should have walk out like the other customers but wanted to give it a chance. i was a customer a few years back, service was awesome, wait staff very attentive. this time around service was slow, non attentive. no silverware till we were almost done with out food! my buddy got his food 20 minutes after ours. still people coming in waiting 10 to 15 minutes then leaving. i was very dissapointed and embarrassed cause i suggested the location. read more

Food was very good. Had the burger with a fried egg and bacon that was delicious. Half rack of ribs was a very large, generous rack with plenty of meat and was also fall off the bone tender. read more

I made the mistake of ignoring the bulk reviews in favor of wanting to believe the 5-star ones...and I ended up paying like $75 for what essentially was - as another review put it - microwave quality food. The service was fine, and the place is about what you'd expect from dining in a 100 yr old train car, but it would have been nice to have food that was price-appropriate. Their online menu is out of date, and the prices are higher for everything, as well as many items no longer on the menu, plus many items may be "sold out" for the day as well even on the in-store menu. The "homemade" lasagna wasn't lasagna at all; it was served in a bowl and was just spaghetti sauce with some lasagna noodles floating in it. They basically made a bowl of spaghetti with flat noodles and it was $17. I won't bother describing any of the other food, but it was all not very good and tasted and looked like it was out of a box. I can't recommend you do anything more than take pictures outside of the train if you like trains. There are far better options just down the road in Ashford and in the park area. read more

To be honest, I'd give this place 2.5 stars if I could. 1/2 a star for uniqueness... It's cramped and hot on the inside. We had 12 people in our group and we had to sit at 5 different tables because it was so cramped. Service was meh.... our waitress was sweet as could be but large groups make her nervous.... I suspect. The food was alright. I ordered the fish and chips. It came with two decent sized chunks of fish, fries, coleslaw, and garlic bread. I didn't try the coleslaw but everything else was just ok. As others have mentioned, the fries are soggy but they still taste good. Not someplace I would go out of my way to visit again but not altogether terrible. read more

Elisa, perhaps I wasn't clear. The problem is not that it is Garth Brooks. The problem is that you have the same Garth Brooks cd playing on repeat for all months of the year aside from Christmas. Our wait staff said that they hear it in their sleep. It sounds like torture! We ate here after a great day in the national park, but as we ate we realized the same music was playing over and over... A CD of Garth Brooks covers, which played twice in full during our quick meal. An employee told us this is the only music ever played at this restaurant! This is really too bad because it created a distracting environment during our meal. We hope the owner changes it up to create a better atmosphere for customers. read more

This place is underrated . I enjoyed my time stopping by I always wanted to try it. We walked in and wondered if we were in the right place since no one was in the front car . We got seated . And it is adorable very homey! I had the hobo stew which doesn't look very good but it is amazing !!! We were hiking in the cold all afternoon and needed something to warm our bones . It was delicious very flavorful and filling . I enjoyed the train since it had many historic pictures and information riddling it. We enjoyed our server she was kind attentive very quick and knowledgeable of the food, whats in it and so on . We will be back ! read more

Stop by this restaurant yesterday...they were short of help & only had a short menu with 6 or 7 items..the burgers were ok but the chicken fried steak tasted like breading...their prices were a bit expensive even the coffee & lemonade..kiddos to the guy server through.. read more

Keep driving! Don't waste your time here. Highly over priced, very mediocre food. Additionally, Upon coming home; I looked at the receipt and noticed we were over charged for soup. The wait time wasn't bad for us. I noticed every one wasn't as fortunate. And saw a family leave. I'm jealous. Wish we would have skipped this overpriced crappy food for the sake of eating in a quirky spot. read more

This was an amazing last minute stop for food. One it's a train car so it's small if you have a large group don't expect to be seated right next to each other. Two the hamburgers where amazing and the potato salad was made just right. I'm really confused with the negative reviews because my boyfriend and I had a great experience. I suggest having a small party and not complain how it's cramped. I'm a train duh lol I'll be back and suggesting this place to others ! Keep up the great work ! read more

