I don't know what happened in between my last visit and this one, but it went downhill real fast.
Came with a party of six and it was fairly empty on a Friday night. We were celebrating a birthday and wanted to keep it low-key with some food/drinks, and it's always been relatively good.
This time around, the service was pretty horrible. The waitress took our order right away, but then we didn't see her for almost 15-minutes. She returned with about half of our drink orders and then told the other people that ordered Sazeracs that they were out of the rye whisky. Okay, great- but did it really take 20-minutes to figure that out? We got kinda scared when we saw her consulting a bartender's bible on how to properly prepare the drinks. The other two mixed drinkers in our party ordered Old Fashioneds and unfortunately had to send them back. They were a little too heavy handed with the bitters.
They decided to go with a Negroni. At first, it was scary because it was horrible, too- but it just ended up needing to be mixed.
I ordered a shake since I had eaten previously before coming. My shake took 20-minutes and was almost completely melted.
Another table next to us ordered shakes and it took about that long, too. I don't know what the hold up was, like I said, it wasn't crowded at all. The manager actually brought over our food and just dropped it on the table and walked away. When we couldn't get our server's attention, someone from our party actually had to walk across the restaurant into the cafe to get his attention and ask for ketchup. It was pretty dumb.
I was happy to get the bill and see that all of the drinks/apps were cheaper than we expected. Apparently they have a late night happy hour and nobody bothered to tell us. Boo.
Hmm. I seem to have my p's and q's out of order.
I had previously written about Ruby's, here:
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/rubys-diner-orange-2#hrid:PxIm2AsLBFRKzK7kMusH7Q">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a>
But what I REALLY meant was the Streamliner Lounge. My bad.
In summary: date spot with my FK, great happy hour, cool decor, never overly crowded, friendly servers and bartenders, etc. etc.
Addendum: if you like mac & cheese, the lobster mac on this menu is INCREDIBLE. A tad bit of spice, LOTS of chunky yummy lobster meat and nice creamy cheese. Martinis and drink specials always a plus, but one of our faaavorite spirits is counted as a well drink (and therefore is only $5).
I love this place. It was the here that the last date took place before the FK and I made it official. Sniffle.
I must agree with Kelly K's statement in her review -
"I dig this place."
Streamliner has 3 "C's" that I appreciate - Comfortable, Casual and Cool.
It's close to 5 stars when considering Happy Hour prices to quality = great value!
This place is located in the Historic Santa Fe Train Depot in Orange. According to the plaques, it started as a train station in 1887 to ship oranges from the many packing houses lining the both side of the tracks in the area. It has been rebuilt a few times, and was in service until 1970 when it was purchased by the City of Orange. There have been other restaurants in the building over the years - this is the latest tenant - and I think it's a winning combination.
You walk in, and it's Ruby's if you go to the right, and The Streamliner Lounge if you go to the left. We stopped in for Happy Hour, and I'm not much of a fast food burger guy anymore, so we were going to the left for sure - and suggest you do the same!
There are varied seating situations - deep seated living room lounging, seats at the bar, bar height and regular height table seating - most of it is movable so you can arrange for groups. I saw various ages of people in there - the atmosphere was very welcoming and laid back.
Full bar, several specialty drinks, wine, and several bottle and draft beers. It seemed like they had enough of a variety that everyone will find something to enjoy. For example, on tap they have a range from Coors Light to rotating one "guest" micro brew. I had a couple of Blue Moons on tap.
Streamliner Lounge has their own little menu, plus you can order from the Ruby's menu. Drinks and appetizers have happy hour prices (3:45-6pm) which are set up in groups for 3, 4, or 5 dollars. Click on their website link and check out the menu.
We started off splitting their Trio of Dips; Hummus, Smoked Salmon, and Guacamole;
served with their own house-made toasted baguette crisps. I'm no hummus expert - all I can tell you is that I liked it! The Smoked Salmon dip was not the best we've ever had as far as quantity of salmon, but was also good. Â The Guacamole was surprisingly fresh and not full of onions (yay). Â The crisps were very good, our server brought another plate of them to make sure we had enough for all of the dips!
My wife had a Cobb burger and fries from the Ruby's menu - the burger was not a cheap little thin patty - It looked good - they did not ask how she wanted it, and we didn't request anything - It was good size, I tried a couple bites, but we both agreed that it was a typical chain burger, just OK. The fries are shoestring (which I like).
I stayed with the appetizer theme - and got a three of them to try (Yelp making want to try as much as possible) - it was a little more that I should of ordered actually. I was looking for unique creations/combinations, so here's what I ended up getting:
Butternut Wontons - first bite had some molten hot butternut sauce inside - be careful!
Overall the taste was nice, it was unique, and only 3 bucks! My favorite part of it was the Jalapeño apricot jam. If you are a fan of the sweet-hot pairing, similar to a Thai sweet chili sauce - you'll love this jam/dip.
Lobster Mac and Cheese - actually small shells, not macaroni - Â 4 types of cheese - slight crunch on top, quality ingredients. Overall it was "OK to good," I wasn't much of a fan - but that's due to not caring for the seafood with cheese combination. If you like that combo, then you would probably enjoy this item - I would prefer a straight mac and cheese, with a little more cheddar flavor.
