Review: Tiburon Restaurant

I recently found out that there was a fairly new restaurant near our home that advertised having a 60,000 gallon shark tank in the middle of the restaurant. Of course, we had to check it out. The restaurant is called Tiburon and it is located inside of the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium in Litchfield Park, AZ.

I went to the website and thought it looked amazing. There was beautiful music playing, gorgeous pictures and a fantastic looking menu. The menu listed many different items to chose from and the price didn't seem half bad. Of course, the more elaborate menu items were more expensive, but they all seemed within reason. I was really looking forward to visiting.

My hubby and I decided to try the restaurant out on a Saturday night in April. Upon arriving, we noticed that the restaurant was located to the east side of the park, and appeared separate from the amusement area. As we entered the building, into the lobby, I was excited and the decor upon entrance seemed like what I expected. Until, we came through the lobby doors.....

To the right, was the "Flamingo Lounge" which looked like nothing more than a bright outdoor cafe (at an amusement park). Immediately in front of me, there were several small fish tanks that seemed a little murky, but had some pretty fish. This is also where the restrooms were located, which, by looks of the ladies room inside, it had not been cleaned for days. To our left, we could see the shark aquarium which was very impressive. The dining area was dimmed and seemed cozy, but definitely not high class by any means. The hostess seemed confused as to where to sit people as she walked back and forth from the dining room to the lobby, without communicating to the waiting guests. Eventually, a host came by and asked us if we wanted to sit next to the aquarium and we of course said, "yes!".


Our view of the tank kept us mesmerized for some time. It was interesting to watch all the different fish and how the sharks reacted to them and visa verse. We were finally greeted by our somewhat "rough around the edges" waitress who just seemed a little too casual for the type of restaurant we "thought" we were coming to. Overall, she was a nice gal, but again, not what we expected.

The menu seemed different than the one online and the prices seemed much higher. We also noticed that they wanted to serve asparagus with EVERYTHING! We chuckled that they must have gotten a good deal from their vendor. We decided against the Duck Tacos (yikes!) and got a couple other items from the menu. I liked my food, although the presentation was a little odd. My husband was not real impressed with the very large, under cooked vegetables that came with his meal.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was very family oriented and seemed like a restaurant attached to an amusement park. I don't mean to be so harsh, what did I expect, right? But, I guess with the prices on the menu and the impression I got from the website, I expected more.

Have any of my Arizona readers been there? What did you think? I am curious if I am being too critical or did they just have an off night?