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Today, we'll be looking at why, much like our planet's real-life rainforest, rainforest cafes are slowly being wiped from the map
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In 1989, advertising salesman Steven Schuessler sold all his belongings and used the money to turn his Minneapolis suburban home into the very first rainforest cafe
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Schuessler shelled out for a 35-foot-tall waterfall with artificial boulders, high-tech sound systems to simulate thunderstorms, fog machines, fake plants, and a bunch of animatronic crocodiles and monkeys to set the mood
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Alongside the animatronics, Schuessler also brought in a number of live animals
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Lyle Berman, a Minnesota-based gambling magnate, invested $1.2 million into Rainforest Cafe
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and became its first CEO. Not long after, the newly formed company opened its first
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non-residential restaurant location in the Mall of America. The burgeoning restaurant found a spot
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on the first floor in 1994, and within a week of opening, a three-hour wait for a table had become
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the norm. And by 1999, the animatronic-laden restaurants had appeared worldwide. The chain
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had become America's top-earning franchise, with each location raking in a cool 8 million clams per
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year. Every Rainforest Cafe location was populated with thick fake foliage, water features, and
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countless animatronic creatures. Every 20 minutes, the lights would flash and thunder boomed from
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overhead speakers, while the animatronics made an upsetting amount of noise. But perhaps the
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strangest holdover from the original concept was the live birds that flew freely around the restaurant while diners enjoyed their food The meals themselves were almost an afterthought offering an expected mix of pizzas pasta sandwiches ribs and pork chops
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that all leaned heavily on spicy seasoning and their signature Rainforest Rescue Sauce
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Rather than being served by a waiter, Rainforest Cafe patrons were led through their dining journey
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by a safari guide. And on your way out, you stopped by the in-house gift shop, which featured
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everything from t-shirts to pins to piggy banks. Plus, don't forget to say your goodbyes to
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rainforest cafe's iconic mascot, Tracy Tree and the Wild Bunch. Throughout the late 90s and early
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aughts, a number of new rainforest cafes were opened all over the world, including in downtown
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Disney and Disney Springs, the shopping districts next to Disney Parks on both coasts. Sadly
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the expansion effort was short-lived. Many of these locations closed as it became clear that
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the themed restaurant bubble was bursting. The original Mall of America location closed in 2014
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reopening two years later in a less ostentatious space on the third floor
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Then in 2018, the Disneyland location was closed and eventually replaced by a Star Wars Galaxy's Edge trading outpost
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The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic was an even harsher blow for Rainforest Cafe
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Despite all these hardships and their ever-shrinking presence, Rainforest Cafes are still around
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23 Rainforest Cafes are still operating around the world today. You can find them everywhere from Las Vegas to Niagara Falls to Dubai
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An animatronic elephant never forgets. And as long as there are people with fond memories of squawking parrots and strobe lights
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it looks like the rainforest is here to stay
