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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowRail Epicurean Market, a restaurant that opened in a century-old barn in Westfield more than six years ago, will close for good Nov. 1, the owners said Sunday on Facebook.
Toby and Melanie Miles said the ongoing pandemic became too much for the business at 211 Park St. to overcome.
“COVID-19 has hit us hard and continues to take its toll, as it has on the majority of small businesses,” the owners said in their post. “Winters are always tough for us on Park Street and generally for many restaurants; therefore, we rely on strong warm weather months to get us through. Unfortunately that was not possible this year due to the shut down, limited capacity and social distancing.”
The Miles opened the restaurant in April 2014 on the first floor of the renovated barn, with seating for 25 inside and another 25 outside. A year later, they renovated the second floor with seating for 22 more and a bar.
The restaurant features a rotating menu full of locally sourced items, including breakfast food, sandwiches, pastries, soups and salads. It has been one of the top-rated eateries in the city. Readers of Tripadvisor rank it second out the 44 restaurants rated in Westfield.
After closing for the early part of the pandemic, Rail reopened June 9 with reduced hours, concentrating on breakfast, brunch and lunch, but it wasn’t enough to keep the business going.
The Miles will continue to operate Cone + Crumb, an ice cream and dessert shop, that opened next door to Rail last year, at 205 Park St.
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Based on most comments lately, I thought only restaurants in Marion County were suffering due to Hogsett. Guess that’s fake news. I’m sorry for the business owners. It sounds like a great place. I wish the White House and the GOP would provide adequate stimulus funding so great local businesses didn’t need to shut down.