Rainforest Cafe

Rainforest Cafe

Restaurant logo (2000-present) Shown at all locations except Disney Village
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Restaurants
Founded	Minneapolis, Minnesota (1994)
Founder	Steven Schussler
Headquarters	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Number of locations	29 restaurants
Key people	Steven Schussler,Founder Tilman J. FertittaChairman, President, and CEO
Products	Pasta, Seafood, Salad, Sandwiches, Dessert; Merchandise[1]
Revenue	US $108 million (1997)[2]
Net income	$12 million (1997)[3]
Parent	Landry's Restaurants
Website	RainforestCafe.com

Rainforest Cafe is a themed restaurant chain owned by Landry's, Inc. of Houston, Texas. It was founded by entrepreneur Steven Schussler. The first location opened in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota on February 3, 1994. By 1997, the chain consisted of six restaurants, all in the United States. In 1998, it was planned to build 12 additional restaurants in the United States, seven in Mexico, and five in the UK, for a total of 22 restaurants by 2008.^[4]

In 2000, the Rainforest Cafe was bought by Landry's Restaurants Inc., a company specializing in dining, hospitality, entertainment, and gaming, based in Houston, Texas.^[5] To date the company owns restaurants in the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, the U.A.E., and Japan. Rainforest Cafe focuses on local tourism for a majority of their income.^[6]

Themed ambiance

Rainforest Cafe at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Each Rainforest Cafe restaurant is designed to depict some features of a tropical rainforest, including plant growth; mist; waterfalls; and figures of rainforest animals, including elephants, frogs, gorillas, jaguars, tigers, and tropical birds. Most locations also have themed exteriors as well as interiors. The Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney), Orlando, is located under a large artificial volcano which erupts during the simulated thunderstorms. Others, such as the locations in Atlantic City; Anaheim; and Niagara Falls, New York; have the appearance of ancient jungle ruins, namely Palenque. Mall locations usually have waterfalls and simulated plant growth outside of them, visible to those who pass in the mall. Nearly all locations have a 'wishing pond', usually with an animatronic crocodile, where guests are invited to toss coins, aiming for the crocodile's mouth.

The restaurants are partitioned into several rooms by means of rain curtains that fall into basins running along the tops of partition walls and booths and aquatic tanks. One portion of most locations includes a bar located underneath an enormous mushroom. The chain is known for its characteristic barstools, made to resemble the legs of animals, designed and sculpted by the artist Glenn Carter.^[7] There is usually a star ceiling in the middle of the restaurant, which are designed and manufactured by Fiber Optic Systems Inc, located in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.^[8]

The interior of the Rainforest Cafe in Dubai Mall, Dubai.

Rainforest themed merchandise is sold in the gift shop, mostly printed by the Atlanta-based fashion apparel company, Boxercraft Inc.^[9] Toys including stuffed toys and action figures of the restaurant mascots are sold as well.

Rainforest cafe also has a set of mascots, called "The Wild Bunch". These characters include Cha! Cha!, the red eye tree frog; Iggy, the iguana; Nile, the crocodile; Rio, a macaw; Maya, the leopard; Tuki, the elephant; Bamba, the Gorilla; and Ozzie, the orangutan. These eight characters can be found on children's menus, merchandise, as well as the company logo (which lacks Tuki and Ozzie, though older logos may include Ozzie).^[9]

Animatronics

To enhance the theme, some of the animals are animatronic, manufactured by Russells Creative, LLC of Apopka, Florida, formerly UCFab International.^[10] Nearly all locations have elephants, tigers, gorillas, jaguars, snakes, and crocodiles. Elephants are typically found in a pair consisting of an adult and young animal. These face diners from, like most animatronics, a raised area from a wall. Tigers are a relatively new addition to Rainforest Cafe, and they are normally found in groups of four, with a male, female, and two cubs. The male stands up high on a rock, while the female reclines beside it. Gorillas are the most numerous of the animatronics, and there are typically four or five gorillas in each restaurant. Each group usually has a silverback, a baby hanging from a tree, and others which may shake palm trees. Jaguars may not be found at every location, but they typically are perched on a high ledge or tree with their tail and one forelimb hanging down. Snakes are mostly positioned at the entrance of the retail village, wrapped around a branch and greeting guests from above. Crocodiles are located in a wishing pond or waterfall either outside or just inside the shop, where guests are invited to toss coins at them. Each location usually has multiple butterflies which have an animatronic flapping mechanism as well.The descriptions of these animatronic animals is not always the case at every location though, and will vary slightly to dramatically by individual restaurant.