Out our Honeymoon, Jason and I stopped her out our way to Paradise on Mt. Rainier. It was fairly busy but we had good service and our food and drinks came out quickly. Jason tried blueberry lemonade and I had regular lemonade. Both delicious. I ordered a fish sandwich with sweet potato waffle fries. Jason ordered a burger and fries. I really enjoyed my sandwich, the fish was light and crisp while the bun was soft. I love sweet potato fries, and these had great flavor. The burger for Jason was good, but not special. I would have the same food I had again and again. read more

See all

We always would pass this place driving to and from our grandmother's place. It always would catch my eye since well, its a train and you can eat in it! Make sure to order the blooming onions! They are amazing. I also had the monte cristo sandwich (for the first time ever) and loved it. The food is pretty good. I'm glad that we made the stop. Not sure if i'd come back again any time soon though. It was a great one time experience in my opinion! Everyone should try it at least once when in the area. Kids would love it! read more

Mount Rainier Railroad Dining - Blooming onions! - American Near Me - Elbe, Washington

This food here is terrible! We came in for dinner after riding the Polar Express train and thank god we weren't that hungry... esSPECIALly greasy fried zucchini appetizer and $18.00 for frozen fish & chips!!! We left most of it sitting on the table. The servers were nice enough, but do yourself a favor and go to the burger joint or the tavern. read more

After a day driving and walking around the park and enjoy the views, we were hungry. We saw this place on the way up and decided we were gonna stop there on the way back. We walked in and it was dead. Like 3 tables. We sat in the lounge/bar area. Our server took a while to show up. We ordered and I thought I was going to fall asleep waiting for our food. What SLOW service all around. I literally sat there thinking out loud "the food prob won't be very good. I don't expect much" then our food showed up. I ordered the fish burger and my man ordered just a simple bacon cheese burger. Let me just say, oh man the fries were deliciously fresh. Haha as for the first burger, it exceeded my expectations. Not burnt, not dry, and not bad at all. As for the bacon cheese burger, the only comment was "it wasn't the best burger I had, but it was pretty good." The prices were a bit high. Especially for a small town diner, but I was happy with the fish burger and would order it again (as long as the same cook made it) read more

Mount Rainier Railroad Dining - 2 fish filets on the fish burger. Very delicious. - American Near Me - Elbe, Washington

Terrible. Just awful in every way here. Don't waste your money!! This is definitely a tourist trap

To the owner, please fix the fries and you will see a big change on the reviews. There is nothing wrong with the burgers here, but I think the fries are the weak part that drags this place down to 2 stars range on Yelp. The fries have good taste on seasoning part but it was soggy, cold and no crisp at all. It's like when you fry something in low heat oil. My group got there for a very late lunch(5 pm.) and we were too hungry to replace them. It would be 4 stars review from me if the fries were hot and crispy. The dessert called "Turtle cake" was delicious and big enough for 2-3 people. It is a hot, rich and dark chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream and tons of whip. I would go back there again just for this cake. Peanut butter& blackberry jam on the kid's menu was also great. The jam has whole fruit in it and tastes little sweet&sour which goes well with the peanut butter and thick slices of bread. For the price point $9-$13 burgers, I would expect more if the restaurant is in Seattle area ( I could get American Kobe beef or grass fed beef with perfectly cooked fries). However, the overall experience today was great. It's pretty cool to get to eat on an old train and my kids really loved it. We enjoyed most of the food. We even got the private room for our group of 5. The staffs were friendly and attentive, but the food came out very slow. I would recommend this place to anyone especially if you have kids. Stopping by the train restaurant is a very good way to end Mountains Rainer trip. Tip: avoid soup and salad. The side of soup was quite small and did not look good. Kid's salad was just bunch of lettuce. Adults salad is about $17-$19. Look like people who eat healthy get punished by having to pay almost double from people who always get anything with fries like me. I love healthy food but if they can't make it different from $4 salad at supermarkets, I won't pay restaurant price for it. read more

