Special effects help bring this 20,000-square-foot prehistoric playground at T-Rex Café to life in the Legends at Village West shopping center on the Kansas side of the Missouri River. For Landry’s Restaurants’ new dining concept, Schussler Creative Inc. (Golden Valley, Minn.) constructed an over-the-top visual fantasyland with waterfalls, bubbling geysers, animatronic creatures, an ice cave and a fossil dig site for diners seeking a side of theater with their entrée.

Designers incorporated earthy themes – water, fire and ice – to create rooms that each have a distinct look. Design elements and fixtures such as flowing lava and flames, a 45-foot moving octopus, a woolly mammoth snow scene and hanging jellyfish lamps tell stories about each environment. Mists, theatrical lighting and video screens create a more interactive setting.

The exterior is shaped like a cave – rocks jut outward with overhanging plants, while water flows from the top of the structure into a side pool with spotlights and geysers. A reproduction of a 42-foot-tall and 136-foot-long Argentinasaurus skeleton winds around the entrance to welcome visitors.

“The goal was to create a family-friendly environment,” says Schussler Creative’s chairman, Steve Schussler. “This is where reality and whimsicality meet to educate and entertain.”

Client: Landry’s Restaurants Inc., Houston – Stephen Bresler, retail visual merchandising manager

Design: Schussler Creative Inc., Golden Valley, Minn.- Steven Schussler, board chairman; Jeff Bornmnann, vp, retail; Helmut Lange, vp, retail

Architect: Cuningham Group Architecture, Minneapolis; Ruben Perez, project architect

General Contractor: PCL Construction Services Inc., Burnsville, Minn.

Lighting: Great Lakes Lighting, New Brighton, Minn.; Color Kinetics, Boston; Tech Lighting LLC, Skokie, Ill.

3D Elements: TivoliToo Inc., Mendota Heights, Minn.

Themed Environments: Daddona Studios Inc., Pompano Beach, Fla.

Sculptures: Evergreen Creative LLC, Durango, Colo.

Photography: Schussler Creative Inc., Golden Valley, Minn.