It was my first time at Rainforest Cafe and it was fun! My wife and I went there out of curiosity, since we are not kids and don't have any kids yet... We shared a few apps, a burger and had a couple beers...
Anyway, food was good but pricey...even for Chicago downtown you can find places cheaper and tastier. But I am assuming they are charging little more, because place is so different! all the jungle theme and decoration are pretty cool! I can see how all kids are in love with rainforest cafe!
Will go back when get some kids!
Wow! Now I don't normally criticize restaurant service. But service was horrible. I had a party of 6, and 2 of them were grand children. They brought out everyone's food except for my grandson, and he only ordered a grilled cheese kids meal. Well by the time they found it (waitress said it was lost) everyone was just a bite from finishing there meal, with the help of our grandson eating off of everyone else's plate. Next, it took them 4 attempts to get my bill correct, which turned into a lengthy process. Well I tolerated this, only because it was my grand kids choice. Next time I will just say choose someplace different.
Review Source:2.5 stars
This is very theme-based family restaurant with very typical family restaurant menu. Â Other than the decor of savanna (? I guess) there is nothing else to be excited about. Â So If you are not 9, this theme factor wouldn't really affect you. Â In fact it may go negatively on you because you can smell a bit of bleach that you smell at a public pool. Â So you decide.
That being said, their food was adequate enough that I hang 3 stars on them. Â We had burgers and clubs (I don't remember exactly what we had), and they were not bad. Â So, unless you have a high expectation on their food, it is not a bad thing to do once. Â Especially if you are tempted by the frog head in front of the restaurant.
First off, too many people are rating this place as they would Alinea. It's like trying to compare Superbad to The Artist. If you set expectations appropriately, this place is pretty good.
1) Price- Not bad. I got the macadamia nut crusted tilapia with coconut shrimp. It was around $15, but you are really paying the ambiance with this place.
2) Quality- Food was decent
3) Quantity- Standard portion, but not a small portion
4) Atmosphere- This is the main point. Lots of animal/safari/rainforest stuff. Lightning goes down and elephants raise their trunks. There is also a walking tree frog going around. It's a cute place and very kid friendly.
5) Staff- They work very hard and I appreciate it. They do a lot to bring out birthday cakes, sing and make sure you are doing well. Two managers came over and asked if everything was alright. If you were working here you'd probably hate it, but the staff work hard to make you feel comfortable.
If you set expectations accordingly, it's not all that bad. Staff works hard.
It has been about 15 years since I have visited this location.
The restaurant looks exactly the same since the last time I have seen it. We were seated by a fish tank, and by tables full of a lot of kids.
I ordered a drink ( some kind of strawberry drink with Rum) and when I tasted it, I did not even taste any alcohol in it. I have asked my friend, who never drinks to see if she could taste it...she could not. I asked our server about this, and he said something about the sugar overpowering every drink they serve there, and that they could not give me an extra shot ( Chicago law).
I ordered the Tropical Tortellini. About 25 minutes later, my food came in and not even our server gave us our food, but someone else. Â The temperature of the food felt like it was sitting on a warmer for a while. The tortellini itself was not too delicious, either. $15 for a plate of bad food...no thanks.
I finished my drink, and was never asked by our server if i wanted a refill, or something else. I had to ask a random server to bring me some water.
We also waited about 15 minutes or so, after we handed the server our bill to receive change. We were anxious to leave.
So overall:
Service: 2
Food Quality: 2
Bathrooms: 1 ---extremely dirty when we visited.
This is an amazing place for family or just to go for a fun, entertaining meal. Â Kids will surely enjoy the scenery as will adults. Â The foods are always pretty good, the service is usually always friendly, and the place is always clean. Â It's definitely a recommended stop if you're ever at the windy city!
Review Source:Rainforest Cafe... A boring version of Chuck E. Cheese. Went there for my niece's b-day dinner, and I think she also was thinking that it was a bad idea.
