Rainforest Cafe
Rainforest Cafe is a jungle themed restaurant chain owned by Landry's, Inc. of Houston. It was founded by 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. The first international location opened in London, England in June 1997. 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.[3]
![]() Restaurant logo (2000-present) | |
Subsidiary | |
Industry | Restaurants |
Founded | February 3, 1994 , Bloomington, Minnesota |
Founder | Steven Schussler |
Headquarters | Houston, Texas , |
Number of locations | 24 restaurants |
Key people | Steven Schussler, Founder Tilman J. Fertitta Chairman, President, and Chief executive officer |
Products | Pasta, Seafood, Salad, Sandwiches, Dessert; Merchandise[1] |
Revenue | ![]() |
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Parent | Landry's Restaurants |
Website | rainforestcafe |
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![](../I/m/Rainforest_Cafe_at_Animal_Kingdom.jpg)
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.[4] 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.[3]
Themed ambience
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, gorillas, tigers, leopards, snakes, crocodiles, frogs, iguanas, butterflies, and tropical birds. It also includes fish tanks. Most locations also have themed exteriors as well as interiors. The Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) in Orlando, Florida and Galveston, Texas is located under a large artificial volcano which erupts during the simulated thunderstorms. Others, such as the locations in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Niagara Falls, New York; have the appearance of ancient jungle ruins, particularly resembling Palenque. Shopping 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, teeth, claws, legs, body and tail.
Some of the restaurants are partitioned into several rooms by means of rain curtains that fall into basins running along the tops of partition walls, rock formations, and curtains of sparse foliage. There are also a more reef fish tanks in each restaurant. Most locations have two tanks connected over the archway between the gift shop and the restaurant, but at the Walt Disney World Resort locations, three tanks are connected. One portion of most locations including the bar located underneath an enormous mushroom and the ancient temple. The chain is known for its characteristic bar stools, made to resemble the legs of animals, designed and sculpted by the artist Glenn Carter.[5] 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.[6] At the Galveston location, there exists a dark ride existing in another building attached to the Rainforest Cafe's main building known as the "River Adventure Ride", which takes guests on a circular river raft ride down the rivers of various rainforests of the world in the style of the Jungle Cruise found at many Disney parks. Here guests encounter many animatronic examples of wildlife that can be found in rainforests worldwide, culminating in a journey through a treasure-filled Hindu temple where they encounter an angry six-armed "river god" statue before returning to the start.
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Rainforest themed merchandise is sold in the gift shop, mostly printed by the Atlanta-based fashion apparel company, Boxercraft Inc.[7] 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 eyed tree frog; Iggy, the iguana; Nile, the crocodile; Rio, the macaw; Maya, the jaguar; Tuki, the african forest elephant; Bamba, the gorilla; and Ozzie, the orangutan. These eight characters may be represented on children's menus, merchandise, or the company logo.[7]
Animatronics
![](../I/m/Disney_Animal_Kingdom_Rainforest_Cafe_1.jpg)
To enhance the theme, some of the animals are animatronic, manufactured by Russells Creative, LLC of Apopka, Florida, formerly UCFab International.[8] Nearly all locations have elephants, tigers, gorillas, leopards, snakes, crocodiles, and butterflies. Elephants are typically found in a pair consisting of an adult and young with small and large tusks. Like most animatronics, these face diners from a raised area off 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. In the Disney Springs location there is a lemur hanging from a tree in the restaurant. Gorillas are the most numerous of the animatronics, and there are usually four or five gorillas in each restaurant. Each group usually has a silverback, a baby hanging from a tree, and one or two other gorillas which are sometimes beating its chest and leaning on palm trees which they shake during their motion sequences. Leopards may be found at every location, but they are generally perched on a high ledge or tree with their tail and one forelimb hanging down. In the San Antonio Riverwalk location, there are panda bears resembling the adult and young in the upper level in the restaurant. Snakes are mostly positioned at the entrance of the retail village, wrapped around a branch and greeting guests from above. In the gift shop, a talking tree named Tracy Tree entertains shoppers every few seconds. Crocodiles are located in a