Where to eat in Victoria Falls
River decks, gorge views, a drum-show dinner and home cooking in a family backyard.
Updated Sep 2026
Photo: The Lookout Cafe, via Google Maps
Victoria Falls feeds a lot of visitors, and the easiest way to eat well here is to choose by setting: the river, the gorge or a table in town. This list mixes the famous evenings with places that repeat visitors rate.
Many of these are inside lodges and hotels and take bookings, which we'd recommend in the busy season.
Built with help from Traveling Tribe, Traveling Tummy, Turnipseed Travel and Kicking It With Mimi, who've eaten their way around town. Where they've reviewed a pick, we share what they found and link to their full review.
The Lookout Cafe
Tables on the edge of the Batoka Gorge, where the view is the main attraction and the food mostly keeps up. The crocodile kebab and the beef fillet are well liked. Book ahead for a table by the edge.
What the reviewers said
Traveling Tribe reviewed it in Sep 2025
A brief but warm verdict: good food and drinks on balconies overlooking the gorge activities. They advise booking early for the best tables.
Read the full review →Baines Restaurant
A wide deck on the Zambezi, with game viewing on the drive in. Crocodile cakes, pork belly and sirloin all get mentioned; a few diners have had food arrive cold.
What the reviewers said
Traveling Tummy reviewed it in May 2026
Their first dinner in Zimbabwe, by the river within earshot of the Falls. They rated the food and cocktails highly and singled out their server for looking after a vegetarian guest. No criticisms.
Read the full review →The Boma
A buffet evening at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge that ends with a drum show, with a drum for every guest. The spread runs from sadza and kale to crocodile stew and mopane worms, at around $45 to $60 a head. Book ahead.
What the reviewers said
Turnipseed Travel reviewed it in Aug 2024Older review
A flexible buffet of game and local dishes, warm staff and lively drumming and dancing, with less tourist-trap feel than feared. She notes the show still leans towards what overseas visitors expect Africa to look like.
Read the full review →The Livingstone Room
The Victoria Falls Hotel's Edwardian fine-dining room, open for dinner Monday to Saturday, with a seven-course tasting menu, live piano and a smart-casual dress code.
Zambezi House
On the riverbank on Park Way Drive, where crocodiles and warthogs often turn up on the lawn. Pizza from the wood oven and Zambezi bream are the orders, and there are vegetarian dishes that can be made vegan.
What the reviewers said
Kicking It With Mimi reviewed it in Jul 2019Older review
A sunset three-course dinner on the riverbank, with inventive, African-inflected cooking from the head chef and a stylish, art-filled room. Her only reservation was that the lamb chops were slightly too fatty.
Read the full review →The Three Monkeys Restaurant & Bar
A lively pub restaurant on Livingstone Way in the centre of town, with outdoor decking and a play area. The menu runs from pizza and burgers to poke bowls and tomahawk steak. There's no air-conditioning, just fans and the terrace.
Zulu Bistro Bar
In the Landela Complex, with Zimbabwean dishes visitors rarely find elsewhere, such as crocodile tail, oxtail, goat curry and mopane worms, alongside plainer options. The kitchen takes last orders at 9pm.
Nyota Zimbabwean Cuisine
A family-run restaurant in a backyard, serving a home-cooked spread of around nine dishes for about $25 including drinks, often with a local musician playing. There's no printed menu, so call ahead, and bring cash.
Dusty Road Township Experience
A set meal in Chinotimba township that starts with an introduction to Zimbabwean ingredients, followed by shared starters and a buffet. Not cheap, and booking is essential.
What the reviewers said
Traveling Tribe reviewed it in Sep 2025
The owner was kind, but they found the meal expensive and more like modern fusion in a rustic setting than traditional Zimbabwean cooking. It was their least favourite meal in town.
Read the full review →The Social Kitchen Victoria Falls
Good-value cooking a short taxi ride from the centre, and a rare find for vegans. The Portuguese chicken and sadza with nyama are the local favourites.
HarareHarare's best garden restaurants
Long lunches on lawns and under trees, from Rolf Valley to a flower farm in Domboshawa.
HarareFamily-friendly Harare: restaurants with play areas
Somewhere to eat while the children play, from a pirate-ship playground to a trampoline among the flowerbeds.
HarareWhere to eat traditional Zimbabwean food in Harare
Sadza and everything that goes with it, from oxtail and road runner to goat, tripe and mopane worms.