Rainforest Cafe

Touristy, yes, but good food, friendly service and a delight for the kids. Children’s meals amazingly affordable. Coming from a small town, no parking was perplexing to me, but it was a quick bus ride to our car.
A talented couple made balloon animals which added to the magic. Definitely recommend for families with children.

This was my first experience with Rainforest Café and while it was cool, I don’t think I would ever go back to one. The restaurant itself it decorated so beautiful and it made me feel like I was in a Rainforest. I know that with being in a Rainforest comes humidity, but on very hot, humid summer day I could have done without that. I also so not like to be hot while eating so it was rather unappealing. My daughter thought the place was a little overwhelming at first, but once we talked about how it was for fun and fake, she was fun. She loved the Elephant and seeing all the animals. She really liked the waterfall and wanted to stare at that for a long time. The menu was extensive and a bit overwhelming. I went with a seasonal fruit salad and it was outstanding. I found service to be okay, not great, but not bad. It was fun little stop and my daughter enjoyed herself.

Great atmosphere especially for kids, prompt service and good, basic food. We’ll be back.

From a kid’s point of view, I give it 4 stars (I asked my kids and got 3 and 4 star reviews. From an adult’s perspective, I give it a 2.
First, from a child’s point of view, because the whole restaurant really caters to children. This is a fun place and it has a great atmosphere. My kids loved the animals and the feel of the forest. The thunderstorms were pretty cool too.
The kids menu has many options and the kids each liked what they got, which was great. There are many things to look at and buy in the gift shop, so overall it’s a very fun place.
Now, from the adult’s view. First of all, it’s a tourist attraction, so the prices pay for the food and the atmosphere, which is fair. But I still think it’s a bit overpriced because the atmosphere is cool, but not THAT cool.
Second, it is very VERY loud in there. Which is expected due to the waterfall and other effects. But they add to it by blasting music, which takes away from the rainforest atmosphere. (Side note: it’s not very kid friendly music)
Third, the food is fair but not great. The service is nice but nothing amazing. Half the restaurant was empty, yet we had to wait 15 mins for a table WITH reservations, which was annoying. And he food and drinks were very slow coming out.
Overall, I think this is someplace anyone should take their kids at least once, if you have the budget for it. It’s fun for the kids but could be greatly improved. I think it’s much of a tourist spot and not enough of a welcoming atmosphere.

Yay! Rainforest Café! First time this weekend everyone’s food came out and it was delicious! My friend had the steak! He loved it! I tried the BBQ wrap with beef yummy! Everything just so hot and fresh! Great service is well! I’ve been to the one in Orlando, nice to see that a chain restaurant can keep up the same level of service hundred of miles away from each other!!! Wait am i in Disney… No it’s Chicago! Wow! I could totally put this place in the purse and take it back to Cincinnati! Hahha yasss!!!

Nobody thinks «fine dining» when they think of the rainforest café, so the other people on here that expect that need to ctfo. I came here cuz I wanted food and wanted to relive my childhood, and got exactly that.
The entire decorating is out of this world cool, I think. My friends also call me a child on a regular basis. But the vines, the gorillas and elephants that move, the whole thing is great. There’s a «thunderstorm» that comes every so often that makes it difficult to hear, but I think it’s awesome.
They also have guys who walk around and work for tips offering to make balloon animals. I got a giraffe-​it was freaking awesome.
My pot roast was around 3.5 stars. It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s all around pretty good food.
Yes, the place feels sticky and cheap and touristy and whatever else you wanna call it. But the service and food are fine, and I feel like it’s a great place to take kids (or take me on a date, because I’m weird like that) and something you should do at least once.

I like the volcanoes. I like cake with sparklers. Volcanoes is my best food ever. Do not try the potatoes because they are not good for you. And have a good weekend Rainforest Café.

The one redeeming quality: the staff was nice.
The food is laughable. The whole place feels sticky. The overwhelming volume of music AND animatronic animals AND a rushing waterfall AND wait staff yelling/​singing every 10 minutes is UNBEARABLE.
The rainforest from hell, where ADHD was invented. It makes since that they forgot to make the food taste good.

I’ve been coming to this establishment since I was child and I don’t really remember a bad experience, until now. We came in and were seated pretty promptly but after that it went down hill. Our waitress wasn’t the best, food was mediocre and did I mention or waitress wasn’t the best? Waited what seemed like an eternity for our beverages to be refilled and we were reminded «gratuity wasn’t included.» I loved this place. My children love this place but this was by far one the worst experiences I’ve had here.

We were very disappointed with our most recent visit to the Rainforest Café in Chicago. The décor seemed dusty, and the waterfall was not working. We were also disappointed to find that the FISH tanks no longer housed any fish. The only thing moving in the tanks were the bubbles, lots and lots of bubbles. I suppose the pretty bubbles are supposed to make up for the absence of fish…
We went to the Café for our four year old son, and he seemed to enjoy himself, so I guess that’s all that matters. We will not, however, be returning any time soon.