See all

Total meh. It looks neat from the outside but they have like one person serving, you have to wait forever to be sat because there is only one person working. The food is clearly frozen and reheated. Completely forgettable. read more

Im only giving a 1 star because there is no 0! This place is awful! I went here with my family.. my husband refused to eat his burger because it was salt overload and sloppy.. my 10 year old daughter got fish and chips her favorite.. usually anyways and walked out feeling sick and left her plate in the middle of eating it. My 2 and 3 year old daughters got their favorite a pbj sandwich it was thick bread and nasty looking jelly with barely any peanut butter and they both wouldn't touch it!.. I got a sandwich that was overloaded in half cooked onions and the sauce and cheese wasnt even in the sandwich very sloppy..we each only tried a couple bites.. and the fries tasted microwaved! Gross. And prices are way too high!!! May look cool! But keep driving! This place rips u off!!! read more

Not quite sure about this soup but it definitely ruined my appetite. I couldn't eat it after watching the waitress spill it on our table and seeing everything (orange, lettuce, butter and soggy bread) just sitting in the soup. read more

Mount Rainier Railroad Dining - American Near Me - Elbe, Washington

Neat little place. Clean place, Good food and friendly staff. We ordered the bacon burger and homemade fries yum. read more

Mount Rainier Railroad Dining - American Near Me - Elbe, Washington

See all

DO NOT EAT HERE unless you don't mind throwing away money... The best thing I can say about this place is that it has a nice ambiance and it's unique. But we stopped in today on our way back home from the park and I seriously wish I would've looked up reviews first! I ordered the fish and chips for $18.99 and literally got 3 VERY SMALL pieces. I mean not bigger than my index finger. It came with cole slaw and a heap of over cooked fries. My son got a kids meal of chicken tenders (2 super small pieces) and a full plate of fries and my fiancé got the salmon burger (with cheese that we weren't informed would be extra nor the extra garlic bread)in which he could've eaten two of. Oh, and the same stack of burnt, oily fries... We got a banana split for desert because our son wanted it and it was honestly the best value out the entire meal. Everything tasted good but for the amount of money they're charging people for what they're serving up is straight up highway robbery... Plain and simple! It's a shame because it's a great idea and it's cute but there is definitely no bang for your buck here... We quite frankly paid $66.00 for essentially three fry baskets garnished with a little protein and a desert. And remember, one of those plates was a kids meal! This is simply taking advantage of travelers. Take my word for it, keep driving... read more

Good food, but the service was horrible. We had to find the hostess to get a table and that was after we stood around with no one greeting us whatsoever. We were seated near the entrance and watched this happen over and over with several customers choosing to leave. Once served our meals we were not checked on even once and had to stop the waitress to get our check after sitting with empty plates for some time. Good food though. read more

Stopped in with the family after a long trip. No one should be in a hurry eating here, took awhile just to get a drink order. I got the burger and fries, I thought that would be easy. The burger was closer to a slider it was so small. The fries were .....blah, made in the oven or microwave but not fried. Best part of the meal was the moose drool beer! read more

Mount Rainier Railroad Dining - Small patty! - American Near Me - Elbe, Washington

See all

Read the reviews checked it out anyway. Upon entering extremely quiet diner. There were about 3 other tables of folks (off season). Sign said to wait to be seated but it seemed odd with so many vacant seats, so we sat ourselves. Only one waitress but service wasnt bad. I got the patty melt it was huge and tasty, with side of fries. Hubby got a elk burger said it was good. Was hoping to have room for blueberry cobbler as another dinner ordered one and looked amazing. But half a sandwich later no such luck. I'd go back. The diner was clean. just so dang quiet you can hear folks washing their hands in restroom. I'm sure in summer the place is hopping. The #hoboinntrain cars for sleeping were cute and clean as well. we just peeked in as we are staying at #Bigcreekcabin. read more

