South Coast Plaza Will Soon Be Where Wild Meals Are

Grab an umbrella and bring along your appetite.

Rainforest Cafe Inc., the hot restaurant company based in Minneapolis, is coming to South Coast Plaza with a 15,000-square-foot eatery near the newly refurbished Sears, Roebuck & Co. store. The new restaurant, the chain’s first in Southern California, will open in 1997.

Rainforest Cafe is one of the nation’s leaders in the trend toward “eatertainment” dining that’s supposed to be as fun as it is filling. The company’s restaurants feature room for 310 diners as well as a well-stocked company store. Rainforest Cafe bills itself as “a wild place to eat and shop.” Its restaurants feature live tropical birds, simulated nature sounds and waterfalls.

The restaurant chain, which recently opened a location in Disney World, plans to open five additional locations in 1997--including one in Los Angeles--and plans to eventually add restaurants in England and Mexico.

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Greg Johnson covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5950 and at greg.johnson@latimes.com