TERRIBLE FOOD/SERVICE FOR OUR SON 3RD BIRTHDAY

Are you kidding me? What a horrible place. I can't believe they
didn't provide your adorable son with a friggin present. GIVE ME A
BREAK! Do you realize how many other people in the world share the
same birthday? If they had to "give a free gift" away to every person
that came in with a birthday that day (and who knows if it really is
someones birthday), they would go broke.
You're a selfish parent. Get your own presents for your children and
stop depending upon other people to cater to you and your family.
BTW: anyone who orders a Mai Tai at the Rainforest realy shouldn't be
celebrating a 3 yr olds birthday anyway.
Get real.

Dr. Phil

Your Mistake was you didn't book the Wild Bunch Birthday Party. They
Rule! Just go to their web site and find out how to do it for next
time.


Special Wild bunch Birthday Bash Menu
Birthday Dessert
Wild Bunch Treasure Map & Crayons
Souvenir wild Bunch Cup
Birthday Bash Invitations
Souvenir Photo Keepsake for the birthday child
Book You Wokd Bunch Birthday Bash or for more information Contact the
Rainforest Cafe Nearest you.

KEY WORD BOOK! Rainforestcafe.com You can book it online!

You have some serious entitlement issues.

I went to Olive Garden one year for my mom's birthday. The Olive
Garden did provide a cake to my mom and we had a good time. When the
bill came, we noticed they charged us a small fee for the cake.

On another birthday ocassion my mom was able to bring in a store
bought cake to the restaurant.

Each restaurant is different, if a birthday cake meant a lot to you,
you should have called the restaurant to see what they offered or
could do for you to make the experience more enjoyable.

Entitled much?

I worked in restaurants (some chain) for years and we never
automatically served cake to people for free. I mean, c'mon? We don't
know if they are diabetic or have food allergies. Just what a
restaurant owner needs, some irate parent sueing a server over serving
free cake to her allergic kid!

You should have checked beforehand to find out what their policies on
kids' birthdays are. I know that for us, we charged for cake and any
'extras' or birthday packages. And what's this about a free gift? Last
I checked restaurants weren't gift wharehouses. We sometimes gave out
balloons but that's IT.

And I've worked in restaurants for the better part of 15 years, so
don't tell me this is not the usual.
YOU should be the one giving your child gifts, not the restaurant.

As the mother of 2 boys, I've had more than my share of meals that
weren't up to my standards at restuarants that were geared toward
children. I usually knew walking in that this was not going to be a
meal memorable for its quality, but it was a place that the boys had
been "dying" to visit. So we went. Rain Forest Cafe was one of those
places. The atmosphere thrilled my kids - the food was mediocre, at
best. We visited once.

If your girlfriend "didn't even want to drink" the mai tai, she
shouldn't have. She should have sent it back immediately, asking the
waitress (nicely) to have the bartender make another one or take it
off your bill. Some restaurants use mixes for their drinks instead of
mixing fresh & a less-than-awesome drink is the result.

As for the cake, the restaurant has several desserts that you could
have discreetly asked the waitress to bring out to your son. They do
usually keep extra candles. Yes, you would have had to pay for it,
but why do you think they SELL birthday packages if they are going to
GIVE cakes & presents to any child who turns up with a birthday. If I
recall correctly, they do have a birthday registration (or they used
to) where they will send you a postcard for a free something on your
child's birthday. But this does require some advance planning.

Now for the Spiderman cards. My boys have ADHD so it's been a
constant battle as a parent to make sure we leave restaurants,
theaters, the grocery store, Wal-mart, wherever, with everything that
came in with us. The loss of something serves to remind them (and me)
that we have to be extra-vigilant in checking to make sure we have
everything before we leave because no one is going to check behind us
& save whatever they find for us. To us, it's a prized possession (as
in the Spiderman cards). To others, it's either stuff or junk, easily
discarded.

it may come as a shock to you and others like you, but your kid's
birthday has not yet been declared a national holiday. get used to
it.

not sure what kind of restaurant this is, but why should they present
a cake? thats your job dad n mom, they just work there...

