad. <br/><br/>Due to the game being shown, the place was heaving. This might explain the feeling that the meals were a bit rushed. <br/><br/>We'd come back, but probably just for a pint and some of those chicken wings.

Other than a time I had to wait for the food for about half an hour to forty five minutes for the food, the place has nice vibe, good live music, awesome pub food and best pizza in Auckland. Oh and chorizo tomato soup is awesome!!

I celebrated my recent birthday here with a small group of friends and I was very impressed with both the food and the venue.<br/><br/>The bar itself is spacious with ample seating and has plenty of interesting visual features to go with the impressive liquor selection. On very warm summer evenings nearly the entire shop front opens up to allow plenty of cooling airflow.<br/><br/>Upon arrival it turned out we had been booked for the wrong night, but it was no trouble for the staff to quickly arrange enough table space for our group, despite being a busy Saturday night.<br/><br/>The extensive menu resulted in some difficult and lengthy decisions on meals but the waiting staff were patient and gave us plenty of space to make up our minds. Once the orders were all in the kitchen staff did a fantastic job of getting them all out together and I can highly recommend the yellowfin tuna from the grill menu. The beer battered fries served alongside are about the best I've ever tried and my girlfriend was well impressed by the regular fries as well.<br/><br/>Pricewise the menu is on a par to most other suburban Auckland pubs, there is plenty of value to found depending on your tastes.<br/><br/>I will be back again soon to explore the many menu options and enjoy the friendly service and fresh atmosphere.

A good local, with friendly staff, mostly reasonable food and a reasonable price and a good selection of drinks.

This place is the closest decent bar to where my parents live. I love popping by here and catching up with my mates.<br/><br/>There uk imported ginger beer is excellent!<br/>I always go for the jug of Tiger too!<br/><br/>Buffalo wings are yum yum yum, pizza is average.<br/><br/>Overall best bar in the small neighborhood<br/><br/> Service: 5/5<br/> Wait time: 4/5<br/> Environment: 4/5<br/> Food Quality: 4/5<br/> Food Quantity: 4/5<br/> Price range: $30+ pp

I absolutely adore The Zookeepers Son. I have been going here since I moved to New Zealand. Have always gotten to know the staff so always go there with a very warm welcome. The food menu is so much better then before. A lot more gourmet stuff now such as the twice cooked duck. Very big variety of meats and seafood. I'm not a big fan of the cocktails. The are a pub so cocktails are not something they excel in but that is the only thing I don't like. I'm used to cocktail bars where cocktails are the main drink of choice and expertise. I love you guys &amp; keep up the great work!!

Very average. Paid $18 for a greek salad that was literally 3 pieces each of tomato, feta and cucumber. Cocktail tasted watery. Bread and dips were delicious though! Unfortunately I cant recommend this place as I don't feel it was tasty enough to deserve the high price and small portion size.

Myself and 3 others went here for Sunday lunch and was absolutely blown away but the meal and the service!!! the food was amazing and I can honestly say I've never been in a restaurant where all the staff were so friendly. Thank you and look forward to coming back

Just wanted to thank you Guys for helping to celebrate my birthday last night. The food was tasty, service friendly, atmospheric awesome. <br/>Special music request, birthday cake, birthday voucher....all these thoughtful touches made my night very special. Thank you.

I organised a birthday party of 15 people for a good friend of mine. Communication was a bit slow (I had to email them twice in order to get some sort of response) but once that got going, they were very helpful in managing our booking. <br/><br/>Although they reserved a nice spot upstairs (overlooking the balcony) - it got really dark towards the night and I had no choice but scurry over the neighbouring tables to grab a couple of candles for the table - I wished the staff was more cognizant about this. It became really hard to see what we were eating at one point (there was not enough lighting upstairs).<br/><br/>Food was average. The waiter was really slow and clumsy with our orders (one of the ladies only got her main delivered when we were almost done with ours - they screwed up her order somehow). Seriously, how hard is it to manage 15 people in a big restaurant? My guess is it shouldn't be that hard if you cater to that many people in the first place.<br/><br/>I ordered the fish which was very bland.. a couple of the others ordered the pork ribs - they weren't done well (it tasted like they just poured sauce over it rather than allow it to marinate). <br/><br/>Overall, prices were okay, food was average, service was so-so. There is plenty of room for improvement.

We used the zookeepers son as a venue for engagement party. After running into many places that seemed to do their utmost to dissuade us from having our event (including minimum spends of $5K +!!) the Zookeepers were a breath of fresh air. They bent over backwards for us, let my girlfriends decorate the upstairs as we liked, and everyone at the party commented on their excellent service and how impressed they were. Honestly, these guys made the night and they had the most wonderful platters as well. I can't recommend them highly enough for your event.

