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| - My friends were visiting from Illinois, and they are big fans of the Rainforest Café. I had never been to one, and they were paying, so off we went.
The Vegas location used to be in the MGM, and now it is hidden away in an offshoot mall near Planet Hollywood. There wasn't much foot traffic, and we got a seat right away.
First off, it reminded me of Denver's Casa Bonita--but not in a good way. Lots of small rooms with fake jungle greenery and mechanical animals blaring away in the background. Too bad there were no waterfalls or cliff divers to take our minds off the food.
I'm not a food snob, but my meal was WAY overcooked. I had the Parilla Yucatan plate off their seasonal menu: bacon-wrapped shrimp, grilled chicken topped with cheese, and mahi mahi topped with mango salsa. The seasoning was great, but the proteins were as tough as burlap. Nowhere near worth the $22 price tag.
My friends ordered mozzarella sticks, a cup of clam chowder, fried shrimp, and the jungle steak and shrimp. They seemed pretty pleased, but the food looked pretty pedestrian to me. And even though we didn't have any alcoholic drinks, the meal was over $100.
They are tourists. It's a tourist trap. And they were happy, so I'm glad for them. But with so many other great restaurants in Vegas, I know I will never be back. And I'll try to steer my other visiting friends away as well--unless they have a hankering for animatronic apes and overpriced food!
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