I worked at a holiday inn restaurant for 19 years. not one time did
we supply free cake or a present. what is the matter with you? if
you didn't like the food you should have asked for the manager.
finally, it is not the restaurant's fault your child can't remember to
collect his belongings. maybe he'll remember next time.

Since when is it mandatory that the restaurant supply a "present" or
cake??? Your son left his cards there.. That'll teach him to take care
of his toys.

Sounds like you depended on this place to supply your childs present
and cake for his birthday.

Since my son was 1yrs old I have always planned his birthday parties
way in advance...no matter where these were celebrated. And we
celebrated at restaurants many times. But I always called ahead to
make sure they had a cake and things ready.

Why wait until you get home to let them know you paid your bill but
things were not up to your expectations?
You should always complain AT THE TIME OF SERVICE! Asking to speak to
a manager is your right as a paying customer.

Did it occur to you to ask the restaurant BEFORE you went there if the
do anything for kids birthdays? Most places don't.
And it's YOUR kid. YOU are responsible to see that he has his things
with him when you leave.

I work in a popular American chain restaurant. We aren't allowed to
sing for people's birthdays anymore because some stupid lady sued the
company. Her friends asked us to sing, we sang, she sued because she
said we embarrassed her and put her through "emotional stress".

So now, we aren't allowed to sing at all, and we certainly don't give
away anything for birthdays, either. Restaurants aren't required to
provide you with anything for free just because it's someone's
birthday. Even though we're banned from celebrating birthdays, if the
guest is really nice I'll go out of my way to make their kid a sundae
or something on the house. But only if they're nice to me. You
probably weren't so nice, judging by your letter, and so you didn't
get nice service. Imagine that.

Anyway, you didn't ask to speak to a manager? The blame, then, is
completely on you. And you can't blame the restaurant because YOUR
SON left his precious "Spider Man" cards on the table. Besides, I
think Chuck E Cheese would have been a more appropriate place to
celebrate your son's birthday, especially since your ordered pizza
anyway.

Thomas,

I live less than 3 miles away from that restaurant. Although I've
never been to Rainforest Cafe, I know quite a few people who have (I
work at the University, so many people I know have dined there), and
not one, not ONE has said anything positive about the place. In fact,
about a year ago, a group in my department went there for a luncheon,
and just about all had to go home from work early because they were
feeling ill.

That was all the info I needed to keep myself from ever trying them
out.

Ahh, I miss the days of Beefsteak Charlie's when they used to be there
-- many moons ago, when it was just a small mall called Towson Plaza.

I'm sorry but complaining about food and beverages after the fact just
doesn't cut it. You should have asked to speak with the manager
before you paid the bill and I honestly don't think it would have
ruined a 3 year old's birthday as he isn't old enough to know the
difference. And as far as a gift or cake for your child's birthday is
concerned - - this is something that you should have asked about and
not just expected. Finally, the loss of your son's spyder man cards
is hardly the restaurant's fault.

Although it sounds as if your experience could have been better, I
personally take the stance that the customer should also put some
effort into making their trip to an establishment as pleasurable as
possible.

If you were expecting a free dessert/gift etc. you should have called
ahead to see if they do that sort of thing. In fact, if you visit
their website you will see that you could have called ahead and booked
a party. Even if it was just going to be you, your girlfriend and
your 3 year old, they may have been able to charge you for a party
accordingly.

I agree with other posters who have said that something should have
been mentioned to the manager. I know I tend to lose my temper in
certain situations, so as a last resort I would have called the
manager after leaving. Once I had a chance to cool down I would have
called back and complained about the drink and pizza. HOWEVER, most
child geared establishments such as Chuck E Cheese do not carry
quality food. You are essentially paying for the atmosphere. As for
the drink, are you sure that it didn't taste bad because of the
alcohol content? I know where I used to live some restaurants were
only aloud to add so much alcohol to a drink because of state law.
Some drinks in this case tasted very watered down.

