Restaurant Review: Rainforest Cafe of Schaumburg, Illinois

Rainforest Café is a chain of restaurants located in the USA and worldwide. For anyone who has ever been to Rainforest Café, the place is a veritable rainforest, complete with moving crocodiles, jaguars, monkeys, and snakes. There are fish tanks and waterfalls located throughout the restaurant. Also, a tropical rain will periodically start up, whereupon the lights become dimmed and thunder is heard.

I was recently at the Rainforest Café for a birthday outing. We arrived on a Saturday night, and luckily had already called in with reservations, because the place was rather crowded. We were seated next to the bar, which is located under a huge magic mushroom canopy. Our server was rather prompt and provided us with menus immediately, as well as waters.

Looking over the menu selections, I saw many good appetizers from which one could choose. There were Cheese sticks, Safari Shrimp skewers (coconut shrimp on a stick), Coastal Calamari (fried calamari with marinara sauce), Lava Nachos (Mexican-spiced beef, vegetables, and cheese over tortilla chips), and Chimi Cha Cha (wonton-wrapped chicken and vegetables). We ordered the Awesome Appetizer Adventure, which included the Chimi Cha Cha, Lava Nachos, and Cheese sticks.

Out appetizers appeared quickly and were even more quickly devoured (thus, I have no picture). I had a taste of the Chimi Cha Cha and it was quite good: the wonton skin was crispy, and there were lots of lean chicken pieces, black beans, corn, and other vegetables inside.

We then looked over the main dishes offered by Rainforest Café. There are pasta items like the Pastalaya (a jumbalaya-like item made with linguini, shrimp, chicken, sausage, vegetables, and topped with Spicy Cajun sauce), and Mogambo Shrimp (penne pasta with shrimp, and alfredo sauce). Sandwiches include the Rumble in the Jungle Turkey Wrap, Blue Mountain Chicken Sandwich, Mayan Beef Burrito, Bamba's Barbeque Wrap, and hamburgers and cheeseburgers. There are the usual pizza items too.

Heartier food includes the Mojo Bones (BBQ pork ribs), Maja's Combo (Sampler plate of BBQ ribs, grilled shrimp and Tuscan chicken), and the Congo Catfish Plate (fried catfish with fries and coleslaw).

I ordered the Mahi Mahi platter, which comes with the fish plus coconut shrimp. After we had given the server our food orders, we also ordered various drinks. Rainforest Café has some of the best mixed drinks around, and many of us tried out the place's Mai Tai, Pina Colada, and Green Python (made with vodka, Malibu rum, banana liquer, and blue Curacao) drinks. "Regular" drinks, like Sam Adams beer, were also available.

After our meals arrived, we dug in. One thing that was noted was that, while the steaks were quite juicy and tender, the fish items were very dry. My Mahi Mahi did not have much taste, and was almost like fish jerky. One of the persons from our party actually had hers taken back (saying she could not get her teeth through it!). I thought about having mine taken back too, but maybe my cut had not been as overdone as hers. I ate what I could of it, then had the rest boxed up. I did like my coconut shrimp though, and the Pastalaya I had a taste of was also quite good and spicy.

When we finally received our bill, it totaled over $400! I never thought we could rack up that high of a bill. There were 11 of us in this birthday outing, so I guess everyone's tally came to about $40. Rainforest Café is certainly not the cheapest restaurant around. However, I was glad I had finally been able to try it out. I know I would return here, especially for the drinks.

Here is some additional information about the Rainforest Café:

D121 Woodfield Mall
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Phone: (847)619-1900
Web: www.rainforestcafe.com