Railroad Station Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Cloverdale

I went there once. It was a long time ago. I remember I had my blue socks on. I always remember stuff better when I wear those blue socks. It was Thursday, and it was raining. I was driving through town on what was then 101 North. I was in my 56 Chevy Nomad wagon.. red.. Cherry. As it happened, (and yes, it did really happen.. and for all I know it still IS happening.. like some Bill Murry movie..) so anyway.. I ran out of gas in front of the famous old place. So naturally I went in to ask about gas stations. It was warm and the fireplace was popping from the big chunks of old California oak. I ordered a bottle of red wine that came from someplace in Asti.. and some of their homemade bread just out of the big brick oven in the back. I pulled my boots off and put my feet up in front of the fire.. I could feel the heat through those blue wool socks. I got them from my mother for Christmas in the 60s sometime. I sat there for an hour. I was drinking wine and eating that bread.. lounging.. lingering.. lost, really. Forgot about the gas. And started thinking about a woman.. A woman that keeps drifting in and out of my head.. Even when I'm not drinking wine.. in my blue socks. A woman I lost because I had made too many mistakes. Stuff that I didn't understand.. Like losing one sock in the wash.. 10 years go by.. You never see it again. So a lot of time goes by.. You never see her again either. What is that? Why do I still wonder.. You can't just wear one sock.. Can you? But, of course, I can't go into all that melancholia blah blah here, because this is a restaurant review.. (that I stumbled across while navigating through several web resources looking for something else entirely.. can't even remember what it was now) and in the end.. found myself scribbling this stuff. So, now, I will recklessly post this irresponsible comment anyway.. Maybe ten people will read it. Because.. you gotta tap the top first part, way up there, to get way down here. But, by this time, I feel obligated to tell you.. I eventually did have a long staring out the window at the rain dinner there.. it was a different place then.. California. As Dylan says, ".. the north country fair" So, if you're travelin.. as I was.. alone.. outta gas.. in the blue socks.. found on some way back there Christmas morning.. under the tree.. "from Mom to GW".. a long time...

Stopped by for a quick lunch. The waitress, Danica, was terrific! Very attentive and upbeat. The food wasn't as good as the ratings. I had a burger with two patties. They claim to be a great burger place but only offer 6 oz patties? No 8 oz? Really? I ordered mine with two 6 oz patties, medium rare. They came way over cooked, like leather. My garlic fries weren't any better either. My plate was swimming in grease. Yeah I know they are fries, but they don't have to have this much grease. As for the garlic, it was OK, but nothing special.

My wife said her seafood fettuccini had lots seafood in it, but she found it a little spicy. She can't take much spice at all.

We shared a brownie sundae for dessert. It was only average at best. Not much brownie and it tasted kind of old. With nothing to drink but water, our out of pocket price for lunch was almost $60, way too much for at best an average lunch, even with great service. The place looked old and weathered too, like it needs a remodel badly. They may have been working on this, because there was a lot of hammering going on in the background too over the fairly loud and obnoxious country music.

All in all, I wouldn't eat here again. Too expensive and just not that good. Also, it took too long, about an hour to get a...

We showed up as part of a large party (Grandpa's car club) which could be used as an excuse for the food and service, except for the fact that the club had given them more than a week's notice that they were coming and could have had more than one server for the whole entire back patio. It took our server 40 minutes to greet us and take our drink order and another 20 to receive the drink before taking our food order. Also, it was early on a Monday night so one would not anticipate it being too busy. The atmosphere was kid friendly enough but my kids ordered the nachos and the mac and cheese which were both served with the same fake cheese sauce and my kids wouldn't eat it. The burgers at our table were all overdone but the fries were ok. There isn't a vegetarian salad on the menu, so I ordered one without meat and they forgot the avocado and when they brought it- it was so dinky we all laughed. Cloverdale is up and coming and will continue to get more and more competitive. It's essential to maintain good standards for food service and hospitality. I hope the Railroad Station can improve their food and...