Victoria Station (restaurant)

Victoria Station was a chain of railroad-themed steakhouse restaurants. At the peak of its popularity in the 1970s, the chain had 100 locations in the United States. The firm filed for bankruptcy in 1986. The last remaining restaurant in the former chain was located in Salem, Massachusetts until it abruptly closed in December 2017.

The restaurant chain continues in Malaysia.

History

The concept evolved from a Cornell University School of Hotel Administration graduate project, according to original owners Bob Freeman, Peter Lee, and Dick Bradley, all 1963 graduates of the school. The first location was opened in San Francisco in December 1969 and was a 158-seat restaurant located on the Embarcadero at Broadway that was constructed out of five boxcars and two cabooses around a central lobby-service area. Another source incorrectly claimed an April 1969 opening date. The restaurant was grossing $90,000 monthly during its first year of operations.

By the end of 1978, Victoria Station had 97 restaurants, all company owned.

The chain was designed to attract members of the baby boom generation. The theme of the restaurant was loosely based on London's Victoria Station. Antique English railway artifacts were used as decor inside, and the exteriors were composed of American Railway cars, primarily boxcars, with a signature Caboose placed in front. On the "entry platform" to each restaurant was a London-style phone booth. Prime rib was the featured item on a limited menu that included steaks, barbecued beef ribs, and shrimp done in a variation of scampi style known as "Shrimp Victoria". Most of the restaurants used authentic railway cars for dining areas, often boxcars or cabooses.

The Victoria Station chain flourished in the 1970s, according to a memoir by former Victoria Station corporate marketing manager Tom Blake. The company was among the first restaurant companies to offer its employees stock options and an ESOP program. The peak of success of the Victoria Station restaurant chain took place at the time of the culmination of a joint venture with Universal Studios, which resulted in the opening of Victoria Station Universal City, a location on the "hill" near where ''Citywalk'' now stands. At its peak, the Universal City location of Victoria Station was among the highest grossing restaurants in the United States. The coaches in the restaurant used four of the coaches from Flying Scotsman's tour of America. They were repainted and converted into dining cars.

The U.S. operations of the Victoria Station chain began running into financial difficulties in the mid-1980s, causing gradual shutdowns of the franchise restaurants. In May 1986, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. bankruptcy court. Eight months later, it was reported in January 1987 that the company had a restructuring plan in place that would require it to sell a number of restaurants.

A new company, called Victoria Station Acquisition Corporation and was controlled by Lowell Farkas, purchased the Victoria Station trademark and 11 of the restaurants for $6.5 million and the assumption of a $1 million tax liability.

There was a similar chain called "Twickenham Station" in Alabama and Florida during the same time span. They were not connected. (Huntsville AL, Montgomery AL, Mobile AL, Pensacola FL)

Promotions

Singer Johnny Cash produced a promotional album of train songs for the chain, titled '' Destination Victoria Station'', which was then sold in the restaurants. This included the title song of the same name written and performed by Cash specifically for the album.

The chain was a sponsor of the United States Ski Team at least from 1977 to 1979 For several years, the Park City Ski Area (Mountain Resort) -- at which the US Olympic Ski team practices -- named one of its ski lifts Victoria Station.

Alfred Hitchcock flipped the railroad switch for the official opening of Victoria Station Universal City, on May 2, 1977. That restaurant included a funicular which carried patrons 600 feet up from the lower parking lot.

Known locations in the U.S.

The following locations in the U.S. are known to have at one time housed a Victoria Station restaurant:
*Albany, New York - Sand Creek Rd. (site is now Barnsider restaurant)
*Amarillo, TX (now demolished)
*Arlington, TX (now demolished)
*Alexandria, VA (demolished - Public Storage now on site)
* Altamonte Springs, FL (was on West SR 436, now demolished)
*Atlanta, GA (there were at least three, all now demolished. One was near Cumberland Mall (2785 Cumberland Pkwy SE, Atlanta, GA 30339) one near Northlake Mall, and another on Piedmont, just south of Lindbergh)
*Austin, TX (now houses a Longhorn Steakhouse)
*Birmingham, AL (opened 1975 on Morris Avenue, now home to Kinetic Communications)
*Bloomington, MN (now an Olive Garden restaurant)
*Boston, MA (located near South Station, now demolished, old photo a


* Burlingame, California, Burlingame, CA (now Kincaid's Bayhouse)
*Burlington, MA (128 Middlesex Turnpike. Location closed in 2005, building demolished;
Border Cafe
is now on the site)
* Casselberry, FL (on Fernwood Blvd)
* Charlotte, NC
* Maple Shade, NJ (was on Rte. 70, now demolished, site of an Audi dealership / Cherry Hill Imports)
*Cincinnati, OH (the downtown and east locations are both demolished)
*Columbus, OHDarien, CT (building still standing, but the rail cars removed, now a Bertucci's)
*Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
*Glendale, CO (demolished)The Victoria Station restaurant was located in the parking lot of a Target store in Glendale CO a small suburb of Denver near the intersection of Alameda Ave and Leetsdale Drive (some sources say Alameda Ave and Colorado Blvd.)
* East Brunswick, NJ (on Rt. 18 same lot as Brunswick Square Mall; now an Olive Garden restaurant. Rail cars were removed. No original structure remains. Unknown where rail cars went.
*Fairfax, VA (demolished; CVS/pharmacy now on site; next door to an Outback Steakhouse)
* Framingham, MA
* Ft. Lauderdale, FL (corner of E. Cypress Creek (NE 62nd St.) & Dixie Hwy, demolished, unknown disposition of caboose & boxcars)
*Gaithersburg, MD (now a Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse; burned March 10, 2005/reopened February, 2006)
*Golden, CO
*Honolulu, HI (on Kapiolani Blvd. in Waikiki; demolished)
*Houston, TX (now a Droubi's Imports)
*Indianapolis, IN (opened 1973 @ 7279 N.Keystone Ave, demolished 1988)
*Jacksonville, FL (demolished, date unknown)
*Kansas City, MO 2 locations, 103rd & Wornall and River Market area. 103rd became Spaghetti Factory, but demolished and now car dealership.
*King of Prussia, PA (later became "Bonkers" then Rib It and then eventually demolished. McDonald's now stands on this site.)
*Knoxville, TN
*Larkspur, California (a/k/a Victoria Station Marin County)
* Latham, NY
*Los Angeles, CA (including one in Hollywood; see Universal City below)
*Louisville, KY
*Macon, GA (Macon Mall)
* Marin, CA (located in Larkspur) (demolished, date unknown)
* Maumee, OH structure still there, converted to Fricker's restaurant, box cars and caboose are externally covered but can still be seen for inside
*Memphis, TN (demolished; was located near the intersection of Mendenhall and Mt. Moriah).
*Miami, FL (2 locations first one in Miami on NW 36th Street just north of the airport & 64th Avenue (demolished in 1994) property for sale and inside the Dadeland Mall, demolished in the early 1990s, now a Victoria's Secret)
*Monroeville, Pennsylvania (demolished; Land now used by Petco)
*New Orleans, LA