Box Car Cafe & Cones — Restaurant in Bryson City

I used to live in the area and worked across the street from this place about 4 years ago and would always look forward to my lunch breaks during which I'd happily spend my money at this establishment. Well apparently it's changed hands since then. My go to was always the Philly cheesesteak and fries with a cherry coke, and so when I found myself in Bryson City again and some family was visiting from out of state I of course suggested the Boxcar Cafe. It was very busy, and honestly I can't complain about the wait time after ordering, but the food was very obviously much lower in quality compared to when I used to dine there. The cheesesteak sandwich was notably smaller and not on a hoagie roll, but instead on a thin, flimsy bun that reminded me of a generic king's Hawaiian bread as if it was just two dinner rolls still attached in the middle. The drink was pretty much just straight soda syrup that was sickly sweet and not carbonated at all. And the fries... the fries were a significant downgrade from what I remember. They used to be thick, possibly handcut, and very crispy and substantial. You used to be able to make a meal off of just the fries if you ate enough of them, but what I had was floppy, undercooked, greasy, generic crinkle cut fries. IN FACT, I literally watched a woman enter through the back with bags of Laura Lynn fries that she'd obviously just gone to Ingles to buy for the restaurant. Customers were basically getting a small amount of these low quality (and undercooked) fries for the price of an entire bag of them at the local supermarket. That's what I call cutting corners to maximize profit gains. It saddens me to realize that my once favorite place for food near the train depot is now most definitely a...

What a disappointment!! First off I never write reviews. My family and I were heading to the lake and realized that in the midst of packing we had skipped breakfast that morning. It was almost lunchtime so we called the boxcar café and cones (twice) but nobody picked up the phone, so we put in an order online (30 minutes in advance so they would have plenty of time to have the food ready when we arrived). When we reached the restaurant five minutes after the order confirmation said that it would be ready, it was not ready; and not only was it not ready, they hadn’t even started preparing our meal. They informed us that they were out of fish (which is what both my husband and I ordered) and that we needed to choose something else. They never called us to let us know that they were out of fish or to let us know that our order would take an additional 40 minutes to prepare. Everyone that worked at the restaurant was clueless as far as our order and what was going on and we ended up having to go through three or four staff members until somebody finally got our new order and started preparing the food. We were never offered anything for the inconvenience. We thought maybe they would offer our two-year-old and nine-year-old a free ice cream or something as they impatiently waited. We were never even offered a refund for the difference in cost for our order and ended up paying more for our food then it should’ve cost. After waiting a few minutes to see if they could issue a refund I just walked out. We waited over an hour from the time that we put in our first order. Once we finally got our meals and headed down the road the food was extremely disappointing!! We will definitely not...

My family is local. All 3 of us decided to get the Boxcar burger ($5.95) and fries ($2.25). My daughter got a double cheeseburger which added an additional $3.75. The bill was over $30. So it is pricey for a small mom and pop restaurant. The food was good especially the fries. But I ordered my burger with slaw and got all the way home to see that it wasn't on my burger or in the bag. That was a disappointment considering how expensive it was. Our main concern was that the staff did not have masks or gloves on, not even while preparing the food. This is a tourist restaurant right next to the train so I am sure people from all over the country come here to visit and eat there. During Covid times, I feel they should wear masks and gloves and require masks for the customers. If my family comes down with the virus, I will know where we got exposed to it. The service from the cashier who I believe is the owner, wasn't the greatest. She seemed "put off". Maybe a bad day but I believe service with a smile goes a long way. We definitely won't be going back until after the pandemic for fear of exposure. Plus I can make burgers and fries at home for under $12. I understand that the prices are inflated because it is a tourist spot. But locals don't wanna pay outrageous prices for a...