Trax Restaurant and Cafe

Intimate historic atmosphere. The menu was light, and the food was average for the prices charged. BYOB, which we forgot about. You are packed in like sardines, and it’s very dark. Hadn’t changed in the 10 years since I’d been there last.

The noise is fine but I couldn’t see. It is very dark
At night. I was there during restaurant week and did the price fix menu. I was alone. Restaurants hate people dining alone and this was not different. They rushed to get a bigger party. Food was good but the main course wasn’t hot. I will come back when I can see the food!

This is my first review. I’m not usually a negative person when going out to eat but tonight’s experience was so frustrating that I wanted to post a review. We have been to this restaurant many times and have had great experiences with both food and service. Tonight, we stopped in at 8:00 for a table of two. On our way we checked Open Table to see if they had availability and there were many reservations available at 8, 8:15, 8:30 and so on so we did not reserve. We were «greeted» by a woman who did not say «hello» but said, «name on the reservation?». We said we do not have one to which she rolled her eyes, huffed and said, «well then you have to eat inside.» Ok… We said,“fine”. Then she walked away, walked around to several tables and never looked our way again. We stood there for several more minutes and then left. We should have left immediately when she was so rude in the first place. We live in the area and go to dinner at least once a weekend. We will never go here again. We were really disappointed because we like to eat locally and support restaurants in our town. Maybe if Trax gets rid of that miserable woman we will try again. Until then there are many other great places to eat in Ambler. It’s really not that difficult to be polite and friendly.

An amazing waiter, Daniel! The atmosphere was cozy and inviting, however it was a bit dim. I needed my flashlight to read the menu! But maybe that’s just me. Friday night was busy and so loud it reminded me of a New York City restaurant. When you have a small space and that many tables that tends to happen. The food was delicious, my filet was perfectly prepared and hot on arrival. My companion had the fennel salad and it was incredible. The profiterole dessert was not as flaky as promised and the sauce was a bit too heavy on the balsamic vinegar. Even though it was Friday night, we were not rushed and were encouraged to take our time which was great because my friend and I needed to catch up.

I’ve added pictures of everything. Scroll through their photos, we’re at the end you’re mouth will water

The first time I ate at Trax I had a lovely softshell crab sandwich, and complimented the owner, Stephen Waxman. He told me the bread came from the wonderful Alice Bakery, and I bought some of that flaxseed bread right away. The second time I went to Trax there wasn’t anything on the menu that interested me, the softshell crab was replaced by pancakes, so I moved on. The third time I went to Trax I was ordered to leave the premises before I could even look at the menu, Stephen Waxman said that although he recognized me as a frequent visitor, I had parked in the wrong space (the same space I had parked in the previous visits, and where people continue to park) I should «BE GONE»! So if that sort of treatment suits you, you should surely go and take your chances. I wont be returning.

The food and service were absolutely delicious and courteous respectively. The only real downside is the proximity to the train– which if it were just passing I wouldn’t have an issue– however the train would blow it’s horn and interrupt conversation.

Good food, *Wonderful service, charming, I’d like to go back but the noise level made it completely impossible to enjoy. The whole place echoes beyond belief. Add something to the room to absorb the sound.

Service — 5! (out of a Possible 5 Stars)! Great service, friendly, swarming, knowledgeable.
Braised Brisket: 4.2 Melted in our mouth.
Rack of Lamb: 2.8 Too charred, meat was tough too.
Bread: 3.6
Oil, Cayenne, Vinegar Sauce: 4
Tomato, Motzarella, Roasted Pepper Appetizer: 4

(3.75) ~ Good Overall Food & Service
OUR MENU:
* Water (tap) = (4) very good… must be filtered;)
* Bread (Free) w. Cayenne Oil & vinegar = (4) very good
* Corn & Crab Pudding = (3.5) good
* Beef Brisket = (3.5) good
* Chocolate Mousse = (4) very good
* Coffee = (3.5) good

Husband and dined there recently on a Friday night, without reservations. We were welcomed and quickly accommodated. Food was EXCELLENT as was the service. The vidalia onion soup was the best onion soup I’ve ever had and I’ve had plenty (my favorite). I chose the brisket centre… soo tender. Hub had the bbq meat platter, with chicken, ribs, and pulled pork. Also delish. We both had a dessert, apple crisp for me (nice and hot, with vanilla ice cream) and the hub had the brownie sundae, with an amazing chocolate truffle, raspberry ice cream. It was all I could do to keep my spoon from his plate. Since it was our first time there (and pretty much came in off the street just from driving by and picking a place), we did not know it was byob. We will be prepared next time… and yes there will be next time soon!

