I did not stay here but since my husband was doing some work in Bellevue, I decided to take advantage of a full day traveling up to Mt. Rainier. I had not eaten when I left our hotel that morning so decided to stop here along the way because it looked like a fun experience being in a train car and all. I walked in and was seated right away. First let me say that this place is COLD! I'm a girl from Texas but can handle the cold but you needed to be layered up in this place. I think everyone in there was wearing their coats. I guess living on the mountain they are just used to it and don't feel the need to turn on a heater. As a result, I ordered coffee halfway through my meal because I just couldn't warm up. It seemed that once the waitress had 3 tables she was super frazzled. The kitchen and the tables are probably only 15 feet apart so it shouldn't be that difficult but for just me this took an entire hour of my day, about 20 minutes of that was waiting on a check. Everything on the menu is very heavy for the most part so I decided to try the bison burger that the menu boasts about and got a side of broccoli cheese soup instead of fries because again, it was SO COLD. The soup was pretty good but the bison burger had a "special sauce" on it that tasted like armpit. I couldn't eat it. I took the meat out of the burger just so I could have some substance and tried to wipe the "special sauce" off. I was unsuccessful so left about 1/3 of the meat. I was never asked how anything tasted so I didn't even have the opportunity to try something else. However, spending $12 on a burger, I'm not sure I would have ordered anything else anyway. The waitress really was very nice, I suppose they just aren't used to a ton of business so she's not used to having 3 tables at a time. Of course, it is one of your only very few choices in the area, however, I would definitely skip this place next time. It was uncomfortable due to the coldness and the food just wasn't good. read more

The concept of this place is rather grand. Enjoyable at any age, to sit and eat on a train, though its a non-moving train, you can't help but feel like a little kid seeing the train from the outside and even stepping inside. Though the decor was out dated and the space small - it gave the train a nostalgic feel, taking you back to a time and place (of my age) in which i've never been. The dining area was rather busy so the hostess suggested we grab seats in the bar. Despite there not being too many tables in the lounge area, there was only one bartender, tending to her bar, tables as well as dining area drink orders so service was rather slow. The ribs were hyped up on the menu quite a bit and after a long motorcycle ride up Mt. Rainier, ribs sounded like a perfect meal to end the day with. Unfortunately they were out so we settled for bbq chicken instead. Also my dad ordered a veal burger and we had clams for an appetizer. The chicken was done rather well, the sauce was good, but the plate itself was a bit messy. Half the clams in the appetizer was inedible as they weren't open (which means they are dead) and the half that was cooked and alive was covered in cheese. I've never had clams with cheese and though it was a horrible taste I wouldn't order it again. After one appetizer, two entrees and a cup of coffee later, the bill came to be $52. Quite pricey for what we ordered and for no good reason as the foods was mediocre at best. It was an experience to say the least - but it definitely wasn't worth it one bit. read more

I truly wanted to love this place, I came here last night. Greeted with kindness for sure. Once we started reading the menu and it's promised to be cooked FRESH we didn't mind the prices after that. But no less than 15 mins our food was out, now I ordered the Parmesan Pasta, it was rather watered down and no flavor what so ever, noodles were far from "fresh". My partner and brother ordered the BBQ chicken, it seems to us that the chicken is stored with fish because it smelled of fish and had a very novel taste of fish, veggies weren't fresh at all, very limp and lifeless. We refused to pay for these dishes. Again we didn't mind paying what was stated but we also expected to see FRESH FOOD. Service was lovely, but this place needs a new chief. read more

This is an old train which they turned into a nice restaurant. We like to eat here during our road trips to Paradise at Mt Rainier. The food is okay but but desserts are great. What makes this a nice place to eat is that you are on a train. Not bad..... read more

So cute. It's solid greasy spoon food. We split a plate of biscuits and gravy, which was plenty of food for two people who don't usually eat a lot of stuff like that. Our waiter was CHIPPER, which I thought was fun and my girlfriend thought was creepy. There's a gift shop and maybe two or three dining rooms. It looked like some local families, and we kind of stuck out as Seattleites I think. I thought it was an awesome little spot in this tiny town. There might be a motel attached but I can't remember. read more

