Was invited by some friends to do a short stay at the Jubilee Railroad recently. Seemed like a good…read moreexcuse to go out for a short weekend trip.
We stayed on site - our friends in a Rail Car, and we stayed in one of the few cabins available. The Rail Car ended up being the choice - it was clean, cool, and had character. Our room, though it had a kitchenette and a small living room, smelled terrible, and there were many obvious animal stains on the carpet. The bedding wasn't particularly comfortable either.
While visiting, we decided to try the on-site restaurant - The Dining Car. The night we got in, we decided to go for dinner. Since it is touted as being popular, we made a reservation in advance to make sure we would be able to get in. We arrived a few minutes before 7p, and were asked to wait for a little bit before being seated. Ended up being about 10 minutes before we were escorted (group of 3) to our table. That was the last we saw of service until over 30 minutes later! We sat there with nothing but menus. Finally, I got up and went to the bar area to ask if we could move there so we could order food. A server showed up at our table a few minutes later - apologetic.
Thing is, we got our initial order in, then ghosted again. First round of food and drinks shows up, and ghosted again. Finally we get to order food - almost an hour later. Dishes were pretty basic/classic, but I will say the steak I ordered from nearby Julian Meat company was one of the best rib eyes I have had in ages. It was flavorful and tender, and well prepared. The rest of the food on my plate was old and dried from a warming light. Others at the table received dishes more on the mediocre side. My partner ordered the risotto, which seemed tasty, but had a dry crust on it that betrayed it had been sitting under a heat lamp as well. Server comps a round of drinks for the delays.
Then the server comes back and we order desert. We order coffee and beignets. Then nothing. another glaring gap in service. She comes back with an apple pie a la mode, and says that the beignets will be out soon (?). Another 20 minutes go by, and we finally get the beignets. She comps us the pie she brought without requesting. We didn't really want two deserts.
Service was good when it was on, but inexcusable when it wasn't. If the steak I had hadn't been delicious, I would leave a 2 star review.
Despite this, we went back for dinner the next night due to logistics, and had much better service. We had burgers, which were made with beef from Jenner Meat Co, which was delicious. They were reasonably well prepared, but served with cold fries.
Despite THIS, we ended up doing breakfast service the next day on our way out - wanting better coffee than was available in the cabins. We sat outside on the deck. The table was a mess, including bird droppings, and sticky spots, but we persevered. Corn cakes ended up being an interesting treat, though undercooked made them pretty chewy/doughy. Croissant sandwich ended up being like a scramble - eggs, cheese, and sausage all in one big "glob" served on a toasted croissant. Not very inspiring.
Overall, the food and service here is pretty rough. If I hadn't had one of the best steaks I have ever had, this would probably be approaching 2/5, but I will give them a 3/5. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here again. There seem to be problems here with service, as well as in the kitchen - queuing is not their strong point.