Railway Restaurant

Reviews

• Sarah J.

  star star star star star_border 11 June 2026

  My mom and I chose Railway Restaurant while in Lake City for Artfields based on the ratings from Yelp.
  
  For those who find themselves in Lake City but aren't from the South, this place is typical of the restaurants I remember going to as a child in Sumter, SC.
  
  My mom and I had the lunch buffet, from which I had the green beans (like my mom makes), macaroni casserole, fried fish, pistachio/marshmallo/mandarin orange salad (very old school. looks gross, tastes like delicious dessert), cole slaw, and macaroni salad. The only thing in that list that wasn't absolutely delicious and tasting like home was the cole slaw which was a little lacking in flavor.
  
  For dessert there was chocolate delight and banana pudding, both of which were very much the kind you'd expect from your grandmother of a church covered dish. Also, the sweet tea was on point.
  
  The restaurant is located in what I think must be an old train depot, and it is, in fact, right next to some train tracks. No trains passed by while we were having lunch, but I've heard Lake City residents say that trains pass several times though out the day.
  
  The interior of the restaurant is nicer than you'll be expecting. In fact, our lunch reminded me of Sunday lunch after church.
  
  Over all, this place is absolutely old school, and I love it.

• Bryan S.

  star star star star_border star_border 9 June 2026

  This is a review of their Sunday Buffet.  I was there last
  Sunday and enjoyed a good lunch.  The fried chicken pieces were small with no breast pieces on the buffet.  Dressing was good with gravy. I had the mac and cheese and green beans for veggies.  Enjoyed salad and a bowl of ice cream.  Service was very good and the lady understood that I really can drink some iced tea and kept my glass full.  I was able to share by large table (which made me feel better about using a large table by myself)  there were no smaller tables available when I arrived.  Had two ladies from Kingstree that made my meal experience even more enjoyable. The quality of their buffet is only average.  It is still a nice, busy and kinda loud restaurant that gets my vote for a decent Sunday buffet experience.

• Lizz B.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 5 June 2026

  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.

• J B.

  star star star star star_border 26 May 2026

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

• Ed T.

  star star star star star 17 May 2026

  Read the reviews, and they were accurate exactly as we were told the people are friendly and the food is  of high-quality.