A rail-themed restaurant is a concept familiar to many rail enthusiasts. Perhaps you’ve dined at one yourself. Often located in a converted passenger station, the décor is themed, unsurprisingly, after railroads. Sometimes, these restaurants will feature authentic dining car plates from one or several railroads, and other such memorabilia.
Sometimes, though, these rail-themed restaurants will take their dedication one step further and erect a fully fledged, operating model railroad. These can take different forms, with some protected behind panels of plexiglass while others serve a more practical purpose, like delivering drinks and sometimes even food to waiting customers.
Below are a few examples of restaurants with model railroads and their function in the restaurant.
Buffalo Phil’s – Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Located in Wisconsin Dells, Buffalo Phil’s is a family restaurant serving up pizza, barbecue, and hamburgers, among other such fare. It also features a rather unique model railroad. While some model railroads may be designed with delivering lumber or coal in mind, Buffalo Phil’s focuses on delivering something a little different – food!
The model train snakes from table to table, with food bound for one family or another loaded on board and unloaded by hungry diners. How’s that for a prototypical operation?
The model train is complemented by a sprawling LEGO city, complete with many details for well-trained eyes.
Skyline Chili – Mason, Ohio
If you’re from Ohio, odds are good you’re familiar with Skyline Chili. This famed regional chain, which was founded in Cincinnati and has since spread throughout the Midwest, is known for their signature spaghetti topped with chili and piled high with shredded cheddar cheese, as well as their Coney dogs.
The Skyline Chili location in Mason, Ohio, though, is known for more than just their titular dish; this location is home to an operating model railroad.
This image was taken on location by Model Railroader associate editor and Ohio native Bryson Sleppy. The scale of this layout is unknown, but if you’re a local to the area and familiar with this location and the layout contain within, we’d love to know more!
The Choo Choo – Des Plaines, Illinois
The Choo Choo, located in Chicago suburb Des Plaines, Illinois, is pure Americana. This classic diner serves all the fare one might expect of such an establishment, including burgers made of grass-fed beef and freshly made milkshakes. Food is delivered tableside by an operating G scale train, which is sure to delight rail enthusiasts young and old.
Tetsudoukan Cafe and Rest Bar – Osaka prefecture, Japan
Perhaps the most unusual example on this list, Tetsudoukan Cafe and Rest Bar began as a ramen café that came to feature a large model railroad layout in 2007. It continued on as such, moving locations and adjusting the layout, until 2020, when the owners rescued a stray kitten and its family.
After realizing a passion for fostering cats, the ramen café added cats available for adoption to the mix, becoming a ramen café/cat café hybrid. The cats traverse the layout like four-legged Godzillas, knocking over trains controlled by diners via tablets. The felines became social media sensations once the owners placed GoPro cameras onboard the model trains.
As one might imagine, the cats frequently take a toll on the rolling stock, buildings, and scenery of the restaurant’s layout, which means the layout itself is a constant work-in-progress. This is truly a one-of-a-kind restaurant and a must stop for Osaka-bound travelers with a love for cats, model trains, or both!
To see more of these rail enthusiast cats in action, check out Diorama Shokudo on YouTube.
Do you know of a restaurant with a model railroad layout that wasn’t included on this list? Leave a comment below! We’d love to hear of other such examples, whether in the United States or abroad!
Ollie’s Resturaunt in Tulsa, OK on Southwest Boulevard ( old Route 66) located very near the Tulsa Rail yard. It has several layouts running!
In Kansas City, MO, Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant in Crown Center. https://www.crowncenter.com/listings/fritzs-railroad-restaurant
2toots train whistle grill Bartlett and Glen ellyn in IL
My favorite is Sushi House (https://sushihousebanff.ca/) in Banff, Canada (a little off the beaten track for those of us in the U.S.). A G scale train with flat cars circles in front of you at the sushi bar carrying dishes (color coded by price). You grab what appeals to you and dine while the train and the sushi chefs entertain you (videos here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mWnv567cq7WaDffAA). Trigger warning for those “south of the border”: The CP and CNR are heavily represented here (but not exclusively, GN fans).
PC Junction, Bailey’s Harbor (Door County), WI
I’d like to add a couple more restaurants in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.
1. The Depot in Grant, Michigan has a elevated G-scale ROW in the dining area.
2. The Interurban Depot Cafe in Marne, Michigan, which is located in the century old Interurban Depot.
3. The Choo Choo Grill, which is located just down the street from the ‘new’ GTW passenger station (now Grand Rapids Irrigation).
All of the above are worth a visit if you are in the area.
My local Food City (Bi-Lo at the time) in Rossville, Georgia, had a G scale layout running over the cash registers and I’m not sure if they still have it now.
Every Wegmans supermarket I’ve been to has a G scale suspended layout. The train has several Wegmans cars.
That’s interesting, it looks like they even had their own Wegmans-branded Lionel sets for sale at some point.