Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park

I came here last night for the annual «Brew at the Zoo» fundraising event. It was my first time coming here. Based on last night the zoo gets 3 stars, but the event bumps it up to 4 because it was generally well organized, and it was a lot of fun.
I didn’t have high expectations for a zoo in Syracuse, so I wasn’t really surprised that it is pretty small for a zoo and that there really aren’t that many animals to see. The elephants and the indoor primate area were my favorite parts. There is currently the most adorable baby elephant here, and the primates are so cute and funny to watch. I didn’t get to see some animals, as it seemed they were hanging back from the crowds of increasingly drunk people (the beer was definitely flowing at the event!). Some of the animals also looked sad to be confined in such small spaces for their size. On the whole though, I loved walking through the zoo, being outside, and seeing the animals that I did see. I’m sure little kids would love it.
The Brew at the Zoo event was very crowded, but we managed to navigate well enough to avoid the massively long lines that sometimes existed for beer and food. Tickets were $ 50 and included unlimited beer, wine, and food. There were a ton of breweries at the event, and beer stations were set up all throughout the zoo. The food was supplied by Tops. There were various food stations set up interspersed between the beer stations, which was great because you could stop every so often and eat to balance the beer consumption. There was also water and non-​alcoholic beverages. The food stations included a cheese station (soooo many flavors of cheese!), hot dogs and sausage station, meatball station, pork skewers station, salty snacks station (tons of bags of various chips and cheese and cracker packets), and sweet station (skittles, sour patch kids, etc.).
At the event, you got a beer tasting cup and lanyard holder as you walked in the door. The lanyard really came in handy to hold your beer as you ate your food. Everyone working the event was friendly, and they kept it very clean throughout the evening. There were, however, some people that overdid it on the adult beverages. So, if you come to the event in the future, be prepared for some people acting like idiots. I expected that at an event with unlimited drink, but it did still irk me, as there were people in the primates area knocking on the glass yelling at the animals. The event was to raise money for those same animals. Keep it classy Syracuse, please?
Overall, it is a nice zoo to spend a couple of hours at. I can see coming back here again for an afternoon, and I will be sure to buy tickets for the fundraiser next year.