Fine Dining - The $100 Tip at Rainforest Cafe

Episode Date: December 7, 2022

It's double date night at Rainforest Cafe Garrett inflates a gigantic pool toy at the table because of his You Must Bowl punishment Across the Sky podcast host Matt Holiner drops in to give a weather forecast for the Rainforest...Cafe Michael gives $100 to a balloon animal maker JUB has his own special ways of keeping the animatronics in check 6 year-old Austin tells his favorite joke on the Rainforest Kids Menu in this week's Munchkin Menu Musings Michael & Garrett hand out some high scores   Get our 5 Survival Tips for Casual Dining at www.finediningpodcast.com!   Send us your Rainforest Cafe stories at [e-mail].   Follow us on TikTok and Instagram @finediningpodcast   Let us know where we should go next by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts. We read every one!   Next time on Fine Dining: Bob's Big Boy! If you have ever worked for Bob's Big Boy and have a story to share, or if you’d like us to hear your child’s review of the Bob's Big Boy kids menu, send it to [e-mail].

Hello, and welcome back to the fine dining podcast the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America I'm your host Michael or Nellis, and I'm your host Garrett's work, and we are 10 episodes in yeah We've made it 10 episodes in we are no closer to finding that perfectly mediocre place But hey, we're not heavier than when we started. I'm Literally from first episode you you are lighter than first episode. Yes. I think I am correct You're correct for those of you who are tuning in for the first time Garrett and I are

Going to all the chain restaurants that you know and love and Applebee's chilies Yeah, the that list P. F. Chang's Benihana will get to at some point grew up around these places were from the Midwest and this was Fancy family dining for us and now that we've moved to the West Coast to Los Angeles We've realized that these are kind of smack dab in the middle But we still miss them being fancy. We miss going to these places So we made a mission statement that we're gonna go to all of them and find yes

Which is the most mediocre the perfect 5.00 out of 10 the measuring stick against wish you can compare all other restaurants So for example right now is it better than Olive Garden? The closest thing we found a mediocre sitting at a five point one zero rating very very close 5.00 that we're looking for but almost perfectly adequate almost But this week we decided to kind of dust off our childhood a little bit Yeah, I've always had fond memories at this location. I've only been one time I went in Las Vegas when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old it rocked. Yeah, I loved it as a kid

We went to rainforest cafe The question is did we love this as adults you will find out soon, but just to go over our rating scale for you We are evaluating all of these places Based on their atmosphere their service and their food and we're gonna give those you know from two thumbs down to two thumbs up Whatever all of those little sub ratings are gonna factor into the final score We give it the end out of ten out of ten And then we're gonna average together my score with Garrett score and that will be its final placement What we're looking for to be five point zero zero out of ten if it deviates out of four to six

There is a consequence from the you must bowl as we call it if I chose a place that was very fancy or Very crappy. It's kind of one of those things where it's like come on man. You should have known better Why you wasting my time? We're looking for mediocrity, but you know what sometimes the answer to that question is I just wanted good food or I wanted a yelp-worthy experience But hey it creates entertainment and later on you'll see what I had to do with the rainforest cafe Oh, yeah Garrett had a punishment because last week's pick Scored outside of that four to six rain last week at Kukaku. It was the highest scoring restaurant We have had to date

Our table is ready. Oh, but real quick Before our table it won't our team was right. No, they're calling us Okay, Garrett you go you go get the table. I just need to say yeah guys go to our website www.finddiningpodcast.com and sign up for our five survival tips for casual dining We wrote them all out. There's even a bonus tip on there They will be emailed directly to you a nice little PDF that'll teach you how to maximize your experiences at these casual dining establishments from two guys who We're going to quite a few of them. Yeah, I'd like to think we are casual dining experts at this point

Oh, you're still here. All right. I'm gonna go get our table. Yeah, you do that. I'm here I never left. I've been waiting for you to finish talking. The hostess is right there just staring at you Your table is ready Serving pancakes and rips I recommend the spaghetti we're here to satisfy not to impress Your table is ready Complementary butter and bread these walls have growth signs Nick-knack cowboy hat good luck at autograph guitar some crap from your city Behold the trash key of mediocrity

Just fine dining fine dining two ledgers on the sign are shining Neil flickering irregular timing identify the perfect First impressions We haven't even parked yet before we get our first impression of the place neon sign ha ha only half Illuminated the cafe is not there. The rainforest is lit up. Yeah rainforest took over overgrew the cafe Honestly, that's a pretty apt description. It really is what happened when we walked in there was a fountain outside and Fancy little wall with like rainforest cafes logo on it with and this is literally the location. We went to was in a mall and

Outside the mall at the entrance where rainforest cafe was they had this nice logo wall with a fountain kind of Fountain wall. You know what I'm talking about. This is a common element of rainforest cafe I've seen this at another mall location in Michigan. Now the thing that Immediately jumped out to me here is it's an okay backdrop for photos. We actually took a few photos there and There was a couple you know those like moody couples you see fighting in public where like One of the people isn't talking and they just kind of look like they're not making eye contact with their partner And they're just kind of like they're just sulking staring straight at sulking is the word. I'm looking for and then the other one Just babe. I love you like that kind of

of like, you know just coming back around and You know said babe not responding to words of affection there was one of those hanging out on the on the lip of this and They did not care at all that we were trying to get photos. So you can just see this woman behind me who had a Bridge of the nose stud piercing through it that oh, oh, you know It's something where I'm like hey your body your choice But also if you're sulking and ruining my picture, it is the first thing I'm gonna notice to like point out about you

Just I'm just thinking of the pain of like literally going through the cartilage of your nose not just the skin That's oh, and they also had like a stroller like there was a child Just like kind of sitting there. Well, well while this couple was in a one-sided way trying to talk things out And by the way the guy kept walking away frustrated that he wasn't making progress That is a walk back and try again that kids can have a wonderful first memory at rainforest cafe It just felt like such a trope Seeing this couple. I was like I've seen this couple a million times and yet I've never met this couple. Oh Look, we're inside a mall and immediately we can see the rainforest cafe

It has a pretty big footprint big store. Ooh big fountain with a massive crocodile or alligator in it Yeah, and it looked like there was a I don't know how to describe what the like Host not even like not the proper host stand, but like the person that was there like a big elephant head Yes, it was like it seemed like a teacup from the teacup ride Yeah, totally. It was like a double teacup elephant. Yeah, like I couldn't tell what what the Presentation of it was but it was just kind of like she was in a big cup Which was just very interesting to me and

We walk up now mind you we drove really far to get here 90 minutes Yeah, 90 minutes with not terrible traffic and we decided to make this a double date So Garrett and I were both with with with a person This is the with another way to say with another we brought our girl friends along human being Are you trying to make this a gender-neutral experience? No, I don't know. I just thought it'd be funny Yeah, so we wanted to see how good of a place rainforest cafe is for a double date and We almost didn't get to find out. Yeah, we go up there and the hostess was like, oh, sorry

We've closed walk-in now. This is two hours eating before walk-in. Whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's no walk-ins It's reservation only and we're over two hours out from closing time like they close at nine I think we got there at six thirty five six forty ish, right? Yeah, so Garrett well actually before before that they did say there's open seating at the bar and Just to paint a picture for you this bar area Imagine you were invited to hang out on the porch of a party and there was a party going on through the window And you had a perfect view of the party, but you weren't really able to interact with it

That's what this bar like all you got was party noise. Yes Do you want to be allowed party porch? Do you want to be fun adjacent? You can sit at the bar and we're just like wow This is really gonna paint this experience in a certain way and it and it's on us It's our bad plan. Yeah, not calling it. We should have we should have like especially making that far of a drive We should have known better. So I did the thing. I told her hey We're food reviewers and we are reviewing your restaurant tonight. What can you do for us? I

