Zambia Smokehouse — Restaurant in Tampa

Ate here on New Year’s Eve. Husband had the brisket, son had the ribs, and I had the chicken. I tried both my husband’s and son’s meals and all were good, although the chicken was the best for my taste and opinion. It was extremely well seasoned to my surprise. Chicken was well cooked and came off the bone easily. Be careful as tiny bones came off the chicken and you can easily swallow or choke on one. The baked beans were super spicy for my taste, Mac and Cheese needed salt. The seasoned toast was tasteless. The s’mores cheesecake, homemade cookies, and brownie were nothing to write home about. I found the brownie the best out of the 3 desserts, but I’ve also had better brownies. I did see a gluten free chocolate chip cookie (this one is pre-packaged), but since we had already grabbed the other desserts (they didn’t want you to put anything you grabbed back), I wasn’t able to get that instead. If you purchase the meal plan, they won’t give you a bottled water. They’ll give you a fountain drink and a small size cup of water. Which is ridiculous cause the fountain drinks are $5.99, and a bottled water is $4.99. The meals come with 1 choice of meat, beans, bread and fries. If you get anything extra, they will charge you for it. I paid $6 for the Mac and Cheese, which wasn’t really worth it. The staff at this place appears to be over its customers. They’re simply not having it. There’s a short little lady serving food behind the counter that had a huge attitude on her. Staff needs to be reminded that customers coming into the parks are the ones paying her salary. Needs to lose the attitude. The tall cashier gentleman was alright. Told me I had to pay for my extra side, but was nice about it. I would eat here again if I ever returned to Busch Gardens. Staff across all kiosks needs to be explained the dining plan. Many were dear lost in headlights and some wouldn’t give me water. Water is basic human right. You can have people in a hot and humid environment all day and refuse them water. Management, re-evaluate, or sell folks...

I really wanted to try the bbq here after watching youtube videos and the food looked good. The videos I saw were from 2024 and things had changed since. Brisket and platter are no longer included in the All Day Dining. They no longer come with Texas toast instead a dinner roll. I don't believe there's any sides besides the fries which were pretty flavorful. The smoked flavor is there on everything I tried: brisket, chicken leg, ribs etc. They were good but I don't find myself craving for more. The lines are generally long if the weather is good or very bad. My disappointment was the discontinuation of the Texas toast since the photo is still displayed near the restaurant. I feel the line cook and servers did their best with the crowd hence a bit of delay from time to time.... not sure how it could or might change. It rained the first time I visited and there were no place to sit. I ended up finishing my meal standing at a closed register. Thank God for...

Horrible experience! We waited for 2 hours in line to get to the food. When we got to check out, they tried to charge us for the water and sides. We paid $50 each for all day dining. I argued with the check out. They said the fries that come with the entree was the side. I told them to take it off. Furthermore, the water was part of the drink list. The cashier said they had not updated the register, so we would have to pay. I got hot at that point. Blood sugar was way low, feet hurt from standing 2 hours in the heat. He voided the transaction then charged us for 2 meals because the wrist band can only be scanned every 90 minutes. About the time I was ready to get my first felony assault, the other cashier said we could go. I didn't get my side. Then there were no tables because people were sitting around holding tables for others who were in line. We had to sit the tray on a trash can to eat. The food was cold. I'll never go back...