queso sliders & fries
food
the entrance to the restaurant
The Aquarium may be closed, but the Shark Reef Cafe is open.
a woman sitting in front of the aquarium
a fish tank with fish in the background
a salad in a box
Resting shark.
View from seating area of Shark Reef
Grilled chicken salad.
outside
seafood, fish and chips, fish, food
Come in and have a cold local brew and visit our newly remodeled restaurant!
Friendly staff! Order first then sit down....
Grab n go type items
interior
interior
Inside the cafe
interior
Breakfast menu
menu
Green chili burger with fries was Ok, there were a lot of fries.
Tony M.
Dec 2, 2024
I ordered a patty melt and it came with homemade chips. None of it had any seasoning and the chips tasted old and stale. The prices are a bit high and the food quality does not justify it.
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Kalie G.
Feb 14, 2024
Perfect place for dinning with a view. They have comfort foods and good coffees. A must visit for an aquarium or botanical garden day.
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Kevin M.
Feb 1, 2023
Shark reef café is one of Albuquerque's true gems. The food is excellent. I particularly recommend the sliders. It's presented in a visually effective way and is also very tasty and filling. They have a nice selection of beers on tap. It's particularly serene to sit and watch the aquatic life. I strongly recommend putting your smart phone away, and just sitting there and watching whole you enjoy the food and ambience. The staff is particularly friendly and helpful. Prices are very reasonable; it's adjacent to the botanical gardens, but you can enter the shark reef café, without going into the gardens.
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Courtenay O.
Jul 10, 2022
The food was so good! And so was the service!My niece treated the six of us to food and drinks. She got lavender hard cider for herself and I got the banana strawberry smoothie. Both hit the spot! She ordered fried chicken strips and French fries, and a burger sliders' sundae with French fries for the table. Everything was freshly cooked and exceptional. A few other drinks were ordered - a Shark attack and mango lemonade for the young ones. They were sweet! And refreshing! I wish I had taken photos. Everything looked as great as it tasted.Oh! And we got to look at the huge fish, sharks, and big turtle as they swam by 2 large windows as we stuffed our faces.
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Lindsay B.
Jul 24, 2021
This restaurant was so neat! You can eat right next to a gigantic fish tank and watch the sea-life swimming while you're eating. Animals I saw were all kinds of enormous fish, sting rays, sharks and even a turtle! We got the chicken salad and fish and chips and both were delicious! The food is slightly expensive, but it's totally worth it for the neat and unique atmosphere. You don't need to buy an admission fee for the zoo or aquarium-you can just go right into the restaurant. You order up at the front and then wait at your table until your order is ready-they hand out light/vibrating beepers to notify you when your food is ready. The food was served in cardboard to-go boxes - maybe for easy clean up as well as for covid precautions.... No matter where you sit, you will have a view of the giant fish tank-there are also smaller fish tanks scattered through the restaurant as well. (Everyone wants to sit close to the big fish tank but even if you sit farther from it, you might get a more comprehensive view of the whole place). I would definitely recommend this place for a visit!!!
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Jenna B.
Nov 10, 2023
Shark Reef Cafe was really yummy. Clean, service was friendly and of course you cannot beat the view! I would be a regular if we lived in New Mexico! Very glad we tried it.
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Laura B.
Mar 26, 2021
The Aquarium is closed still, but the restaurant is open. The food is always good quality, but pricy, even with the member discount. The children's meal with Mac and cheese is good with tons of melted cheese. The cheeseburger was cooked to perfection and the French Fries are great. I love their raspberry lemonade too. The star of the show though is the huge aquarium to view large sharks, fish and a mega turtle. I do not know that the fish have seen many people during the Covid shutdown, so some of them were entertained by us, staring at us! Too funny.
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Angela S.
Dec 9, 2021
My daughter really wanted to eat while looking at the aquarium tank and that was the sole decision maker here. I don't really expect much from restaurants like this - captive audiences typically eat bad food happily. I was pleasantly surprised by the food here. Like, I'm not going to purposefully drive to the Aquarium for lunch, but I actually enjoyed my meal. My daughter and I got to sit right up next to the swimming fish and she loved it. If you are skeptical of spots like this for eating, I urge you to take a chance on this one. I think you'll be happily surprised as well!
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Ashley L.
Nov 1, 2018
The last time we ate at the Shark Reef Cafe was before they remodeled and updated the menu. It's always been fun to eat by the shark tank but the food was nothing spectacular before. Today we stopped in to check it out and grab lunch to go. We were very happily surprised to find how fun it looked and how much the food has improved to go with the new atmosphere!Since I eat Keto, I got a cheeseburger without the bun and a coffee. Their coffee is fantastic! They even offer piñon coffee! It's self serve too with to go cups so fill up! My burger was AMAZING! It came with fresh, crisp veggies and homemade pickles. The meat itself was spiced just right and the cheese was delicious!My husband ate the homemade chips that came with my burger and loved it! He got the house salad (sans radish) with grilled chicken and balsamic dressing. He said it was fantastic! We will definitely be back to eat in and enjoy the ambience!
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Ryan H.
Jul 12, 2023
The menu is very limited. The restaurant was not clean and they ask for a tip when they don't get serve you or bus your table. The tank is cool, but maybe just get a treat. Prices are very high considering the limited selection, level of cleanliness and lack of service.
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