Good fun with family and food was decent. No complaints. Highly recommend going at least the once
Betsy Anders
5 Stars for the EXPERIENCE. 3-4 Stars for the food. It was good but food wise in Chicago you have some steep competition, I think Applebee's and TGI Fridays is on par. We loved the balloon animals and the experience was worth the price. One kids meal and an adult meal with a Coke was $40.
Crystal Decker
A few steps inside the restaurant and you'll forget you're in downtown Chicago! Service was quick and friendly, and food was delicious! We enjoyed the Taste of the Islands seafood dish and the Cuban sandwich.
Andrea J.
To start out, very disappointed at how the woman greeted us at Rainforest Café. She had her head down the whole time and seemed as if she was bothered by us. We gave her our name, and she told us it would be a wait. But, we looked around, and there were a whole bunch of empty seats. We didn't know what her problem was. So we looked at the hefty prices, and we thought if we are going to spend this much, we should at least get good customer service. Furthermore, we left and didn't look back.
Jasmine D.
Went here yesterday for the first time since childhood. I was excited because I loved this place as a kid. They do have a nice gift shop, and their strawberry lemonade is the best I've ever had: not too sweet, not too sour, and you can really taste the fresh strawberry. However, we spent $176 for 4 people, which is expensive, so you'd expect the food to be great. It was the complete opposite. This place is like a Chucky Cheese. The food quality was absolutely horrendous. Very sloppily made. None of our food was fresh. And although the entrees seemed appetizing on the menu; when the food came out, it was very clear that this was a careless attempt to throw together random ingredients and call it a "dish". On the menu, you'll see how some of the food is meant to give the impression of "Louisiana" or "New Orleans" style. This seemed interesting to me, because I've always wanted to try Jambalaya, and Gumbo. However, in all reality, the food is sloppily thrown together, like a really bad chef. I went with the pasta that was Cajun, with sausage and shrimp. And again, I was disappointed. This is such a shame, you would expect this from a lower-placed restaurant, but definitely not a restaurant where you will be paying a lot of money for food. I am very disgusted, this will keep happening to people who go and dine. My advice is: if you'd like to take your kids there, for a field trip with their friends, or to celebrate a birthday, eat somewhere else, and then you can come here to get dessert, or a kids meal for your child (kids tend to love the Brownie Lava Cake or the Volcano Cake, because it has sparklers). We also did order that dessert, and it tasted store-bought. All of the food tasted store-bought. We ordered the Appetizer with everything included, and the Southwest Eggrolls tasted frozen. At a higher-priced restaurant, the ingredients should be fresh, and the food should be delicious. This is extremely over-priced by a large margin. I do not even pay this much at The Cheesecake Factory. When our bill came, I was horrofied. Please do not waste your money here. I didn't even finish my food. If I could give them a Zero Star, I would. Update: It's about a week later, and I get a reply to the review I left, however the link is invalid.
New News 11
I love Rainforest Cafe! They have so many cool things that you don't get to experience anywhere else. Just get there an hour before you eat because the wait is long.....
Setyo H Lesmono
Was here about 20 years ago, when I visited my wife during her study.. it's a great cafe with an unique cozy atmosphere, and provides delicious american food.. love it and wish to visit there again someday, hope!
Rebecca R.
Our family of 4 went here - hubby, son, son's girlfriend and myself. She was excited to eat here, while hubby and I were lukewarm on the idea. Definitely keep in mind that you are paying for the experience and not the food, which is mediocre at best. To start with, it was 9 something at night, nobody in sight and we were told it would be a 20 minute wait. We were all a bit ticked to say the least. Luckily, we entertained ourselves looking around the gift shop for awhile and then only had to wait about 5-8 minutes or so. We were seated and the rainstorms were explained to us, so we didn't freak out when they started. Service started out friendly and quick, but then it took awhile. For everything.... Our son's girlfriend really wanted a character mug, but was worried about the cost. We were told they were around $9 something and went up from there. She ordered the frog. Server disappeared and was gone forever, came back with a monkey mug. It wasn't even one of the two characters she wanted. It was very disappointing, but the server said she would discount it. We ordered the philly cheese steak, which was enough for 2 people, the quesadilla appetizer, which was a meal in itself, the anaconda pasta and the pulled pork burger. Everything was pretty good, the mound of fries with the burger was just ginormous. I received refills of drinks in timely manner, but when we received the bill, the mug was still over 9 bucks. I asked the server and she was like "well I did discount it." She could tell I wasn't happy that a mug we didn't order, that she brought out anyway without checking first was still over 9 bucks. She disappeared again and brought out a frog's head. Our son's GF was so excited she hugged the waitress. It was really cute. She didn't get the little animal that came with it, but was super happy to have the frog head for the mug. The server went out of her way to help with this and we were happy for it. This is the only reason why I'm not docking several stars on the review. The bill was still $100 for the 4 of us for a burger, pasta, a sandwich and a quesadilla. Kind of high.
