The Brass Rail was a fixture on Hamilton Street for many decades. At one time, to the left of the front door on Hamilton Street, was the women's entrance. A woman could use the special corridor to avoid walking through the bar room, to get to the dining room at the rear of the building. The business owners had all the bases covered. The front grill provided their famous steak sandwiches, for the take out lunch business on busy Hamilton Street. The back parking lot and service window specialized in takeout pizza, long before separate pizza shops become the norm. In the 1950's, pizza was more less limited to the Brass Rail and the Paddock, another long time food tradition. Having gone for the Brass Rail pizza's so often, I easily recognized the back of the Philly's Sport Bar, on the Morning Call shooting video. I patronized the first restauranteur who purchased the former Brass Rail location, Wellington's, but I haven't been there for years. Reading the article yesterday, I felt sorry for the new owner. He is petrified that his Philly's Sport Bar will be classified as a nuisance bar, and shut down. He, as were the owners of other "nuisance" bars and clubs, are also victims; They are the victims of what this town has become, and who the businesses are reduced to dealing with.
reprinted from April 10, 2010
Generational business's are becoming a thing of the past. While there are less offspring than before, those who are left often choose to cash out and live off the assets. Even corporations seem to have a much shorter life, often being bought by other companies every few years, often with no experience in that business. Just a symptom of an accelerated life for many businesses.
ReplyDeleteI miss the Rail, especially the one on Lehigh Street.
ReplyDeleteI believe the problem there was that the property was owned by members of the previous generation who no longer lived in the Valley, and who wanted to sell. Then the generation running the business didn’t want to pay what the property owners wanted for the building.
I was hoping that those on the operating side would have found and moved to another location, but the fact that it hasn’t happened yet makes it less likely to.
More than the cheesesteaks, I miss thir spaghetti and meatball dinners. They came with a side salad and bread, and the price was very reasonable.
If someone knows of another place that still serves a good bowl of spaghetti like the Rail did, let me know.
Now I'm dying for an old school spaghetti & meatballs dinner with a basket of fresh Italian bread with the little square peel off butter pats. Look at the bright side, I've heard Royal Farms is no longer coming to that site. Locals have missed their shot at the convenience store grand slam (Royal Farms, Sheetz, Turkey Hill & Wawa) all within a one mile distance along Lehigh Street.
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