Lakeside Café at Saint Louis Zoo — Restaurant in St. Louis

Went for breakfast with my wife and 88 year-old mother in law. We called ahead to see what food offerings there were for breakfast because mom is on a soft food only diet because of her age and condition. She can't chew food so I have to mill everything for her. We ordered her a scrambled egg and wanted to just order a single pancake but the server said "No, we aren't doing that, you have to buy a stack." We explained why we just needed one pancake and offered to pay for a stack but she refused saying, "No, we don't do that." So we get a stack and the pancakes are huge. Big enough to make 9 servings for mom if we cut them into 1/3's. She eats about 6 oz. of food per meal as she weighs a whopping 88lbs and is 4' 8" tall and in a wheelchair. I think the menu should allow for a true "Child's or Senior" menu. It was a complete waste of food since we ended up throwing half the egg and 2 & 1/2 pancakes in the garbage so we could walk around and enjoy our day. The food was tasty but the unwillingness of the young lady behind the counter to simply help us in avoiding such a waste of food give us pause to eat there again. It's a big deal, food waste, and simply allowing someone to order a smaller portion of food would be a good practice. I don't care what the cost is but I don't think everyone walks around with a cooler full of ice to store leftovers in for 5 hours while walking around the zoo while pushing an 88 year old around in...

The menu is good with variety you would typically not see at a restaurant in a Zoo. However the ordering and food pickup process is terrible. There are several lines than don’t have a clear markings between them so it makes it very confusing to understand where your headed. The pickup isn’t separate from the ordering so you get people ordering and waiting for their food at the same time. And, it seems like making the food isn’t organized. I waiting 15 minutes for a kids grilled cheese while there were several nachos, hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches just sitting there under the warming self. They should have a separate pickup area (there is space for one), one line to wait in for the food, and possibly a ticketing system to prioritize the cooking....

We had lunch here while visiting the Zoo with friends and I was impressed.

This is a large building that I expected to be really crowded given the amount of people at the zoo the Sunday we visited, but there were no lines, seating was easily found, it was clean, and the prices were fair.

We purchased Ceasar salads, drinks, and chips and they were extremely fair priced and tasted great. Fresh ingredients inside and good quality chicken.

We found seats outside overlooking the lake and had a great lunch.

A win! I'd def....