wishing pond or waterfall either outside and inside the gift shop, where guests are invited to toss coins at them. At the Opry Mills location, there is a hippopotamus replacing the crocodile. At the Katy Mills and Ontario Mills locations, there is a young elephant with small tusks on the rock and the bushes that is close to the ancient temple wall sign, rivers, waterfalls, and the crocodile next to the snake are located inside and outside the gift shop. At the Sawgrass Mills location, there is a baby gorilla hanging from a tree that is close to the waterfalls, rivers and the crocodile next to the snake are located inside and outside the gift shop. At the London location, there is an orangutan adult and baby sitting in a bed of rainforest foliage. Each location usually has multiple butterflies which have animatronic flapping wings 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, for example, Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs has a family of four leopards on a high ledge, as well as the more typical leopard in the gift shop.[9]
Menu
Rainforest Cafe serves food ranging from seafood, beef, and chicken to pastas and pizzas.[1]
Locations
U.S. locations
- Lake Buena Vista, Florida – Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) (Opened on August 6, 1996, with about 450 seats)
- Bay Lake, Florida – Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort (Opened on April 22, 1998)
- Atlantic City, New Jersey – In the closed Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino (Opened Winter 2004)
- Edison, New Jersey – Menlo Park Mall (Opened on September 17, 1998)
- Bloomington, Minnesota, – Third floor of Mall of America, relocated from the first floor (Opened on January 22, 2016)
- Sunrise, Florida – Sawgrass Mills (Opened in November 1996)
- Ontario, California – Ontario Mills (Opened on November 14, 1996)
- Tempe, Arizona – Arizona Mills (Opened on November 20, 1997)
- Grapevine, Texas – Grapevine Mills (Opened on October 30, 1997)
- Katy, Texas – Katy Mills (Opened on October 28, 1999)
- Galveston, Texas
- San Antonio, Texas – San Antonio River Walk
- Gurnee, Illinois – Gurnee Mills (Opened in June 1996)
- Auburn Hills, Michigan – Great Lakes Crossing Outlets (Opened on November 12, 1998)
- Nashville, Tennessee – Opry Mills (Opened on May 12, 2000; Closed in May 2010 due to the 2010 Tennessee floods; Reopened on March 29, 2012)
- Las Vegas, Nevada - Harmon Corner in the Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino Las Vegas (Opened on September 2, 2015)
- Niagara Falls, New York – Sheraton at the Falls (Opened on June 3, 2015)
International locations
- Niagara Falls, Ontario – Clifton Hill (Opened in May 2001)
- Tokyo, Japan – Ikspiari Shopping Mall near Tokyo Disney Resort (Opened on July 7, 2000)
- London, England – Piccadilly Circus (Opened on June 24, 1997)
- Paris, France – Disneyland Paris (Opened in 1999)
- Dubai, U.A.E. – The Dubai Mall (Opened in 2009)
Former locations
- Anaheim, California – Downtown Disney (Opened on January 12, 2001; Closed on June 19, 2018)
- Houston, Texas - Houston Galleria Mall (Opened in Spring 2009; Closed in March 2018)
- San Francisco, California - Fisherman's Wharf (Opened in May 2000; Closed on October 1, 2017)
- Burlington, Massachusetts – Burlington Mall[10] (Opened in October 1998; Closed on April 25, 2016)
- Las Vegas, Nevada – MGM Grand Hotel & Casino Las Vegas (Opened on December 18, 1997; Closed on August 30, 2015)[11]
- Toronto, Ontario – Yorkdale Shopping Center (Opened on June 30, 1999, closed January 1, 2014.)[12]
- Costa Mesa, California – South Coast Plaza (Opened June 9, 1997; closed on July 7, 2013)[13]
- Aventura, Florida – Aventura Mall (Opened on December 14, 1997; Closed in 2000)
- Overland Park, Kansas – Oak Park Mall (Opened on February 23, 1999; closed on January 6, 2009)[14]
- Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong – Festival Walk (Opened November 24, 1998; closed on January 3, 2003)
- Norfolk, Virginia – MacArthur Center (Opened in June 1999; closed in 2001)
- Paramus, New Jersey - Westfield Garden State Plaza
- Tysons Corner, Virginia – Tysons Corner Center (Opened in October 1996, Closed in 2007)
- Westbury, New York – The Source Mall (Opened in September 1997; closed on October 19, 2000)
- West Nyack, New York – Palisades Center (Opened on March 19, 1998; closed in 2002)
- Elizabeth, New Jersey - The Mills at Jersey Gardens (Opened on October 21, 1999; Closed in late 2000)
- Denver, Colorado, – Cherry Creek Shopping Center (Opened in Summer 1998; Closed in 2001)
- New York City, New York - Times Square
- Towson, Maryland – Towson Town Center (Opened on March 23, 1999; Closed in January 2009)[15]
- Toronto, Ontario – Scarborough Town Center, Opened in February 1999; closed on January 7, 2001)
- Manchester, England – Trafford Center (Closed in 2003)
- Burnaby, British Columbia – Metropolis at Metrotown (Opened in June 1996, closed in October 2001)
- Mexico City, Mexico – Metropol Entertainment Central (Closed in 2012)
- Cancun, Mexico – Plaza Forum By The Sea (Opened on August 15, 1997, closed in Fall 2010.)