Don't like that. I don't either. I don't like playing that card seated And you weren't that much of a caring about it. No, but I Actually, then you did just now It's hard to know if the experience that we got was painted by this fact But the amount of time the manager spent at our table really made me think they were trying. Yeah, it did I'm glad you did it because it got us a table and it got us a fun table We had to do it. We were right next to the animatronic elephant and luckily we were kind of out of the way But yeah, we got to walk in and we got to there was literal no wait for seating then

Yeah, and the best part about where we were seated and I'll tell you just this detail before we jump into our discussion On the atmosphere, which is what we actually see once we're seated We were just out of the way enough for Garrett to comply with his you must bowl punishment Which was if you were listening last week, he had to bring an inflatable flamingo pool toy Inflated over the course of dinner and then wear it out of the restaurant and What a fun addition to the night this was it was so much larger than I thought it would be and we were Out of the way enough to wear Genuinely, yeah, we didn't disrupt anybody with this Garrett got to look stupid. He got to be

inconvenienced by having this pool toy around him and I don't think we I think we only improved other people's nights exactly many people looked over at us It looked like they were smiling a smile. Yeah even management, yeah And it actually shaped our night in so many ways that you will find out over the course of this episode And you can see all of the flamingo hijinks on our social media channels That's right. We're on Instagram at fine dining podcast We're on tiktok at fine dining podcast and you can email us whatever you want fine dining podcast at gmail.com

We might regret that but I don't know. Maybe we won't Well, welcome to this week's rusty fact roundup The first full rainforest cafe opened up in Minneapolis, Minnesota in No, or else, but the Mall of America in 1994 and yeah, just biggest mall Yeah attraction. Yeah. Yeah, okay, but that's not the fun part. It's a fun part the literal first rainforest cafe opened up in 1989 in the actual rainforest no in the founders own home That's psychotic. Yes

this madman Literally brought waterfalls rock formations trees So he's like a richie rich. Yeah, like right next to a McDonald's in his home He is like a great for it to create proof of concept in his own home So he brought in 250 pound tortoises real parrots a baboon a live baboon into his own home That's awesome. Well, it's this guy is a madman What happens when you have a bunch of live animals in your own home, they slaughter each other that that's a possibility you get meat to cook You go bankrupt. It's expensive to cook baboon meat, right? It's not always ethically

It's acquiring it. That's the expensive part. Yeah, cooking it. You just sweet that under the rug a Casino magnate Invested one point two million dollars to open the first one. Yep in Mall of America. That's cool There are only 21 rainforest cafe locations left open Period, I did know that there was a YouTube video that went viral earlier this year of a guy who did a road trip to all Rainforest cafe locations that I yeah, I went like it got really big this summer And it was like while we were like kind of doing our proof of concept like early episodes of this podcast And I was just like putting this guy stealing our yeah, this guy

Yeah, when we put the baboons in our home started recording. We're like, maybe something quieter Maybe not baboons. It's at 21 down from 56. Wow. That's a big decline That's actually way more than I would have thought I wouldn't have even thought that there were 56 Cities that like would be touristy enough to host one I know we had a few in California like I'm honestly surprised that there's one in Ontario because Ontario does have a group like a really big mall But that's kind of that is what Ontario is is it is that mall and a small airport? Like the one that was at Disneyland made sense and that one's gone now one is gone Yeah, the Disney world is still there though that location. How many are in Florida? I know just one. Oh, yeah

One of the reasons we wanted to do rainforest cafe early enough was out of fear that the one location close to us would close Is honestly, I think gonna be a driving factor for a lot of Yeah That's been your rusty fact roundup for the week Atmosphere Lots going on lots of cool stuff going on as we said we're seated right next to the animatronic elephant Yeah, this is huge. I didn't notice it was moving until it was nudging your yeah Flamingo you're inflatable at some point. I stood up. I had successfully inflated the flamingo by getting pushed

I'm like, who's touching my flamingo? It's the elephant. Yeah. Yeah, it was really cool so what I expected from this experience was you go to a place where you went as a kid and You kind of have these these neat memories of it But you don't actually get that magic recreated Yeah, same thing like I Tempered my expectations going in. Yeah, because things are always better when you're a kid Things are better when you don't have to work for a living. There are things I vividly remember being awesome as a kid

But part of the reason is because you're a literal small human being so everything is grander You know from a from a yeah portion standpoint, right? And then you go as an adult and you're like, oh, that's all it was but this was just as great Really cool other animatronics that I noticed they had butterflies with like flapping wings like extra-large butterflies I saw a Jaguar Jet Jaguar Jaguar. How do you say that word Jaguar Jaguar? Okay, yeah water. Yeah, how do I hog water? I saw the gorilla on the other side of the room that because other people were eating underneath it I didn't want to like

Go stand right by them. Were there any others? Oh, I was the alligator hanging chimpanzees hanging chimpanzees There were some birds like toucans and stuff like that. They all looked really well done really neat I they were a very positive part of the decor. I think oh, yeah, I do worry What would happen if they got out of control though? Oh, you know what? I'm not worried I trust that rainforest cafe has a solution in mind And now a word from our totally not made up sponsor. Oh Hello there, it's your favorite sponsor job, and I am back with a brand new job I had to stop the last one because turns out if you fall over while giving someone a piggyback ride and you break the tibia

How do you owe them money? I don't like that But what I do like is making sure these animatronics don't get out of control leave it to me I have single-handedly broken every electronic I've ever come into contact with that 2k and eyeball in your pasta I a little bit too aggressively. I'll pluck his beak right off and he'll be cracking in a weird way That elephant nudging you while you're eating a dessert that has literal sparklers in it I'll drop kick him in the tusk and make him into a sparkler All I got to do is walk around with a tranquilizer gun and a picture full of water that I'm willing to throw on any monkey That's going bananas

That's the sound it'll be making and Peter ain't got nothing on me cuz they ain't real animals If you're feeling unsafe in a rainforest cafe All you got to do is pull out your phone put it back in your pocket and call my name out because I don't have a phone number Jump will keep you safe. You'll owe me a favor that I will cash in eventually, but that's okay I'll probably just ask you to help me sell my homemade mouthwash at the farmers market. Call me jump JUB. I will protect you Okay, bye The animatronics were great. I'm a big nerd for like effects and stuff I like horror movies and I love practical effects. I'm seeing how that stuff is done

There's a small fog machine by us, too. There was Well, actually there was one element of the atmosphere. I thought was really Just underwhelming The thunderstorms. Okay, so every half hour there is a full thunderstorm with light sound vibration monkey noises You know like a storm. Yeah, no monkey noises. Yeah, that's a common element doesn't matter where you are I don't know. I liked this. It was a good way to time out. Oh a half hour has passed Yeah, sure, but I mean, I don't know that it had been built up to me when I when I told some friends that we were going to

Rainforest cafe a couple days in advance. They were like, oh, they do the rainstorm every so often and I was like, oh yeah, I don't really remember that but that's cool and The first one that happened I didn't even clock it as like, oh, that's what that was supposed to be like it was it It underwhelmed me that much Hello, everyone meteorologist Matt Hollander here from the across the sky weather podcast I'm taking a break from my normal duties covering weather across the Midwest to bring you a special update on the rainforest cafe Now they don't call it a rainforest Cafe for nothing this place gets about a hundred and eight inches of rain a year. That's nine feet

So yes, it rains a lot, but I'm here today because of what's coming something truly Exceptional we're talking about a storm event the likes of which hasn't been seen in decades All the ingredients are coming together We've got an area of low pressure that's getting stronger by the minute and it's moving in a fast and it's going to be right Into an extremely humid environment Not only are the dew points off the charts at the surface But we've got a deep layer of moisture reaching high up into the atmosphere When that low meets this humid air mass, we're going to see explosive