1) This is just my experience, but sitting next to a chlorine drenched water fall totally numbed my taste bud. Maybe that is why the pasta tasted like it was bathed in oil, my fish taco had no fish, and sangria had more juice than wine...
2) I feel bad for the waiter, because he looked dead tired. However, he really did not have a fundamental training. It was difficult finding his service in the mist of plastic gorillas, he kept throwing the dishes on our table, over our head and shoulder, and he pulled a sparkling fire right in front of my niece's face.
3) This place is what it is... A novelty "unique" dining environment. However, it really didn't not help the place when few firefighters (And, I thought they were part of the act) went in and out of the kitchen area. Somewhat alarming that no one told us what was going on either.
4) The shop in front of the restaurant entrance is nothing more than a parent wallet-sucker. $ 8.99 for three rubber balls?
Maybe I'm just a dried up old man with no appreciation for kid's entertainment, but I guess I will try my hardest not to go there in the future.
Unique dining environment for kids. The food was horrible. Service ok. I've been to Rainforest Cafe 4 times, because of guests' kids. The food seems getting worse and worse during the years.
To achive the same results, bring the kids there for 10 minutes, just to see the fishtank and the rainforest aninmals, and then go to the McDonalds nearby and have some quality McDonalds food (yeah!, it's quality food in comparison).
BTW, they will charge you 17% tips on your bill, not a common pratice in Chicago.
I wouldn't give it even one star, Â but my daughter loves the stupid place. Â First off, Â they have gone down hill. Â If you like most of your food from the freezer section at Walmart, Â you may just be able to tolerate the stuff they pose as food here. Â Personally, Â I would rather eat uncooked pizza rolls. Â The food obviously is all prepackaged frozen garbage that comes out stale and sort of warm. Â I left here and immediately went to the rest room to negotiate with the toilet.
This place used to rock back when they first opened. Â We used to wait in line for hours. Â Tonight the place was empty. Â Word must be getting around that greed kills the taste of food.
Do yourself a favor, Â tell your kids this place closed down and walk across the street to the huge McDonalds playland. Â It's a sad day when I recommend mcslime.
I would write another paragraph about how sh$/-@ the food is, Â but I have to make another bathroom trip.
It's a great place for kids. If you're not with kids, you probably have no business going here. The food was more expensive than it should have been. A refill on the strawberry lemonade was 99cents. Really? Charging for a refill on lemonade? I can guarantee you, that I won't be coming here ever again; it's not worth the money.
Review Source:I took my 5 year old son here for the first time this passed weekend. He LOVED it! I hadn't been there in years so it was a nice treat for both of us. My sister came along too. It is def pricey but to me worth it. We ordered the lava nachos which were just ok...I'm not a big fan of nachos with ground beef. We had a guacamole burger which was very good but in my opinion small for the price. We ordered french fries which you have to pay extra for since sandwiches come with chips. The fries were average...will probably stick with the chips next time. My son had a dinosaur nugget meal which he ate all of. We didn't order any alcohol but a lot of the drinks on the menu sounded delicious. We did get dessert though. We had the bamba bites which are little donut holes served with chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. They were amazing! Def not your Dunkin Donuts Munchkins. Our waiter was friendly & on top of it. We didn't have any complaints about the service at all.
They also have a gift shop with tons of stuff & photo both. We took pics which was fun. I couldn't escape the gift shop without getting my son something of course.
All in all it was a good experience. Again a little pricey but I'm the mom that is happy if there is a smile on my son's  face.
Price totally misleading about drinks. Drinks were okay - expensive.  We were going to order desert but since the waiter never came back... until we went and got someone else, we decided to just end with the one drink we shared.  We got the bill  and we got charged for the drink with the take home glass.  We asked why - and the waiter actually told us that they aren't suppose to tell us that we can get the drink with out the glass but we have to ask for it up front. It's $11.99 for the drink in the glass, or $7 for just the drink.  After a bit of discussion saying we had not known and that they way it was written was VERY misleading, we relented and took the glass home for our daughter.  So heads up - if you don't want the glass - specify upfront.  Our presence was barely acknowledged, rather sad.