Mount Rainier Railroad Dining - History of cars and my pattymelt - American Near Me - Elbe, Washington

The atmosphere of this place was great, and the waitresses were pretty nice too. The food wasn't anything super spectacular, but it was pretty good overall. The place was pretty pricey, but worth it for the atmosphere and just general feel of the place. read more

See all

The Hot chocolate and strawberry lemonade was very good. But the food was OK. I would recommend more seasoning on the chicken and beef. The waitress was nice tho. read more

Mount Rainier Railroad Dining - American Near Me - Elbe, Washington

The restaurant is super cute; however, the food is absolutely horrendous. After waiting 25 minutes for our food, we extremely disappointed in it. The salmon had a strange smell and the burger was obviously a frozen patty. The waitress did apologize for the food. Definitely would not recommend. read more

Can't beat the ambiance, great burgers, friendly service, and milkshakes! Love their fries too.

Worst experience Waiter brought wrong items for the kids I asked to change my item as well as it was too oily, and they ended up charging me for it plus the other plate!! I paid no tips and will never come back read more

Too bad. Our toddler is train-crazy, so it was mandatory that we stop here on the way back from Mt. Rainier. This despite mixed reviews on Tripadvisor.com (to include one reported case of food poisoning). I should have heeded. My elk burger patty was much thinner than I expected, no thicker than one available at Mickey D's. $11.50 My wife's BBQ $20 rib and chicken platter was inedible - too dry - so she sent it back. In response, the diner attempted to charge us half price for an uneaten meal. The waitress politely suggested that we box it up and feed it to our dog. My strong-willed wife eventually argued the waitress and the manager into submission - this should not have been necessary. RR Diner: your intransigence cost you not only a dining customer but one for your inn as well. In attempting to cheat us of $9.50, you lost at least $200. read more

This place goes down as one of the worst dining experiences in my life. After a trip to Mt. Rainier, we were hungry. So, I suggested we try this dining car, converted from an old train car. The prices in this place are outlandish. I mean straight up ridiculous. Garden salad= 17.99. After seeing the prices and the dust levels and smelling the staleness of the train, we settled on fries and a soft drink. We were charged 9 dollars for a tea saucer of french fries. We contested the price, but in fact a saucer of fries equal to 1/4 of potato, After paying the bill, I felt as if I someone took advantage of me. My posture was slumped, my eyes a little watery and my spirit was broken. Fool me once, shame on you Mt. Rainier Railroad Dining Co. read more

Edible, but not impressive food. They were out of the advertised Elk Burgers and out of the potato salad. They had no beers on tap. The venison is farmed- not fresh, & the bison burgers seemed to have been frozen- not fresh local. For $12? Meh. I can get much better for cheaper. Did I mention my kid's corndog was still frozen in the middle. That's pretty sad for a $6.99 corndog and fries. They made him a grilled-cheese sandwich as a quick fix. But seriously, how do you screw up a corndog? For being such an eye-catching and historic site, the interior decor and ambiance were markedly lackluster. It was very truck-stop kitzch. The train history on the menu was lifted from a Microsoft game glossary. Not kidding. The train models in the display case were plastic "Greatland Express" which are from the Target toy department. And rather than maybe some historic bootleg- era jazz or logging-era mountain music, there was slightly too loud modern country on the radio. A restaurant that features a number of $20+ entrees and bills itself on its historical features should have classier theme-related music or none at all. If the food had been stellar this could maybe fly. Or if the decor was superbly interesting and historical and museum-ish, the sub-par food could fly. But there was really nothing to commend this apart from the fact that it's in an old train car. That was it. And for that the price was much too high. read more