Thunderstorm development. We're talking about widespread heavy rain Frequent cloud-to-ground lightning and strong winds to go along with it folks You're not going to want to be anywhere near these storms when they start. This is a dangerous situation and wait It's happening. The low is moving in everyone take cover now Huh? Well, that was Surprising it looks like the low underwent rapid weakening Huh? Well, I was okay for now That crunch the numbers a little bit more and see what happened here

But let me be clear there's still the potential for something big of another update for you real soon They had like a night sky effect and it reminded me of the Lion King where they're like the balls of gas and it's all the Kings are all up in the sky, you know, whatever the line is It wouldn't it was the kind of like a curved ceiling. It looked like a small like a dome Planetarium yeah with very limited in the start like it wasn't like Overdone and I actually really it really did have like a Lion King at night color palette Which as far as color palettes go the Lion King. They're one of my favorites rainbow lights that were yeah Yeah, they were projected through mist. It looked like a real rainbow

They had like a big statue of a guy holding a it was like I was like yeah Yeah, an atlas statue and it said rainforest cafe on like a sign across across him or whatever and then next to him in the Waterfall they had a rainbow The soundscape was awesome. Oh my gosh. Yeah, like the music was at a comfortable volume I mean I mean the effects, but yeah, you want to talk about music I'm a fussy little boy with this and the music was perfect. Not only was the music hold on What would you say you are I said, I'm a fussy little boy. We commissioned a song for this. Let's just do the song real quick Fussy little boy

Okay, there we go Garrett's a fussy little boy Garrett's a fussy little boy So the animal sounds were just slightly louder than the music. Yeah, I thought it was a great mix It was a great mix. They played Africa by Toto. Yes, that brought me so much joy. I that song goes Hard I love that It had to be a choice it yeah, zero percent chance you're hearing Africa by Toto in a rainforest cafe by chance That's just not happening. But yeah, I mean other than the The thunderstorm underwhelming. I was a really big fan of this atmosphere Speaking of the atmosphere meteorologist Matt Holliner here again this time coming to you live from the heart of the rainforest

Cafe there was no way I was gonna miss this historic event I know things didn't pen out last time but folks this time. It's the real deal Not only do we have another strong low pressure system, but it's dragging a cold front along with them Yes, the cold front is actually making its way to the rainforest Kevin now when that cold dry air collides with the extreme heat and extreme humidity we have here It's going to be violent. We're not talking about regular thunderstorms These storms are going to be severe Not only is there gonna be heavy rain and lightning, but we're talking about wind gusts as high as 70 miles per hour

And golf ball size hail as well And it's not gonna end quickly either these storms are gonna last for a long time dumping tremendous amounts of rain I hate to say it, but it looks like we're in for an extreme flooding event in addition to the strong winds and hail It's the calm before the storm right now, but let me tell you with this warm sticky air It's going to be the fuel these storms feed off of and hold on stand by Okay, just getting an update from my producer the low and that cold front are moving in It's time to get inside the nearest permanent building and take cover in an interior room away from windows This is it folks. I can hear the thunder the clouds are rolling in as I speak

It's happening right now I'm not sure what just happened the storms just Disappeared Another update, uh-huh Really It appears a layer of Saharan dust Snuck in at the last moment and that dry dusty air killed the storms I don't believe it that never happens not here not in the rainforest

cafe Well, I guess I'll just stay here in case the storms come back Reporting live from the rainforest cafe Matt Holliner across the sky podcast signing off. Oh Oh One thing I noticed that was missing during the rainstorm. Uh-huh. I remember as a kid literal Mist happening like I don't remember that I remember the misters Maybe just different locations maybe effects. That was really cool as an adult in the current situation of the world That would kind of weird me out not gonna lie

In a pandemic world having just liquid sprayed like misted on you in a restaurant would feel a little bit like Jeremy I guess. Yeah. Yeah, I could see that I wouldn't particularly be a fan of that now There is an element that I mean, I guess it definitely ties into that atmosphere The store. Oh, yeah, right. I went with my girlfriend during the meal and then You two went after the meal. Yeah, run of the mill toy store a lot of branded stuff all very on theme Yeah, it's like a gift shop. You would find it animal kingdom. Yeah, that's probably a good way to put it The you know decent amount of animal plushies and animal merch it was but it was all very focused on animal stuff

Oh, there was a photo booth that was very difficult to fit into wearing a flamingo inner to I actually got a video of that And you can see that on our social media Yeah, the store I bought a couple stickers One was a flamingo and one was like mermaids have more fun or something like that at rainforest cafe And I was like, where do mermaids fit into this? There were two very large empty fish tanks Oh, yeah, that's right when you like the archway that you walk through I remember those being filled with fish basically an aquarium. Yeah, well times times are tough Yeah, so the mermaids ate the fish. Yeah

No, I didn't understand why they had mermaid merch But I bought that sticker because it amused me and I'm just like screw it. Why not? I think it's easy to call this a two thumbs up experience for me Oh hands down for this is fear this by far favorite atmosphere so far. It knew what it was it committed fully Yeah, what else do you need it did it well now there are prongs when you're talking about good atmosphere There's kind of like classy fancy, and then there's kitschy. This was totally in the kitschy direction This was past kitschy. This was its own theme park. Yeah, but it it executed Yeah, it executed very well. So yeah, two thumbs up from both of us for

Atmosphere and we'll be back after a short break Stupid dust Stupid storms It's supposed to be the storm of the century Well, I don't know what to tell you folks. It's supposed to be huge I don't know the rain bars cafe isn't what it used to be. I'll tell you that it's laughing at me The animals laughing at me. The weather is laughing at me. Go ahead and listen I'm not gonna get the camera out

I'm just gonna sit right here. Relax This isn't even a real rain forest the animals are fake Wow that gorilla's eyes can blink so it must be real. Oh, uh, I'm a professional and forget this I Quit Service So our experience began very interestingly we did not have a server not in the traditional sense We had a safari guide. That's how she introduced herself She's just like she came up to her table. She's like hi. I'll be your safari guide tonight

And I'm like, you know what it's corny, but I appreciate it. It's perfect It's a full commitment to the bit and you know me. I love a commitment to the bit and she was good She checked in a decent amount, but what I Noticed from her was a little bit of a detachment It reminded me of our Buffalo Wild Wings experience, which if you go back to episode two and listen to that We had a server who was very no nonsense all business kind of just like I want to get through my shift sort of vibe and I respect the game. I get it but there's a performative aspect that

We've disagreed upon in the past, but I believe should be a part of the serving experience But especially when you work in a place like Rainforest Cafe where you are kind of equal parts theme park and restaurant I think a Server Rainforest Cafe should also be able to be like the human that leads you on your ride at Disney The jungle cruise jungle cruise Captain is the one maybe wanting to say but it's a very we all know it's a specific thing Yeah, yeah specific personality you expect them to have like witty comebacks Like certain like you know themed lines and Safari Safari guide is a good start

But you know these places often go hand-in-hand with different amusement parks There there used to be a Rainforest Cafe in downtown Disney and Anaheim that location is closed down But that used to be the closest one to us And the other one that I had been to was in Las Vegas, which is kind of like Las Vegas is where you go Yeah, it's where you go when you want like themed Attractions right she just didn't have the tourist trap Persona, but you know she was all business. She was confident. She was and I think she warmed up