Review Source:Drinks = Awesome, but expensive.
Food = Not so Awesome, but just as expensive.
My coconut shrimp was not that great.
Kids eat for a discount on Wednesdays.
People who make balloon swords and hats, life-size geckos walking around, and an upstairs restaurant with a ton of kids.
Kids are happy here.
This place makes kids want to spend a lot of their parent's money on stupidity.
This place doesn't have anything on Showbiz Pizza. haha.
Bike parking on the street.
This was my first time at one of these although I have seen them a lot. Â The fact we do not have kids was probably one reason why this place really didn't do anything for us. Â It was a animatronic carnival and everyone was invited. Â We had the pleasure of sitting at the gorillas in the mist table. A mechanical gorilla was looking at us while we ate and randomly would scream and beat his chest. Â Yet again, fun for kids, not so much for starving tourists. Â The food was less than desirable, because it was pretty much all came from a food distribution center. Â Nothing home made, so we got the burgers. Â Nothing special just bun and meat mixed with some other toppings. Â Come back? Nah, probably not unless I was taking my nephew or niece.
Review Source:We wanted a kid friendly place in Chicago for dinner. Â I hesitantly offered up Rainforest. Â
This place is so dark I couldn't read the menu. Â I used my phone flashlight app to read the menu. Â Finally I settled on the flat iron steak with fried shrimp. Â The server dropped the plate just to the left of me and said, "This plate is super hot, be careful. Â Can you tell me if the steak is to your liking"? I carefully moved the plate to be in front of me and waited to see that all our guests received their food. Â The server said to me again, "Is the steak cooked to your liking?" Â I responded, "I haven't even picked up my knife, I don't know." Â He walked away.
The plate reminded me of an airplane dinner. Â It tasted pretty much the same, way too much salt. Â The shrimp was horrible!!! Â I don't think it was real. Â It was chewy, dry like it had been microwaved way too long. Â It was exactly like imitation crab in the form of shrimp. Â My friend had shrimp in his dish, I tried it, it tasted exactly the same. Â
Never again.
I ordered the coconut shrimp, since that's always safe. Â Wrong! Â At least I can rest easy that I doubt any shrimp died to make my meal.
Short cheap wine list. Â Friendly server, but overbearing. Â I think they recruit from former Jehovah Witnesses. Â The coconut shrimp was unbelievably over-breaded, with a mushy shrimp base that had to be reconstituted seafood. Â Maybe they buy leftover shrimp tails from other restaurants and rebuild the shrimp, who knows. Â My wife had the pot roast and left more than half of it on her plate. Â Even our 18 month old granddaughter, the reason we went to Rainforest Cafe, ate only a few french fries and little of the ribs.
Built for tourist, populated with tourists. Â Let them have it.
I did not come here by choice and needless to say, I will never be back. This place is sensory overload with water, fish, fake animals, waterfalls, fake storm every 20 mins and neon lights. I felt like I was in Vegas except there were also tons of kids running around, no gambling tables or free alcohol.
When we pulled up, valet parking is $11.99 (just the beginning of getting ripped off). When you enter the restaurant, you walk right into their gift store full of useless overpriced crap. The hostess brings your your table and then a photographer dressed like a park ranger shows up and takes a picture of you and tells you your picture will be ready for you when you're done eating and you can buy it. (Really? This place is not nearly as cool as Disneyland yet they charge Disneyland prices for everything.)
We order. Food comes and it is DISGUSTING AND OVER PRICED. We ordered one salad, two sandwiches (with chips-not even fries) one pasta and a kids meal (no appetizers, drinks or dessert) and our LUNCH bill was $70. The food was similar to theme park food and theme park prices.
I can see how if you have a kid this place would be fun for them and I do have a 11-month old but I will not be bringing her here ever again because I know pretty soon she will like this place and I'll be forced to come back so I'm going to just avoid it all together. Do yourself a favor and do not get your child hooked on this place. You'll be miserable, spend a small fortune and leave feeling hungry and ripped off.
