Railways Cafe — Restaurant in Gauteng

This place has been on my want to go places for a while now, and we were in the area and decided to finally visit.

There's a few small novelty shops on your way in and around the restaurant paired together with deco that's made up of everyday things (very cool touch). My favorite was the bicycle water feature.

There's lots of seating to choose from, including ones in a sandpit, one closer to the live music and some further away. We didn't struggle to find space when we arrived, but the restaurant quickly filled up.

We got our drinks, a virgin mango daiquiri, and white chocolate and mango milkshake (the milkshake was so absolutely divine!). They have an extensive range of alcoholic beverages.

For mains, we built our own platter. (Yes, we LOVE food). It included ribs, potato salad, chicken wings, jalapeño poppers, and two sauces (the kitchen also made a mistake a added chicken stripes on our platter which we didn't order but we decided to keep it).

The food was PLENTY, to say the least. The chicken stripes were a little dry, and I didn't understand the jalapeño poppers but it didn't taste all that bad, and the potato salad wasn't anything spectacular. Everything else on the platter was amazing, seasoned well, and cooked to perfection.

On a weekend there's live music which is always a nice touch to any establishment and this one didn't disappoint.

Overall, we had a chilled time, filled with good drinks, good food, and good...

NB: INFO ABOUT COMPULSORY GRATUITY BELOW.

Located in an odd collection of buildings which includes the retired Irene Post Office (complete with it's blue post boxes!), this eccentric eatery is an Experience. A cacophony of recycled & repurposed decor makes the place an adventure to explore. Great vibes, with regular live music on the weekends.

This past weekend was the second time we visited Railways in about a 6week span. The food was superb & reasonably priced for what you were getting. Their rectangular pizzas are a definite must! The drinks were generous enough for the cost, and didn't taste watered down, with a good selection to pick from.

BUT.

The restaurant includes a compulsory 10% gratuity on all bills. This used to be the norm for tables of 6 or more, but we were a low demands party of 4. Gratuity should be optional and based on the service received. We always tip a MINIMUM of 10% for good service, so in principle we do not have a problem with this practice.

What we DID take issue with is that our waitron expected an ADDITIONAL 10% on top of the gratuity-included-total, saying that the gratuity on the bill was "wages"(?). I am not sure if this is due to tips not being paid out to staff by the restaurant OR if the waitron was purposefully trying to mislead us. Either option isn't great, and will probably make me think twice about visiting this...

Thanks to the owner, Manager and waitress Michelle for one memorable bday 🎂 I was abit nervous about being able to book a table at desired time and was notified that I could not book after 2pm (I admit, I did get abit upset and worried there would be no space to sit as railways gets extremely busy) the owner assisted me in getting a great seating area, explained that after 2pm if you want to book you need to pay a booking table fee - which I understood abit better (thank you for being patient with me during abit of anger and panic mode) the manager made effort to ensure we were happy 😊 our waitress Michelle even though it was packed she was hands on and such a vibe we even exchanged a hug at the end of the night. Amazing vibes and atmosphere. When its packed service will be abit slower but not by much and they always make sure you are attended too (be patient with hard working waiters and waitresses during busy packed period - they are amazing people)

Thank you for making my bday the best one ive had in a while! Railways looks amazing, love that they allow lil vendors to sell stuff there too (bought cute alternative earings for myself and friends) - lets not forget pet friendly and they have a cute black doggy thats soo friendly 😊

I cannot wait to...