Not a great place to stop, very poor customer service. Wait staff argued in front of all seated on who was to seat the next customers, who were standing right there. Manager was asked for and waitress was told no you deal with it. Waitress never came back after delivering drinks, other server had to cover. Soup never came, had to ask for child's milk repeatedly, and parm pasta was watered down overcooked noodles.. read more

On my families first trip to Mt Rainier Sept 2013, we stopped here for lunch not knowing where to eat. The train lured us in. Upon entering, the junk sold at the gift shop was a turn off. We were seated in the back side car away from the street. No one else around. The old photos were interesting to look at but not much else. The decor was thrift store at best. The windows were dirty and hard to see through. Though there's not much to see. Things looked run down. Our food, burgers were dry and burnt. I could've gotten them from my own freezer and cooked them better. Very disappointing. Certainly not worth the money and definitely not worth the hype afforded them by the menu. Save your money and bring a picnic lunch. Maybe a ride on the nearby train instead. By a New transplant via the military. read more

We had a great experience here and would love to try it again. There were five of us and we were seated instantly, our drink orders were taken very quickly while we perused the menu. I ordered the Portobello burger with the hand cut french fries. My companions ordered the Montecristo sandwich and the BBQ pork sandwiches. Every single one of us enjoyed our food immensely. For someone who is a vegan eating out can be very difficult and I was excited to see two veggie options on the menu. The service was fantastic, our drinks were refilled quickly and the food was delicious. The only complaint I had was that the bathroom toilets did not like to flush. read more

Options are limited to and from Rainer. This place is a tourist trap. Dining in a railroad car. Enjoying the history of it. Cool. The food, not so cool. It is overpriced and bland. I will pack a lunch or try another place as I don't plan on pitstopping here again. read more

Hi folks! Just wanted to let everyone know I went back here again with a men's breakfast for church this past weekend. The food was no better than last time. I appreciate the owners attempt to assuage my palette but it really is mediocre. This time the food was cold, greasy, and had very little flavor. Granted they gave you a kings portion in the hobo hash but it also made you run to the "throne" right after eating it. Overall most of the men I spoke with said the same thing and added that the coffee was weak. I look forward to seeing some improvements. read more

Not the best, not the worst. Dined with three other people, no one had any complaints, was fine as a quick stop on our way to Rainier. I'd recommend the bison burger and sweet potato fries. read more

The food was overpriced for what was offered. Business was brisk as the restaurant quickly cycled through customers who were in the area for the train ride next door. Customer service was efficient. I ended up with food poisoning (had the portobello burger, sweet potato fries and bread pudding) We will not be back. read more

Have always wanted to stop here after our many trips up to Mt Rainier. Finally got to do that today after spending the day in that area. Definitely a cool experience to eat in an old train. So as we walked in, it wasn't super busy. As we were waiting to be seated another customer walked out and said "the customer service here is terrible" that hadn't swayed our decisions about giving it a try to see for ourselves. I will say that service was actually pretty good. Both servers looked to be under 21, very sweet and got our orders in quickly. The place fails on food. Over priced and cold is not what I'm looking for when spending $25 on a full rack of ribs. The ribs came out cold and you know how 1-2 day old ribs at home taste when you reheat them in the microwave? They're just not the same. Too much sauce and it tasted cheap. I love BBQ sauce too but this was really disappointing. Not to mention when The ribs arrived there was a bone on the plate. For presentational purposes, removing the bone would have taken 2 seconds. ‍ I substituted sweet potato fries for the beans.. those were good but also cold. This place could be so much better if the cooks were cooking fresh food instead of left overs. My guess is that there was only one person working the kitchen. To management: Update the menu, hire more kitchen staff and use fresh food. This place could be so much better if you stepped it up, this is how businesses fail. read more

Hobo stew is the worst. It said beef in the menu but it's all gravy and potatoes. Worse service too. If I can give minus one star I'll do it. Don't go to mount Rainier Railroad dinning read more

As a Seattle vegetarian visiting a small town restaurant that is a train... well, I was terrified. But I read the menu outside and saw that they had a veggie burger and figured I would be ok. At least it would be edible. I was so happily surprised. It was really delicious and my meat-eating boyfriend enjoyed his BBQ sandwich as well. Ya the decor is weird, but I wasn't exactly expecting anything super nice inside. It was funky and looked like a crazy grandma had free reign to decorate it 20 years ago (after reading the story of the restaurant, this may be the case). read more