Brie, Pepper Bacon and Green Apple Quesadilla. This combo looked so interesting that I had to take a chance on it - turned out to be really good. The Brie and Pepper Bacon were a sure thing - I was surprised how the tart green apple provided a unique balance of flavors that worked great together! It came on a whole wheat tortilla, I prefer regular a regular tortilla, but in this case it seemed to fit. Came with a small salad on the plate - looked fine but I didn't touch it.
Service was outstanding! I didn't catch our server' s name, but she was super friendly, had a great positive energy about her, attentive to our needs, and genuinely wanted us to enjoy our time. IDK if all the servers are this good, but she was wonderful!
This is really a go-to after work Happy Hour place! Streamliner may actually be 'as good as it gets' Â for happy hour food - IDK - I can tell you that it beats the heck out of the places that people from my work go for our extra "professional development staff meetings". Â Unfortunately it is not close to where I work - so I can't recommend it to them, but I certainly recommend it to you!!
When walking up to the doors of this Ruby's establishment not like others, you're greeted with music of the era that it's successful at doing what most other themed diners fail at.. make you feel like you're actually taking a step back into time.
The look of the place is just perfect. You almost get the feeling like you're in the 20's. You too will believe that we can achieve cross Atlantic air travel!
But yes, you're greeted with music of the era that fits perfectly to the theme. But then you open the doors and you're slammed with shitty adult contemporary/pop crap that I have no idea who the hell they're trying to appeal to with said music.
The difference between this:
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D8bw5h-WPYBQ&s=a0c12dff87410aa0b4d17e1f3b0cf9b7e875738cc95cb0727e02db18c299db5b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/w…</a>
and this (I warn you, this is ugly..)
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLQj--Kjn0z8%26ob%3Dav2e&s=aeefa38ee3df5282b15aabff9160f6e1d49b77d0a27d546051564de17128e05d" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/w…</a>
ugh! Shut it off! Make it stop! All Smashmouth and no big band orchestra make Javier something something.
Go crazy?
DON'T MIND IF I DO!
Would it kill you to get some Jack Hylton and his Orchestra in the mix? Maybe some Al Bowlly perhaps? Ray Noble Orchestra or Henry Hall? Come on, work with me here!
It's just a really poor choice of music indoors. I almost feel like asking if I could just drink my cocktail outside of the doors in the front of the place.
Okay, in reality, that's my only complaint and mainly because some of that really bad early 2000's music was the reason why after two drinks, it caused the fleeing from the lounge to occur.
So aside from the music, they have this atmosphere that just reminds you of a time when the U.S. was fun and carefree. Like some Aaron Copland composed music come to life. As if we were still blissfully unaware of that Hitler fella. I almost want to run around the place and warn all the workers about him, I hear he's a bad egg!
The real gem is indeed the HH. Happy Hour drinks here are something that helps it attain that 5 stars along with the aesthetics of the joint. From 3-6 you're paying $5 for a worth while mixed drink. Beers are also super cheap.
Sitting at the bar helps or you can relax in the very themed chairs that remind me of hanging out at Union Station. And while I know Union Station has a bar, the drink prices can't be beat here.
The working trains circling the ceilings also tap into that small childhood lost inside me. Then the cheap alcohol is there to wash those memories away.. Ah, sweet sweet alcohol.
Now arriving, the cheap drink train is pulling into the station. Have your tickets ready and stand clear from the rails.
I dig this place.
Sure, it's a Ruby's on the other side, whatev, but they have a mighty fine happy hour and a nice atmosphere. The nice thing about corporate is consistency and, with the phenomenal cocktail recipes they have, that's a good thing.
This train stop joint has a vintage feel and a few working train sets. Some nights feature live music, but typically it's just whatever 90's or 00's crap that corporate says is acceptable. That's ok. It's better than most bars that feature grand silence when no one steps up to the plate to pay the jukebox man.
HAPPY HOUR! 3:45 - 6:00 PM. They have deals for $3, $4, and $5. I think the beers are $4 and I know the cocktails are $5. I've had the Orange Blossom, Bloody Well Elysian Mary, and a few others. All delicious.
Of course, you can still order off the regular Ruby's menu, but you can sit at the bar or in comfy faux-leather chairs instead of a hard booth.
If you tend to like low-key places to drink instead of packed bars where you have to shout over the pack of peacocking brodangos or get hives when surrounded by hipsters, this is a good choice in the area.
What a find! Who'd guess that a bar associated with Ruby's could be so grown-up, fun, and delicious! Â I don't know if we just lucked-out, but no children were in the bar during our visit (please don't get me wrong; I LOVE children! Â I just don't think it's appropriate that underage people be seated in the bar area).
The busy and active atmosphere (some of the clientele and the bar's interior made us feel as though we were far from home), the tasty cocktails and appetizers (especially reasonable during Happy Hour), and the incredibly friendly staff made this a quick favorite!
Flavorfully potent drinks, fun-and-tasty appetizers, and to finish off with a satisfying hot fudge sundae -- served by a amazingly personable staff... definitely makes us want to return -- soon!
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