Third Rail

Third Rail Restaurant Review:

At this friendly, winkingly comfortable hangout in an increasingly foodified industrial area, Jeff Lyon and Phil West --- whose Range restaurant is a Mission District favorite --- focus on finely crafted, knockout cocktails in a space designed to look like the world's coolest railway station, complete with reclaimed-wood furnishings, vintage signs and giant clock. What time is it? It's always time for the Tally Ho (gin, Chartreuse, ginger, lime), the Cheshire Cat (vodka, guava, genepy, falernum, lime), or the signature Third Rail (bourbon, Lillet, honey, lemon, orange bitters). Many drinks on the extensive menu include quaint old-fashioned ingredients such as absinthe and applejack; a "jerky bar" dispensing cured meats and vegetables in daring flavors such as curry and espresso sustains the days-of-yore ambience.