Rail Kitchen & Bar in the Decatur Depot Closes
Decatur Metro | August 1, 2011 | 3:03 pmTeri Shea sends along this note announcing she’s closing Rail Kitchen & Bar…
Good afternoon everybody!
I just wanted to thank all of you for your continued support of both Farmstead 303 and Rail kitchen & bar.
After a year and a half, I have decided to close the doors of this project. It has been a great experience as well as a learning one.
With today’s challenging economy, it has proven difficult for me to support two (2) ventures at the same time. Feast being my first born, I felt that all of my energy and efforts needed to be channeled into it’s continued success. After recently celebrating our 6th anniversary, I realized that it was important for me to focus on making Feast the best it could be.
I do hope that all of you can understand how hard it is for me to have to admit defeat. However, being the type of person I am, I will not let this chapter of my career affect my future successes.
I look forward to seeing you all at Feast!
Support your local restaurants. Eat out often!
Teri Shea
Hmm. What’s next? Somebody’s got to make use of that awesome space!
What a shame. I love the location, but heard the service was abysmal and the food was underwhelming.
Hopefully something worthwhile will have a go at the location.
hey look, a new space for Watershed!!
Good riddance, Watershed.
I’ve always thought this space would work best as either a museum or a public venue (weddings, concerts, etc.). Isn’t it owned by the City?
It’s owned by the Downtown Development Authority.
Dance hall.
Wedding venue.
Feast is a really nice restaurant, so respect to Teri there. But good riddance to Rail and Farmstead 303, as far as I’m concerned. Between the two of them, went there 3 times and never failed to be disappointed. Stick to Feast, Teri. That’s clearly where your heart is. Let somebody who will put in the time and effort necessary to make it work move into the depot.
Didn’t she just say that?
Touche, Veg.
Another one of my brilliant ideas with no business strategy or market research: A model train/wooden trainset store–Lionel electric model trains, Brio and Thomas the Tank Engine wooden train sets, etc. If that’s not broad enough: Add in model train paraphenalia, train tables, model airplane and car kits, Pinewood Derby supplies, kitemaking, on-site classes for children and adults, an after-school program for train lovers complete with transportation in a Bertie the Bus vehicle, driven by Sir Topham Hat, and a deck decorated like the Harold the Helicopter’s heliport.
Again, steal my ideas please. When millionaires get their starts in Decatur with a children’s shoe store, genuine NYC bagel shop (with Mt. Kisco reservoir water flown in daily to ensure proper chemistry), a Freight Room model train store, and a consultant firm that specializes in CSD enrollment projections based on actual Decatur measurements, I’ll be satisfied to sit back smugly saying “I told you so!”
I like it.
Just add a section where I can buy hop-up parts for my radio control monster truck, and I’m there! I’m tired of driving all the way to the Norcross Hobby Town.
Yeah, yeah, I know. I love my toys.
I like that idea a lot.
Would love to see a hobby/science/education store in Decatur.
You guys are refining the concept beautifully. So a hobby/educational/craft store with a model train/wooden train theme to match the Freight Room.
So how much do I have to win in the lottery to start a store like this? Once I made the investment, I could probably find a business-savvy partner to join me. I’ll be the concept person and set up the trains sets and play with the Thomas/Percy/Bertie/Harold aficianados.
Bring back slot cars, too.
Sure, why not? I want my theoretical store to appeal to as many Decaturites as possible!
Then make sure it has a bar as well!
Drinking and driving…..model trains. Sure! (But then it cannot be a teen Center too.)
What about the German bakery where I can go daily at 7am and get fresh brot and come back in the afternoon for die torte und der Kuchen mit Kaffee!
Just want to make sure you are aware of The German Bakery in Decatur (2914 White Blvd off of Scott). It may not quite pass the German purity laws for bakeries, but they have a great selection of items and good prices. The coffee cakes are very good.
Orrrrrr… Perhaps revival of the original “Freight Room”?? I really miss the live bluegrass/folk….
Me too.
Can I play, too? I miss my train when I have to put it away after Christmas.
How about including Christmas village houses along with the trains? And the Spookytown buildings, of course, for the Halloween-loving train fanatics. Garden trains, we need garden train sets in Decatur yards.
That’s how this could pay for itself if it were a non-profit teen Center. The Botanical Gardens used to have a Winter Holiday model train exhibit that drew lots of customers.
+1, especially on the model trains. A great attraction for Decatur!