4 of us went last night and really enjoyed ourselves. The service was fast and efficient, the staff were friendly and the food was good. The pork ribs were smothered with a tangy sauce and almost fell off the bone , the chicken fettuccine was tasty with lots of sauce, the fish and chips - real kiwi food, and the burger thick and juicy ordered with beer battered fries was perfect. Portions were very generous - the ribs and the pasta were taken home in doggie bags to enjoy today.

Went there today for lunch (9 people). NOt only were the meals amazing (my partner said his steak was the best he'd ever had...and he is very critical), the service was awesome and the meals all came out together and relatively quickly. Will definitely be back.

I went here last night with my girlfriend and a mate. Service was fast, drinks came less than 5 mins after ordering, starters 5 mins after ordering and mains just as fast. <br/><br/>We had the Rump steak, Lamb Rump and the Chicken Breast Proscittuo. (I cant spell). All of which were cooked perfectly and tasted outstanding!<br/><br/>The French waitress that served us was friendly, helpful and very attentive. (If I had any spare cash I would have tipped, but will definitely be back soon!)<br/><br/>Our mate even got a few phone numbers from some girls outside.<br/><br/>All in all a great night.<br/><br/>Keep up the good work Zoo Keepers Son !

Went to Zoo Keepers Son on a Sunday Night, didn't need to book. Got a table in the corner, a waitress came and took our drinks orders straight away and the drinks came fast! Ordered Bread and dips to start off with, they came in about 5minutes. Our mains came after about 15min which was great. The food was Amazing, I got the chicken breast and no complaints! was amazing for the price it was. Boyfriend got the steak and loved every bit of it! the Steak was cooked exactly how he wanted it! Friend was also very happy with his steak! <br/>Overall a great atmosphere and great staff! Would defiantly recommend this place!<br/><br/>Staff were great! very friendly and patient.<br/>Food cam fast and was amazing! Great food and Great drinks.<br/>Would come here again anytime!

A waitress that texts on the job &amp; rolls her eyes when u have a request! A mistake with meals, 4 of us had finished our meals before the last 2 people got theirs! The bill came &amp; all items charged for twice! How long to sort this out? Twenty minutes, &amp; oh still not right. Ask to speak to a manager, yes, interested? NO! Rude? YES. Going back the zookeeper? Definately NOT!!!

They have done amazing things with this once very down and out bar. Impressed with the decor. The service was attentive/reasonably friendly but I did not appreciate the constant up selling attempts when ordering bar snacks. (3 times asked if I wanted to pay more) Perhaps it was an unspoken warning that the bar snacks serving sizes were ridiculously small. (embarrassingly small actually) I'd bought a round of drinks for friends visiting from New Plymouth and also got a couple of plates of snacks for the table. They commented on the tiny serving size and were initially too polite to help themselves, eventually they did but only after insisting on ordering more!

This is a great new local pub for me. They have a good drink selection and super friendly staff. I also recommend the pub meals, they obviously use quality ingredients because the flavors are there, much better than your average pub meal, and the portions are very generous too.<br/>I recommend the chocolate brownie dessert, yum!

This place has changed alot since being revamped and having a name change, well done to Dave and his team! Food/Service/ 10/10 not to mention the extensive beverage menue. Always a great place to watch the rugby and a have a pint or 2 with great company!<br/>I'll Be Back!!

Great service, great food and very reasonable price! Will definately eat here again!

We frequent Zookeepers often. As a family of 5 and also just with the adults. It's nice to have a one stop shop in the area, where the boys can watch the footy, the girls can have a wine and watch the kids colour in or simply relax on the big couches. There is ample choice for both young and old on the menu with nothing too fancy or too plain. Long overdue for Royal Oak and a far cry better than the seedy places it has been in the past. Well done !!!

Thank goodness finally a great place to go right in our neighbourhood. Had a wonderful mothers day lunch with my two daughters. Food and service was fantastic and the free mother day dessert was a huge surprise and delicious. Our waiter was charming and very attentive. I have very fussy eating habits and the chef was fantastic making the adjustments to make my meal exactly the way I like it. Highly recommended and can't wait to get back.

