Sullivan Station

Railroad Street
Lee, MA 01238
413-243-2082
www.sullivanstationrestaurant.com

There are several reasons to have lunch or dinner at Sullivan Station. The first is if you are interested in trains. The restaurant is a beautifully preserved 19th century train station, from back in the days when Edith Wharton alighted one stop down in Lenox. The second is if your kid(s) loves trains. It's a very family friendly atmosphere, with a children's menu. Now, my nieces both began to turn their noses up at children's menu options about the age of six, but perhaps your little ones are less snobby.

Unfortunately, the main draw is not the food. While it is cheaper than many Berkshire options, the entrees are still in the upper teens - mid twenties range - and for the quality of the cooking, it belongs in a solidly mid-teens category. An example of the type of cuisine offered is their Sullivan Station special chicken - chicken on a bed of spinach with swiss cheese and... raspberry sauce. Doesn't this sound like it belongs in a cookbook next to a recipe for a Jell-O mold?

Fortunately, the food is middling, not inedible. Entrees come with a dinner salad or soup and the night we had dinner, the soup was a very tasty vegetable bisque. The dinner salad was of spring greens, not iceberg. The bread was hot, with a nutty, multigrain flavor. I got a strip steak and asked for it medium rare - it came on the rare side and it was chewy, towards downright tough in parts. What I really wanted was the baked potato, which was satisfying, with a side of sour cream brought with it. Sauteed spring vegetables - mostly carrots and zucchini - were oppressively garlicy. My mom got the Amber Chicken, which she needed a steak knife to cut - enough said. My dad had a sauteed scallop special and he ate everything, saying the scallops were done perfectly.

For dessert, I had the bread pudding, which had too many raisins for my taste (raisins should be an accent, not the main event, in a bread pudding). My parents both had frozen yogurt.

We arrived very early, right when they opened at 5, and by the time we left to catch a movie, the place was packed. It's not very big and I would suggest reservations in the evening. I would also suggest perhaps going the sandwich route if you dine here - I suspect a hamburger would be a good choice.