As for the birthday cake or dessert, I don't know if this is something
the Rainforest Cafe offers. I do agree though that it seems a little
strange that they don't offer some kind of free dessert to a child
with a birthday, considering the restaurant is geared towards kids.
It's not a bad suggestion for the restaurant to think about.

As for the food, I've heard it isn't that great. In fact, I think they
have one in the Mall of America in MN, and I could've swore I ate
there and wasn't impressed.

Overall, with the exception of the lost toy, I think this is good
feedback for the company.

I. Insult server
A. Recount waitress' failure to join in our joy over purpose of
visit
B. Point out waitress' failure to give us stuff for free
II. Insult product
A. Food was the worst we ate that day
B. Drink tasted like crap, even though it was liquid
III. Blame establishment for son losing his misplaced property
A. Son left cards behind
B. 20 minutes later, cards couldn't be found
C. Employees were not suspicious as to why we prowled around
restaurant
D. Conclude employees threw away cards
IV. Compare visit to other places we've been
A. Sure, we've been treated this way before. But it has been
awhile.
V. Request improvements
A. Drop Attitude and make reasonable request

For your son's 4th birthday, I advise you to take him to Chuck E
Cheese. Rainforest Cafe may be "kid friendly", but that doesn't mean
they especially cater to children with bells and whistles for their
birthdays. They are certainly under no obligation to provide free
gifts and cake.

It's not the restaurant's responsibility to keep track of a toy your
kid left there. Sorry. And as for the food, as others have said, the
time to complain about that was when you were there.

Our family went to RainForest Cafe at the Towson Mall, in Maryland on
May 8th, 2008 for our son's 3rd birthday. Our food and service were
terrible. We notified our waitress that we were celebrating our son's
3rd birthday and she was like "oh". She failed to wish our son a happy
birthday. We were further disappointed because we were expecting a
small gift or desert like some restaurants do. Does your restaurant
offer this? We ordered a 12 inch "Passport to Paradise" Pizza. It was
one of the worst pizzas we have ever ate. It looked, smelled, and
tasted like a Joe Corbi pizza made from a kit. It had a soft white
crust and it has barely any cheese. It did not seem to have 4
different kinds of cheeses as stated on the menu. Second, we ordered a
Mai Tai. It did not taste good to us. My girlfriend didn't even want
to drink it. Our son forgot his "Spiderman" cards at the restaurant.
We went back 30 minutes later to see if they had been found.
Unfortunately we were unable to find them, the staff did not seem
empathetic with our situation.

This was one of the most disappointing dining experiences we've had in
a long time. Usually we would address these issues (food and drink
quality) with a manager right away. But due to our son's birthday we
neglected to do this. I hope that these issues would have been
addressed in a fair manner. Based on the attitude of the staff we
dealt with I am not 100% sure.

If these issues of food and service quality were resolved we feel it
would be worth it to dine at the Rainforest Cafe in the future. Have
you considered offering something to customer having birthdays? I
think it would be great if you offered your wonderful chocolate
brownie volcano sundae and warm birthday wishes with a paid entree on
a verified birthday.

THIS IS MY BDAY GIFT TO YOUR SON, A MORE EFFECTIVE LETTER

1. Rainforest Cafe is average food, at best.

2. Rainforest Cafe is always ridiculously slow when it comes to
service.

3. If you wanted a free birthday treat for your kid, you should have
found out whether the restaurant did that or not.

4. Did you not complain at the time about your "crappy" drink? Or
the bad pizza?

We were not offered feedback survery or anything that night.

Thomas T.,

Did you speak with management at the time?

I don't think it is realistic for you to expect that a restaurant
provide any gift or even a small cake. If that was your plan you
should have called ahead to see if they provided that service or not.


Regarding F&B quality and service those are two issues that should
have been brought to the attention of management on the spot.

BillR.