The Once Popular 1980s Steakhouse That's Now Faded Into Obscurity

If you're looking to sit down at a nice steakhouse, it's worth your time doing a bit of digging in figuring out the best steakhouse chains in the United States. However, one name that you definitely won't see on any of these lists is Victoria Station –- that is, unless said list was made decades ago. While today the Longhorns and Texas Roadhouses of the country can be found from coast to coast, at one point Victoria Station was also a popular restaurant chain that even featured a cool and unique theme. But unfortunately, it's now yet another chain that has faded into memory.

The former chain of restaurants was railroad themed (just in case the name didn't give it away), and the first outpost was opened in 1969. In fact, the company took this theme pretty seriously, even using decommissioned train cars as part of its restaurants. Sadly, though, there's no longer an opportunity to see this for yourself, as the chain's last location closed in 2017. Instead, it might be worth your time to support one of the other steakhouses that are fighting to stay open.

Now that the whole timeline of Victoria Station is in the books, it's interesting to look at its 1969 to 2017 lifetime to see just how its popularity ebbed and flowed with the generations. It's one thing to simply chalk this up as another common story in the long list of restaurant chains that struggle financially, but looking at the history of Victoria Station is a fascinating case study in seeing how, sometimes, a chain simply comes and goes as it ages in and out of its main demographic.

Victoria Station was named and somewhat themed after the real-life Victoria Station in London, England. This theming and the chain's novelty was appealing to the Baby Boomer generation that was looking for third spaces in restaurants to call its own in the 1970s, making Victoria Station a prime choice. However, as that generation aged out of the spring of independent youth, Victoria Station couldn't adapt fast enough. Soon enough, the chain dwindled from around 100 locations to only 11 in the '90s. From there, Victoria Station barely held on, until finally the last one closed in the 2010s. So unfortunately these days, you'll just have to get trolley service in London if you wish to dine at Victoria Station.