I have nothing good to say about this place. I walk in at 5:30pm on a Tuesday with my daughter; we were seated 35 minutes later even though the restaurant was at 60% capacity. I haven’t felt this much like a sucker since I was 21 year old, waiting for 35 min in a line outside a club just to realize that the club was empty once I was allowed in. Of course they do this so you can stay in the store and get pressured by your children to buy them some toy or candy that costs much cheaper anywhere else.
Respecting your customers: ZERO stars.
We finally got seated but sadly «the waiting game» didn’t end there; service was unacceptable. After waiting past 8pm with a hungry child I asked the hostess why our food was taking so long. She was polite couldn’t respond to the question and sent over the manager. I explained that my child’s bed time is in 30minutes! He apologized and said he will address it. Before leaving he specifically asked: «can I get YOU another drink?» I accepted the offer only to find the offered drink was on my tab. This was just adding insult to injury. If the manager wanted to be clear about the fact that he was not comping the drink he should have said: «Would you like to order another drink?»
Customer expectations managed: ZERO stars.
Our lukewarm food came out immediately after speaking to management. The food was nothing to write home about, it would have received a better rating if it was priced right.
Value for money on the dish: LOW. (1 star).
…and that is the last story you will ever hear from me about this poorly managed and highly manipulative chain.

Came with my make a wish family for lunch. The restaurant graciously comped the whole meal. The staff were extremely friendly and tolerant of little kids running around. The restaurant completely serves its purpose of children’s entertainment. The food leaves much to be desired but as a fun establishment to entertain your children it’s a nice option.
Kids meal chicken nuggets– 4 dinosaurs!
Club sandwich– 3 standard not great
Kids Mac and cheese– 4 portion bigger then expected

Not too shabby. Good as usual. Service was slow. Seems to be the norm for Chicago.
Always a fun atmosphere, for the kids and kids at heart. Fun deserts and great adult beverages. A bit on the pricey side though.

NO FISH!!! All the tanks are empty now because «maintenance costs too much.» …what?! It’s a tourist attraction– you’re paying for the atmosphere!
They’ve got a weird mascot running around and my dish was completely tasteless. We went for my kid’s birthday so this was all very disappointing.
Also, the manager told us we had points to redeem but at the end they wouldn’t let us use them.
What a gyp. Zero stars.

Food tastes like typical chain restaurants. Either bagged or frozen product. Had a coupon for a free app. Gave the server the coupon at the beginning of the meal, she didn’t take off the coupon at the end. When we asked her if she would, she said «the coupon isn’t good for what your ordered. I threw it away». What? Asked for a manager and she politely fixed the bill.
Décor is cool. Smelled pretty musty upstairs though. My young kids loved the place… and technically that’s who we were there for. I’d give the food 1 star and the ambiance 3.5

Their food SUCKED BIG TIME.
Their other restaurant — T-​Rex café… sim to rainforest but with… DINOS… their food is much better but this place… the entire meal was not consumable.
I did complain and the manager took care of us. I was grateful for this as I only took 2 bites of my meal before my stomach couldn’t take anymore trash.

I automatically tend to gravitate towards places which look a bit weird. Rainforest café looked the part, so of course I went in.
Felt very touristy with the accessories sale, clothes, shops, cups, pictures. like the Mars Castle in Wisconsin or when you hit Universal Studios (ok exaggerating now. Universal is way better). We ordered the Parmesan chicken, Taste of Islands and cheese sticks. The food was alright. and definitely overpriced for the level of food.
It’s a kiddo central, bring your kids here, they might like it. This was just a place to cross off my bucket. Won’t be back unless I have a very compelling reason to come here. Until then. we’re on a break rain café

We brought my niece here for lunch, her choice, and had a so-​so meal.
Décor: Surprisingly I had never dined at a Rainforest Café in my youth so I really had no idea what to expect. I have to say that I can definitely see the appeal to kids, it’s pretty neat. They have animatronic animals coming out of the walls, and such, and every so often a «storm» comes through (complete with lightning). The whole atmosphere feels like you’re eating at/​on a theme park. The place is rather large, too, with LOTS of tables. I can’t help but wonder if it still gets as crowded as it no doubt was in the past.
Bathroom: not as themed as the rest of the place but it was relatively clean and inviting.
Staff: Our waiter was nice and there when we needed him. The food was prepared rather quickly and came out hot. No issues here.
Food: We had an assortment of items ranging from salads (which were good, just needed some extra dressing — which proved to be a task as they ran out just as we asked for more), kids meal (it certainly fit the bill), and the jambalaya (which I was warned was «very spicy» but didn’t exactly turn out that way. It was pretty tasty though!). Everything was fine, not outstanding but not terrible either. I guess you come for the pageantry and stay for the food.
Value: It’s a bit pricey for what you get, but it’s a tourist, and child, trap so what do you expect.
It was an interesting experience, one which I am glad that I was able to have, however I don’t see myself returning in the future under my own volition.

