What’s With the Sudden Surge of Train-Themed Cocktail Bars?

What is it about train travel that inspires bars to pay homage? 

For some, it’s the imagined romance and thrill of travel by rail, whether now or in the age before cars and planes became the primary mode of travel. For others, it’s about celebrating the history of a specific space that has railway ties, or a clever way to transform an otherwise awkward, narrow space into a whimsical makeshift bar car. (And don’t get us started on the myriad bars and restaurants built inside actual reclaimed boxcars, like LA’s Formosa Café or DC’s Metrobar.)

“Bars, especially cocktail bars, evoke the golden age of rail travel, the late 1800s to early 1900s,” says James Grant, beverage director for Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York, which includes the tony Clockwork bar. “That historical period had a lot of overlap with the golden age of cocktails,” he adds.

At the same time, the once-luxe experience of dining cars wasn’t that far removed from some bars, offering full food and drink menus in a limited space. These bars “just bring it into a more stationary space,” says Grant. 

For those seeking nostalgia or future travel inspiration, give these seven bars a visit. Each has opened within the last few years and some much sooner, showing why this trend is such a runaway success.

Clockwork Champagne & Cocktails, Toronto

Because trains run like clockwork (at least in theory; lookin’ at you, Amtrak), this sedate bar inside the Fairmont Royal York is centered around an elegant clock tower, once an actual railway station clock. 

But the concept works for other reasons. Biding time in the wide-open public space of a hotel lobby can feel similar to waiting in a train station, and it’s a nod to the presence of Toronto’s Union Station, just a block away. Imagine long, narrow carpeted aisles that suggest walking through a rail car, plush settees and angular, gold-trimmed chandeliers. Innovative drinks include the savory Full Moon Martini, with vodka, “Roquefort mezcal” and sherry vermouth. The bar opened in 2019, timed to the hotel’s 90th anniversary.

Platform 18 at Century Grand, Phoenix, AZ

Hidden within the plain façade of a strip mall, this high-end concept bar includes a faux train station, from which guests board and disembark a replica of a 1927 Pullman train car with a luxe Art Deco interior. 

The experience is akin to a Disney ride with craft cocktails, down to the sensation of the car rumbling as it seems to pull away on the tracks, and the scenery that rolls by the digital screen “windows.” Most recently, a montage showing glittering footage of Prohibition-era New York City created the view. Drinks subtly reference the era too, like Two Gun Girl, named for a speakeasy hostess and proprietor, made with tequila, grapefruit and tart sea buckthorn. While the bar opened in 2019, it has refreshed every year or so with a new “destination” and a fresh slate of drinks.

Pullman Standard, Nashville

The trains haven’t run through Nashville’s Union Station since the 1970s, but Cummins Warehouse, built directly across the street as a warehouse for locomotives to unload freight, now houses this bar, which opened in 2023. 

The name pays homage to the legendary Pullman sleeper cars, as well as the Standard Steel Car Company, which Pullman purchased in 1929. Here, the train theme is anchored by the location — after all, it’s within a 1906 industrial building, with views of the Demonbreun Bridge and railroad tracks, so the sense of history is legit. The clubby décor, with leather chairs and Deco touches, matches the classic cocktails’ nod to speakeasy style.

Sappe, New York City

Follow the custom "train station" signs and street vendor-style market carts to the back of Northeastern Thai restaurant Sappe, where a small horseshoe-shaped bar evokes the Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok, including a large semicircle green-and-white stained-glass window, horseshoe bar and vintage-style lighting fixtures. 

From the team behind Thai noodle bar Soothr, Sappe, which opened in January 2024, focuses on Esan-style train market and street food (think grilled skewers and sweets served from carts). Drinks developed by manager/co-owner Supatta Banklouyhas are wonderfully elaborate, often featuring Thai flavors and ingredients. Frozen margarita fans will want to trade up to the frozen Somsri, made with tequila, Cointreau, lime and guava puree.

Silk Road, Portland, OR

This Pearl District newcomer, which opened in March 2024, takes inspiration from its namesake Eurasian trade routes known as the Silk Road, and the spices and other ingredients that once traded along those tracks. It’s become known as a spot for late-night Chinese food and umami-packed drinks like a martini made with shiitake-infused vermouth and MSG mushroom brine. While the most ancient iterations of the Silk Road didn’t involve trains, in the 19th century tracks were laid down, and private luxury trains now traverse the route. So it makes sense that the Portland bar transformed its narrow lounge space with gently sloped wooden walls and brass-accented globe sconces that subtly suggest a luxe bar car.

Boxcar, Dallas (coming September 2024)

Slated to open in September 2024, the narrow, 1,000-square-foot space inspired the theme, built out with an arched ceiling and TVs positioned as curtained windows. A chandelier in the center of the room will gently sway to suggest the motion of a rocking train. Drinks will include riffs on classics like a clarified Miami Vice or ube Ramos Gin Fizz.

The menu  and “view” out the windows are likely to change over time, like a New Year’s Eve night in Paris with effervescent drinks, or a wintertime Orient Express theme featuring warmer flavors in the food and drink. “We want you to feel like you’re not in Dallas anymore,” says co-owner Allen “Scotty” Scott, who will oversee the bar program.