Rainforest Cafe — Restaurant in Gurnee

I absolutely love Rainforest Cafe, this location is great. I have been here several times and always have an amazing experience. The staff is great, the location is kept clean and the food is really good from what I have had. The most recent time I visited with my husband for a dinner date after some shopping. I ordered the Korean lettuce wraps, and they were so good, exceeded my expectations. It comes on two separate plates, one with large fresh lettuce cups and 2 cups of sauce, the other plate with the chicken and fixings. The chicken was amazing, tangy, spicy and sweet. Everything was very flavorful. The combination of flavor from the slaw, topped with pineapple salsa, and peanuts work really well with each other. I really enjoy spicy food and would say it is slightly above mild spicy, but not bad, and it evened out with the other flavors. It is a lot of food, so I took half home and it was just as good as leftovers. I highly recommend this dish. I usually get the "Awesome Appetizer," which is what my husband got this time. He loved it and actually ate the whole thing. The dip is great, and the southwest egg rolls always hit. It's a great option if you can't choose what to get and want a good variety of items. I also got the strawberry lemonade. It comes with fresh strawberries, and you get 1 refill with the cost, as well as a light up souvenir cup. I really enjoyed it, I don't drink anymore and it was great in place of a drink with alcohol! Our server was incredible, his name was Michael, he was very knowledgeable, quick, and friendly. We were seated in the middle of the restaurant, which I had never been, and it was really cool being under the stars. All the animals/animatronics were in good, working order. My favorite are the elephants and their flowy ears. Rainforest Cafe is always so fun, especially during the "thunderstorms". I think the prices are really fair when you consider the amount of great food you get, the experience, and with a lot of drinks you get to keep the cup! I have been to multiple Rainforest Cafe locations since I was a kid. I now take my 15 year old every so often, and have since she was young. This was my first time going on just an adult dinner, and it was just as nice. Rainforest Cafe will always hold a special place in my heart, and I don't think I will ever stop returning. This is a great location, and I highly recommend coming here with family, for birthdays, or...

It had been a while since I visited a Rainforest Cafe. I figured my son would like the animals and atmosphere and that it would be somewhere different for us to go to dinner. What a visit though. Our server was Fabian. The young man is clearly at the top of his field. Checked on us numerous times, accommodated our requests and was beyond patient with us while my son was being a terror. 5 star service for sure. Anyone who's ever been to a RC knows that the atmosphere and decor is clearly unique and highly enjoyable. Robotic, yet realistically designed animals were everywhere, they ranged from gorillas, elephants, alligators, snakes, etc. Vines and trees covered the ceilings and there were some lighing effects on display during our meal as well. Attached to the restaurant was a small gift shoppe. Rasta Pasta was my choice for dinner, defined as a Pesto Alfredo. It was delicious and everything I wish I was capable of making at home. As delicious as my pasta was, my brother ordered a burger which looked huge and mouthwatering. He was willing to cut off a bite so I could try it, i don't know what blend of ground beef they use, but that hamburger may have very well been better than my pasta. Other things of note: The fish and chips portion was enormous. The fried fish was crispy and stacked like a mountain and the portions were like 8 inches in length. My son ate nearly everything on his plate, which is great because he's extremely picky. But he seemed to enjoy the mac and cheese. Cavatappi noodles were used in both my dinner and in the mac and cheese. The appetizer platter (cant remember the actual name) was the only thing we had tonight that just wasn't on the level of everything else. The southwestern egg rolls need to be stricken from the menu.

While I had dined at other RC before (including this one) we were probably caught sleeping because Rainforest can be seen as a Tourist Trap kind of restaurant and generally those establishments are mostly forgettable. But during our visit and of my opinion, Rainforest Cafe absolutely shined...

My boyfriend brought me out to celebrate a special event in my family. For the two of us, we spent a total of approx $100; however, we had the full experience with all the extras. We had a large appetizer with the add-on for extra charge, we had alcoholic drinks that included souvenir glasses so they were slightly more than normal, and we added dessert at the end. Our meals by themselves were roughly $20/$25 each; so if you're going for a basic dinner with standard drinks I would plan roughly $30 per person. Also, there is a gift shop, and we spent an extra $60 there, which brought the grand total of the visit closer to $160 not including tips for services.

The food was good quality, the staff friendly, and the portion sizes weren't bad at all. Once we got seated, we spent roughly 2-3 hours dining. The waitress perfectly timed having our appetizer for a while and noting when we were ready to move on to the main course. We had a wonderful experience and will definitely return.

The final question I'm sure people will have involves reservations. We went on one of the last weekends before school started in the area, and it was Saturday night which can be the busiest. We didn't think far enough ahead, calling only that morning to set up reservations. They I formed us that all reservation slots for the day had been booked, but they would still sit other guests; wait times depended on how things were when we arrived. We decided to go around 4pm to beat the dinner rush, and even then had a 45 minute wait. The nice thing is that they take your phone number and you choose either phone call or text message. Since the Cafe is inside the Mall itself, and with the souvenir shop in the restaurant itself, we were able to put our name on the list and had plenty to do as we waited. And it didn't take the full 45 minutes, they were turning tables quickly when guests left to ensure speed of service to the next group and we got in within 30 minutes.

Overall, I was very impressed with the entire experience and look forward to...