If you’re looking for a restaurant with lots of character, take a drive out to Station Street Pub (101 W. Station St.) in St. Anne. Among the reasons to visit:

• It’s rumored that Sonny, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Scott, has a photographic memory when it comes to names, and there’s a very good chance she’ll remember yours if you’ve met before.
• Sonny also has a penchant for singing Karoake, and she sings Happy Birthday to any guest upon request.
• You might get lucky and get a specially marked dinner plate. Stickers on the bottoms of random entrees tell you if you’ve won a free dessert or even a free steak dinner.
• The menu includes main course dishes such as grilled pork chops, New York strip and spaghetti. There’s also pizza, sandwiches and salads. Weekly specials include Taco Wednesday, all-you-can-eat Perch on Friday, and alternating barbecue ribs or prime rib on Saturday.
• And last, but certainly not least, actor and comedian Norm MacDonald has stopped there twice, most recently in October.

Sonny and Scott Albert have owned the bar and restaurant since September of 2003. Earlier that year they were in England, where Scott was stationed in the U.S. military, when they found the business listed for sale on Ebay. Scott was close to retiring and they were searching for a business to keep them busy afterward. Sonny’s father is from Ottawa, so the location was near family. They were still in England on June 14, 2003, when the purchase became official. They moved here and opened the restaurant in a matter of weeks.

So how did Norm MacDonald find his way there? Apparently he has connections to the Hoekstra family, many of whom live in the area and eat at Station Street. If you don’t believe me that Norm was actually there, Sonny has a photo as proof.

Station Street Pub opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. (The bar stays open later.) It’s closed Sunday and Monday.

For more information, call (815) 422-0398.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 4:22 pm and is filed under Restaurant news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.