ASHEBORO N.C. (ACME NEWS) — Beer and wine are now on sale at the North Carolina Zoo for the first time ever, added to the menus across the park without any public announcement.
On your next trip to the North Carolina Zoo, you might spot something you haven’t seen before: guests walking through the park sipping on an alcoholic beverage. After decades as a dry attraction, the NC Zoo quietly rolled out alcohol sales to the public over Labor Day weekend, along with new guidelines allowing guests to carry those drinks as they walk from habitat to habitat.
The N.C. ABC Commission granted SSA Group LLC — the zoo’s food and beverage vendor, which runs every restaurant and food cart in the park, an on-premises malt beverage and wine sales permit on Aug. 14. It’s the first standing alcohol permit in the zoo’s history.
Alcohol sales at the zoo start at 11 a.m. and end one hour before the zoo closes at fixed restaurant locations, not mobile snack carts. Anyone buying alcohol must show ID, and guests are limited to two drinks per purchase. Pre-packaged alcoholic beverages must be opened by staff at the point of purchase.
While guests are allowed to walk around the park with alcoholic beverages, they cannot be carried onto zoo transportation such as the tram, shuttle or Zoofari, and are barred from the Kids’ Zone and all buildings and areas marked with no food or drink signs. Guests using electric convenience vehicles, wheelchairs or other mobility devices are the exception, allowed to drink in areas not set aside for vehicle traffic.
The zoo is keeping its longstanding rule banning outside alcohol. Beer and wine purchased inside the park cannot leave zoo property, and guests may not bring in alcohol from home.
Behind the counter, you’ll find a mix of domestic and imported beer, canned wine and hard malt beverages, from both national and local brands. Domestic beer and wine currently cost $9.99 each, and craft beer and seltzers cost $10.99 each.
Two of the offerings come from Asheboro-based Four Saints Brewing Co. “We have been grateful to support the NC Zoo Society through many events and fun times. Now we get to share great beer for great people inside one of the places that makes our hometown, and state, extraordinary,” Four Saints Brewing Co. said in a Sept. 4 Facebook announcement. “We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity and ridiculously excited to finally say it out loud.”
The announcement that alcohol was now on the menu at the zoo didn’t come from the zoo. The first word came from Zoo City Den — a zoo-themed Airbnb property run by a former zoo employee who now works for the North Carolina Zoo Society — which posted a detailed breakdown of the new alcohol rules on Facebook, covering hours, the two-drink limit, the outside-alcohol ban and restrictions on where alcohol could go inside the park. Four Saints posted its own announcement the same day.
The zoo didn’t post the new alcohol guidelines to its website until later in the week following Labor Day weekend, citing a vacant webmaster position as the reason for the delay. As of Friday, the zoo had made no official announcement about the rollout on its website or across any of its social media accounts.
The zoo operates under the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR), which framed the change as part of a broader trend. “The North Carolina Zoo has been considering beer and wine sales for some time as it looks for ways to enhance the experience for guests,” said Michele Walker, interim communications director for DNCR. “Many zoos, attractions, and sporting venues across the country offer beer and wine, and the Zoo’s plans are in line with that broader industry trend.”
Walker said the zoo’s vendor, SSA Group, is working with Four Saints and intends to expand offerings in the future with the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild. She noted two other DNCR-run attractions — the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and the N.C. Museum of Art — also serve beer and wine in their restaurants. “DNCR will continue to support the Zoo as it continues to grow and provide new experiences for its guests,” she said.
Despite the lack of an announcement from the zoo, word spread quickly on social media. An analysis of over 100 Facebook posts and comments found reaction leaned critical. The most common objections centered on children — several commenters cited school field trips, including one who noted that Asheboro City Schools’ Zoo School sits on zoo property, while others raised safety concerns about mixing alcohol with the summer heat. Supporters compared the zoo to other family attractions that already serve alcohol, including Disney, Universal, Chuck E. Cheese and Carowinds, and argued the state-owned zoo has a right to the added revenue given its limited funding. Several also pointed to the zoo’s own safeguards — such as the two-drink limit and ID checks — as reason enough not to worry.
Diane Villa, the zoo’s deputy director and chief communications officer, said she is confident the zoo can serve alcohol without compromising its family-friendly atmosphere.
“All of our SSA employees who are serving alcohol have been thoroughly trained,” Villa said. That training includes identifying anyone who may be intoxicated and refusing to sell to them. “We would request that they depart with a designated driver,” Villa said. “We would not continue to sell them alcohol.”
The zoo says it also held off on the rollout until law enforcement coverage was in place. The zoo’s police force now maintains a presence on site seven days a week, with emergency operations staff stationed throughout the park.
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