I know, I know its's a tourist trap. Â My folks were in town for my daughters b-day, and this place was 3 blocks from their hotel. So in we went.
First off, they let you wait in their room full of overprice trinkets that your kids bug you to buy, and that is always fun. Â Mind you they will have you wait regardless of whether there are open tables or not. Â I am sure that's part of the marketing plan.
The food is ok, it's somewhat overpriced, but again, tourist trap. Â I have been here twice, and once I asked the waitress if the chicken was free range. Â She replied "what does that mean"? Â
How much of their $$$ they rake in goes back to take care of the rainforest, who knows? Â My guess would be little to none.
Lastly, I am a nature nerd, and while their fish tanks are nice, and well maintained, they have salt water reef fish. Â Not tropical rain forest fish. Â A 10 year old kid with an internet connection could have set them straight on that. Â My kids are getting older now, and so hopefully places like this will lose their appeal soon.
This place is aces but only if you're bringing a kid. Thank goodness they offer full bar service-the mojitos are delicious & necessary to maintain sanity here.
A little pricey for what you get, but if the kid you bring stays entertained during the entire meal, cleans their plate, and behaves the whole time, it's probably worth it. We went with some friends & another friend's 7 yr old and she had a blast!
They offered juice and milk as drink choices for her meal and fruit & veggies sides in addition to pop/chips/fries. It's nice to have healthier options for kids.
The adult meals were all good, but kind of pricey, but you're paying for the experience here really.
The kids menu was a coloring/activity book that kept the kiddo happy & busy while the food was being prepared.
Our server was super nice & friendly-our waters & iced teas were always full despite the dining room being filled to capacity.
We all enjoyed The Volcano dessert-it was enough to satisfy all 6 of us.
The bathrooms were spacious & super clean.
We arrived for our 'safari' at 6:55 & were seated exactly on time at 7, a major plus.
Expect it to be super noisy and crowded, also expect the walk through the gift shop in & out.
My first time was at Woodfield, several years ago. After a disastrous dining experience, it never crossed my mind that I'd be standing out front of the Rainforest Cafe Chicago debating with my young Niece about entering.
It was a long day already and I wasn't in the mood for another 45 minute wait. After a round of rocks, papers, scissors, we waited inside amongst the people whose names would be called before us.
Their menu is extensive but it raises a question: why is the kids' menu on the short list and the dessert selection lacking? Isn't this place suppose to cater to children? I guess the emphasis is more on their merchandise, the way Hooters thinks their "girls" are more important than the quality of service and food. Gross negligence!
In short, it was no better than the first time. Even worse, I'd come to find out it's affiliated with Claim Jumper (read my review). Oh, the terrible consistency for the debacle of what a medium rare steak should be is an ignorance I cannot overlook, again!
Yes, there is a reason I have never been here before....
A friend came into town with her daughter so it was a no brainer to come here. Â
Needless to say, I would never come without a reason...ie to entertain a child of some sort.
Its chintzy...its gimmicky...it smells like chlorine...needless to say, it entertains their little brains enough to get them to eat something. Â The lightening every 15 mins gets annoying by the end. Â The numerous animals and sounds is slightly tolerated....ha.
Overall the experience wasnt as painful as I had expected. Â However, you do have to realize that you are going to have to deal with other people's children when you come here...which I have a much less tolerance for...haha.
The food is mediocre at best. Â Definitely overpriced and they nickel and dime you for everything...ie side of fries, cheese, etc. Â The veggie burger was a whooping $11.99...only included chips and no cheese...YIKES.
The service, again, mediocre at best. Â Our server was very nice, kind of slow.
They actually took a ridiculous time to get our entrees out so the manager gave us the lava cake thing for free....I only saw every other table get one so I didnt feel so special.
Overall, I think most people know what to expect when they come somewhere like this....
