Busch Gardens Tampa Bay elevates dining with Treetop Kitchen

For those of us who eat a lot of theme park food, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay fails to stand out. Of course, it sometimes offers some interesting festival food, like the Food and Wine Festival. Still, the theme park food offerings at Busch Gardens often lack the style of the larger theme park resorts in Florida, like Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World.

To Busch Gardens’ credit, they offer an all-day dining plan, which those other theme parks do not. In addition, Springs Taproom and Zambia Smokehouse at Busch Gardens feature some upgrades from standard theme park cuisine. However, Busch Gardens recently took some steps to create a more upscale dining option: Treetop Kitchen.

Busch Gardens recently reopened Treetop Kitchen with new theming, décor, and menu. This restaurant resides on the third floor of Serengeti Overlook. While guests dining downstairs in this building can purchase traditional theme park pizza, diners at Treetop Kitchen experience a more elevated dining experience in several ways.

Treetop Kitchen: Elevated Dining

First, Treetop Kitchen occupies a large portion of the third floor of Serengeti Overlook. From there, guests can view the theme park’s activities, such as the rides and animals. The views are best from the tables near the main window. However, a patio area, not used during our visit, might offer better views. No matter where you sit, the opportunity to enjoy this third-floor elevated dining room above the busyness of the park presents guests with a space to relax.

Second, the menu at Treetop Kitchen provides an elevated experience compared to the quick-service options at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It includes a varied combination of Latin-American and African cuisines, which makes sense given that this floor has been redecorated with authentic African colors and materials. In recent times, the third floor has been used for special events, like Scary and Merry last year. Treetop Kitchen’s reopening gives the space new life for theme park guests to enjoy.

Also, the dining experience at Treetop Kitchen involves more than walking to a window with a Busch Gardens ambassador taking your food and beverage order. Still, for those expecting a more formal setting with a dedicated server, Treetop Kitchen does not utilize that method. Treetop Kitchen provides service for guests via mobile order and table delivery. This style of restaurant has become more prominent at places like Minion Cafe at Universal Orlando.

Each table at Treetop Kitchen displays a QR code and number that link to the full menu. After scanning the code, guests use their mobile devices to order their meals. The Busch Gardens ambassadors then bring your order to your table for an elevated experience.

Treetop Kitchen: How Was Our Visit?

As you may have guessed, we visited Treetop Kitchen recently. This restaurant opened in its new form on June 7, 2024. It’s open from 11 a.m. until one hour before the theme park closes. Guests should note that Treetop Kitchen is only open Fridays through Sundays.

We visited on the second weekend of operation. At that time, we ordered the Smoked Pork Cubano Sandwich, which cost $17.99.

Of note, Busch Gardens annual passholders do receive their discount after entering their pass number when ordering. However, passholders may not use additional monthly perks, such as Busch Bucks, at Treetop Kitchen. Also, as you might expect, this restaurant does not participate in the “All-Day Dining” plan at Busch Gardens.

During our visit, guests seemed confused by the lack of additional annual pass perks being able to be applied to their bill. The staff of Busch Gardens ambassadors at Treetop Kitchen also struggled a little with this concept. Still, the restaurant is new, and this issue is well-described on Busch Gardens’ website. Ambassadors worked hard to provide quality service with this new concept.

During our visit here, we noticed one issue with the mobile ordering system. Guests do not have the ability to make modifications to their order. This issue appeared to be occurring at several tables around us. Nonetheless, the ambassadors went to tables to answer questions. In all cases, they indicated that after the mobile order is placed, they would tell the kitchen to make the modifications. This functioned fine, but was obviously not ideal for staff and guests.

Though everyone is still learning the mobile order and table delivery system, the ambassadors worked diligently to make the experience positive for all. We expect some of these issues to be ironed out in the upcoming weeks.

Smoked Pork Cubano Sandwich

The Smoked Pork Cubano Sandwich consists of Cubano bread, prosciutto, Swiss cheese, spicy mustard, house-made pickles, and fried plantain chips. The fried plantain chips did not come within the sandwich, but as a side. Also, the fried plantains did not resemble chips, but were soft fried plantains. For the record, we thought they made a nice non-traditional side to the sandwich.

Overall, the sandwich provides a step up from normal quick-service theme park food. Purists may comment on this sandwich not being an authentic Cubano sandwich. Still, theme park chefs often apply their own spin to the dishes.  Busch Gardens’ guests looking for elevated dining will appreciate this sandwich.

Treetop Kitchen Menu

The menu consists of four appetizers, several entrees, and desserts. Parents should not worry; kids’ meals appear on this menu as well.

Appetizers range in price from $8.99 to $9.99.

• Treetop Caesar Salad
• Pork Tostadas
• Serengeti Salad
• Tomato Bisque

Entrees range from the sandwich we ordered to table-service-style items like Seared Scallops. The prices range from $17.99 to $34.99.

• South African Spice-Rubbed Beef Tenderloin
• Smoked Pork Cubano Sandwich
• Coastal Catch of The Day
• Roasted Chicken
• Seared Scallops
• Blackened Fish Sandwich

We cannot leave out the dessert for guests to enjoy while taking in the view of the theme park.

• Village-Made Cheesecake
• Warm Dark Chocolate Brownie Tower
• Key Lime Pie
• Cheetah Bar (Peanut Butter, White Chocolate, and Crispy Spots)

Final Thoughts

Treetop Kitchen provides a relaxing place to enjoy a meal with quality service, fulfilling a need for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Let us know if you visit Treetop Kitchen. We would love to hear about your experience with this elevated dining.

Later this summer, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will open Phoenix Rising, its new roller coaster.

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