The Train Station BBQ to open in Amtrak depot LaCrosse Tribune By: Steve Cahalan Lisa and Dan Thill plan to open The Train Station BBQ restaurant sometime in June, on the first floor of the Amtrak depot at 601 St. Andrew St. “It’s ‘down South’ barbecue with an ‘up North’ kick,” Lisa Thill said of the restaurant’s focus. She will manage and work full time at the restaurant. Her husband will continue to own and run Team Marine Service, a boat repair business on Causeway Boulevard. Thill said The Train Station BBQ will use the secret recipes of a friend, Bob Toussaint of Galesville, Wis., who has more than 30 years of barbecue experience. Toussaint will work there part time. The 2,700-square-foot space previously was occupied by a travel agency, said Thill, who added she and her husband have joined the National Barbecue Association. Toys N’ Tales toy store at 1501 Losey Blvd. S. in the Village Shopping Center will close soon, probably on May 31, owner Cindy Sahlstrom said. The store opened more than 21 years ago and has always had the same name and location, said Sahlstrom, who bought the business more than six years ago. “I think the competition has just gotten harder and harder,” Sahlstrom said of closing the specialty toy store. Large stores such as Target are carrying more specialty toys than before, she said. The Maid-Rite restaurant at 1119 Caledonia St. has reopened a month after a fire there. The March 12 grease fire was in the restaurant’s exhaust system. Owner Richard Beilke reopened the restaurant April 12 after replacing the hood over the grill and installing a new exhaust system and fire suppression system. He said the fire apparently began in an exhaust fan. The eatery was a restaurant even before it became a Maid-Rite in 1947, said Beilke, who bought it in 1989. Hours are 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and closed Sunday. Tom and Amy Brieske of Onalaska, Wis., purchased the West Salem Pharmacy in West Salem, Wis., from Tom Pralle, who retired April 1. But Pralle occasionally fills in as pharmacist, Tom Brieske said. Tom Brieske manages the store, and his wife is its pharmacist. She previously was a pharmacist at Degen Berglund in Holmen, Wis., and before that at Wal-Mart in Onalaska. Brieske said he and his wife have made a few changes, including wider aisles, an optional service that adds flavorings to medicines and a service that allows people to refill prescriptions by phone 24 hours a day or leave a voice message. They can still talk to a live person when the pharmacy is open, he added. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon Saturday and closed Sunday. Tribune business editor Steve Cahalan can be reached at (608) 791-8229 or scahalan@lacrossetribune.com.