The only reason to go here is if your not sure how the kids will be in a restaurant early on in life and so pick a safe bet where they will be entertained by various animated creatures hanging from the ceiling in the plastic version of a rainforest. I get the concept and the reason this place exists. I also had the not sure of how my child would be in a restaurant going for me so we took the safe route. She was fine, we all survived and although just a mere 4 blocks from the house, I will pass eating here for life.
Sorry RFC, your off the list and have inspired me(along with Goose Island Brewery) to discover my own Top 10 restaurants for kids in Chicago list and change the tide for restaurant goers local and otherwise in this town
I have never eaten at one of these ever but that changed today. Â This is what kids do to you!!! Â
On a side note, my little one loved it...it was a cross between Las Vegas and Disney World but on a cheesy scale. Â Every 20 minutes there is a storm show, where you hear thunder and the lights go on and off. Â There are also bad animatronic animals too.
Our waitress was one of those bad car salesman...we just sat down and she came in link gangbusters...I didn't even have time to open my menu. Â She was shoving some tri-folded colored additional menu that had high ticket items on it...25 dollar entrees and 15 starters. Â Wow...slow down a little...we were still taking off our jackets.
We finally placed our order and then our waitress the car salesman came over and tried to talk us into joining the Landry's Reward Club. Â She just kept going on and on about how great it was and that we would be getting free meals the more we ate. Â I finally stopped her and said is it free? Â And she said, "Kind of. It only costs $25!" Â Kind of not free!!! Â I was so done with this...just let me enjoy this fake jungle with my family.
Our Guacamole Burger which was ordered medium rare came out completely over cooked. Â It was completely terrible...one of the worst burgers I have had lately...I wish I would have got a burger across the street at Portillos for half the price.
Our bottle beer was also not cold either...our waitress promised us frozen mugs but informed us that they just put them in the freezer. Â So the mugs never showed up at our table.
The waitress also never came back and said, "How is everything?" Â Because we definitely had something to tell her...in fact...she was no where to be found during our meal.
She finally came over to our table, after we were done eating, to push dessert and said, "How was the burger?" We then told her it was over cooked and she just shut down and walked away. Â She was so done talking to us...it really showed her character. Â She was just there to sell us stuff and try and move us to higher ticket food items. Â She just wanted to hand us the check and get us out of there. Â If she really cared, then she would have apologized. Â She must make extra money when she sells one of those Reward Cards because she really pushed it in the beginning. Â In fact, she told me to take a information card about it home with me...just stop already!
I guess I shouldn't be surprised because the restaurant has a store in the front that you have to walk through. Â Again think Vegas or Orlando!!! Â This place is a tourist trap and a kid trap...most kids love the novelty of this place because it is like you are feeding them in the middle of a fake zoo. Â The food is terrible and the one thing that would make any parent happy...beer...is totally not cold.
Also, my poor wife and little one's jacket sleeves got wet...they were hanging on the chair and the carpet on the floor was completely soaked. Â So the sleeve soaked up the water from the carpet. My wife had just got the jackets cleaned too. Â So annoying...luckily it was not zero outside and January. Â
I hope that I never have to come back here but my little one is going to make that a challenge. Â If I ever have to come back then my plan is to take her there for a kids meal...let her enjoy the moment and then we are going to go to Portillo's across the street for some real burgers and cold beer.
Just had our yearly Birthday outing today. So the scam is that they make you wait 15 minutes even when they aren't busy so you can browse around downstairs and maybe buy some crappy souvereigns. Just seat me jackass!!
Then again, we get a lame seat not by the fish tank or any animatronics. And then our waitress was the queen of the up-sell. Note: Just say no to anything they offer you cause it is $$ extra.
They should call this place the Rip-offForest Cafe.
Obviously, I would not willingly dine here with friends or on my own. However, when there's a two year old nephew in tow, Rainforest Cafe serves a very critical purpose.
