Buttery, cheesy, bacon-y, beer soaked and whiskey spiked: Is Linfield’s Railroad Street Bar & Grill the best dive bar in the western suburbs?
If one bumper sticker can tell a story, then you’ll undoubtedly read volumes into the unmistakable ЯR affixed on countless cars and trucks throughout the Delaware Valley and beyond.
It’s an emblematic nod to Railroad Street Bar & Grill in Linfield, located just a few minutes off Route 422 in Montgomery County. For some, ЯR blends in with most of the other adhesive or magnetic standards out there (OBX and CoExist come to mind). But for so many others, ЯR symbolizes a growing near-cult following for this otherwise unsung and relatively unknown restaurant.
Railroad Street is a neighborhood place—a dive bar, if you will—but not dive-y in a dangerous sort of way. Rather, it has real character, a brick and mortar charisma to go with its fitting location next to the Reading Railroad line in a nondescript industrial section of this workaday borough. Yup, it’s that unexpected find there on the other side of the tracks.
The Story
“Eleven years ago, if you told me I’d be running my own restaurant, I’d have said ‘you’re crazy,’” admits Mike McCloskey, the hands-on owner of Railroad Street Bar & Grill. “But when my former partner and I bought the property with the initial intention of renting it out, I quickly saw its incredible potential.”
Up until that kismet moment, McCloskey, now 44, had been a local real estate investor. Soon afterward he formed the idea of basing his business model on those bulwarks of better comfort foods and drink: grilled cheese, chicken wings, French fries, burgers, steak sandwiches and beer. The filling fare is complemented by an impressive bar tap system offering 43 carefully selected drafts.
The Look
With its quasi rough-and-tumble-looking situation by the tracks within a fairly commonplace neighborhood, Railroad Street appears as a typical blue collar bar. Step inside, though, and its quirky and convivial personality envelops a multigenerational array of customers who range from parents/grandparents, kids/grandkids, local workers, singles and couples to Gen X hipsters and ex-’60s hippies, all of whom rub elbows with casual light beer-drinkers and serious craft beer/fine whiskey sippers alike. The place is for everyone, and its vibe is, basically, “no judgments” throughout.
Patrons spread amiably within the 60-seat dining room and along the 37-seat bar or on the 60-seat outdoor patio when the weather’s fair. Wood paneled walls, pillars and ceiling beams are festooned with beer labels and neon signs, old license plates, suspended skateboards and humorous placards (one wink-wink sign posted on the plastic bag dispenser mounted above the bar reads, “Nobody’s ugly at 2 a.m.”). The ever-present Music Channel soundtrack is—not surprisingly—usually set to the Alternative station.
Beyond the bar is a back room holding a treasure trove of shiny pinball machines, a buzzy and flickering place to unleash one’s Bally table wizardry.
The Food
You won’t ever see the Cisco tractor trailer unloading processed foodstuffs at Railroad Street. Mike McCloskey is an ardent supporter of local farms, and he even takes his own “seed to sauce” approach, meaning he utilizes nearby gardens to grow a vast bounty of veggies. The tomatoes and peppers you’ll enjoy in sauces are mostly from his crops, and so are many of the organic potatoes, which end up being hand-cut to form the Grill’s legendary French fries. Onions are used as a base for the restaurant’s savory sandwich jams.
Meanwhile, burgers and chip steak come by way of grass-fed steer rendered by Why Not Farm in nearby Glenmoore.
Fresh-cut potatoes become fried works of art here. Topped with beer and cheese-infused béchamel, they’re called Beerchamel Fries. Another French-y offering is Lobster Fries (covered in lobster bisque, shredded Maine lobster, Monterey Jack cheese, Old Bay seasoning and a dusting of Parmesan).
Free range chicken wings run the heat index gamut from mild to You Gotta Be Kidding Hot. Other flavorful accompaniments include blood orange habanero sauce, jamberry BBQ sauce and garlic butter.
The half-pound, hormone-free beef burger can be decadently slathered or patty-melted. The Jefferson features Jefferson’s Whisky bacon jam and provolone cheese on grilled Texas toast. St. Lucifer creates an oral bonfire from seasonings by local favorite St. Lucifer Spice Company (it’s topped with bacon, red onion and sharp cheddar cheese and served on a Parmesan-crusted Kaiser roll). The Get Railed burger is piled high with pulled pork, bacon, cheddar cheese and a house-made IPA barbecue sauce.
But it’s grilled cheese and other substantive sandwich favorites that really lure the hungering masses to Railroad Street Bar & Grill. Mike’s cooks have fun creating esoteric combos: The Worst Crab Cake Ever Grilled Cheese (slathered with Dijon tartar sauce and topped with smoked Gouda), The Lobster & Cheddar Grilled Cheese, The Spice Orchard Beef Brisket Grilled Cheese, The French Dip Grilled Cheese …
Then there’s—wait for it—The Claude “Girouxben,” an edible homage to Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux: Two pieces of wheat bread are packed with seasoned steak meat, bacon, mild and sharp cheddars, smoked Gouda, provolone and coleslaw and then topped with Gulden’s mustard and a sweet balsamic aioli to create the veritable hat trick of sandwiches.
Potables
“This isn’t a shot and a beer joint. In fact, I usually don’t allow shots at the bar,” Mike states with serious pride. “The whiskies here are meant to be savored and enjoyed.”
Like he does with food resources, McCloskey supports smaller distillers as well. His house label, Jefferson’s, is hard-to-obtain Kentucky micro-batch bourbon. He also features over 500 bottles of hand-picked whiskies, from pedestrian pours to complex spirits. “Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned expert on whiskies, you’re bound to like something on our list.”
With 43 beers on tap (and a very respectable bottles selection, too), quaffers can find the appropriate flavor profile. Local favorites from Neshaminy Creek, Victory and McKenzie’s make the rounds here, and so do more obscure breweries, especially from the western part of the state, like Pizza Boy and Fat Head’s Brewery.
Which brings us to the bartenders of Railroad Street. They’re solidly approachable, salt-of-the-earth folk. If you need a friend, they’ve got your back. If you want to hear a joke, then it’s “Two guys walk into a bar …” Or if you just want to be left alone to nurse your brew and your troubles, well, consider this your quiet little vacation from life for a while.
The Takeaway
For a guy who isn’t much of a social media maven (“It’s pretty much Instagram and word-of-mouth”) and had zero restaurant experience until 10 years ago, Mike McCloskey continues to do well for himself, foremost, by doing well by employees. His cult of customers and their ЯR bumper stickers most certainly have followed.
Hours of operation are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m.–midnight; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.–2 a.m.; and Sunday, 12 p.m.–12 a.m. Closed Mondays. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Find Railroad Street Bar & Grill at 36 Railroad St. in Linfield; phone: (610) 496-7043.
- Photos: Ken Alan
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