BYOB with outside seating! it is a small place literally right on the SEPTA track. There is free parking in the lot next to the restaurant. We made a reservation to ensure that we were able to sit outside. The trains go by and blow their horns but we didn’t mind it was fun to sit outside in the summer. The food is excellent we loved every dish! Large portions.

Horrible service, extremely slow — it took 30 minutes just for us to get water and bread even after asking two servers.
Fish was undercooked, overall food was okay but not worth the price and Definitely not a pleasant 2+ hour experience!!! We waited so long I was able to write this review while sitting here… Not a good sign, will not return

This has got to be the loudest restaurant I’ve ever walked into. And this includes sports bars during football season.
Trax is charmingly loud (as opposed to obnoxiously?) and the food is delicious.
I started with a mushroom bisque-​type soup for which I had no expectations but was blown away at the nutty, rich flavor that also tasted like sweet potato pie purée’.
The entrees are huge which surprised me — I thought this was a fancy joint & fancy joints usually give you starvation portions. But I got the bbq beef ribs & jerk chicken with cole slaw which lasted me for two days.
The ribs were tasty but cold on the inside.
As a jerk expert (ha!), I have to say that the chicken was not «Jerk chicken». It had an element of spice but really it just tasted like bland grilled chicken (an entire leg & thigh quarter). It clearly had not been marinated, just slathered with, I dunno — bbq & sriracha sauce?
The slaw that came with it was absolutely fantastic and I could’ve had a whole meal of that.
Despite not loving my meal, I’m giving them 4 out of 5 based on the rustic, cozy ambience, the bread (and the oil served with the bread — its an olive oil with swirls of chili sauce. It is delicious!) and the great service.
I’m willing to go again, with hopes of absolutely loving the food the next time.

We have eaten at this restaurant on three occasions. We always enjoyed the ambiance, people, and food. Our most recent experience was not so positive. We ordered the «Scallops», and crab over rose fettuccine
. I split the wedge with my friend and that was plenty and delicious. This was a late christmas gift to my sister so I was sad that our meal was not up to par. It was not scallops perhaps a fish shaped in circles but certainly not scallops and should not have been $ 29.00. My husband loves everything and his lamb shank was fine but again pricey. We are fine paying for quality, but this was So so this time and I am sad to have to write this.

Family member chose Trax for a party. First impressions: cold. Heating the historic train station is a bit of a challenge. The bathroom was the warmest spot.
While we were the only people in the restaurant for a while, conversation was possible. As the place began to fill up, the noise level rivaled our local club on 80s night.
Family member who set up the reservation about a week in advance was told a special request for a vegan and gluten-​free person would be no problem. Granted, I’m aware dietary restrictions are a challenge for any chef to accommodate. This chef did not rise to the challenge, even with advance notice.
Sure, I had a standard green salad with what tasted and looked like bottled vinagrette – how difficult is it to mix oil and vinegar and a little s&p? Since I prepare most of my food (fear of assassins and food allergies, ha ha) and have worked in a commercial kitchen, I know it’s not difficult! My entrée was grilled veg drowned in oil and vinegar. It was alright… grilled carrots are pretty interesting. As with 90 per cent of the «veggie solutions» I have been served in my dietary restrictions dining experience, there was no protein (portobello mushrooms have 4 g protein per cup; salmon has 17 g protein per 3 oz. Hardly an equivalent substitution there, but this is a broader issue than just this one dining experience). Of course there was no dessert, and the wait staff didn’t get back to me on investigating whether there were some extra berries from the other desserts.
Other notes: I asked for a Sprite, was told they were out, then informed moments later that there was indeed soda, so that was nice. My BF had the ribs. Said they were dry and «not thirty dollars good.» He reported the apple crisp was similarly middle-​of-​the-​road.
In sum, it was better than some places with at least having something to munch, in terms of a dietary restrictions dining experience. For a BYO in the ‘burbs, the price neither matched the quality nor the atmosphere.

Trax is a good BYOB, had the Veal Saltimbocca, excellent, Tomato’s and Mozzarella appetizer, my friend had Arugula Salad and the Sword Fish, was very good he said, very nice size portions, we also had coffee, a chocolate desert with ice cream and key lime cake, both was nice and sweet.
$ 50 per person before tips, over all a place I will be back to very soon.

