Victoria Station Restaurants of Illinois 1977-1984 Mug

Victoria Station was a chain of railroad-themed steakhouse restaurants. The Illinois restaurants in Chicago, Schaumburg, Niles, Northbrook, Villa Park first opened in 1977 and the last one closed in 1984. At the peak of its popularity in the 1970s, the chain had 100 locations in the U.S. and Canada. They filed for bankruptcy in 1986. The concept evolved from a Cornell University Hotel School graduate project. The first restaurant was located in San Francisco. The chain was designed to attract members of the baby boom generation. The theme of the restaurant was loosely based on London's Victoria Station. Antique English railway artefacts were used as decor inside, and the exteriors were composed of American Railway cars, primarily boxcars, with a signature Caboose placed in front. On the "entry platform" to each restaurant was a London-style phone booth. Prime rib was the featured item on a limited menu that included steaks, barbecued beef ribs, and shrimp done in a variation of scampi style known as "Shrimp Victoria".