Popular downtown restaurant closed after court order, won’t reopen

Popular downtown restaurant closed after court order, won’t reopen

Jul. 17—The RailYard, one of Decatur’s most popular downtown restaurants, closed after a court injunction barred it from operating due to alleged nonpayment of taxes, which a former employee said was one of several signs of financial difficulties.

Head chef James Haynes said Tuesday that owner Tyler Jones notified the staff July 7 that the restaurant would not reopen.

Kelly Thomas, executive director of the Decatur Downtown Redevelopment Authority, confirmed the closure.

“Yes, The RailYard is closed for good,” Thomas said in a text message. “We are hoping to see new ownership open a restaurant concept in that space.”

Numerous attempts to reach Jones were unsuccessful.

Haynes has been working for Jones since September 2013. He started as a dish washer and worked his way up to head chef.

Haynes, who worked at The RailYard with his wife and nephew, said it will be hard to replace the job.

“We had our own weird atmosphere,” Haynes said. “After Chef Bill (Hardin) left, it became a real group effort. Everybody took on the chef’s hats, and we would just figure it out as we went. We all worked together to put the different menus together.”

The restaurant shut down June 26 because of maintenance issues, according to a social media post in which an employee said the restaurant had “major ceiling flooding.”

Haynes said the restaurant had plumbing problems and then they had to recheck the electricity “to make sure the building didn’t burn down.”

Haynes said the business began experiencing financial problems recently and Jones quit talking to the staff.

He said staff began to realize there were problems when city, county and state officials started showing up at the restaurant.

“There were letters they wanted signed,” Haynes said. “Half of us got paid our last check and the other half’s check bounced. This had been going on for the last six months.”

According to Morgan County Circuit Court records, the Alabama Department of Labor sued The RailYard LLC in December 2019 and again in April of this year, in both cases alleging the business had failed to provide verification that it had workers compensation coverage. The 2019 case was dismissed after the Labor Department said the business had verified it had the insurance. The April case is still pending.

In June 2023, the state filed suit alleging The Railyard had failed to remit sales taxes and income withholding taxes. A default judgment was rendered against The Railyard when its representatives made no appearance in the case and failed to show up at a bench trial, according to a court order. Circuit Judge Stephen Brown then issued an injunction June 20 of this year barring The Railyard from conducting business “unless otherwise ordered by the Court.”

Jones is the grandson of Ralph Jones and the late Glenna Jones. They own several Second Avenue buildings, including the building that held The RailYard.

Tyler Jones and his wife, Anna, once owned four businesses in downtown Decatur. The RailYard is the third to close while they sold the fourth. Her business, Breathe Yoga Barre’ on Second Avenue Southeast, was a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Tyler Jones recently sold High Point Market, a coffee shop next to where his wife’s workout studio was located on the south end of Second Avenue.

Jones’ Whisk’D Café, a breakfast restaurant, opened on Grant Street in 2017. It moved to the former Social Grace’s/Curry’s building off Johnston Street in 2021 but closed due to plumbing problems only a year later and never reopened.

bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432

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