Volcano!!! - (Most recent visit May 2005)
Written: May 08 '05 (Updated Jul 13 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun atmosphere, family friendly, fabulous volcano dessert
Cons: Expensive, can be a long wait
The Bottom Line: Worth a try, the Chicago location is my favorite.
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| chelledun's Full Review: Rainforest Cafe |
Let’s just be upfront – the Rainforest Café is not an elegant dining experience. However, it is a fun one, and that is why my mom actually chose this restaurant for her Mother’s Day lunch today. I’ve dined at two branches in Orlando and the downtown Chicago location on several different locations. Yes, it’s cheesy, commercial, and geared toward small children…but we keep going back!
The Concept
The Rainforest Café refers to itself as A Wild Place to Shop and Eat. Branches are found at numerous locations throughout the country, some in malls and others stand alone. There are also some international branches. To find out if there’s a location near you check out http://www.rainforestcafe.com/vMain.asp#res. Although each branch has its own distinct layout, all the branches share certain features. The concept is that diner’s are eating in a rainforest. This effect is achieved by not only vines, trees, and fish tanks, but with actual audio-animatronic animals that ‘perform’ at intervals throughout the dining experience.
Every branch has a “night sky” portion of the restaurant, where diners are seated under a circular portion of sky with twinkling fiber optic stars. Every so often, a thunderstorm erupts in the sky, and lightning and thunder flash across the darkened restaurant. There are usually several groups of animated animals clumped around the restaurant. The gorillas and elephants are the main attractions. I’ve also seen a dangling animated snake at the Chicago location, right at the entrance. Each location also has a variety of large and small waterfalls.
Atmosphere
In case the monkeys and elephants didn’t tip you off, this is not a quiet, relaxing, dining experience. Depending on where you are seated, the noise level ranges from mildly loud to very loud. Today, the restaurant was quite crowded and we were seated under the thunder storm, so it was a bit hard to hear. In past experience, we have found seating off to the side walls to be much quieter. The restaurant draws a lot of families with young children, but I’ve seen quite a few couples there as well. There is a lot of birthday singing and yelling, and today there was a giant costumed tree frog running around taking photos with people.
The Food
As one might expect, this isn’t necessarily a place people go for the food. However, we’ve found the food to be fairly decent, although overpriced, and the dessert to be some of the best we’ve ever had.
Appetizers - The menu has a strong emphasis on appetizers. Choices include the standard cheese sticks to more exotic lettuce wraps and calamari. We have ordered appetizers in the past, but are generally more of a dessert family. Prices run from about $7.00 to almost $12 for a huge combo platter.
Main Courses - I usually go with one of the sandwiches or thin crust pizzas, which run between $9-$12. The blue mountain chicken sandwich is pretty good. The ceasar salad is one of the best I’ve ever had. My husband had the monsoon grill today, which was quite a lot of food as it included fish, crab cakes, and coconut shrimp. He enjoyed most of it, but found the coleslaw accompanying it to have an odd taste. The cost for the entrees are almost all over $15.
Desserts - Ok, this is why we really come here. There is a fabulous dessert called volcano! This consists of four luscious brownie slices topped with ice cream and hot fudge. The brownie is just the right consistency, and not overly sweet. The dessert is served in the shape of a volcano with a sparkler on top, and all the workers yell “Volcano!” whenever one is served. The dessert costs $12, but served all five of us easily. This dessert is not recommended for less than three people, because you will eat it all anyway!
Inside Tips from a VIP
My father is a card-carrying member of the Safari Club. This means he paid $15 at one point to avoid a two hour wait at the Rainforest Café at Downtown Disney. Most branches will take reservations, but the Orlando branches will not. Along with priority seating privileges, the VIP card gives you your choice of a free appetizer or 10% off the total bill (excluding alcohol) for up to four people. Basically, if you’re expensive eaters the card might pay for itself after one visit, and regardless will pay for itself after two. Since we usually eat here at least twice a year, this is a pretty good deal for us. Today, for example, we saved $10 with the card.
The Shop
The restaurant features a shop at all its locations. Items available include a wide variety of animal t-shirts and plush toys, as well as gourmet ‘rainforest’ items such as chocolate bars and coffee beans. The merchandise is pricey, and I’ve never really purchased much at the stores. However, it’s fun to walk through if you have young children, because there are animated animals in the store. Some locations have a talking tree over in the children’s section as well.
Overall…
It’s busy, it’s noisy, and it’s a little corny…but they make a mean volcano! Children love this place, as there is a lot to look at. If you like a quiet, upscale dining experience, this isn’t for you. If you don’t mind a little noise, I recommend giving the chain a try at least once. If nothing else, it’s not every day you can get your picture taken with a giant tree frog!
Recommended:
Yes
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