Yes, we displayed more of our personality. Do you think it's that we won her over? Do you think it was the manager poking her of being like hey their food reviewers? I think it's a little of both because I bet she thought these guys just pushed themselves in because they're food reviewers So I don't care about them. Yeah, almost like a Not bit better is not the right word, but just uh, we were almost Could be seen as Karen's to begin with even though we weren't Ken's Ken's but I think as The night went along. We were all there. We're fun. Yeah. Yeah, no I mean, I I don't want to be hoity-toity ever. I don't I don't want to go into a place and be like I expect

I mean, I do have expectations, but I never want to outwardly Put off the vibe of I deserve or I'm entitled to any specific thing You know at the end of the day the worst that's gonna happen is I'll kind of talk about a negative experience But we're all humans and unless they're like insulting me. I I'm I understand that I'm not looking to get anyone in trouble Or or anything like that. So I can understand the perception of a food reviewer. Oh, yeah I hope the reality of what we gave them was oh, those guys are really fun. They're clearly here to have a good time and I also feel like an important element that we brought to this. I guess exchange of this interaction was It's not like we walked in with our arms crossed going impress us

No, but seriously though, like that wasn't our like we came to have a good time. Yes, we went to have a double date we went to just take in the vibe and Sure, we were going to a place from our childhood and Are definitely going to experience it differently as an adult, but I mean all four of us ended up saying this The experience I had as an adult was better than the one I had as a guy far This was an awesome night. So, you know, it definitely worked out as a double date when it comes into how this Safari guides attitude was towards us. I get it I hope that it didn't stem from a perception of how we would be but if how we ended up being

Changed her perception of us and therefore changed the service because it did get I think it didn't Service stayed the same but the attitude got better and it was never a bad attitude It was just kind of like a detached attitude like that, you know When you're talking to someone and they're not making eye contact and they're scanning the background for like Oh, who else can I make conversation with and you're at a party, you know that person? That that was kind of the vibe I got that's a lot of me and I'm looking for dogs to pet Yeah, yeah, yeah, you are that guy at a party. You're always looking for bellies to rub. Yeah. Yeah. I liked her though Yes, there was a weird incident with her

She did come up to us at some point and just say hey, I'm going to the restroom need anything Going on over there What could possibly be going on over there for her to give us and by over there I'm literally meaning. I don't know in her thought process Why did she feel like she needed to tell us I'm going to the alright Here's the thing this isn't speculative right here if you're saying to someone I'm going to the bathroom need anything First of all two questions need anything from the bathroom like is what is that? I don't think that's the implication You almost said that I yeah, I had to stop myself to go and like in the like from the bathroom

No, you crazed person, but like it's such an admission that she's taken a dump Cuz it's like yeah, you have to go to a bath the bathroom for a short amount of time. You're not telling people You're just like oh, I can sneak this in. This is fine. She's like I'm gonna go make a big messy dump I'm gonna light a match afterwards because I'm a polite person gonna take a while, you know, I What it what is going on? Do you think that's what it was or is I want to give her the benefit of the doubt Yeah, but there's got to be an alternate explanation. I think she was going into the quote restroom Mm-hmm to feed the animals. Oh, that's where it's not an actual restroom. It's a staging area slash home For their animals. So whenever one of us needs to use the restroom from now on we'll say I need to go feed the animals

Yes, oh Gosh, yeah, okay, I can get behind that. Yeah, I want like someone has to feed the animals She's just like oh god, I don't want to let them in on to the fact that we have real animals here That's an animal control and sanitary issue right away. What's a better excuse? Oh, I'm going to take a dump That's more polite than admitting to them that we have a cheetah captive in our kitchen The health department is okay with one of those options She's just covering for the fact that they are breaking so many laws Both animal trafficking laws as well as

Sanitation laws there may be caged endangered species in a staging area beneath the restaurant There's like a an underground Big cat quote-unquote rescue underneath where it's really just they're like the highest bidder gets to take home like a half-bred Lion slash Liger yeah, I look I think of it like oh one that one Bruce Lee movie where he's on an island fighting and he has to go There's an underground prison area Mm-hmm, but it's that for like animals half unicorn half elephants. Yes. What would we call a unifint? Unifint and they're all cyborgs because once they're animatronics, that's full-on robots how they make them They were real animals that got turned it like it's like taxidermy taken to another level

Yes, oh my gosh, but they still have kind of their animal brain So it's possible that they like Regain consciousness and and control over their faculties and then start attacking the restaurant Oh wait, so then they need a failsafe in place when the animals go wild. Yeah, which I think they have. I don't know. Let's see Whoa, whoa, what are you doing? This isn't a job ad. This is what's going on over there I already told you I'm gonna take care of all the animals that are going out of control that rhino starts stampeding Start bleeding because my way of controlling these animals now is just asking them nicely to stop They took away my tranquilizer gun just because an airman thought put a customer to sleep

But we do know for sure that they can understand us because they are half cyborg We know for a fact that's what's going on over there. So I'm gonna go back to what's going on with you guys. Okay. Bye All right. Yeah, it does sound like they have it under control. So I guess this is an expert. That's what was going on over there It takes a village it takes a jungle it takes it takes an indigenous jungle tribe Yeah, so our service is not solely predicated on the performance of our Safari guide. No, she's only one of the team that successfully made our experience That's the the key elements involved were our safari guide Also the manager she spent a lot of time with us probably a good 10 minutes. Maybe 15. Yeah

She was good. She you know, she kind of she had a little bit of an attitude to her But like in a fun way, you know, like when people like to be abused Yeah, there was definitely like a like a sort of rapport with her. That's the best way I can describe it just It's kind of like a sibling relationship almost. Yeah, she felt like our sister. Yeah Yeah, she's someone you would run into at a family reunion and just strike up a conversation She'd maybe make fun of you for having a mustard stain on your shirt from the hot dogs that you cooked Yeah, yeah, and like would be the type that like brings it up every time she sees you for the next like three times But her heart is pure and you never get mad at her for it because yeah, she's got it now

We wanted the full experience when we went there now She also had a very good sense of humor about your flamingo, which let's be honest could have gone in many different directions That could have gotten us kicked out easily There are many factors that we had to kind of worry about being at the the mercy of The staff Bailey if I was seated somewhere else this inner tube probably would have interfered with the flow of people around us Yeah, and you can't do that You can't get in the way of like the like if you were sitting where I was sitting you would have been blocking people going to the restroom Yeah, which by the way, we didn't talk about it during atmosphere

But let's talk about the restrooms for a second king of the jungle queen of the jungle. Those are the door signs I'm a big I'm a sucker for door signs on themed restaurants all green inside Very like jungle themed. I appreciated it. I saw the pictures. They were it looked like a place I would want to go to use the restroom How insightful Let me rephrase that I'm shopping at this mall. I'm choosing you had to choose your If I had to choose my restroom in this mall, I'm always going to the rainforest cafe if you can get in

Maybe I'm a restroom reviewer. Oh, that's a wild spin-off that we could do. No The look on your face and how badly you want to do it. I'm not willing to do it Where are we now? So the manager? Yeah, she spent a good amount of time with us She spent good time with us. She was fun, but she also tipped us off to balloon animals balloon animals They had probably four or five different workers going from table to table turns out This is like the Von trap family of balloon animals. They're all of them were were related except for one They're all like independent like they are allowed to do their business at rainforest cafe But they are not employees of rainforest cafe. Therefore. They are not paid by rainforest cafe

They're only paid by tips with the manager told us before they even sent anyone over and I was like, okay That's fine. They said the best one they have but I think she said they said she was like 16 or something Was she that young? She didn't look I don't know. I can't tell I can't tell what anyone is this these days There's child and then there's like younger than me and then I can tell who's older than me and that's about it I don't think she was 16 because she didn't carry on Conversations like a 16 year old. I don't know they didn't either. Yeah, I don't know. They both of both college like college Yeah, but but anyways, they were both like she was the pro. This was his first week Yeah, and so that they sent this girl over and she was just kind of like meandering back and forth like not

