What Pittsburgh's Rainforest Cafe mystery taught us about trusting AI
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This Rainforest Cafe in is real, unlike the one that was rumored to be in Pittsburgh. Photo: Ron Buskirk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Chrissy loves Rainforest Cafe, which sparked a simple question: Did Pittsburgh ever have one? The answer turned into a weekslong reporting rabbit hole.
Why it matters: What should have been an easy fact-check became a lesson in how surprisingly hard it can be to separate local lore from fact — even when published sources and AI overviews seem to back it up.
Context: Ryan, the constant killjoy, wanted to prove we lost our chance with a location that had already closed, so he Googled it.
- Google's AI overview said Pittsburgh used to have one, but the location mentioned didn't seem right, so we took our queries straight to the company.
- When they didn't immediately answer, we went digging through newspaper archives, property records and old Reddit threads; calling longtime beat reporters, mayors and city leaders; and asking readers, some of whom said they remembered one.
The verdict: Two weeks later, we had our answer. Meghan Bailey, a spokesperson for Rainforest Cafe owner Landry's, tells Axios that Pittsburgh never had a restaurant.
Yes, but: That's far from the whole story and ignores the interim when the only other definitive answer came from AI — and it was wrong.
Zoom in: Google's overview — powered by its large language model (LLM), which uses AI to provide human-like answers to searches — erroneously stated there was a Rainforest Cafe in the Warner Center in Downtown between 1997 and 2001, citing obscure fan websites that list it as an "unconfirmed location."
- ChatGPT and Claude said the same thing. Perplexity, for its part, told us it had no credible sources to confirm there was one and we "may be remembering another jungle- or rainforest-themed attraction."
- It's hard to determine where the fan sites got their information. The Warner Center was not attracting popular restaurants in the late '90s and was struggling financially.
- Wikipedia also referenced the same fan website in its Rainforest Cafe page, but removed it in June because "no reliable source has been provided for the claimed Warner Centre location or dates," according to Wikipedia editing history.
Between the lines: LLMs can struggle to discern between good and bad evidence and usually favor bad evidence over a lack of evidence, says CMU researcher Trent Cash, who co-wrote a study last year that found LLMs regularly overestimated their confidence level when answering questions.
- "This fuzzy evidence is where AI really falls apart."
- He encourages people to always check the sources.
Case in point: Axios tried several routes to confirm or deny Rainforest Cafe's history here.
- We asked our newsletter readers, and a couple said they remembered one but didn't have any specifics.
- Several of Ryan's X followers were more confident in saying Pittsburgh never had one.
- Tom Murphy, who was Pittsburgh mayor between 1994 and 2005, told Axios he doesn't remember one in the city.
- Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership said no one at the organization can remember a Rainforest Cafe here.
- A Feb. 14, 2000, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story published results of a reader survey asking what stores and restaurants people wanted Downtown. Rainforest Cafe was among the most-requested restaurants.
What they're saying: "Overall, I think we can put Pittsburgh's Rainforest Cafe in the Mandela effect category," said Heinz History Center spokesperson Lauryn Nania, referencing the phenomenon where people share the same false memories.
- History Center archivists checked old phonebooks and newspaper articles, and ran into many of the same dead ends as Axios, said Nania.
Pro tip: Ask LLMs how confident they are and how they determined the answers, says Cash.
- When asked, ChatGPT said it was only 30% confident and then cited the fan website, acknowledging it wasn't the best source. It ultimately concluded to treat Pittsburgh's alleged Rainforest Cafe "as unverified and quite possibly false until we find a contemporary source."
The bottom line: AI chatbot use has surged to a record high, but they're only as reliable as the information they draw from, making fact-checking as important as ever.
- And we deserve a Rainforest Cafe anyway!
If you remember a jungle-themed restaurant, or have an idea of what others might be remembering, we want to hear from you. Help us fully untangle this mystery.