A caboose - really, who wants to eat anywhere else in a small town when you can dine on an old train? This place is adorable. And the food is really good! What's better than being in a caboose? Eating a hot bread bowl full of Hobo Stew. Thick, hearty stew with beef, potatoes, carrots - Yum! I love scraping pieces of bread all mushy with broth into a delicious spoonful of comforting soup. A nice glass of wine to sip on, lots of water to hydrate after a night of binge drinking - perfect. My friend had the smoked-fried chicken, almost the whole chicken on the plate fyi, and it was tasty, but also had the flavor of the crispy coating of a corn dog. Odd.... But we were all happy here, enjoyed great table service and were pleased to have made time to stop at one more place on our getaway weekend to try new things. read more

I get really frustrated and angry when I see such creativity in a restaurant such as this and the poor execution that follows. Firstly, I want to point out that the place is just cool as all get out. It was a great idea to have the whole train/caboose thing join, and it fit's very well with the mountain scene. I read all the reviews before eating here, and my wife and I took a leap of faith. I'll break down my experience. Arrival - It was a Saturday night at about 6:30 when we pulled up. This place should be hopping right? Nope....only a couple of servers that I saw, and just 2 tables eating food. There was one couple waiting in front of us that had not been seated yet as the server asked them to wait as she did us while she cleaned the table of a family who just left. I truly get this concept, having been in the food industry for a large part of my life, but we were the ones who were inconvenienced just so the servers wouldn't have to work hard and clean the other tables. We waited for about 7 minutes with only 3 occupied tables and 2 servers. Service: The service was GREAT. Very attentive, polite, well trained, and knowledgable about their script with customers. Though we noticed a couple that looked our age was seated right after us and I overheard them being flabbergasted at the prices and left before the server could even get to them. The service did not seem genuine due to the food, but they were nice ladies. I believe I overheard that one of them was the grand-daughter of the founder. Decor: Dated, yet it works for this type of food establishment, so no points lost there. Food/Value: This is where everything crumbles to the ground. We both ordered the Elk Burger with cheese. $12.99 + .99 for a small bite-size slice of swiss cheese to fit on the bite size burger. The bun was great, the thick slices of tomato was great, the seemingly endless pieces of piled up green leaf lettuce was great, but the star of the show (ELK), nothing... Both our burgers were NOT more than 2.5 - 3.2 oz, I guarantee you. The elk had a decent crust on it, but was grossly overcooked. The part I couldn't get over was the size of the meat patty. It was the size of a Wendy's Junior bacon cheeseburger. I assured our waitress that I liked the Elk burger, but there wasn't enough Elk. She clarified with me that I liked the taste, and that seemed to be enough to satisfy her. I think I even heard them talking about it in the kitchen and her repeating "well no he said he liked it". Unfortunately for this business, we are locals, and we won't be going back. This place has been given copious amounts of feedback on here and maybe other places, but apparently the owners/chef have lost their way. I encouraged everybody to go down the road a bit to Copper Creek, where the burgers are great sized, cheaper, better tasting, and the service is a bit more authentic due to the quality of food being served. I wish this establishment luck, and I hope they can turn it around. But as of this writing, it seems that the business thrives off of one-stop Mt. Rainier tourists. What a shame... I totally root for local business, but this is just taking advantage of people. It's a tough economy. Go back to the basics, a good ground chuck burger on a locally made roll, homemade pie, and homemade milkshakes. Lose all of the $20 a plate menu items. Ask yourself how much you are truly selling. read more

I will say first impressions mean a lot. We stopped here on the way back from Mt. Rainier to check it out. First of all, they have a carpeted floor where the tables are and the carpet was absolutely disgusting! There was smashed-in food everywhere. The waitress was polite enough, but certainly not very friendly. She gave us about four different types of menus without any explanation. We finally decided to play it safe by ordering some burgers. When we got our food the first thing we noticed was that the tomatoes on our burger were about 3 times thicker than the beef patty. The other thing I noticed was every time I went to take a bite of my burger there was a funky smell and I'm not sure if it was from the bun or whatever but it kinda grossed me out. The one thing I will say is that their fries were pretty tasty and my strawberry lemonade was excellent, however, I don't think I'll be going back there again. The other thing is that after all is said and done we paid way too much money for what was subpar food. My bill was $43 for two burgers a grilled cheese sandwich for my daughter, and three drinks! I like the whole idea of a unique experience of eating on a train, but in hindsight I would rather have skipped it and found somewhere in town. You should do the same! read more

