The Akron Zoo’s Komodo Kingdom Café was awarded the 2026 Greenest Zoo Restaurant by the Green Restaurant Association.
The Komodo Kingdom Café implemented 77 environmental steps to earn 366 GreenPoints from the organization. These steps include reducing the café’s energy usage with a geothermal heat pump, LED lighting, restroom occupancy sensors and an on-site solar array. To
The Akron Zoo’s Komodo Kingdom Café has been a 4-star Green Restaurant since 2012. Komodo Kingdom was the first zoo restaurant in the U.S. and the second restaurant in Ohio to earn the 4-star certified green restaurant.
The “4-star” distinction is determined using a point-based checklist of seven categories: disposables, energy, sustainable food, sustainable furnishings and building, pollution and chemical reduction, waste and water. To earn four stars and the “trailblazer” status, restaurants must tally at least 300 points.