Restaurant Offers Rain and Retailing

Rainforest Cafe, the self-described “Wild Place to Shop and Eat,” will open June 8 at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. The restaurant marks the first West Coast opening for the Minneapolis-based chain.

What’s different about Rainforest Cafe? The company says it has raised the blending of eating and shopping to a new art. Its Mall of America location, for example, has 12,300 square feet of dining space and 3,500 square feet of retail space. Another mall location near Chicago has 5,000 square feet of retail space.

The eatery features tropical birds, huge aquariums, lush vegetation and the sounds and sights of a tropical rain forest--along with ersatz thunderstorms.

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