We were waiting for the train, and wanted to see if they had pie. They don't. I wish we would have left at this point, but we ordered the blackberry cobbler, to go. It was served in a styrofoam cup. There were not many blackberries, and the cobler dough, while plentiful , wasn't very tasty. It did come with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The kicker was for such a lackluster dessert, the cost was $8.68. Yikes!! I absolutely do not mind paying for quality, but if you are going to charge a premium price, you need to deliver with an excellent product. read more

First time I went, food was fairly good and service was great but it was freezing as it was in February and their heaters are lacking. Second (and last) time, we had someone in our party's order messed up twice and waited 65-75 minutes for everyone to get their meal. We were told after 30-40 minutes wait that a party of 30 had come in, but if they only have one cook why on earth wouldn't they disclose the estimated wait?! Someone who ran out appetizer fries out never brought the condiments he promised. We hardly saw our waitress, who didn't seem to care if nothing was right and didn't even acknowledge a table for over 20 minutes (the lady told us in the bathroom she wasn't even acknowledged let alone offered a glass of water). When asking for a manager on the way out, a very young lady said she was it and made it very clear she did not care if our experience was really bad. If you're looking for a place after hiking Rainier, keep driving to Eatonville!!! I hope this place goes out of business with their uncaring attitudes to their customers. read more

Took my Grandson here yesterday. It was my 2nd time and a total disappointment. It was so-so the 1st time and this time, the meal I ate, less than 1/2, made me SO sick all last night. I ordered the Big Foot Country Fried Steak dinner. The so called steak was not meat at all. It was mooshy soybean based pale mixture formed into an oblong shape and coated in a very thick/hard breading dip and covered with instant brown gravy. The deep fryer grease has been burnt or needs changed as the thick shell like coating tasted like what is scraped from the bottom of the fryers when they are changed of their oil. The mashed potatoes were also instant and tasteless. I had a cup of the daily soup as my side. It was totally unedible, gagged me when I tasted it. Suppose to be smoked turkey and noodles soup. I spooned through it....NO TURKEY...and what they called noodles are penne pasta. I got a whif of rosemary seasoning in it, which is often used as an aroma coverup when sauces are on the verge of souring. The tiny piece of bread was okay as was my fountain coke. It is not the waitress's fault that the owners/cooks are not serving edible food nor the advertised real products. My Grandson had the appetizer Boneless Chicken wings, 5 small round pieces of white meat and he enjoyed it., along with the Blackberry Lemonade. With the tip I spent $47 for the worst restaurant meal I have been served. I will not be returning for any food in my lifetime. Very Disappointed. read more

Portions were tiny. Food was GROSS. Potatoes were undercooked. Noodles were overlooked. My four year old hated the stink of the dining car. Overall the worst $55 we have ever spent. Service was slow even though we were the only customers. I could go on and on in complaints. Don't waste your time or money. read more

The big and pretty train converted to a restaurant that you see on your way to mount rainier and every time you think, that looks like a cool place, need to try it out sometime. Yeah. Don't do that. Especially bad for the vegetarians. The veggie burger that we ordered came after a really long wait and had no patty in it. The "sauteed" onions inside were burnt, and the "handcut" fries were burnt too. When we complained, we were given a stare and "that's how they are supposed to be". Really?? Burnt?? (She was trying to explain that these are not the regular fries that you'd get in fast food places..) I'll remember to make a list of dining places not to go before I go on vacation next time since there may not be internet to check the reviews when you are there.. read more

If you want to eat, do not eat here! The train and train cars is really a eat idea but the food was the worst I have ever had. After reviewing the large menu, and looking around to see only one other table occuppied at lunch time, I knew we were in trouble. I figured their specialty, BarBQ., would be the best bet. Wrong! The BarBQ chicken was over done, dried, and shriveled. They attempted to cover it up with sauce. It was like eating wood shavings covered in BarBQ sauce. Their "special homemade margarita" was the worst I ever had. Prices were ridiculous! Stop there and look, then walk across the street to the road side burger place to eat. You'll feel better. read more