Because c'mon, how many places in River North are truly as kid friendly? Â More specifically, how many places in this neighborhood can you go to, where a child can scream to the high heavens and no one even notices because the animal safari drowns it out completely? This is valuable information, my friends.
The food is definitely not bad either. There are no culinary masterpieces to discover, but the options are certainly palatable. Be prepared to pay a pretty penny though - a juice for the kiddos costs upwards of $5-6 a pop. Eeks.
Add on the food/drink costs to what you'll likely spend in the unavoidable gift shop and you have an expensive outing on your hands. But, if it's a combo of children's entertainment and dining that you seek, you've come to the right place.
Its not your fault that the tourist bus dropped you off for lunch at this preposterous location in the tourist zone of Chicago.
You don't have to go in, its ok. Just slip out of the line, head up the sidewalk and develop a plan with whoever you are with. If you want inexpensive but tasty casual food head one block north and go to Portillo's for hamburgers, hot dogs, Italian beef or sausages and other grilled foods.
If you are up for a few blocks walk head south to Xoco for upscale Mexican sandwiches or go two blocks east to State street to Grahamwich for gourmet sandwiches or go three blocks east to Pizzeria Uno or Due for some great Chicago style pizza.
You only have so many meals in downtown Chicago so do your self a favor and go to a good spot that is close by and you can still catch the bus after lunch.
I now never want to have kids.
- you will never get to sleep in again.
- when you give them a bath they poop in the tub, or worse when you undress them for a bath they spontaneously decide to pee and you have to catch their pee in your hands (yes, this happened to me).
- everywhere you go they run around like idiots and run into things and all you can do is open your eyes real big and mouth 'sorry' to everyone in the 2 mile vicinity.
but most importantly for the rest of your life you will be sentenced to crappy, excuse my language, i mean 'kid friendly' restaurants. what's even the point of living anymore when you eat to live instead of living to eat?
you spend an eternity studying the menu, because of the plethora of boring options. when the most exotic menu item is mediterranean chicken, and that just means chicken with olives you might as well just shoot yourself, game over.
if you're thinking of having kids, go to rainforest cafe. if you can last 5 minutes, maybe you're the kid type person.
here's a concept for you, rainforest cafe, Â have the first floor where the kids eat and the servers really just become babysitters and the second floor becomes the adult dinning room where they actually serve good food, then i'd be willing to pay for $10 chicken nugget happy meals.
Okay, so I love being a mom. And naturally, since my kids flip-the-eff out at the chance to eat at the Rainforest Cafe, we head there on a semi-regular basis.
Here's the good: it's...unique. Awesome fish tanks. And my kids, they love it.
Here's the rest of it: The service pretty much sucks. The food is overpriced and not exceptional. Also, I've never had food that wasn't at least a little cold. It smells...wet. It is wet. It is also dark. And some of the "realistic animals" could give Navy Seals nightmares.
In short, if you're a sucker like I am, get to it. Your kids will probably enjoy it, unless they're completely terrified of the animals. Bring some plastic, since your bill will probably exceed the cash you have in your pocket. Oh, and if you can't find street parking, do not go to a self-park lot. Valet is usually cheaper, easier, and quicker. But they (the valet service) only takes cash, so be prepared.
Apparently the fact that I will never be having kids nor do I ever want them makes some people laugh at me and tell me I'm the crazy one. They also like to inflict pain and torture on me and this is usually in the form of screaming, obnoxious, runny nose kids.
Enter Rainforest Cafe. Sensory overload in ever definition of the words. Screaming, crying, nasty children everywhere. Not to mention the over the top animal and jungle noises. It was so loud I couldn't hear my dining partner across the table from me. I've come to expect that from certain bars and clubs but not Rainforest Cafe.
The food is bland, bland, bland. We got the queso dip and that's basically a brick of Velveta cheese. The calamari tasted like sand and the spinach and artichoke dip was just plain disgusting!
Also watch out for flying children booster seats. The wait staff is good about not hitting a child with them but they'll take an adult's head off no problem.