Acknowledging us like walking by our table and I was like, oh, they she think she's looking for a kid That's that's what my my brain went to I was like Hi, it's us. You're looking for and she was like, oh, no, no, no, I'm just looking for Another guy who just started here. Do you mind if he? Either joins or like watches so I can kind of teach him certain Balloon animals that he may not know yet while I'm working with you guys and it's like oh, yeah, okay So she comes back probably about like three or four minutes later has this guy with them They're both very nice very enthusiastic and they ask our table

Which by the way just to repaint this picture for you because you're gonna need the reminder every so often Garrett is wearing a flamingo inner tube meant for a pool So it is large. It is cumbersome. I can't really reach the table very well at this point He's literally like leaning forward to like eat over the he has like a like a baby tray underneath Like a lap desk. Yeah. Oh, and honestly, those are nice Yeah, but a curved one that everything would fall off of it He tried to balance anything on it made eating harder, but it made sitting on more comfortable. Interesting This girl asks us

What do you want for a balloon animal? And I said I want what he had And I pointed the inner tube I was like, can you make me a balloon flamingo inner tube instead of like a hat or like something to carry around and she was like Oh, you bet. I'm gonna try Okay, yeah, it's on and immediately in my brain. I'm like she works for tips So she's putting in the work as though she works a job for two I've worked jobs where I worked for tips before I was a tour guide at Paramount Studios. That is I mean it wasn't exclusively tips but like

Pay wasn't great. So yeah The and it was one of those jobs where you're supposed to decline tips But it's like you guys pay me like nothing like of course. I'm gonna take your tips. So she gets to work on that My date wants a fish like like a hat and it's actually really cool It has like a fishing rod sticking out of the hat But it's a balloon and then an uninflated balloon string dangling from it as though it is a line like a fishing line and Then an inflated fish biting onto the bottom of it

It's so cool. It is and my girlfriend got an octopus. Yeah So there was a fully inflated balloon as it's like a round balloon round balloon normal balloon too smaller eyes attached and There were eight Full balloon tentacles. Yeah, like the long skinny balloon ones. Yeah, not only then there was a pedestal going underneath that Attached to like a crown crown headband. Yeah, you could fully wear this octopus on your head It was awesome. Yeah. Meanwhile She's just getting to work on my flamingo inner tube

Draws up a flamingo. Now the the inner tube that you were wearing Had sunglasses. Yeah, inflatable sunglasses. And then you asked. Hey, can I have some no, no, I didn't even ask No, well, she asked do you want the sunglasses and I was like, oh, yeah, if you can do that Sure, she is drawing them in Sharpie. So she's like inflating the thing It's really hard for a smaller flamingo head to make balloon sunglasses I imagine so she's drawing the shape and Sharpie and she's Unsatisfied with the first one and literally like starts over and I was like, oh, no, no, no, it's okay And she's like, no, no, no, I have to do it right and she starts doing it again

And then we realized we have two flamingo heads like we could have a flamingo hydra So the other guys started twisting them together as a joke. Yeah And she's like, no, no, no, and I was like, I'm I'd be okay with that. Yeah, kind of wanted to edit one But yeah, and then she's working on like making a thing that'll fit around me Which took a little bit of trial and error the first one I kind of squeezed through and I was like, oh, I'm I'm never getting out of here without it popping and it popped eventually did one of yeah One of the two balloons It was kind of like a helix sort of pattern across and then she made a bigger one

That was a little bit more adjustable that we actually like fit to me and then we put the flamingo in back much like Garrett's flamingo, which was you know over his shoulder like over his back Essentially and then so now I had a flamingo that I could wear and was poking up over my shoulder and it was awesome It was we've got these pictures on our social media again. You can go check those out on our Instagram. I Loved it. This was I think the highlight of our night. It was so cool first of all just the amount of commitment to Be like I'm I'm gonna make you this flamingo in or two that I made as a gel Like I thought it would just be funny to be like I'm jealous of your flamingo or whatever

I want that too and like, you know kind of get like a crappy little flamingo. I didn't get a crappy little flamingo I got a great flamingo after this experience. Yeah, you rewarded them They work for tips only I had a hundred dollar bill in my wallet and I would like to nominate You Michael for what giving a one hundred dollar tip for this week's this is way too much award Honestly Garrett, I'm flattered. I'm a first-time recipient I would like to thank my mother who always believed in me who always taught me to be generous I would like to thank the balloon animal makers at the rainforest cafe without them

I wouldn't be where I am right now, but most importantly I would like to thank rainforest cafe for informing me that these people work for only tips Because yeah, I mean this isn't a real word It isn't a real it is a real word. Yeah, this is way too much given to the most ridiculous thing that Stood out about our experience that week I'm honored Garrett. Thank you. I just the actual the button moment of it She took the bill and didn't look at it like it like a normal person should and then as she's walking away You can tell that's when she looks at it. She comes back. Are you sure? Yeah?

She's just like, oh my god, are you sure and I was like, yeah, yeah, it's fine She's like you're really sure like what if I had said no. Yeah, what if I had been like what I gave you a 10? I see those stories on reddit all the time. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. I meant to give you a 10 God how not to use a pun, but how deflating would that have been? Just Yeah, just deflate the balloon lady Yeah, no, I mean they earned it. They were great It brought us a lot of joy

There was a photo woman here. Yeah much like our Outback experience if we had it at any other places I think it was just out back. Yeah, she came up. She took a photo of the entire table now this time You know what offered us key chains, you know what I felt misled she so she was like you get a complimentary key chain Mm-hmm. She took three photos and then you know brought out the actual nice prints of the photos and was like these are you know It was the same pricing as Outback. It was 20 bucks for one or if you want all three you can get 35 I believe that's what the price. Yeah, then she said since it was just your birthday. I'll give you a little hint I can actually give it to you If I just take the frame off of it because it's got like a nice

Like like cardboard like but like textured frame on it. I thought that meant free Because she said give it to you she didn't say for less she just said I can give it to you if I take the frame off of it She took the frame off of it and then she's pulling out the little credit card machine And I've already agreed to this transaction. I don't really want it But now I'm paying 1034 for a picture that I don't really need And then I'm you know, then it's like at a tip and I'm like fine I had a couple bucks. I ended up paying like 13 bucks. Oh didn't even get the frame

Hey, no, we got a key chain, but that was for that's what was free anyways But yeah overall it takes a tribe it does and the service experience here Everyone was delightful. Everyone was pleasant Everyone had fun with us Yeah, and everyone was trying and the balloons were just such a great fun touch two thumbs up for service And for me two thumbs up hard two thumbs up. These people were great. Yeah, no discussion needed Or no, I mean we just gave you a lot of discussion, but you know, no, we don't need to justify it Yeah, they justified it with their excellent service everything we've said so far. I think shines

Positively upon our service experience overall. So rainforest cafe two thumbs up We will be back after a quick break The summer of 2004 I worked in Rainforest cafe as a National every day when we would get to work We would put our stuff in a locker room and of course all the girls put our handbags in our lockers No one's ever locked it up. It was just pretty normal that way About halfway through the summer one day. I stopped to get gas gas station And I didn't have my credit card in my wallet. Well, that's kind of weird

Well, I get home that night and look in my wristlet and there's no credit cards or ID or anything in there I'm like, that's kind of weird. I want to wear it is and then I'm beginning to put it all together Going through everything and realize all of my major credit cards and my debt card are busy. Am I? So I got to work the next morning at Rainforest and say like hey these things are missing I think my personal thoughts on when they take me in the room where the camera set up is and we go through the video and we see a girl that is significantly different body shape than I am and Completely different hair color go into my locker and get my handbag

