Rainforest Cafe - Why do you go?

[boomhauer]

I'm just curious on this. I like the food there myself, but the main reason we go is because of the atmosphere. I'd just like to know, if you go to Rainforest Cafe, what is the main reason - Food or atmosphere?

 

[Mickeys_n_me]

I don't go to the one in WDW because there is one here that is 10 minutes away. When we go to this one it is mostly for the atmosphere, the food is not great at all - not bad, just not something I would choose to eat since there are so many better restaurants around (same reasoning prevails at WDW). The kids love it, so we usually take them there for some type of celebration, o they don't go there or even ask to go there a lot.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I voted for food, however my parents and I also go for the atmosphere. So if we could have voted for both options that's what I would have done.

 

[honey11dog]

I voted atmosphere. My kids love this restaurant. It is always their top choice when we go to Disney. We don't have any located near us, so it is a special treat when we go.

 

[suzimar57]

for us, the RFC is about the food more than the noisy atmosphere

we love the crab cakes, the stuffed shrimp and the pot roast

the animatronic elephant/monkeys? - eh.

 

[prekteacher]

We are going in May and thats the frist place my mother wants to go . I went when i was about 12 and i loved it and can not wait to go again.

 

[pooh2001]

I voted atmosphere - but we like the convience (at the time we have gone to AK) of a sit down restaurant with A/C in AK.

The food is good - large plates of it.
The atmosphere can be noisey. Ask for a seat near Atlas - less noise, more light. If you like action, ask for the Monkey area

You can get an AAA discount and if you become a Safari club member you get discounts too - plus a separate and faster wait line to get in.
Landry Corp owns the Rain Forest Cafe (and Yak & Yeti).
http://www.rainforestcafe.com/


If you have small kids - the gift shop has the most adorable soft stuffed animals for about $10.



What we like on the menu:
Rainforest Burger - 1/2 lb. burger, charbroiled and served on a toasted bun with tomato, lettuce, onion $10.99; with bacon, add $0.99; with sauteed mushrooms add $0.99; with cheddar, Monterey Jack, American or Swiss cheese, add $.59

Caribbean Coconut Shrimp - Tender shrimp rolled in fresh coconut and fried to a golden brown, served with a sweet mango sauce $19.99

Passport to Paradise - Provolone, Parmesan, Romano and Mozzarella cheeses, fresh basil and chunky marinara sauce $12.99

Mojo Bones - A full rack of slow-roasted pork ribs, basted with Smokin' Mojo BBQ Sauce, served with cole slaw and Safari fries. Half-rack $18.99

Rasta Pasta - Grilled chicken, penne pasta, walnut pesto, broccoli, red peppers and spinach, tossed with garlic Alfredo sauce. $18.99


And the Spakling Vocano Dessert and 4 forks

 

[debaone]

I definitely go for the food. The ribs are always excellent and the volcano dessert is a lot of fun. Also, you get a lot of food for the money....sometimes not the case at the Disney-owned restaurants.

 

[northie]

We love the food. We have never been to either location at Disney World though because we go to the one at the Mall of America. The T-Rex restaurant at Legends in KC was really good too the one time we got to go.

 

[LYNSUE]

DH and I go for the food. They have such a variety on the menu. There has to be something for everyone with that many items. We were there last month and I had the chicken fried chicken. As a side it had the best cole slaw type salad which included some very interesting veggies. DH had the oriental salad. Both were very good.

 

[mom2aredhead]

It's funny to me that so many people knock the food at RFC, but rave about the mac and cheese at LTT or the pasta at Tony's. To each his own.
I think the food is good. The days we're at AK park, it can't be beat for convenience - perfect place for a burger and a beer on the way out of AK at the end of a long day. Added bonus, my son LOVES the jungle/safari/animal atmosphere and he gets so distracted by the animals and the fishtanks that he eats really well when we're there. And we're safari club members, so the priority seating and discount help too!

 

[wezee]

Dh and I don't go to RFC. We attempted to have breakfast there on a trip in March 2006 in th AK. We waited twenty mins. to be seated in a mostly empty restaurant, then we were seated right on top ( 6 inches away) from another table of four. Keep in mind most of the other tables around us were empty. I asked the host if it was necessary to seat us so close to the other table, and he just looked at me and pulled the table about 6 inches over.Then we sat for another 20-25 min. with no service what so ever....no water, no coffee, no server, no nothing. There were lots of CM around just talking to each other....they just didn't seem interested in waiting on us.

So...DH and I got up and walked out. The servers standing around, nor the host tried to stop us or cared if we left. Needless to say that was our first and last trip to the RFC.

I see lots of good reports on this restaurant.....so I guess we were the exception to the rule.

 

[angela3676]

I plan to eat at the RFC on my next Disney visit. I've never eaten there before. DTD and AK, are they the same or is one better than the other?

 

[MrsJ Henry]

Well , we actually went because we had a gift card from Mypoints.com . But we enjoyed our breakfast and enjoyed the atmosphere.

 

[Kae]

What about the drinks. We also like the food but the atmosphere is the main reason.

Kae

 

[boomhauer]

We waited twenty mins. to be seated in a mostly empty restaurant, then we were seated right on top ( 6 inches away) from another table of four. Keep in mind most of the other tables around us were empty. I asked the host if it was necessary to seat us so close to the other table, and he just looked at me and pulled the table about 6 inches over.

I love RFC, but this is VERY common, and not just at that one. We notice this alot at the one near our house. It's funny - A friend of mine went there this weekend and was telling me about this exact same thing. No one in the restaurant. No line. Yet, he was waiting for 10 minutes to be seated. I felt bad since I recommended it to him.

It actually ties into the reason I posted the poll. I have no problems with the food there. I think it's good. But no doubt, we go for the atmosphere. What I notice happens to us, as well as others, is the restaurant will be empty early in the day. You go in, and they seat you off in a corner away from all the cool stuff to see. That's something else that happened to my friend this weekend. He couldn't see any of the restaurant because they sat him in this corner of the restaurant by the gift shop.

It's only happened to us on a couple of occasions and we've never asked to be moved. I might ask if it happens again and see what happens out of curiosity.

 

[TDC Nala]

If I go there, it's just for the drinks, which were not an option.

 

[byoung]

Love eating breakfast at AK.

 

[goodferry]

Well, I picked food, mostly because after a long hot morning at AK, we need a little AC and some food. Mostly some AC usually, so if that had been a choice that would have been my answer.
Also, a few years back when you could buy those dining vouchers, we had dinner there. This was before the dining plan, my kids were used to el cheapo mom making them order off the kids menu. This time the vouchers allowed them to eat what they want. They had lobster and shrimp and these huge desserts, I am pretty sure there was fire involved. They all still remember that meal, it was so much fun. We had a great server, so that added to it. I guess we will always love RFC just because of that memory.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

I only go because my kids make me go. Nice atmosphere and the food is good (not great) but I personally don't care for it.