The Prototype Of The Rainforest Cafe Was A Major Fire Hazard

If you've ever dined at Rainforest Cafe, one of the great American theme restaurants, you've seen that the place has a wow factor. From its famous animatronic animals to the simulated rainstorms with thunder and lightning interrupting your meal, there's plenty to take in before you've even got to the Sparkling Volcano dessert. But the first proof-of-concept pitch for the Rainforest Cafe wasn't just impressive, it was nearly miraculous. The miracle in question, though, is that the 3,700 extension cords used to create it didn't cause a major fire incident.

When Rainforest Cafe founder Steven Schussler first had the idea for the now-famous restaurant, he wanted to show the world what it could be. He wanted that so badly, in fact, that he sold the majority of his possessions and converted his Minnesota home into a prototype and real-life concept pitch. In addition to using the thousands of extension cords to power sound systems, fog machines, and lighting, he also had to keep the on-site animals happy. These included tortoises, tropical fish, and even a baboon. While Schussler's prototype eventually paid off and landed him an investor named Lyle Berman, the road there was tricky. Before Berman signed on, Schussler had to deal with staggering electricity bills and even a visit from the Drug Enforcement Administration, concerned that his excessive power use was for growing marijuana.

Rainforest Cafe grew into something much, much bigger than an incredibly dangerous prototype in Steven Schussler's suburban home. At its peak, there were 45 restaurants, from the original location in Minnesota's Mall of America to a branch in Hong Kong. However, when Rainforest Cafe was sold to Landry's Inc., a restaurant group that also owns the seafood chain McCormick and Schmick's, it fell into decline, with some of its signatures, such as the presence of live parrots, done away with.

Today,  only 20 Rainforest Cafe locations remain operating, 16 of which are in the U.S. That said, there has been a recent resurgence of Rainforest Cafe nostalgia. This is partly due to a love for theme restaurants still going strong across America, but not entirely. The Rainforest Cafe renaissance has been fueled by an increased interest in the early 2000s culture and social media, such as a YouTube video detailing one man's quest to visit every Rainforest Cafe in North America. There was even, in 2024, a pop-up Rainforest Cafe at the Empire State Building, which had started as an April Fool's joke, but generated so much interest that it ended up running as a real-life, four-day event.