Fun diner located in converted train cars. Open year round with a full service lounge. They're family friendly and have a kids menu. Prices are reasonable. Portions are huge. Parking is free. I had my first venison burger here. Also tried a hearty bowl of their Hobo Stew. In the winter time they make a fun cup of hot chocolate with mile high whip-cream and sprinkles. read more

Yesterday, after a long afternoon of driving and then hiking in the beautiful Mount Rainier (which I would highly recommend), my sister and I stopped here at this adorable looking train car diner. We were absolutely starving, and ready for a meal to give us some energy after lots of outdoor exploring. Unfortunately we arrived at diner with crazy high prices and sub par quality food. First I will say, had the meal (chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes) been 10.99 and not $16 I wouldn't complain, but the quality of the food so not match the price. The dish overall was fine, but on the salty side, and the "garlic bread" was defiantly just Texas Toast that you can buy at most local grocery stores. If that was "homemade" then someone doesn't know how to make garlic bread. Now on to the service: it was pretty slow. We wanted a sit down meal before our next leg of the drive, however we didn't expect a 2 1/2 hour detour. Our server held our cards for at least 25 minutes which made us very nervous, while we were anxious to leave. They weren't that busy so I am unsure of why the delay. Plusses of the place: cute environment and very clean bathrooms! PS: if you are a big coffee person, you will be disappointed. The brew was weak and for someone who drinks her coffee with one cream and no sugar, I had to add about 4 creams and a heap of sugar in order to swallow this $3 dollar cup of coffee. -not impressed tourist read more

I liked the coffee and the Hobo stew in a bread bowl. We had a very good server too.

Choo, Choo! Go HOBO Inn! What a great adventure and experience for all. We all had so much fun just being together, but mostly just not being bombarded and injected with technology was such a relief. The cars are old but well maintained, the beds are even comfortable. We can't wait to return to ride and sleep on the trains again! read more

Bad enough for me to sign up for a yelp account just to warn others. If this was free, fine. Anything more than that, is rude. I paid 14.99 for what probably tasted better coming out of me than it did when it went in. Well, maybe not that bad, but after paying so so much for something worse than the first dish made in a Middle School Cooking class (worse!), I was pretty upset. And the wait was annoying, then comical, then maddening, then comical again, then just offensive, and finally in the end...very VERY not worth it. The wait staff was polite, and fairly attentive. Maybe this was a great place at one time, but without a complete kitchen switchout, it's clearly time to pull the brake on this train car. read more

After waiting way too long to order drinks, we almost got up to leave. Unfortunately, the waitress came, so we stayed. Would have been better off leaving. Service was pathetic; way too slow for everything. Food was terrible, too. Burgers were way overcooked, and yet were cold when we finally got them. Fries were also way over cooked. I had my parents with me, and was embarrassed that I took them there. Better off just stopping to get a picture of the outside of the restaurant, then moving on... read more

After taking my two teenagers out to eat tonight, I regret that my post-dinner comments are less than desirable but I felt the need to come home and look up the diner so I could provide feedback. 1st, the "game" burgers were tiny. Huge bun, lots of lettuce, tomatoe & pickles, all to swallow up and successfully hide what looked to be a 1/8 lb burger at a 1/2 lb burger price! 2nd, the drinks were never refilled - not even the water - despite promises to return. 3rd, the $20 chicken BBQ dinner came with baked beans bareable only when mixed with the BBQ sauce from the chicken & and a biscuit made useless soaked in BBQ sauce. 4th, the desserts may have done just fine at a Denny's where much isn't expected, but at $7 a pop it was like boxed pies straight from the freezer. 5th, its understandable when a diner "gets hit" and runs out of things on the menu but do the customer a favor and (a) remove those items from your "specials" board at the door and (b) let us know up front when we're ordering. Tonight the ribs, bread pudding and choc cake were all out by 6:45pm and the waitress kept coming back to change the order. Lastly, the waitress was left fixing the ice cream machine while juggling the tables and cash register by herself - making for a very, very long wait for very, very bad food. Overall, maybe the atomsphere (all be it cool and unique) is more important than the quality of the food? I'm not sure but what I do know is that after spending $90 this evening, I've got to decide where I'm going to eat when I take my wife out there to see the mountains. I hate to say it, but this diner isn't exactly at the top of my list. I apologize if this has offended, but I'm being sincere - my experience was BAD. read more

