Railway - Lake City

I recently visited their Sunday Buffet and had a pleasant lunch experience. The pieces of fried chicken were on the smaller side, and there weren't any breast pieces available on the buffet. The dressing was tasty, especially with the gravy. I paired my meal with macaroni and cheese and green beans for some vegetables. I also enjoyed a salad and a bowl of ice cream for dessert. The service was excellent; the staff was attentive, and the woman taking care of me made sure my iced tea was always filled. I shared a large table, which made me feel more comfortable dining alone since there were no smaller tables available when I arrived. I also had the pleasure of chatting with two ladies from Kingstree, which added to my overall enjoyment of the meal. While I found the quality of the buffet to be just average, the restaurant itself is nice, busy, and a bit loud. Overall, I would recommend it for a decent Sunday buffet experience.

This review is for the Club Car Pub attached to the Railway Restaurant. This is the worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant. Ever. This place is so disorganized, it 's not even comical. The service and food are both bad. We would not return based on the food alone much less the run around and lies from the staff. We had 4 different servers over the course of our 2 hours there. My husband and I seated ourselves and after 5 minutes were asked for a drink order when there were clearly no menus on the table. I ordered a cheap beer since I had no idea what else they had. We ordered a beer each and after they were brought out, we had to wait 15 minutes to order food while the tables around us got friendly conversations with their server, appetizers, and rounds of beers. After we placed our food order we were completely forgotten about. It took one hour and four different servers to get us a mediocre flounder sandwich and pork chops with a baked potato. They have to hand cut the pork chops. Not true. They were only about a quarter inch thick. That 's machine done. If that was actually the case, cutting would only take 5 extra minutes. A huge party in the buffet has backed up the kitchen. Not true. Three other tables sat down, ordered, and were served after we placed our order. No one was willing to admit they forgot about us. None of the food was seasoned. The tartar sauce came in a to go style plastic cup with a lid with the date written on the top... the date from two days ago. The butter for the baked potato wasn 't even real butter, it was small factory bought containers of whipped spread. Even the french fries didn 't have salt on them. That 's American style cooking 101. When the check came it was only $12.32. They were business savvy enough to do the very least they could do to try and make the situation right not charge us for the food it took an hour to bring out. I give one of the many servers my card and when she brings it back, I have been charged for $36! What kind of establishment charges three times what they say will?! I bring this to the server 's attention. Oh, she had your drinks on one tab and the food was on another so I had to put them together. I was so mad I gave them a less than 10% tip and walked out. My husband said I should have left them no tip at all. No one apologized for anything. None of the people that work here care about you or the food. Do not go here.

The restaurant is housed in what appears to be an old train depot, conveniently located next to some train tracks. While no trains passed by during our lunch, I’ve heard from locals that they run several times throughout the day. The interior was surprisingly nicer than I anticipated, evoking the feeling of a traditional Sunday lunch after church. Overall, this place gives off a charmingly nostalgic vibe, and I absolutely loved it.

Great food, nice staff. Best place Lake City has to offer. Good selection at the bar, with great happy hour specials.

The food was hardly edible. The only option for Sunday lunch was the buffet, and even the biscuits were disappointing.