A large group of friends and I came to the Rainforest Café before grabbing a show. This restaurant has been around for ages, and they go pretty much all out in terms of recreating a tropical rainforest inside, with the décor, the waterfalls, and moving/​mechanical animals with sound! The menu is pretty extensive, offering appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, seafood/​beef/​pork/​chicken entrees, pasta, and desserts. I tried one of the restaurant’s specialty, the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger — this was a beef burger topped with the signature Smokin’ Mojo BBQ sauce, Cheddar cheese, strips of bacon, a fried onion ring, a side of tomato and pickles, and some potato chips. The burger itself was okay, but I’d request extra sauce next time to make it more saucy: P Service was slightly a hit-​or-​miss, as we didn’t really see much of our server. While we didn’t see any dressed up animals walking around, the mechanical animals themselves were entertaining enough. When you’re done, you can check out their attached gift shop, offering personalized cups and keychains, clothing, stuffed animals, and even a photobooth: D
+photobooth :D
+attached gift shop

Rainforest Café — the ultimate restaurant for a first date.
I met this fine girl (Raquel) on
. We showed up (I was in my Steve Madden Dress Shoes!) on a Thursday. We were promptly lead to a table by the electronically animated Elephant — the best seat in the house.
We both ordered the clam chowder (of course!) and shared the Tribal Salmon. We both had diarrhea for a week, but we weren’t sure if it was because of Rainforest Café or Planet Hollywood, where we went the night before.
Overall, the food and service was a delight. I really appreciated the crayons and activity book to take the awkwardness out of a first date. This will definitely be a go to date spot from now on (unfortunately it didnt work out between me and Raquel).
*Docked a star because they didnt have any orange crayons

Ich war im Februar 2003 im Rainforest Café und es war für mich ein Erlebnis. Während des Essens wird es aufeinmal dunkel und es blitzt und donnert, typisch Amerikaner eben ;) Das Restaurant befindet sich auf zwei Etagen, so dass viele Leute Platz finden. Überall ranken Palmen und Lianen von den Wänden und Decken und verschiedenste Regenwaldbewohner schauen einem beim Essen zu, natürlich alles unecht, aber lustig inszeniert. Es gibt allerdings auch riesige Glassäulen mit vielen verschiedenen bunten Fischen, die man so nicht täglich zu Gesicht bekommt. Ansonsten hatte das Essen damals Fastfoodstyle, aber dies ist genauso amerikanisch wie der ganze Showeffekt. Für alle die auf so etwas stehen und vor allem, wie ich damals, zum ersten Mal in Amerika sind ist es ein Besuch wert, denn so etwas gibt es nun mal in Deutschland nicht.

Erlebnisgastronomie vom Feinsten, wie man es in Deutschland überhaupt nicht kennt. Ein absolutes (kitschiges) Erlebnis, wobei das Essen an sich nichts besonderes ist. Künstlicher und übertriebener geht es kaum.
Dennoch absolut einen Besuch wert.

Absoluter Trash! In dieses Restaurant geht man nicht des Essens wegen, sondern um ein Event zu erleben:
Die gesamte Lokalität stellt einen Regenwald dar und überall bewegen sich, kreischen und schreien Dschungeltiere. Dann plötzlich fängt die gesamte Bedienungs-​Crew an zu singen und bringt eine riesige Torte mit Wunderkerzen an den Nachbartisch, wo es ein Geburtstagskind gibt. Alle Augenblicke gibt es vom lebensgrßen Elefanten bis hin zum tollen Salzwasseraquariium etwas Neues zu entdecken.
Der Ort ist ideal für Kinder geeignet, wenn auch nicth ganz billig.

Das Rainforst Café ist schon reinster Kitschaber auch irgendwie wieder so verrückt, dass es lustig ist. Das ganze Restaurant ist in verschiedene Teile eingeteilt. Wir entschieden uns für den Dschungel mit direktem Blick in die Unterwasserwelt!
Alle 10 Minuten hört man einen Elefanten Tröten, danach ein paar Affen kreischen, die Vögel zwitschern eh schon und der Wasserfall plätschert! Irgendwie schon ein verrücktes Konzeptaber den Amerikaner scheint es zu gefallen.
Die Küche ist demnach Amerikanisch. Fetter Burger, Nachos und Chicken Wings kochen die eingeborenen — ach né, sie heisse noch Köche!