Food tastes worse than microwaved food. Smells like wet dog. Beer was good that was it. I forgot to mention WAY OVERPRICED! read more

Bad Food" July 03, 2009 - Doesn't like it - Where to begin.... The service was o.k., the decor was nice enough, but the food....The french fries were cooked in older grease and loaded, and I do mean LOADED with salt. Which led us to ask for another order. That wasn't a huge deal.But, then, the spagetti, which cost about $16.00 was not very good at all. It was bland at best, didn't have enough sauce to cover the noodles, and watery. We took it home to the pooch.For two undersized hamburgers with fries (we had to wait for until we were done with our burgers), and a BIG plate of spagetti, with NO drinks, our bill was over $40.00.But then, to top it off, when they asked if everything was ok, my husband mentioned he wasn't happy. Did they ask what was wrong? No, the other waitress piped in with "Well, I'm sorry your dining experience wasn't to your satisfaction." very curtly.Yeah, ok. So, tell your friends, it's not worth it to stop in and eat. Look yes, but pass on the food.We are not food snobs, and aren't picky, but this place might get 2 star, and that, would be for the nice softspoken waitress and clean restrooms. read more

Good food, fries a little soggy. Drinks are a great size and tasty. Service was lacking though. Waited about 15 minutes to even be seen for a drink order or to even know who out wait staff was. When we asked a girl walking by we were snapped at that she was busy delivering food. Still no eta on when she'd be back either. They weren't busy as the dining car wasn't even half full. Cute place to visit, just be aware the customer service isn't that great. read more

Had a wonderful time with our kids and granddaughter on the polar express train and thought how fun to have dinner in a train themed restaurant afterwards. The place was cute, the staff were friendly however the food was not good at all. We all had something different and there was not one thing that was good. The lettuce that garnished our granddaughters chicken tenders was disgusting. Should have been thrown out not salvaged as garnish on a kids plate! Her tenders were barely warm and brick hard, the burgers were soggy messes. I got the monte cristo and all I can say is DO NOT order the monte cristo. We had shrimp and blooming onion appetizers and would not recommend these either. Don't know if they were having a bad night because nothing was good this particular evening or if this is normal for them but we will not be returning to find out. read more

a cute little place to devour some home-made tasting food after a long day's hike. this place is cute and completed the adventures of the day. burgers were good and not pricey. the cheesy bread was delicious! that may just be attributed to our starving stomachs, but reminded me of what you might eat at home! service is good and so is the ambiance. not sure i'd ever be craving this place specifically, but is a fun exp to dine here. i read that it used to be a moving train -- i'm sorry that they don't do it anymore! read more

Most expensive bread bowl stew. Especially cause all you get is a bun compressed in the top. Rip off. Service took forever and no one was here. For a 7 pm dinner on a Sunday. read more

I wish I would've been able to read the yelp reviews before we decided to stop here. unfortunately my phone was dead after spending all day hiking the beautiful Mountain. The kids were excited about dining on a train so this is where we ended up. I ordered some hot tea and when our server brought it out the mug was disgustingly dirty. Not just a little speck here or there, the inside was caked with brown gunk, as if it had never seen a dishwasher. Sent it back for a cleaner mug. My mother and I ordered the hobo stew for $14.00 and I have to say this is the worst stew I have ever had in my life! It was full of gravy, 2 thin slices of meat, 1 chunk of carrot, 2 small chunks of potato, in a bread bowl which turned to a gluey substance. I was wondering where the cabbage, celery, and onions were since on the menu those are ingredients listed. My Mother didn't get any meat in her stew at all. They also state that everything is made from scratch, I'm very suspicious of this. Tasted like it was canned gravy. potatoes tasted canned to. My daughter ordered the grilled cheese. It wasn't horrible but definitely not worth the money. 2 slices of thin white bread, one slice of cheese and a handful of fries. My brother and son ordered burgers for $12. They didn't complain. We ordered dipping sauces for the fries. I noticed there was a half eaten fry in one of the sauces which I thought was odd and then began to realize it looked like they just grabbed the sauces from another table that didn't use them all! Recycle reuse i guess. Eeeew gross, I was so done at that point and couldn't wait to get the heck out of there. We left feeling ripped off, grossed out, and very unsatisfied. I wanted to warn the people walking in " DONT ORDER THE HOBO STEW!" We will never go back there again and next time we decide to visit Mt. Rainer I will definitely be checking reviews ahead of time. read more