I couldn't get out of there soon enough.
Next time I vacation in Chicago, I will check the reviews before I go out...
The Rainforest Cafe was conveniently located near my hotel. And it looked relatively cute, and I was hella hungry after touring lovely Chicago for 12 hours.
The inside however, could give someone a seizure from sensory overload. Between the over-packed gift shop, the screaming children and the wait to go on my Safari Adventure (i.e. take 30 minutes to get a table), I felt tired physically just from looking around this place.
Our waiter was obviously new, and had pretty much no training on the menu. It took forever to get our food. At some point, I was tempted to take food off of an abandoned dish before the busboys got to it.
When we got the food, it was lukewarm and untasty (yes, that's a word). It was also expensive.
The only good thing about this place is the rainstorm, but it gets tired after seeing it over and over again with NO food on your table yet.
This place has only been built to sell useless souvenirs to wayward parents. Don't torture yourself by eating here. Don't...Just don't... :(
Ever had your childhood dreams crushed as you were growing up?
Maybe it was the legend of Santa Clause or maybe finding out that Dungeons & Dragons spells don't work in real life. Whatever. It was bad, right?
Kinda same happened to me night before. I no longer want 12 kids of my own. Not even one. This fuckin' place has ruined it for me for ever.
So after watching Bruno, me and my soon-to-be baby momma decided to grab a bite to eat. Tried few places before we realized it might take an hour or so wait before we can do that so she suggested we try something new and I followed like a good boy I am.
As soon we walked in, we were greeted by a huge fake snake and about 5 screaming bastards. We hoped that was the only family with kids there and were leaving. DANG! We were wrong.
We walked upstairs and behold - an ocean of loud screaming kids is all over this joint. I don't know what the fuck we were thinking and just decided to go ahead and get a table for 2.
Food was nothing to be praised about nor were the drinks. On top of that, all the tables that were surrounding us were filled with little screaming, spoiled bastards.
Burn in hell, you Rainforest Cafe for crushing my dreaming of having a baseball team of my own kids. You.
Oh no she didn't....
Oh yes I did!
I went to Rainforest Caf. But I did it for my 5 year old niece.
+Scary mechanical animals help pass the time while waiting for food. We sat by the apes. We took pictures by the elephants.
+Other interesting decor like fish tanks and a starry ceiling gives kids something to look at/talk about while waiting for food.
+They serve alcohol. It takes the edge off.
-Over priced, not so good food. I swear they have a giant microwave in the back where they just nuke all the food.
-Slow service. I think they have sofas by this giant microwave in the back because our waitress would disappear for long intervals.
-The fruity, alcoholic drinks aren't that strong. My first few sips were strong but that was because all the alcohol was at the top.
The food is pretty decent. The psycho-tronic animals and random thundrous applause can be exciting, I suppose. The fish are sorta cute...
This place is such a tourist hellhole. You can't take two steps into the joint without walking into an 'I heart Minnesota' sticker-clad stroller or a bunch of downstate honkie tonks wearing fishing baseball caps and matching 'Caught a big one today!' sweatshirts. You also have the wonderful 'families' that come here -- I use families loosely because half the time, this is the only meal that these parents will have with their children all week. All other nights are devoted to the babysitter or nanny while mommy and daddy drink it up with their wannabe upscale drinking club...or better yet, maybe they're out at a cheap motel over on North Lincoln, trying to make yet another child to ignore 6 days out of the week. It's fine, though. Ignore them and this place isn't too bad.
Sorta pricey for what it is, though it's not a 'bring your first born as payment' type of place.
Enjoy.
Why, oh why the fuck did I do it?
Because of the kid, naturally. Â We saw Wicked, so of course I made the insane choice to taking her to RC afterward for a $40 lunch. Â I had a salad and a smoothie, she, hotdogs and some crazy slurpee kind of thing. Â Some of the kids enjoyed the robot creatures, mine thought it was a joke.
The eight-year-old asked me to never bring her here again.
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