Had a great date night meal here for our first meal at Trax on the last Saturday of Ambler restaurant week. The place was hopping — we had a reservation but saw many groups waiting for tables inside or out. We were given the option to sit inside or out and sat inside — our only bad choice of the night. Inside was pretty loud with all the waiting groups, so we may have been happier outside.
The restaurant week menu was great — we started with the caprese salad with house-​made pesto and crab and corn pudding, both of which we loved, though the caprese was slightly better with the fresh pesto. Our entrees were the flank steak with ginger glaze and the ribs with jerk chicken thigh. Both were great — the steak was cooked perfectly, and my boyfriend was wowed by the ribs (and just asked if we could go back for them tonight). The desserts were also incredible: dark chocolate mousse and peach crisp. Yum. The bottle of red we brought (its a byob) went well with everything.
Our server was nice but they seemed short-​staffed that night, so the service was a bit less attentive than I expected. Well definitely be back, so it may be that the service was just an anomaly.

After reading the reviews of Trax on Unilocal It was hard to get a good feel for what to expect. Most of the reviews both good and bad were from people who haven’t really reviewed too many restaurants. Before I go into my experience here are a few quick points that most people mentioned in their reviews:
The inside of the restaurant is cramped — I agree because it’s located inside of a very small train station. I don’t know how anyone would be surprised or not expect this after looking at the building. Did you expect there to be a large basement?
The prices are high — I agree on this point but it’s not so overpriced that I wouldn’t go back.
It’s very loud — When I was just at Trax the place was packed and I didn’t think the noise level was overly loud. I’m comparing the noise level to other restaurants of the same size.
Chef Waxman is rude — I only saw him come out once and didn’t get a chance to speak with him. I came for the food so his attitude really doesn’t matter much to me.
On Valentine’s Day my girlfriend and I had the chance to sample the Prix Fixe menu around 7:30pm. We arrived two minutes early and were seated around 7:40pm. Our server came over quickly and gave us an overview of the special menu and (2) specials. A Rack of Lamb and Ahi Tuna special were added to the menu on this night.
After opening our wine our server gave us a few minutes to peruse the menu. It was (4) courses and that included dessert. There were several great choices but we finally chose the following:
1^st Course
Butternut Squash & Lobster Bisque — Fantastic flavor
Caesar Salad — The dressing was more thin that a traditional creamy Caesar and had a pronounced vinegar taste. I’m a fan of creamy dressing but my girlfriend really enjoyed it.
2^nd Course
Shrimp & Crab Mornay — This dish consisted of shrimp and crab mixed in a cheese sauce that was baked in a small crock. It was tasty but a very heavy on the stomach.
Lobster Ravioli with Pesto Cream — I believe there were (4) ravioli’s placed in a generous amount of a very well done pesto sauce.
3^rd Course
Crab Risotto with Jumbo Diver Scallops, Chimichurri Sauce — The risotto was filled with crab and the scallops were cooked perfectly.
Pan Seared Veal T-​Bone with Sherry Cream Sauce — This generous portion of veal was cooked medium rare and came with just a small amount of the Sherry Cream Sauce. The sauce was very unique and was a bit sweeter than I had imagined.
4^th Course
Poached Pear, Candied Red Wine Sauce — The pear was served cold and was plated on top of generous portion of the Red Wine Sauce with a dab of whipped cream. The sauce was sweet and I haven’t had anything quite like it before. Chef Waxman did great job on this dessert.
Chocolate Covered Strawberries — The strawberries were very sweet.
After trying Trax for myself I will return and I think it deserves a full 4 stars. If you go to Trax expecting a creative meal in a small restaurant you won’t be disappointed.

Nice ambience in this renovated old train station turned BYO. I’ve been having great lunches here for years and finally checked it out for dinner. They knock it out of the park — from the goat-​cheese fritter salad to the rosemary chicken. Even the side dish of potatoes au gratin was spot on given the addition of just a nudge of sweet potato mixing it up with the cheese and white potato.
We were ready to sit inside and dig the old Miles Davis oozing nicely out of the hifi but we opted for the outside patio since it was a nice night and they had a solo acoustic guitarist out there. He turned to be a nice capper to a sweet evening… Mike Del Conte (I grabbed a card). I think he plays every Thursday. I would recommend a night that he’s there if you can.
My girlfriend enjoyed her grab cake entrée also. Definitely be going back sooner than later.