The Rainforest Café - Dining Experience like No Other

Looking for somewhere to eat, but doesn't have the same usual mundane atmosphere as other restaurants? Want to experience the jungle without having to travel far? That is what you will get at the Rainforest Café. I have never been there and my friends and I came upon one and decided to try it out.

This particular location that we chose to dine at was the establishment at the Ontario Mills shopping center in Ontario, California. Immediately when you walk in you are greeted by life-size replicas of exotic animals from the rainforests. As you walk further in to the store you pass a small section where different novelty items are sold such as frog and monkey stuffed animals and little jungle inspired toys. As you wait to be seated, you come across a tall aquarium filled with unusual and vibrant colored fish. The entire dining area is surrounded by replica wildlife and foliage. The replica wildlife even come "alive" and move about and make realistic noises. Every thirty minutes there is a "thunder and lightening" show, where the lighting dims and flashes and the animals make an uproar, recreating a storm-like atmosphere. This show did upset a few children due to its loud nature, so I wouldn't recommend bringing too little ones because they might get scared.

The menu items are a bit on the pricey side, especially for the ordinary food selection that is offered. You are basically paying for the atmosphere. I did notice that a certain dessert known as "the volcano" was very popular among guests there. The dessert was basically shaped as volcano with the use of chocolate ice cream, and decorative sparklers were inserted at the top to make it look like it was erupting. The only negative part about this place was the service was very poor. We waited for over half an hour for our food and since we couldn't even find our waitress (she kept on running off to other tables) we even had to flag down the manager to inquire about the status of our order. The manager ended up bringing out our food to us himself but our plates were now cold and not very delectable. My friends got hamburgers and I got a pasta dish. I am sure they would have tasted much better if they were fresh and warm, but needless to say we were disappointed.

Overall, the place is a great place to look at, the food is bit pricey and nothing special, and the service is terrible. I would recommend at least trying this place at least once because the atmosphere is unique, but once is good enough.