Menu

Rainforest Cafe serves food ranging from seafood, beef, and chicken to pastas and pizzas.^[11] Dishes are named in accordance to the Rainforest Theme including the "Rainforest Burger", "Tribal Salmon", and "Amazon Fajitas". They may also be named based on Wild Bunch characters, such as the "Chimi-cha-cha" or "Bamba's Barbecue Wrap".

Rainforest Café generally serves Coca-Cola products, as well as ICEE. On the Kids menu there is an option to use a collector's cup for the ICEE.^[12] Formerly called the "Pacific Rainbow", the cup now has a character head on top. A cup featuring Cha! Cha! is available indefinitely however other characters are made for the cups for about a year. All characters have been made so far. The bottom of these cups includes a screw-off compartment which houses a free action figure of the Wild Bunch character which the cup features on top.

Rainforest Café has a variety of desserts as well. Offered are a "Safari Sundae" and on the kids menu "Lava Mud" which is a pudding with chocolate cookies in it with gummy worms to emulate dirt. The largest and most popular dessert, however, is the Sparkling Volcano. A volcano is made of three wedge-shaped brownies with vanilla ice cream between them and whipped topping on top, drizzled with both chocolate and caramel sauce. Volcanoes were once served with a sparkler on top which the diner would blow out however it was replaced by a wooden rod with shiny ornamentation on it. Many locations, however, do insert and light a candle if it is in celebration of a party member's birthday. There is also the tradition of yelling "volcano!" by the wait staff every time a volcano is ordered.^[13]

Locations

American locations

A sign outside of Rainforest Café at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Rainforest Cafe sign outside Opry Mills Mall in Nashville.

• Anaheim, California – Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort opened January 12, 2001*
• Lake Buena Vista, Florida – Disney Springs opened on August 6, 1996, with about 450 seats *
• Lake Buena Vista, Florida – Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort opened April 22, 1998*
• Atlantic City, New Jersey – In the closed Trump Plaza
• Edison, New Jersey – Menlo Park Mall
• Bloomington, Minnesota – Third floor of Mall of America, relocated from the first floor, opened 22 January 2016
• Sunrise, Florida – Sawgrass Mills
• San Francisco, California – Fisherman's Wharf
• Ontario, California – Ontario Mills opened November 14, 1996
• Tempe, Arizona – Arizona Mills opened November 20, 1997
• Grapevine, Texas – Grapevine Mills opened October 30, 1997
• Katy, Texas – Katy Mills opened October 28, 1999
• Galveston, Texas
• San Antonio, Texas – River Walk
• Houston, Texas – Houston Galleria opened Spring 2009
• Chicago, Illinois – Downtown Chicago
• Gurnee, Illinois – Gurnee Mills
• Schaumburg, Illinois – Woodfield Mall opened October 1995
• Auburn Hills, Michigan – Detroit area – Great Lakes Crossing opened November 12, 1998
• Nashville, Tennessee – Opry Mills opened May 12, 2000 (March 29, 2012 after the 2010 flood)
• Burlington, Massachusetts – Burlington Mall ^[14]
• Las Vegas, Nevada — Harmon Corner- opened September 2, 2015
• Niagara Falls, New York – Sheraton at the Falls opened June 3, 2015

International locations

• Niagara Falls, Ontario – Clifton Hill opened May 2001
• Tokyo, Japan – Ikspiari Shopping Mall near Tokyo Disney Resort opened July 7, 2000
• London, England – Piccadilly Circus opened 1997
• Paris, France – Disneyland Resort Paris opened 1999
• Dubai, U.A.E. – The Dubai Mall opened 2009

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rainforest Cafe.

• Official website