Rainforest Cafe

I have been to Rainforest Cafe several times, and I'm always just the tiniest bit disappointed. I have never been too impressed with the food, especially once the prices are factored in - it's okay, but nothing special.

That being said, my kids love the atmosphere. We go to Rainforest Cafe about once a year or so, mostly for the novelty of the experience.

I visited the Gurnee location a couple of months ago and was very disappointed...to say the least.

First of all, I went there with my 18 month old daughter and my mother. Knowing that my daughter has the attention span of, well, an 18 month old, I requested to be seated by a fish tank because I knew that would keep her busy for  awhile. I was told that the only seats left by the fish tanks were "Party" tables. I was kind of confused because the restaurant didn't seem that busy, but didn't put up a fuss. After we sat down I took a look around and the "party" tables were only tables that fit 6 people and the rest of the restaurant empty. I'm not sure why it was such a big deal to keep those tables open, especially since we were there in the afternoon on a Monday.

Second, I felt like the whole time the waiter was just trying to sell us stuff. No I don't want your rip off meal plan thing or any of your souvenirs.

Thirdly, the food was WAY under par. It wasn't anything special at all. I ordered a side ceasar salad which was actually pretty good and for lunch I had some sort of pasta with chunks of "fresh" mozzarella. I'm not sure what made me so sick but something I had there poisoned the hell out of me. I live about 40 minutes from the mall and had to stop 3 times on the way home to go to the bathroom. I was sick the whole night and half of the next day,

Overall: The place is cool as far as decor. Especially for the little ones, but as far as food goes, STAY AWAY! I will not be going back.

I visited this Gurnee location (rather belligerantly) last night at the pleading of my children, and I realized again how very much I loathe it. Here's a recent breakdown / update:

The good:  The onion rings - this one item was above-average in quality, and the only item I would consider ordering again.

The bad: The hostess at the front told me we had to wait to be seated --- in the meantime, SEVERAL families walked past, right to the seating person, and got sat right away... come on people - coordinate! Second, the potato chips which come standard with sandwiches were stale, and I almost broke a tooth. Third, the prices are stupid for the quality of food you get.

The UGLY: We waited FIVE minutes after being sat for the server to come to the table, and an additional FIVE minutes for drinks to be brought back to us. After ordering, we waited THIRTY MINUTES before the food came, and it only came after I had to ask for a manager to find out where it was. 30 minutes for a burger, a cold sandwich, and 2 orders of dino nuggets - seriously???

Please, please avoid this place - they don't even deserve 1 star - a 2 hour dinner with two kids at 6:00 at night is ridiculous... if you need to get a "jungle" fix, try the parking lot outside - with limited spaces it's truly survival of the fittest....