Pickings are slim in Elbe, so we stopped in here after a very long day at Rainier. After we were seated and ordered our food, our waitress ignored us entirely. We didn't get out drinks refilled, had to ask for the bill, and when we handed a credit card to the waitress and said "we have to go," we then had to track her down to sign the receipt! The food is mediocre at best. I had a bacon cheeseburger (as I like to do after a long day of hiking & climbing) but I suspect that anything would have tasted good to me then. We left over an hour after we arrived, angry about the service and even warned a couple on our way out to try a different place. It is very rare when we leave no tip, but this was one of those occasions. read more

It is pretty cool having your meal inside an old train! No matter what you find after the initial wow factor. The food was mediocre. If you read the other reviews for the follow items (all of which we ordered), the other reviews are precise. We had; monte crisco, bacon cheese burger, kids fish and chips. None of it was great and I totally agree with the reviews posted by the other people who had our same menu items. The carpet is gross. My 9 month old dropped his bottle, then his rattle, then his teething toy and so on-so I had quite a few opportunities to verify that the floor of this place is insanely disgusting. My burger patty was so thin that really the only thing that saved my burger was the flavor of the bacon, which was also thin. The service was friendly and nice but what they had in character they lacked in service....no offer to fill waters, sodas or juices and we had to wait a while to ask for things like tarter sauce and more napkins. The silver lining was that we got seated in the circular part where the round table is and that was fantastic! With three adults, a 9 yr old and a baby I am pretty sure they did all of their patrons a service by putting us in a room where we could shut the door to the rest of the joint if things got too loud. read more

Regarding the March 06 review, this is no longer a moving train : ) I recommend the blue cheese burger. Very delicious, and nice hand cut fries. read more

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and despite only having two tables occupied, we were made to feel like a nuisance for having a party of 5 without reservations in a near empty restaurant. When our waitress came (a round woman with brown hair), she wouldn't repeat the drink options to my 7 year old daughter and watched us struggle to remember them for her. Her demeanor and attitude was completely rude and unfriendly from beginning to end. Every time she would walk by the table with my kids, she would over dramatically pause like they were going to jump in her way or something despite sitting down and being well behaved. Any customers that came after us were treated in a much better manor and were checked on often. For the mediocre food, it was extremely over priced. My chicken fried steak tasted like it came from a packet. Most likely frozen. I would've felt better paying those prices had I received good customer service and felt welcomed. We were anxious to leave and waited much longer than we should of for boxes or our check. The men's bathroom urinal didn't flush and the toilet had an entire roll of toilet paper in it. It was so cold in there we had to go to our car to get my 4 year old son his jacket because he was shivering. This was our first time visiting here and will be our last. I've never tipped below 20% before but this was the worst customer service experience I've had in the industry and the waitress didn't even deserve the 10% tip we left. We don't get to go out much as a family as my husband has a job that keeps him from home often. This was supposed to be a treat but turned into an awful experience and waste of money. read more

The prawn plate is awesome! Prawn is fresh and yummy The baked potato is also perfect. read more

Mount Rainier Railroad Dining - American Near Me - Elbe, Washington

We were cold and hungry after a day at Paradise building snow caves. We stopped in hoping to get warm and get a good meal. No on both counts. It was a cold day and those train cars don't have any insulation so we had to keep our coats on the whole meal. Joe had a barbecue chicken meal with a chocolate milkshake. The shake tasted like chocolate milk with too much syrup. It was not cold enough to have any ice cream in it. The chicken was OK but it came with instant mashed potatoes, over cooked broccoli (probably frozen) and a hard biscuit. I had a $10 blue cheese burger made from a thin costco burger and a squirt of blue cheese dressing. The fries were hand cut and might have been enough to give it another star had they been warm. read more