One star because its a train and one star because the waitress was nice. The food was Hormel chili and the burger was a frozen patty. The bun eclipsed the smooshed patty. The sauce was thousand island with chopped pickles and heavily laid on. The sauce was thicker than the burger! It was like a kitchen nightmare type place. If they had the right chefs with the right products they could do very well since its a tourist trap. They could get repeat customers. That was not a burger nor was that anything that resembled an authentic chili. I know this because I am a chef and a TV chef at that. I am not picky as you can see by my other reviews and I hate leaving negative reviews but please think twice before eating there! Unfortunately, there is no internet/wifi/cell service in the area so you will probably end up blindly going in there and getting robbed for a $11 burger. Fast food burgers are better and that says a lot for someone like me to state that! Until they fix their menu and recipes I will never be back. read more

This place in all fairness is an option where there aren't too many after camping in the area or coming back from Mt Rainier. I know what it's like to camp for a weekend and all you want is to stop and eat something not cooked outside over a fire and something other than trail mix. This place is great for that and it has what I consider a fun rustic look aboard the train. You're out in Washington Country so don't expect to walk into a restaurant where they fall all over you when you walk in. The service is slow but I believe that may be because they had one girl working her butt off all by herself( and she was very sweet). I had a classic burger and I thought it was very good , I certainly enjoyed it. I was also able to sample my friends BBQ chicken and that was shamefully dry with a lot of sauce dumped on top of it. The baked potato was a meal in itself and quite tasty and the biscuits looked and tasted like something that came out of an old southern kitchen....they were AWESOME! Just not the chicken... I thought that was more closer to fossilized then eatable. I didn't dislike my experience ...I thought it was fun and I had some good conversation aboard the train. I saw plenty of scenic views in the area and the dinning experience was just comfortable. read more

This place deserves negative 5 stars. I'd rather eat prison food. It's obvious that they are taking advantage of tourists. Out of my 30 years of living, the is the worst food I have ever had. The good reviews on here are probably fake. The only honest reviews are the bad ones. To train diner: get new ownership please! Do the public a favor. read more

We read the reviews prior and weren't going to go, but our daughter desperately wanted to eat in a train.... No customers when we arrived, greeted promptly, and I ordered a bbq dip sandwich with fries and my spouse got the bbq chicken and ribs. Well maybe 10 mins or less our food arrived. The chicken was dry as a bone and completely drenched in bbq sauce, the ribs were dry and tough and again drenched in bbq sAuce. The biscuit had been microwaved and the corn was rubbery. The bbq sandwich I had was okish, flavorless but much better than what he had. The fries were fresh and pretty good. The waitress was nice and exchanged his meal for the same thing I got. It took a really long time but it came. The waitress was very sweet and friendly. When she brought me the bill she told me my husband ate for free because she took the first meal off and then his 2nd because he waited so long for it! I told her that was nice but she didn't have to that but she insisted! Overall 5 star customer service. The food eh well the fries were fresh! read more

The service was amazing, & the experience eating in a dining car was enjoyable; however, the dinner was a reason why I probably will never go back. The rib dinner I ordered was expensive, which was recommended. It had zero meat, mostly fat, & a bottle of bbq sauce dumped on it. I couldn't even eat the last rib as the bbq sauce was so over powering. The tiny piece of corn must have been sitting in warm water for hours. The small bowl of canned beans were okay. The only thing good was the homemade tiny biscuit. The children's meal was $7, which was a tiny corn dog & bunch of fries. Honestly, could have added some carrots or make it cheaper with the adult meals. Also, ordered was a sirloin steak. It was pretty much a piece of rubber, with a baked potato with only a gallon of butter on it. They ran out of everything else for the potato, & again the tiny piece of water-logged corn. Oh, the salad with big chunks of vegetables. If you are willing to go at dinner time, maybe try the burger at $13 - you might have a better experience. But, I wouldn't recommend eating off the dinner menu. We are still feeling pretty poor from last night's dinner. I love ribs & bbq sauce, but I might never look at this type of meal (even home cooked) for quite awhile. Kudos to the Service as they were very sweet - I didn't want to hurt their feelings with such horrible food. read more