Out to Eat . . . at Dunning Street Station in Malta

MALTA - Don’t let the dining car aesthetic fool you. Dunning Street Station is not a diner.

“People still think it's a diner,” said Bob McKenna, who co-owns the Malta restaurant with Scott Ringwood. The duo also owns Lake Ridge Restaurant in Round Lake.

“Once they get in here, they’re surprised,” McKenna said.

There’s an open dining room area with a 14-seat full-service bar that offers a tidy list of cocktails, beers and wines. The menu has traditional Italian-American fare with elevated ingredients and flavors.

The stainless steel 1947 Fodero dining car, located at 2853 State Route 9, has housed a few different restaurants over the years, including Chez Sophie Bistro, Bloomers and Quintessence. McKenna and Ringwood bought it in 2015 and renovated the place, adding all-new kitchen equipment, and additional dining space. They kept the Art Deco decor.

Over the years, with help from manager Maureen Fanniff and chef Bruce Jacobson, Dunning Street has become known for its fresh, made-from-scratch dishes and a cozy neighborhood bar atmosphere.

There’s a steady stream of regulars who come in for a quick drink during happy hour, or for the restaurant’s wine dinners, which have become so popular there’s a waiting list. Jacobson, who previously worked at Lake Ridge, is passionate about gathering local ingredients and keeping the menu both familiar and fresh, with seasonal updates and weekly specials.

He recently launched a new menu earlier this month with a few dishes — including a fresh burrata salad and shrimp Mediterranean entree with Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes — that have proven popular already. Each dish is cooked and made to order. Beyond the regular dining menu, they also offer a takeout and catering menu.

The Gazette recently caught up with McKenna and Fanniff about how Dunning Street has fostered a family of regulars.

Q: What’s changed since you opened?

McKenna: We were pretty much bar food when we began and then we changed it to American Italian food. In the beginning, we thought that that was what the area needed [and] we did great business.

Then, me and Scott got together and we decided we wanted to change the menu to what you see today. People were looking for a nice place to go to. Saratoga is a great place to go out to dinner, but where the heck are you going to go?

I don't think that there's a restaurant that can compare to our food [and] the friendliness of our servers. It's convenient, the location is phenomenal. Route 9, right off the Northway, it's so convenient. [We have] a 14-seat bar . . . open seating with three dining rooms [and] plenty of parking.

Q: How would you describe the atmosphere here on a typical Friday or Saturday night?

Fanniff: The place to be.

McKenna: Busy. It's a fun busy though. You go to some places, it's busy but people are not happy-busy. Here, it is fun busy. People are standing behind each other at the bar. They're walking around. Nobody really is upset here.

Fanniff: The saying goes, with a lot of our customers, you may come in as strangers, but you leave as friends. People end up sitting together that just met or met last week at happy hour. So it's a great environment.

Q: As far as cost goes, what are people generally paying for dinner?

McKenna: It really does depend. Our starters go from $12.95 and then our entrees average around $29.

Bruce did a phenomenal job with this menu. Our catering menu is important, too. It seems like there’s a big need for that family style.

Q: What do you think keeps regulars coming back?

Fanniff: Food, staff friendliness, just getting to know everybody and loving the atmosphere.

McKenna: It’s a wonderful experience. Bruce is doing a great job with the food, Maureen with taking care of the staff and the staff is phenomenal. It’s a fun place to come to.

Q: Are your customers mostly from the Malta area?

Fanniff: We get them from everywhere.

McKenna: We’ve even had couples from Vermont, from Canada. It’s crazy.

Fanniff: Looks can be deceiving, they’re pleasantly surprised and then they always have to stop when they’re in town.

Of course, a lot of people from Jersey that come up for the [track] season, we are one of their weekly stops during the whole meet. We have a lot of trainers [and] jockeys that come in and they come back every year.

Q: Anything else you want people to know about Dunning Street Station?

McKenna: We’re not a diner. We bought the place, we rehabbed it.

[We] had awnings put on and even to this day, some nights when I’m in here and talking to people I still hear the word “the diner.”

So that’s the worst part. People still think it’s a diner. Once they get in here they’re surprised. They sit down, get a nice drink, get some appetizers or soup, they love it. But we’re probably looking at close to 20,000 cars that drive by here a day. I wish we could get a few more to come in.

Dunning Street Station is open from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, visit dunningstreetstation.com.