We came here as a group of 10. 4 adult and 6 children. Luckily we booked because it was busy. The food was delicious, every plate was sent back almost licked clean. There was a great selection of food for the kids. Kids were able to colour in, and the general bar atmosphere helped to dampen the kids noise.<br/>It was good that the sides options were included in the price of the meal. The platters looked good.

we decided to check out our new local after hearing good things about it, we’re a family of 9 and we were sat at a large table which is in front of the fire place and is adorned with a candleabra, very nice setting the service was friendly and helpful, and the food was lovely, we had roast platters which are a really neat idea-traditional whole roast with all the trimmings. everybody commented on it and we look forward to coming back. this place has everything including a huge sunny outside area, I look forward to coming back and enjoying a drink in the garden bar.

My friends and I have been hanging out for a place like this to open in our neighbourhood!! This is a cool funky place, and now my hangout! Food was great, I had the lamb rump which looked devine, and tasted better! My friend got the salmon and is still raving about it!! After dinner we got up and had a dance to the live music and (to burn up a few guilty calories gained over dinner) All-n-all a PERFECT night! Great to think it's just down the road!<br/> Also, love the story behind the name!

We went on a Friday night and the place was vibrant with a good atmosphere. They have live music later in the evening and also play live sport. Out the back is pool tables.<br/><br/>A great place to have something to eat while keeping up with the rugby or F1.<br/><br/>The food and service is ok. Our burgers were nothing special but the beer was cold.

The Zookeeper's Son is another one of my go-to places in Royal Oak. It's a great casual spot to have a quick meal or for after work drinks. They have a really good express lunch menu for those that need to get back to work during the day. I recommend the classic beef burger, chicken burger, soft prawn tacos, falafel wrap and flash fried squid. The fish burger was alright, it really messy to eat! The portions are generous and the beer battered chips are a must-have to share with the table. Their pizzas are also quite nice to share. Try the regal (hot smoked salmon, red onion, capers, dill crème fraiche) and the Trafalgar (peppered beef, chorizo, pepperoni, mushroom, roasted peppers, potato and garlic aioli).They also have a main and dessert menu if you're wanting a full meal. The tiramisu is pretty good!<br/><br/>The service is friendly, but can be a bit slow. If you're dining in a big group it pays to pre-order in advance. Zookeeper's has a relaxed atmosphere, lots of space - there's room upstairs for groups or outside if the weather is nice. This place is better than your average pub! It has fun artwork on the walls, pool tables and big TV screens. They also have a Loyalty Club you can join - they send you a $25 voucher to spend for your birthday and other specials.<br/><br/>I did see Dan Carter there with his boys one night but I didn't want to fan girl and interrupt him so unfortunately I don't have a photo to show!

Great place to watch the game with a few mates. Love the fact you can buy beer in a jug! Nice flow from indoors to outside to upstairs. Good selection of casual dining food.

Great and delicious fresh food! ..the combination of flavors is just amazing and when you add a fresh apple cider or glass of red wine it's like heaven. The atmosphere is cool and relaxing, plus the friendly staff make you feel that there is nothing to worry about. Finally live music make the perfect place to visit after a busy week. 100% recommended! Will be back this weekend, or maybe this evening :)

A friend brought me to this place for her birthday after she received a $25 voucher from the bar to use. Sweet deal I thought! We came on a Friday night for dinner and drinks and had the best time. I had no idea such a lively venue existed in the suburbs. It has a really friendly atmosphere and the decor is funky and different.<br/><br/>The bar was packed with people having dinner and drinks but even so we received really great service. The staff were all friendly and helpful and double checked with the kitchen that they could cater to my friends special dietary requirements (they could no problem!) Our meals were served promptly and my steak was one of the best I've had in ages! A band started and we ended up staying all night dancing and having a great time. Well worth a visit and I will be back for sure!

The zookeepers son is a great bar, very vintage and good for a couple drinks on a Friday night. The pro's about this place is that it pretty much caters to everyone. You have your restaurant, bar, pokies, and even a straightener in the girls bathrooms to cater to the afrotastic ladies such as myself ;) The overall setting of this place is great and the food is decent BUT I do have a few issues with this place.<br/> <br/>The not-so-pro's haha :<br/>If you've read up on a few of my other reviews you will have noticed that service is a HUGE thing for me. The waitresses here were not happy at all ... they didn't want to talk to you, would rush your orders and roll their eyes at you. I am definitely not one to let someone treat me like this without me saying something but working in the condition where I could see them being talked to like they were street walkers (by drunk customers) I could understand them being a little more than pissed off. <br/><br/>Everything is far too close together -the restaurant and bar are practically on top of each other. I was trying to eat my margherita pizza in peace with a couple of mates when a herd of people used our table as a seat. I ordered coke with no ass THANKS. -_-<br/><br/>The cost of the food isn't exactly what you are getting. For a couple drinks (alcoholic) and dinner, you're looking at minimum $40 per person.