I guess I’m in the minority here, but I loved Rail & Kitchen. I thought the food and service was great. I will sorely miss this place. It was very affordable to compared to Feast as well. Sad to see this go…
+1 on the great experience at Rail & Kitchen, food and service was great. Stating the obvious but I would hate to try and open a restaraunt in this enviroment, there are just so many choices to eat these days especially in Decatur. Regarding the space and what may work – that isn’t a restaraunt? good luck with that answer…..good luck Teri
i really liked rail & will be sorry to see it go.
the food was reasonably priced & i thought the service was great!
plus for kids, it was fun to play with the stuff outside & to put a penny on the track.
best of luck to Teri!
Glad to hear some people had better experiences than I had. Both times I went to Rail, the service was atrocious. The first time, the bartender completely forgot about us, even though we were the only people seated in the bar area at the time. We waited for him to take my credit card for roughly 45 minutes before I finally just went to the bar to hand it to him. He said he forgot and thought he had already run us up. The food was mediocre, at best, too.
The second time, we just went there for drinks around 10 on a Friday night. First, they were out of my first two beers. Then, our waitress brought that same bartender started reading off a list of beers that were nothing like the ones I had tried to order, but that’s not that big a deal. We got our beers, and then the waitress came out and just stared at us about 2 minutes later. We finally turned to her and told her we weren’t ordering food. She sighed and walked off. Around 11, we were done with our beers. She asked if we wanted another, and we said we’d like our checks. She sighed loudly (again) and dropped our check on the table like a load of bricks.
I say, Sigh.
I really liked Farmstead and was sorry to see it go. BUT–and maybe I’m just being nostalgic–bring back the Freight Room!
Grog Shop!
+1
Just as long as it doesn’t SMELL like the Freight Room. Hey, I bet you remember Trackside when Eddie and John were the bartenders! Me too! (except I was dreadfully underage……)
Eddie served me my first legal beer at Trackside–a longneck Bud. I peeled the label off the bottle and kept it–still have it! But I spent a lot of time at the Freight Room as a student (and in later years), too. Loved the local acoustic music scene it fostered there. A lot of those folks are still playing around town in other venues (Cyndi Craven, Tom Wolf, Rick Diamond, Ron Hipp, and the list goes on!). It’s a shame that more audiences aren’t aware of what a rich local acoustic/folk community we have here. Many talented musicians and songwriters. In its heyday, the Freight Room did for local acoustic artists what Eddie’s has done for national touring artists. I miss it!
I agree. Loved the Freight Room.
Also loved the Freight Room, pre renovation. Countless lovely bike rides on Saturdays at 2 p.m.
Agree that that was a great era for the Freight Room, at least from the point of view of the customers. I’m not sure the facility stood up well during it.
I’ve eaten at Feast and Rail (2x) and had a great experience everytime. Sorry to see Rail close, but will make sure to head over to Feast, Teri. Continued success to you!
That sucks for Teri; has to be hard to make that decision. However, I was never impressed with either place.
I loved Rail and I’m sad to see it go. I only went there once but the tacos were amazing. The service great.
I liked both restaurants… food and service were usually good to very good the numerous times I visited. Sorry it didn’t work out for Teri. She gave it a good go.
That said, things will never be quite right until that wonderful space is turned back into a music venue …and, hey, here’s a great name for it: The Freight Room!
Went just once and liked it. We found the food good for the reasonable prices, and the kid-friendliness was nice. We were a party of 12, and one person’s order was botched. The staff was genuinely apologetic, and they comp’d him something, which seemed fair enough.
Feast is our “go to” restaurant. The food and service is consistently excellent, the atmosphere is warm and inviting inside, and I love the back patio. The real deal is the wine; superb selections at just $20 and $25. Terri and Robin have done a fantastic job there and I’m selfishly kind of happy that Feast will get Terri’s full attention, even though I feel her pain.
+1
Really glad Feast is sticking around. It’s a very special place, and one of my favorite spots in Decatur. Tried Rail 2-3 times but never felt the same “click.”
We went there for dinner tonight to express our condolences. No Terri. No Robin. The food and service were uneven at best. Perhaps I should have given them more time to grieve.
I found the food very ho-hum. There was nothing offered there that I couldn’t get somewhere else, which was disappointing. Would love to see a New Orleans restaurant back in town! Loved the name “Depeaux”–what a play on words–and wish that one had worked out better (but their service was even worse than Rail!).
Does the city still own this space? If so, it might be the easiest way to support a downtown food co-op inside the city.
I’m sure there are probably logistical issues – no current storage for one thing, parking for another – but I’m not aware of any other vacant retail locations owned by the city currently. From reading through the roundtable responses – not just the summary, but the raw data – tons of people made mention of being able to pick up daily essentials close by. Here’s a way to support that.
I’m not sure what Teri was paying the city, but I recall that the Depeaux was getting it for $1 a year, because they paid for the build out. Perhaps the city could make a similar deal with a group of citizens?