Which is pretty feathered and very loud and very noticeable and take it to the bathroom It's in the locker room and then a few minutes later come out and put my handbag back in my locker And I'm like, oh my gosh. She is seed. It's my wallet. She took all of my stuff So I get on my online banking and I see all the transactions that happened And there's like one of the micro stores has a major transaction and Walmart has a transaction Oh and my checkbook is missing and all my check so I Notice that all of my checks have been written and I was a college kid and I had my bank account set up that my Checking account when I overdrew it was pulled from my savings account

She completely emptied both accounts and that felt all of my credit card. I followed police reports And I've told them that Rainforest has video surveillance of all of this and I'm like, oh Well, can you ask them to give us the video? I go in and ask them to give them the video and they flat out were excused They are like the cops are going to have to get here and get it themselves but then I also go to some of the stores where the Transactions happen and like the bed store where you buy a mattress they pull up the video

And I'm like, she doesn't even look like me and she used my ID This was the craziest thing of the whole deal She also knew how much you could charge so that it wouldn't be a felony She would get like dollars under the felony line and charge up to that insane Hey, everyone another week and more reviews. This is so awesome. So this week's favorite review is from 1928 Makes me want mediocre food

Love this show and the hosts lots of great personality surging with creativity Like one of the hosts I have Italian heritage and haven't been to a horrific Olive Garden in over 20 years But this show made me want to go back and try the mediocrity Keep it up fellas. So once again, this was one 1928 thank you If that's you send us an email at find dining podcast at gmail.com and we will send you a free t-shirt All the rest of you out there in listener land same goes for you If you hear your review read on the podcast send us an email and you get a free t-shirt. Keep it sleazy

Thanks guys Food This was the part of the experience. I guess coming in I had the lowest expectations for I did too I thought okay. This is we're going to a theme park in theme park food isn't always that great You know what? I will say I didn't have low expectations I literally didn't know what my expectations would be because last time I went again I was a very young kid when I was on that birthday party diet where all I ate were burgers chicken tenders fries pizza That's it like that's all I would eat. So I remember I've had their burger before it didn't make a mark as like

Exceptional like how do you remember a burger from 21 years ago? So it's just in your memory. It's just another chain restaurant Yeah, it's just like I've had a burger so I made a point specifically to not get the burger I was actually thinking about like, you know, I haven't had a burger on this podcast since islands and I do love burgers like burgers Honestly, if I'm not reviewing for the podcast, they're probably the default thing. I'm ordering at most places. I love a good burger but I guess I've gotten in the point for where for the sake of this podcast to give an honest review of the Restaurant putting its best foot forward or what they think is their best foot forward I am immediately drawn to the things that have like this is a house favorite or what are a brand favorite or whatever Yeah, it's always a menu indication. Yes, I'm looking for those icons and it's not always what I'm getting but I

Think to judge a place by what they are proud of I think is a fair analysis of their food and As we've kind of gotten in the habit of now with the last three places we've gone We're kind of doing samplers. We're getting a lot of a lot of different things. So we got what was that? The awesome appetizer adventure. So it had chimichachas, which are chimichangas They had a light kick. I thought they were pretty pleasant. I asked them if they could make them with no cheese They said they couldn't but when they came out, I didn't notice I didn't notice any cheese I didn't taste it. I didn't see it and I'm usually yeah

Sorry again, I know some of you this might be your first episode. I'm not a cheese guy All that means is more for you. So don't be mad at me. So it also came with cheese sticks mozzarella sticks Obviously, which wasn't my territory and then same with the artichoke. Yeah, the chips were you know, they were your run-of-the-mill chips But you got to enjoy the chicken tenders good, but not great. I go six out of ten on those I agree and you know what they were tender, but they were under seasoned. They were very un yeah They were safe for kids. They were a great texture and Yeah, safe is probably the best way to put that taste very straightforward unlike that chimichacha, which was strongly flavored I go seven out of ten on that. Oh, yeah

I think it's seven seven point five out of ten for that for me. There was a really good strong cayenne kick at the end to it Yeah Basically a southwest egg roll. Mm-hmm, and it was a great southwest egg roll score Score seven point five out of ten for that one and the cheese sticks. We'll go back to that. Did you eat it? I ate it. It was lukewarm Under seasoned it's probably four out of ten cheese stick So for the entirety of the awesome appetizer adventure, you know My scores were higher than the overall rating, but I also didn't eat everything and not everything appealed to me

but even then nothing really like Stood out is like, oh, I have to get that again So I'm going just a straight five out of ten on that very average with that one I forgot to mention the spinach and artichoke dip. Mm-hmm. It was very subtle but Very cream cheese heavy. Is that a thing you like or like to in this case? I was pretty neutral to it I noticed it. Yeah, I almost like a little more cheese taste to my spinach and artichoke Dip even though I don't like cheese. I feel like there needs to be more parm in it. That's right. We both don't like

Yeah, so I yeah, so that's maybe a five out of ten But overall I'll give the platter a six out of ten. Yeah, it was a very So you call it edible arrangement. You'd call it good Yeah, I would call it average just as average as average can get if you just want a bunch of different things to taste This is the thing for you. It's perfect. Let's say you've got you're there with your entire family Heck, yes, get that let the family month taste a little bit of all of it No one's gonna be impressed. No one's gonna be disappointed and that's what we're looking for. Yes. That's mediocrity, baby Now for the main course. I took our server's suggestion

This is her favorite dish and another signature dish on the menu the pasta. Laya, which is a basically just a portmanteau of pasta and jambalaya Yep, so it's just jambalaya on pasta. Yeah, so it's like a spicy has a kick This is what my girlfriend ordered. I had a taste of that. I thought the sausage in it was really good Oh, yeah, the andouille was really good. It had a similar spice profile to the chimichachas. Yes, and it was a little hotter though Mm-hmm. Oh, it came with a type of bread that you know Yeah, okay my rating of this bread in my notebook literally is just One swear word followed by nine out of ten Yeah

Yes, it was it was the macaroni grill bread with a different texture Yeah, it was a little flavor. It's like they let the macaroni grill focaccia rise slightly more Yeah, and it was like fluffier a little bit macaroni grill is my pick for the best bread in the game This might supplant it, but this isn't table bread. You have to actually order a specific thing to get this bread So it's kind of harder to find but if you go to a rainforest cafe, make sure you get the focaccia that comes with the pasta I don't know if you can ask for it without getting the pasta. Laya, but They definitely have it in back and it's worth it. It's so good. It's so good I wish I would have used it to make like a chicken and sausage sandwich the chicken in the pasta

Laya was very good too So I had a taste of the chicken the I didn't have the shrimp because again It was my girlfriend's dish So I only I only snuck like one or two bites and I had my own thing to evaluate I only went off the taste. I had you know one forkful a little bit of chicken a little bit of andouille sausage 6.9 out of 10 just A notch below what I would call very good. I don't know

I saw what they were going for with it, but all it made me wish was that it was Pasta it just made me wish it was like meat sauce pasta I was like, oh, this is reminding me of a thing. I would rather have so it was good It was a good dish on the other hand, I'm gonna go you love similar reasons for you I'm gonna give it a nine out of ten because I Loved the pasta. It was great. The pasta was again, al dente as I like it Mm-hmm. It was sauce in the Jambalaya sauce. Yeah, plus I prefer pasta to rice in this situation Mm-hmm. I've never had it like this and I think it improved the experience. All right, especially texture wise now