- Tlalnepantla, Mexico – Mundo E (Opened on December 17, 1998; Closed sometime in the 2000s)
- Mexico City, Mexico – Centro Santa Fe (Closed in 2012)
- Istanbul, Turkey – İstinye Park (Closed in 2010.)
- Farmington, Connecticut – Westfarms Mall (Opened in February 2000; Closed in 2013)[16]
- Cairo, Egypt – City Stars Mall (Opened in February 2008, closed approximately in 2012.)[10]
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia Mills (formerly Franklin Mills) (Opened on November 27, 1998; Closed in February 2001)[17]
- Tukwila, Washington – Westfield Southcenter (Opened on June 29, 1999; Closed in January 2016)[18]
- Bloomington, Minnesota – First floor of Mall of America (Opened on February 3, 1994 with 295 seats, also the first location; Closed in September 2014 for relocation.)[19]
- 3 Simei Street 6, Singapore – Eastpoint Shopping Mall (Closed sometime in the 2000s)
- Schaumburg, Illinois – Woodfield Mall (Opened in October 1995, closed on January 1, 2020)
- Chicago, Illinois – Downtown Chicago (Opened on October 2, 1997, closed August 2020)
Gallery
- Rainforest Cafe
- An example of the canopy ceiling including artificial trees and foliage for Rainforest Cafe at MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 3, 2008.
In popular culture
- The restaurant's former location in Burlington Mall in Burlington, Massachusetts appeared in the 2009 film Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
References
- "Rainforest Cafe". Landry's Inc. Landry's Inc. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- "Rainforest Cafe, Inc. History". Funding Universe. Funding Universe. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- "Rainforest Cafe". The River Walk Guide. The San Antonio River Walk Guide. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- "Landry's, Inc – Finding Success on All Fronts". Who We Are. Landry's Inc. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- "Bellevue sculptor goes down the rabbit hole". Idaho Mountain Express. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- "Retail and Commercial Projects". Client List. Fiber Optic Systems, Inc. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
- Cooper, Janice. "Rainforest Cafe - A Wild Experience". RateIt. RateIt. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
- "Furry Creatures". UCFab International. UCFab International, LLC. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
- "Rainforest Cafe". Fiber Theme Designs. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- "Locations". Rainforest Cafe. Rainforest Cafe. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
- "Rainforest Café - MGM Grand Hotel & Casino". pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
- "Yorkdale Shopping Center - Rainforest Cafe". Pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-20.
- "Rainforest Cafe @ South Coast Plaza Mall". Pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19.
- "Rainforest Cafe @ Oak Park Mall". Pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-20.
- "Rainforest Cafe @ Towson Town Center". Pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-20.
- "West Farms Mall - Rainforest Cafe". Pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-20.
- "Rainforest Cafe @ Franklin Mills Mall". Pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19.
- "Westfield South Center Mall - Rainforest Cafe". Pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19.
- "Mall of America - Rainforest Cafe". Pennycollector.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19.