Levin Latimer
We went here mainly for the atmosphere/experience for our two kids (ages 6 and 3 1/2) while taking a family trip to Chicago. They enjoyed it and devoured their food (lots of kid-friendly choices). My friend and I thought our food was better than we expected though it does seem priced a little high. You have to remember you are paying for the atmosphere...not just the food. Our server was friendly and attentive. This is not somewhere we would go to frequently but for a one-time experience or special occasion, I would recommend it.
Foods pretty good. Waitress was friendly but the prices for the food seems pretty crazy. Went there expecting it to be fun and on the cheaper side and when we got the bill we couldn’t believe it. $30 for my mom’s food which was a daiquiri and a quesadilla.
Zachary Trocki
Awesome place! I’ve been to a handful of area that had one of these and never went in. Finally, I’m Chicago there was one right next to my hotel so I gave it a shot. Extremely cool atmosphere and decor, and if I had kids I would go out of my way to bring them here. Prices were very fair for the area and food was delicious
Asia Hicks
They were understaffed, everyone had an attitude (except our server), the food was overpriced for the simple dishes we ordered but we do understand it's downtown, so its expected. The food took entirely too long to come out and there were barely any people in there. My 2 year old enjoyed the music and animal attraction which is why I gave it 3 stars.
CHANCE LACHMAN
My friend and I had never been to this location before, so we stopped in, and it was pretty neat. Staff didn't bother anyone like a place like this would, where multiple staff members will be pestering you too often which was a plus. We wished we could have explored the place a little more, but the dining area was closed for private events and we didn't go upstairs either. But it's a nice place to browse the shop and hang out if you're into that sort of thing. I have experience with the menu so I can say generally speaking, their food is tasty.
Jerry Dillon
From walking into the door we were greeted by a wonderful hostess, I mean really really happy. The guy who sat us interacted with our young son. We were immediately acknowledged after being seated. They were in the middle of a shift change and there were absolutely no problems. On the contrary, we were made aware of the change and it was fine. Two separate people brought out our appetizer and entrees with just happiness. Very pleasant. It's like everyone was on some happy pills or something. The price was higher than a smaller restaurant for 5 people and we'll be back guaranteed when we go back downtown. I'd even go and have my lunch break there. The food was phenomenal
shrimp and chicken Rasta Pasta was the bomb!
Good fun with family and food was decent. No complaints. Highly recommend going at least the once
5 Stars for the EXPERIENCE. 3-4 Stars for the food. It was good but food wise in Chicago you have some steep competition, I think Applebee's and TGI Fridays is on par. We loved the balloon animals and the experience was worth the price. One kids meal and an adult meal with a Coke was $40.
A few steps inside the restaurant and you'll forget you're in downtown Chicago! Service was quick and friendly, and food was delicious! We enjoyed the Taste of the Islands seafood dish and the Cuban sandwich.
To start out, very disappointed at how the woman greeted us at Rainforest Café. She had her head down the whole time and seemed as if she was bothered by us. We gave her our name, and she told us it would be a wait. But, we looked around, and there were a whole bunch of empty seats. We didn't know what her problem was. So we looked at the hefty prices, and we thought if we are going to spend this much, we should at least get good customer service. Furthermore, we left and didn't look back.
Went here yesterday for the first time since childhood. I was excited because I loved this place as a kid. They do have a nice gift shop, and their strawberry lemonade is the best I've ever had: not too sweet, not too sour, and you can really taste the fresh strawberry. However, we spent $176 for 4 people, which is expensive, so you'd expect the food to be great. It was the complete opposite. This place is like a Chucky Cheese. The food quality was absolutely horrendous. Very sloppily made. None of our food was fresh. And although the entrees seemed appetizing on the menu; when the food came out, it was very clear that this was a careless attempt to throw together random ingredients and call it a "dish". On the menu, you'll see how some of the food is meant to give the impression of "Louisiana" or "New Orleans" style. This seemed interesting to me, because I've always wanted to try Jambalaya, and Gumbo. However, in all reality, the food is sloppily thrown together, like a really bad chef. I went with the pasta that was Cajun, with sausage and shrimp. And again, I was disappointed. This is such a shame, you would expect this from a lower-placed restaurant, but definitely not a restaurant where you will be paying a lot of money for food. I am very disgusted, this will keep happening to people who go and dine. My advice is: if you'd like to take your kids there, for a field trip with their friends, or to celebrate a birthday, eat somewhere else, and then you can come here to get dessert, or a kids meal for your child (kids tend to love the Brownie Lava Cake or the Volcano Cake, because it has sparklers). We also did order that dessert, and it tasted store-bought. All of the food tasted store-bought. We ordered the Appetizer with everything included, and the Southwest Eggrolls tasted frozen. At a higher-priced restaurant, the ingredients should be fresh, and the food should be delicious. This is extremely over-priced by a large margin. I do not even pay this much at The Cheesecake Factory. When our bill came, I was horrofied. Please do not waste your money here. I didn't even finish my food. If I could give them a Zero Star, I would. Update: It's about a week later, and I get a reply to the review I left, however the link is invalid.