So here's the way that I view a rating and you know, we're all different you may not view it through this lens But when I'm rating it, I'm looking at what do I rate an average like spaghetti bolognese? Whichever one has the higher rating to me is the one where I'm like if I had to have this dish for the rest of my life Or if I had to choose between these two and I had to choose one and that's the only one I had to have every time I'm choosing spaghetti bolognese every time So I'm just like the John the pasta lie it doesn't supplant spaghetti bolognese for me It would just create a longing in my heart for bolognese if I had to keep having pasta lie If I kept having spaghetti bolognese, I wouldn't be like man. I wish this was pasta lie

Okay, and I look at it in a vacuum. So this was the only pasta lie I have ever had Sure So it gets the benefit of that if this were just a true Jambalaya I would still probably give it a 7.5 or an 8. Yeah, if it were just the pasta with the amazing sauce It was there's some fish I had a good kick to it. It was good. So like an Arrabiata or something I'd also give that a 7 to an 8 two different things combined together 9 out of 10 meanwhile

I got the ribs steak and shrimp trio. Yeah, you and your samplers. I guess I Yeah, I just feel like I need to try as many things as possible to give a an in-depth analysis Which is self-imposed. I don't think that's the actual criteria that anyone needs to have but It's very self-imposed. So the the shrimp that came on this was like a I forget the exact term for it But it was it was basically their coconut shrimp It was my first time having coconut shrimp and it was the best coconut flavored thing I've ever had I'm I typically avoid coconut for texture. Okay. It was very pleasant still acquiring my taste for shrimp I give it a seven and a half out of ten, which I think is a very respectable

You know well into the quote-unquote good range. Yeah, it's between good and great It was a good taste it came with so it was like a yellowish sauce kind of like a like a sticky sauce They said it was plum sauce I don't know if that's typically yellow or not And I don't think it tasted that much like plum and when I was looking it up online I kept seeing something about mango sauce. Oh, yeah, like if you've ever had cha cha chicken Mm-hmm. Okay. It's a kind of a Caribbean place one of their their mild sauce is like mango and pineapple based It's really good. Yeah, it was a good. It was a good sauce. It complimented the coconut shrimp very well

there was a coleslaw which Your run-of-the-mill coleslaw I give it like a five and a half out of ten Only took a few bites of it just for spatial management, but it was good Fries averages can be they did nothing to impress did nothing to detract That's a five out of ten for me the ribs fell off the bone Immediately like I reach for the ribs and I'm trying to break them apart and instead I pull a bone straight out of it Which is a good sign of the texture. I love ribs that fall off the bone. I had like a tasty sweet sauce These were good ribs

But my scale for ribs is I'm a Texan you're a Texi boy I'm a I'm a half Midwest a half Texi rusty boy I would have gone higher if I if my rib education was lower I'm still gonna give it a seven still giving it a seven. Okay, I reserve like, you know Nines and tens for like elite level stuff eight is like approaching elite level This wasn't on that scale, but I've had tens. I've given tens on ribs before okay Not every food. I can say that about you know, there are certain foods I'm like, I really like this, but I'm still waiting for that ten out of ten. Okay. I I can see that

I would once you've had that ten out of a ten it lowers everything else a little bit I don't think I've had that so I would give these and a good eight out of ten good Smoky tangy and tangy was kind of the predominant thing, but I like the the texture was Great, but different than what I consider Like when I have like the best Texas barbecue like when I go to love barbecue in East Austin that that's my my spot Their beef rib is like the size of your forearm. That's not an exaggeration. Their brisket is perfect But like you get their ribs and it's just like this is next level. This is I didn't I didn't know this food could be prepared This this well, okay, I'm not getting that at a rainforest cafe, but they were they were good

They were the best part of my entree. How is your steak? Yeah That's my response to restaurant steaks It was a steak steaks good and it wasn't like Insulting for a steak, but man was it just it underwhelmed me quite a bit. It looked aesthetically pleasing I go I go like five and a half. Okay That's on the food scale not the steak scale like it would be lower if I'm rating it against other states Oh, God, was it cooked to temp properly? Yeah

Yeah, I don't know like the texture was like a little chewy in a way that I didn't look like it wasn't bad They didn't make any mistakes other than just having an item like this on the menu that isn't really where they shine Okay, they came with like a Weird like a plastic thing that they stuck into it and then like melted butter around it I guess it's probably what they used to stick the butter to it Oh, I think the butter had already melted thing is the temp indicator So when they've got it under their lights in the back of the kitchen a server can be like, oh, yeah, this one boom boom But I did it. Oh, I see interesting

I'd never considered that but yeah I came it came with that in it and like an already melted thing of butter on it but it was like all concentrated just around the Little plastic thing that had been stuck in it and it wasn't like spread out across it Yeah, you know, I want I wanted better. I paid 35 bucks for a platter of ribs shrimp and steak and Two out of the three things were good The steak is probably what made it more expensive and I felt that it

Could have been more so that's our entrees. That's our appetizers But now we get to dessert. Oh dessert was great. We got two desserts They had one that was kind of like a seasonal special thing the Oreo banana pudding. It was Oreo banana bread pudding that was truly Fantastic, I love Oreo and I love banana the girls at the table Were both either I don't like banana or I don't love Oreo. I love them both It was it was

9 out of 10 for me. Oh 10 out of 10 for me. I love banana. I love Oreo It's delicious and I reserved 10 out of 10 for like this is the best dessert I've ever had This was the best up there for you. This was the best Oreo banana pudding. I have ever had I've never had it But this was the best banana related dessert. I have ever had in my life. I give you that They're ooh the special note the caramel sauce. Yeah, everything about it. The whole presentation the way it looked It was it was a thing of beauty But we didn't stop there No, we milked the my birthday was recent hard and they brought out because we always love hearing places

With their birthday song is we got to hear their staff coming out and clapping Along with the rainforest cafe branded birthday song and they brought out our sparkling volcano Which has like a big? Sparkler sticking out of it, but that's not what they light. It's like a sparkler, but has like What would you call it like tinsel? Yeah material attached to it or whatever it is And then they just have like a small wax candle sticking out the side of it and they just light that and it's like four pieces of vertical cake It's a cool presentation. Yeah, it's like four pieces of cake ten around. Yeah around ice cream Yeah, the presentation was cool. And then there's a

Gummy worms around the outside of it. Those are a good touch and they weren't stale. No I can't remember the last time I had a gummy worm that wasn't really stale The everything about it tasted very good if I had the banana bread the Oreo banana bread pudding at a 9 out of 10 I have this at an 8.5 out of 10. It's very close for me. And I love chocolate as much as I love banana and Oreo and all that so Great desserts both of them. You can't go wrong. I'm actually not a fan of chocolate cake, but the cake was moist Still firm. It was everything. I guess it was an ideal Situation yeah, so I'll still give it an 8 out of 10

Based on the fact it was an ideal situation cake. Okay, my overall food rating I've given all the thumbs that I could so far. Yeah all the thumbs up It does not earn it here that steak was kind of disappointing the appetizer platter didn't do much to impress me But the desserts bumped it up for me at the last at the zero hour I'm giving one thumb up. I have two thumbs up for this mm-hmm on the merits of the dessert bumped it from Maybe one in seven eighths thumbs to a full two thumbs if that's possible to do But do you like chop it off with garden shears while pruning bushes actually my dad My dad did that of his fingers sharpening a lawnmower

My dad lost the tip of his middle finger Literally trimming hedges and they both found the pieces and reattached them not themselves. They had professionals do it. I imagine Munchkin menu musings Hi, my name is Austin. I am six years old. I will be reviewing the Rain force cafe menu a rain force is a spot where animals live So I bet I might see some I see that there's lots of animals on this first page And then there is spot the differences. There's like the animals is a leopard

I'm trying to find the differences on each of them There's also an unscramble the words. I was unscramble in the names all the animals are a far or the Rilla lion monkey an alligator elephant iguana and

Parrot and there's connect the dots on to make a monkey There's some jokes. My favorite is what do you get when you? cross a cheetah with a Cheeseburger you get fast food Ten out of ten. Thank you for letting me through this menu Final rating Wow, this was an experience. This was a great experience It's like we went to Disney and had an amazing meal and you know what?