What am I not thinking of that would make this impossible?
Who is carrying the loan for that build out — the City, DFB, Teri?
DM- LOVE this idea!!! And love that the co-op dream is still burning bright in your heart! :0)
The depot is ideally located– not too North, not too South! What a terrific way for the City to support active living, local farming, and community! As far as limited parking, most folks that’ll be into co-op shopping probably also embrace walking or biking to do it, so the nearby lot should suffice. Heck, add a pedicab stand so that folks can opt for a ride home when they’re loaded down with purchases! It’d also be fantastic for the co-op to include a neighbors network so that folks can easily pitch in to help get groceries to less mobile neighbors. Storage solutions can be found. This idea really has potential! Keep on it!
Thanks Deanne. The only thing I’ve thought of since posting this comment is the reaction from other local shopkeepers who would compete with a co-op. Not sure the city would want to be seeing undercutting the prices of local businesses. A valid concern…I wonder if there’s a work around. Scott?
We went to Farmstead 303 once, and the food was so bad we never even bothered with Rail once we found out the same person had run Farmstead. It’s a great space, though, so I hope something wonderful moves in there.
There were a few signs this was not going well:
(A) They changed the name from Farmstead to Rail. Why would you change the name if things were going well?
(B) They never put up a permanent sign for Rail. Just a banner over the old Farmstead sign. Not really in it for the long haul I guess?
(C) The owner was going around town sponsoring events for groups and begging for business, i.e., “support local businesses like me in this bad economy.”
While I certainly think that supporting local businesses is important (and do so all the time), and know the struggles of small business owners, you have got to earn my business by providing a quality product or service at a good value. You will never survive by simply asking people to support you out of some sort of obligation. Nobody wants to do that.
A good quality restraunt with live music would do FANTASTIC there! With the love of the mobile app… if you want to jump start a place, issue a Scoutmob or Groupon… but be ready to deliver or that customer AND their friends will not come back.
I know this may sound weird, but has anyone thought of turning the location into a teen hangout place? I’m thinking something like the “Peach Pit” from 90210.
It’s spacious
It’s in town (kids can walk)
Might be a fun alternative to hangin’ out on the square.
Love this idea too. And it’s not necessarily incompatible with my model train idea. Teen boys secretly still love model trains; probably many teen girls too.
Teen center is excellent idea – and sorely needed. There’s a group in Druid Hills trying to start one near Emory Village but they haven’t secured space. It’s called Get Grounded http://www.groundme.org/. They’ve been working for 2 years on the concept, vision, programs, etc. Tons of energy behind creating a safe place for teens.
It could incorporate everything suggested so far—hobby/crafts center, music, dance, food, everything but a bar!
Who would pay the rent?
+1 for peach pit mention!
Never did get to go to this place. Someone needs to put a retro dance club there instead. A place that plays intelligent retro music, can have retro themed nights for certain decades and can also bring in DJ’s that play intelligent electronic music, rather than Lady Gaga’s Radio goo goo.
Legitimate sources tell me Xavier Roberts has his eye on that spot for a new branch of his Babyland General franchise.
Are you joking?
Yes, but imagine the possibilities! Cabbages delivered by the trainload directly to the delivery room!
A lot of people are into that creepy sort of thing.
BTW, the green background is a huge improvement over the black on dark grey.
I am sorry Farmstead did not work out. Attempted Rail once but most of the food was fried so promptly turned and left. Here is hoping a great restaurant comes to the building. As for Feast, I have learned to sit at the bar. I get great service from the bartenders for dinner but iffy from the wait staff if sitting at tables.
To elaborate, I think some type of dance club would do very well in that location because it would pull a lot of people in, particularly with the colleges being so close by. I think it would also help stimulate the other businesses around. Instead of people having to go out to MJQ’s they could come straight into Decatur.
YES, yes, yes. Swarms of Scotties used to descend on MSR and Decatur Social Club when both were located nearby. A dance club in the former Depeaux would do well.
Heck, just call it Decatur Social Club and be done with it!
Here’s how to do it:
-Steal some DJs from Noni’s and/or East Side Lounge, or wherever the cool kids are these days.
-Get the bartenders who worked at Depeaux back (I can’t recall their names, just that I LOVED them)
-A few rotating el cheapo drink specials (or one consistent $2 special). The $2 drinkers will bring their deeper-pocketed friends, everybody’s happy.
-Ladies’ (ie. gay ladies’) night once a week on a weeknight.
-Live music now and then? Please?
Somebody please make this happen.
Just change the name again to Rail 303 and continue to serve $20 fried chicken.
All Things Scottish!