I love Rainforest Cafe! They have so many cool things that you don't get to experience anywhere else. Just get there an hour before you eat because the wait is long.....
Was here about 20 years ago, when I visited my wife during her study.. it's a great cafe with an unique cozy atmosphere, and provides delicious american food.. love it and wish to visit there again someday, hope!
Our family of 4 went here - hubby, son, son's girlfriend and myself. She was excited to eat here, while hubby and I were lukewarm on the idea. Definitely keep in mind that you are paying for the experience and not the food, which is mediocre at best. To start with, it was 9 something at night, nobody in sight and we were told it would be a 20 minute wait. We were all a bit ticked to say the least. Luckily, we entertained ourselves looking around the gift shop for awhile and then only had to wait about 5-8 minutes or so. We were seated and the rainstorms were explained to us, so we didn't freak out when they started. Service started out friendly and quick, but then it took awhile. For everything.... Our son's girlfriend really wanted a character mug, but was worried about the cost. We were told they were around $9 something and went up from there. She ordered the frog. Server disappeared and was gone forever, came back with a monkey mug. It wasn't even one of the two characters she wanted. It was very disappointing, but the server said she would discount it. We ordered the philly cheese steak, which was enough for 2 people, the quesadilla appetizer, which was a meal in itself, the anaconda pasta and the pulled pork burger. Everything was pretty good, the mound of fries with the burger was just ginormous. I received refills of drinks in timely manner, but when we received the bill, the mug was still over 9 bucks. I asked the server and she was like "well I did discount it." She could tell I wasn't happy that a mug we didn't order, that she brought out anyway without checking first was still over 9 bucks. She disappeared again and brought out a frog's head. Our son's GF was so excited she hugged the waitress. It was really cute. She didn't get the little animal that came with it, but was super happy to have the frog head for the mug. The server went out of her way to help with this and we were happy for it. This is the only reason why I'm not docking several stars on the review. The bill was still $100 for the 4 of us for a burger, pasta, a sandwich and a quesadilla. Kind of high.
We went here mainly for the atmosphere/experience for our two kids (ages 6 and 3 1/2) while taking a family trip to Chicago. They enjoyed it and devoured their food (lots of kid-friendly choices). My friend and I thought our food was better than we expected though it does seem priced a little high. You have to remember you are paying for the atmosphere...not just the food. Our server was friendly and attentive. This is not somewhere we would go to frequently but for a one-time experience or special occasion, I would recommend it.
Restaurantji Recommends
Foods pretty good. Waitress was friendly but the prices for the food seems pretty crazy. Went there expecting it to be fun and on the cheaper side and when we got the bill we couldn’t believe it. $30 for my mom’s food which was a daiquiri and a quesadilla.
Awesome place! I’ve been to a handful of area that had one of these and never went in. Finally, I’m Chicago there was one right next to my hotel so I gave it a shot. Extremely cool atmosphere and decor, and if I had kids I would go out of my way to bring them here. Prices were very fair for the area and food was delicious
They were understaffed, everyone had an attitude (except our server), the food was overpriced for the simple dishes we ordered but we do understand it's downtown, so its expected. The food took entirely too long to come out and there were barely any people in there. My 2 year old enjoyed the music and animal attraction which is why I gave it 3 stars.
My friend and I had never been to this location before, so we stopped in, and it was pretty neat. Staff didn't bother anyone like a place like this would, where multiple staff members will be pestering you too often which was a plus. We wished we could have explored the place a little more, but the dining area was closed for private events and we didn't go upstairs either. But it's a nice place to browse the shop and hang out if you're into that sort of thing. I have experience with the menu so I can say generally speaking, their food is tasty.
From walking into the door we were greeted by a wonderful hostess, I mean really really happy. The guy who sat us interacted with our young son. We were immediately acknowledged after being seated. They were in the middle of a shift change and there were absolutely no problems. On the contrary, we were made aware of the change and it was fine. Two separate people brought out our appetizer and entrees with just happiness. Very pleasant. It's like everyone was on some happy pills or something. The price was higher than a smaller restaurant for 5 people and we'll be back guaranteed when we go back downtown. I'd even go and have my lunch break there. The food was phenomenal