Disneyland is one of the top entertainment things that you can do it is there's a reason why Super Bowl winners Declare that they're gonna go to Disneyland and it has nothing to do with sponsorships Probably not. I like this place a lot. The service was fun. The balloon animals great touch The atmosphere on point. They knew what they were they executed fantastically on that point They are such a tourist trap and I'm a sucker for tourist traps. I really do like stuff like that The food is where the experience fell short for me and at the end of the day. We're restaurant reviewers Yes, the our score is a reflection of our full experience But food does factor into that pretty heavily. I am gonna give this

Still the highest rating. I think I've given but overall higher than our Aggregate highest score. I'm going eight point one three well rainforest cap a It was very cohesive It was it made for a great date literally all four of us walked out going like that was a lot of fun I mean, isn't that the goal? We're looking to have a great time now. We are looking for mediocrity and we We felt we did not find it here. No, but what we did find was a great time and that's a good conversation. Definitely again, this atmosphere was

By far the strongest performing atmosphere Yeah, I have seen so far and I suspect this is going to be the strongest performing atmosphere of any restaurant in Iran You think so? I think it will be okay So this is this I think in terms of committing to a theme. Yes. Yep in commitment in execution Okay, yeah the service again It takes a tribe and they were excellent another two thumbs up there. Yep, and the food You went I had another two thumbs up for that because you gave all the thumbs my food experience was better than yours Yes, so overall, what does that give me this my highest rating to date?

9.0 You're over 9. I am over 9 9.0 1. I did not think I would go over 9 and I have Astros Yeah, I have 9 and up reserved for like these are the best flavors. You've ever tasted in your life This is the fanciest atmosphere candle lit But you know everyone has their own criteria and you are you are welcome to go over 9 if you want to I genuinely had No idea this was going to happen. My expectations were tempered going in

I thought I was going to be fighting nostalgia the whole time, but This was wonderful. Well rainforest cafe going up on the chachki of mediocrity at 5 7 the chachki of mediocrity. You can see it on our instagram page It is our Frankenstein of a wall chachki that is used as our scoreboard our running tally of all the restaurants We have been do so far and now in the highest spot yet rainforest cafe You get slapped up on the chachki

and that means We've got another place that means I scored outside the mediocre range side note This was the most expensive per person. Oh, yeah Well, I remember you you made a note of how much money this entire experience was this whole night But we're factoring in the overly generous tip. Yes, and this is to the blind you to the worst of the balloon people After all the rating price value has no effect on our rating whatsoever because we're talking about the experience Uh

With with no constraints. Just what do they offer? $350 and 85 cents between the four of us were spent at rainforest cafe between the store between Generously tipping the balloon animal makers and our meal $350.85. Wow. That was more per person than you now the Consequences must be faced. Yes Not mediocre enough Draw from the bowl the you must bowl So for our next episode I must paint the exterior

Of the establishment before i'm allowed to go in and eat. Yes, complete painting. It must be done before you walk inside Uh, can I enlist help? If I don't see why if I'm doing like I will still be the one doing the painting But can I have someone there to either split that workload or give me tips or something like that? Yeah, hey as long as you are physically painting the restaurant outside. Hey, okay. That's all the counts Next week. I'm gonna bring The best artist I know Not not actually true, but uh, all right the artist. I know best. I'll say it that way

I'm taking my mom with us next week. Are you down to dine with my mother? Oh, I am down to dine with your mother. Are you down to have my mom on the podcast? Yes, I would love to have your mom with us All right, we'll have we'll have my mom guest star on the podcast and she'll help me with this painting We need to figure out where we're going. Ooh, so it's time to play the headline game The rules of the headline game are as follows Michael will present three headlines to Garrett that include this week's restaurant They can be made up or they can be actual headlines

If Garrett can correctly guess if at least two out of three are real or fake He will get to select next week's restaurant. However, if Michael stumps him, he'll select again Are you ready to play fellas? Oh, I'm ready. All right. Got three headlines for you. Okay first headline from rainforest cafe Everything's bigger in texas rainforest cafe invests six fold into galveston store Uh, if I had more texas knowledge, I could say a thing Galveston's not one of the three huge cities in texas false

Okay From jungle to joints rainforest cafe could become a weed dispensary False that building's way too large to handle a dispensary operation third rainforest cafe the perfect example of why the past should stay in the past I'm gonna go true. Someone had a bad experience. Well Garrett let's go through them. Everything's bigger in texas rainforest cafe invests six fold into galveston store You said that's false because you haven't heard of galveston Uh, that is correct that I have not heard of galveston. Yes

The headline is false, but I believe the sentiment is somewhat true The galveston store is like the pinnacle of rainforest cafes really I thought you would have known that I I just thought like oh, okay, so Random mid-sized city in texas has it's a coastal city. It's where like cruise ships leave out of It's so it's like a poor town for people who are about to go on like Gulf vacations. Okay. I was expecting you to know that the galveston was kind of the the big one So I was trying to trick you there, but you were your instinct was corrected as a false headline From jungle to joints rainforest cafe could become a weed dispensary. That is true

Really a specific one if approved the pot shop would sell medical and recreational cannabis at the former restaurant at clark and ohio street So this is in chicago. So you have one correct answer one Incorrect answer. Okay rainforest cafe the perfect example of why the past should stay in the past You said that's true from some bitter author. Yes. I felt like you would fall for that, but I actually made that up It is false I win the headline game. Sorry garret. You did not correctly guess two out of three So where are we going? Where am I taking my mom? Where am I gonna go paint with my mom? Yeah, you know what? Let's make this nostalgic for her

Bob's big boy. Oh my god. My mom grew up going to bob's big boy with like her family and her dad and I'm excited to trade big boy stories with your mom because Do you have big boy stories? There is a very specific Difference in big boy franchises from where your mom and I grew up And what's out here? Hmm. I want to see what happens That does it for this week's episode of fine dining the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America Wait, we're supposed to have an actual eagle noise. Not just you saying eagle noise

eagle noise America eagle noise. Why does it keep doing that? America? Wait that time I had both America There we go. It's working again. Good. I don't know what happened. That was super weird Uh, you guys can follow us on all of our socials on instagram and tiktok at fine dining podcast You can email us whatever you want if you used to work at a bob's big boy or currently do and have any interesting heartwarming crazy wild stories Send them to us. Uh, you can send a voice submission to our email address fine dining podcast at gmail.com Go ahead. Go to our website. Yeah fine dining podcast.com and get our merch

We've got some fun shirts for you guys. Go ahead and get our That pizza survival tips is beautiful. Oh the pizza hut shirt The guy who drew that uh is an actual background artist at disney. Oh, wow Okay, it shows the great the one and only brandon gully Fantastic artist. Uh, you guys got to check out the pizza hut shirt. It's uh, it's a great design and like I love I love our olive garden shirt Yes, it's such a good shirt. So it's more than perfectly adequate. It's more than perfectly adequate Thanks again for listening everybody. We'll see you next week. The search continues. Have a fine day The search continues

Like and subscribe The search continues Our journey did not conclude. The monorail search continues Write us an iTunes review And hey while you're at it, why don't you go ahead and make it five stars? Come on Follow us on tiktok The same on instagram

All the socials at fine dining podcast We have a website fine dining podcast dot com Buy our t-shirts Then put them on And don't forget you can always suggest where we go next Okay, we're going to find it Mediocrity the search continues See you next week

Heard my throat a little have a fine day