The Rail Stop Restaurant

First time since it has reopened. Very nice redecoration and an added second floor of cozy seating. We had lunch: bean soup (soup of the day), salad, and a pizza and they were all great. Samantha was our attentive, friendly server. Very nice to have this option in one of our favorite little stopping towns.

The staff was so sweet, the place was adorable, and the food was incredible. My only recommendation is that it would have been nice to be a little more intimate with the seating instead of tables and chairs, diner-​style.
For food, we got the warm spinach salad and polenta, which were both immediately destroyed because they were so tasty. For my entrée, I had homemade ravioli with meat sauce; the cheese and ravioli pasta were literally melting in my mouth. The meat sauce was fine, nothing to complain about, but I might try the other option next time. The portion sizes weren’t overwhelming, which is a good thing (as it leaves room for dessert!) but none of the desserts were screaming out to me, unfortunately, so I passed.

A very comfortable restaurant …had a wonderful experience on a Sunday night. I had the Veal Medallions, which were prepared perfectly and served up with roast potatoes and greenbeans…
Welcomed by super friendly young lady, and found the service to be excellent.
Definitely worth a drive out to The Plains.

Such a great local restaurant owned by the highly talented chef, Tom Kee. Food is always consistently great. Friendly staff including our favorite– Diane. Worth a drive out.

Our experience was a touch ridiculous.
We walk in on a Sunday for lunch and on the outside there was a sign offering pizza, yet it was nowhere to be seen inside on the menu or on the blackboard, but the waiter reassures us we can have it made anyway.
We proceed to tell him we wanted the 3 meat pizza and that we will see if that fills us before we order more. He says ok and leaves. So we wait.
He comes back 10 minutes later, no pizza and says «ok, you ready to order?»
We look at him baffled and say «what? We already ordered»
He looked a touch surprised and said «oh yes you did!» And he runs off and we then proceed to wait another 25 minutes. By then we both draw a picture of the pizza on our iPhone because we are so Hungry and to fill our time of being bored waiting.
Finally our pizza arrives and we eagerly show the older blonde guy that delivered our pizza our drawing and he doesn’t even break a smile. But it did help him realize that our picture had meat on it and the pizza that he brought Did not!
Not only did the order come out wrong, it also had a huge chunk of the crust missing! Did it fall in the oven and they decided to bring it out to us anyway?
Before we even had a chance to think about if we wanted to wait for him to get another pizza made the blonde guy snatches this broken pizza away from our starving gaze to only replace it with another «twenty minute wait» pizza. He didn’t even offer to leave the broken one with us to munch on while we waited, nor did he, nor the waiter apologize.
Did he feed the staff in the back the broken pizza while we starved?
We were flabbergasted and simply walked out the door, starving and without pizza.

What a great little town and restaurant! So charming and great food. We will definitely go back soon! Can’t wait to see it decked for Christmas!!!

Stopped in for Sunday brunch and was very impressed. The food is delicious and tastes homemade! Great spot in the middle of the little town. Very charming.
Try the chorizo breakfast with poached eggs– very good!

I’ve been here for not less than 10 years. Fantastic food, service, and beverages! The Staff and Chiefs are wonderful!

Very good food, nice service, and a pleasant atmosphere; but portions were small and seemed a bit overpriced. I had tortellini, which was home made and quite good, but only 6 – 8 pouches. I had Crème Brûlée, which was also home made and excellent.

We have been coming to the Rail Stop Restaurant for years, and the food is delicious and consistent with a 5 Star Restaurant, but somewhat informal, i.e., comfortable setting. The entire staff is always pleasant especially Diane, who we always ask for. We especially love their crab cakes, and have routinely ordered their specials, and have never had a bad meal. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a really special restaurant to dine out!
Also, for those that do not know, this restaurant was previously owned by the Actor Robert Duval [one of my favorite actors]who lives in Middleburg VA; and although the owners have changed, the food and atmosphere has been consistent. (Mr. Duval routinely visits the restaurant, so don’t be surprised if you see him there).

Pretty good tasting pizza and lamb wrap, bur prices were a bit high for this area and selection pretty slim for non breakfast options

I’ve been going to The Railstop for many year. In my opinion it’s the best food around! The staff is very warm and Personable as well as the owner Tom! The food is incredibly delicious. The Rail Stop will always have me as a customer!

Had a great dinner with friends. It got pretty busy but seemed no problem for this cute little place. Had warm calamari salad, lamb salad, roast chicken, homemade ravioli. We loved it all.

To sum up a slightly ridiculous experience fueled by impulsivity and an evil Jiminy Cricket: I saw a «Fresh donuts made daily» sign, promptly made a u-​turn, and waited very patiently for 20 minutes for a box of fresh, warm cinnamon sugar donuts to be handed to me across the counter. I ate two in the car and smiled for the 45 minute drive home. Yes, I will pull over for donuts and, no, this isn’t the first time I have done so.
Note: I have yet to try the normal food but I stared at everyone else during the wait — it looked and smelled delightful. I would love to go back and try it again for dinner.

