The Station Grill restaurant in Grover Beach, housed in the “Grand Junction” building just steps from the railroad tracks and catty-corner from the train station, serves up home-cooked meals seven days a week.
Owners serve up home-cooked goodness
“Choo! Choo!” This sound, along with the whir and clank of the train and the subtle shuttering sensation caused by the passing boxcars, is the native soundtrack at the Station Grill restaurant in Grover Beach, housed in the “Grand Junction” building just steps from the railroad tracks and catty-corner from the train station.
Owner Chris Rivas says that he and his wife, Karen, and their many regular patrons have become accustomed to this. It has become part of the restaurant’s unique experience. “When the trains go by, you see them, you hear them and you feel them!” Rivas exclaims. His restaurant’s train engineer logo and décor speak to this natural theme, but the food, thankfully, is miles ahead of what you’d find in a train galley.
Rivas says that the Station Grill, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, is known for its home-cooked flavors and dishes. “Everything we’ve done since we first started the menu has been things that we would serve our family,” He says, noting that his large extended family in the area was their focus group.
Rivas says that the Station Grill, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, is known for its home-cooked flavors and dishes. “Everything we’ve done since we first started the menu has been things that we would serve our family,” Rivas says, noting that his large extended family in the area was their focus group.
Several ingredients went into the making of what has become a lasting, and locally cherished, eatery and meeting spot.
Rivas points out four major factors:
- Consistency: “I have three cooks that have been with me for over 10 years”
- Friendliness: “Everyone is very well trained”
- Cleanliness: “We work very, very hard on keeping the restaurant clean and I hear almost every day from my customers how much they appreciate that”
- Reasonable prices! Dinners range from $10.95-$13.99 while breakfast and lunch fall between $5 and $9.
Another part of the secret recipe lies in the Rivas’ partnership: Rivas enjoys customer service and handling the front of the house while Mrs. Rivas enjoys the cooking, recipe development and managing the bookkeeping and back of the house. “As long as we don’t get too far away from what our strengths are, we complement each other very well,” says Rivas. “We’re a very good team together.”
Try the club sandwich: a classic favorite.
A dish for every appetite
The most obvious key to their success, of course, is the food itself. For breakfast, the most popular dish is the Station Grill Breakfast: three eggs, cooked to-order, with a choice of bacon or sausage, and served with hash browns and toast. “We serve probably close to 100 of those on weekdays; close to 200 on the weekends,” Rivas says, noting that omelets, burritos and French toast are also popular. For lunch, guests love their wraps, salads, burgers, pastrami, and sandwiches. For dinner, The Station Grill offers classic family dishes like meatloaf, chicken alfredo, flat-iron steak, pork shanks —all served with the trimmings: a side salad and bread.
Still, “Without a doubt, our most popular dinner is my wife’s meatloaf,” Rivas says emphatically. “It’s the family recipe. It’s served with garlic bread, mashed potatoes and gravy—the mashed potatoes come from potatoes; the gravy is made from scratch. So nothing we serve comes out of a box. It is all made-to-order when you order it.”
The home-cooking approach has certainly served them well in developing lasting customer loyalty. “At any given time, I could probably introduce you by name to half of the people in the restaurant,” Rivas says with pride, adding that he knows several patrons who eat there more than once a day. Beyond the regulars, the Station Grill has become a hot spot for tourists and a meeting spot for several local groups and organizations.
And in this sense, the Station Grill has truly become the town’s depot, bringing friends and family from near and far together for a home-cooked meal. Station Grill now serves local Beer and Wine and has a Dog-Friendly Patio.
The Station Grill, located at 170 W. Grand Avenue in Grover Beach at the corner of Grand and Highway 1, is open Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 7:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call (805) 489-3030 or check out www.stationgrill.net for daily specials and more information.
— Jamie Relth
