Located in Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, The Rainforest Café is a child’s wonderland, with waterfalls, swinging monkeys, chirping birds, roaring lions and chest-thumping gorillas. The family-friendly menu features traditional American cuisine, and a full-service bar mixes tropical cocktails and specialty coffee drinks. The average price for an entree is $12-$25 per person.
The Rainforest Café, both restaurant and bar, has been smoke free since opening in 1999. The decision to open as a smoke-free establishment centered on health concerns for staff and guests. Management wanted to create a clean, healthy atmosphere and support nonsmoking families. The mall is also smoke free and the movement towards public smoke-free establishments made the decision easier.
The number of complaints has been minimal with some smokers feeling discrimination about losing their right to smoke in public. This can be attributed to the fact that the entire mall which houses the restaurant is nonsmoking and some smoking customers feel that a restaurant is an establishment where they can go to smoke. There are smoking areas outside the mall equipped with benches and ashtrays. Management feels strongly about protecting the rights of nonsmokers to enjoy a meal without inhaling secondhand smoke and abiding by the rules of the mall.
Manager Valeria Zamora says that being smoke free has benefited her business. “We attract and keep more customers because the majority of today’s population is nonsmoking,” she says.
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