Ate here tonight. The pan seared crab cakes are decent but small. The place itself has zero ambience and you may find yourself wanting to run out the door. It’s drab and a bit depressing. Go to Middleburg, lots of nicer places there. In summary: Small portions, over priced, food was «ok.»

I went here with a group and ended up being very underwhelmed. The food was just mediocre and rather pricey. They make a big deal out of their ‘house made’ pasta which isn’t really anything special. The prices were upscale with decidedly not upscale rustic décor. Also, it was a chilly night, and the place was very chilly. Most of the group left their jackets on.
On the plus side, our server was excellent.

**** 3.5 Stars***
My friends and I were on our way to a Barrel Oak Winery and decided to have lunch at The Rail Stop Restaurant. It’s a local restaurant on Main Street, very cute and quaint. The atmosphere was very relaxed and you could tell people were not in a hurry to get somewhere.
Staff was friendly throughout our lunch. We were greeted and seated immediately. Our server brought us water and told us the specials of the day, as well as gave us our menus. I decided on the special of the day, the lamb burger with fries. The lamb burger came with spinach and goat cheese. Very unexpected but it was tasty. The fries here are awesome! Hot, thin, crispy and a good ratio of salt and pepper. One thing though is they don’t carry ranch dressing. I like ordering my fries with a side of ranch but this time, I was not so lucky. Not a big deal but still…
Service was fine, just a bit slow, but we were eating on a week day. Overall a cute place. and good food.

For at least 15 years I have been going here at least a couple of time a year. Its a bit of a hike, 45 minutes each way, but always worth it. The staff is ALWAYS friendly and engaging. The atmosphere is just right. Not pretentious, not too casual, suit and tie, or polo and jeans, you fit in.
The food is always spot on. It the 3 dozen or so visits we have made, my wife has had the NY strip, vegetables and potatoes all but 1 time and has loved it each and every visit.
I am far more adventurous. I have had at least 2 dozen different plates, often opting for the specials. I made the comment to my wife that the last meal we had there was my least favorite of all time… That being said, it was the best meal I had had in 6 months. My expectations are always high and always reached.
One of my favorite places to eat… in the world.
Dont forget to get the crème brûlée. It is as good as any, anywhere

Just went here with 3 other friends to celebrate our birthdays on the way to a winery. Quaint restaurant, with beautiful art work on walls for sale. Food was excellent — not a huge menu, but salads, burger, quesadillas, and soba noodle salad. Brought a complementary lemon blueberry cake slice… all of it was delicious! The sweet potato chips were too good. I’m going again.

A solid 3.5 stars from me. I had dinner here on Saturday evening with my husband and two mutual friends of ours after we had all spent the day at the Vintage Virginia wine festival. I had read the reviews and the menu prior to going so I was a bit skeptical about what I would receive.
The Plains is a small town with an exceedingly tiny main street, which is not to say that it doesn’t have charm. The restaurant echos this very smal, quaint feeling. They do have patio seating and parking in the back.
The gentleman who took our order was very nice — not sure if he’s the owner or not. He was friendly, yet he didn’t loom over us when we were taking our time deciding what we wanted and just talking. He was very helpful when asked out what he’d recommend off the menus.
The four of us had the following dishes (which were based on seasonal items):
Cold carrot and ginger soup — this was very tasty, yet the dried coriander provided an odd consistency when eating it — would’ve been better if it was dried coriander topping a hot soup. Still very good and unexpected.
Steamed Mussels in Vermouth, butter, and garlic — these were very, very good. My husband and I devoured them. Our companions used the fresh sourdough bread to soak up the sauce.
Crab Cake entrée (split between my husband and myself) — two medium sized crabcakes covered with a lemon beurre blanc with a side of roasted redskin potatoes. I was full by this point so I didn’t eat any of it but my husband, who is very picky with crab cakes, said they were the best crabcakes he’d ever eaten. They seemed to be all meat and no filler. I liked the redskin potatoes.
Steak and Shrimp main courses — our dining companions had these and they ate everything. They seemed to enjoy their meal — we were all talking so much that the food became sort of secondary which is okay.
Pear Crostada with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert — I thoroughly enjoyed this, as did the other female I was eating with. My husband didn’t like it, but he’s weird — if it’s not apple pie or crème brûlée he hates it.
This certainly wasn’t the best meal I’ve ever eaten, but it definitely wasn’t bad either. The rating I’ve given reflects the fact that portion sizes are small and they seemed a bit overpriced for what you get. Also deducted points for the menu being somewhat limited.
It was definitely a nice place but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there when there are comparable restaurants with better/​similar prices closer to home. If in the area, I would go there again.