Rail & Rye — Restaurant in Navasota

Let me first start by saying I ran some of the wiring in the this place while it was being built and seeing it come to fruition from the construction phase was amazing. So much care and detail has been put into this restaurant, you can tell it has a lot of heart and soul.

My wife and I came for date night from College Station. The wine list is extensive and eclectic, Well Done. I am the type of person that enjoys a bottom shelf Margarita over a topper any day, just because it’s more rough and tumble. Mango margarita was my choice for the evening. I’m not even sure what kind of tequila it had but it definitely was my style. Don’t expect anything sweet out of this except for the sugar on the rim. I have to admit that threw me off at first but complimented better than salt in the long run.

The wife and I split Crab Cakes, Chicken Caesar, and Chicken Fried Steak.

I am from Alaska, and I have pulled crab straight from the ocean and put it into directly into boiling water. This experience changes your forever. Frozen crab is not something I eat anymore from the store because it just doesn’t do a justice. I do enjoy east coast crab still and I have a very high standard for crab due to previous life experience. These cakes are good. Just the right amount of crunch on the outside and a nice balanced aioli to dip.

Chicken Caesar, not tossed but I’m sure they would have if I asked. I’ll definitely remember for next time. Subtle hints of anchovy in the dressing, and not too overbearing. Not an easy thing to do unless you’re using paste and are very calculated. Overall a great flavor in the dressing and the chicken.

When the Chicken Fried Steak came I cut right in the center. The chicken happened to be raw in the middle still. Before anyone goes crazy let me just say that this is a very common occurrence when you batter something to order that is not frozen. Fried food is extremely finicky and sends phantom temperatures to chefs thermometers across the country. If you experience this when you’re out, I encourage you to channel your frustration into how the establishment deals with the issue. If they scrape your sides off for you so you have something to eat while they fix it, the server is probably more experienced. This is not something that’s taught in any restaurant training regiment but rather something learned by experience. If they bring you new sides, that tells you they care 🙃. Needless to say they whisked it away and brought a new one in a very timely fashion. The chicken is cooked perfectly this time. Incredibly savory and flavorful. Gravy is superb; perfect consistency! I personally LOVE salt, and you must also love salt to love these green beans! Lightly glazed with butter and SALT! Not overbearing but it’s definitely there. Nice creamy rich mashed to compliment.

Overall a wonderful date night. We have 3 kids under 3 so it will be hard to make it back soon but will do our...

I really wanted to love this place. We were very very disappointed in our food and lack of attention from the staff, especially for the high price! We had reservations. It took about 5 min for someone to notice us at the hostess podium. A young lady finally came over and asked if it was "just 2". I then explained we had a reservation and she walked to a table without saying anything, sat down the menus, and walked away without a word. She sat my mother (who has a walker) and I at a half booth directly between 2 other diners with no room for her walker. (There were many tables all around us that remained empty the entire 2 hours our experience took.) No one brought us water or acknowledged us for over 10+ minutes. After many attempts to look around and get someone's attention, a server saw us, turned and walked to another server, without even a head nod in my direction. After taking another tray of drinks upstairs, the young man she spoke to finally came to get our drink orders, He was polite and apologetic. lt then took 45 min. for our appetizer to hit the table, with our salads and main course immediately following; this caused our small table to over packed with dishes. We piled what we could onto our dinner plates and stacked up the empty dishes on our table. No one took them, so when the people beside us left, I put our dishes on their table. They stayed there until our dinner plates were cleared. Our Oyster appetizer was extremely overcooked; the oyster muscle was not severed from the shell which made it nearly impossible to pry the very tiny amount of shriveled charred cheese & meat from the half shells. After a couple attempts we gave up, they were not edible. My steak was also overcooked (medium-well instead of medium-rare) and so salty I had to wipe it off with a couple napkins. (I like salt, but this had so much it choked me.) Most of my asparagus was so woody that it also was inedible. My mother's stuffed pasta dish had a nice flavor, but was very overcooked and mushy. No one refilled our drinks or checked on us during our meal. When the waiter brought our check, and noticed the food left on our plates, he offered to tell the manager, but after being there for over 2 hours, we were now running late, and just wanted to quickly leave. I hope our experience was a fluke- as it could be such a nice place to regularly dine. As I said earlier, I want to like this place... choices are limited in...

We’ve given Rail and Rye more than enough chances, and each time we’ve walked away disappointed. Between overpriced food, poor service, a confusing layout, and a complete lack of organization, it’s hard to understand how this place keeps getting recommended.

The food is average at best, nowhere near worth the prices they charge. It’s the kind of menu that sounds fancy but delivers nothing memorable. Small portions, underwhelming flavor, and inconsistent quality make it hard to justify the cost. If you’re going to charge those prices, you’d better offer either excellent food or outstanding service. They do neither.

And the service? Easily the worst part. We hosted a team party here, and despite making a reservation a week in advance, the staff had no clue we were coming. They stuck us in an awkward, oversized upstairs room with just two small round tables dropped in the middle like a sad banquet. It was isolating, disorganized, and honestly embarrassing. We were split up and then completely forgotten. No one checked on us, orders were slow, and it felt like we were an inconvenience rather than guests.

The downstairs isn’t much better—it’s cramped and noisy, with barely enough room to breathe between tables. You’re practically in someone else’s conversation the whole time.

But the worst experience we’ve had with Rail and Rye was when they used to require prepayment during the reservation process. On one occasion, they overcharged us by more than $100 because they failed to apply the prepaid reservation credit to our bill. It took them a ridiculous two to three weeks of constant phone calls to issue the refund. No urgency, no accountability—just confusion and runaround. It was an absolute mess. I don’t think they use that system anymore, and thank goodness, because whoever was managing it clearly had no clue what they were doing.

Rail and Rye tries to come across as trendy and upscale, but in reality, it’s chaotic, overpriced, and run by a team that doesn’t seem to care. If you like spending a lot of money to be ignored, crammed into tight spaces, or mischarged for your meal, this place might be your vibe. Otherwise, save yourself the frustration and go literally...