Amtrak dining and cafe service

[user 14106]

I had some great service on my most recent trip. Was aboard the Lake Shore Limited and Southwest Chief.

 

[Rasputin]

I would disagree though that the PRR dining car service was courteous. Brusque would be a better word to describe it.

I found the dining car service on the Broadway, even under Penn Central, to be definitely courteous and even exquisite.

When a waiter went from table to table at breakfast offering each passenger a freshly baked bran muffin, you know you were someplace special and the muffins were pretty good too.

 

[zephyr17]

I would disagree though that the PRR dining car service was courteous.

From what it looks like, Amtrak's culture is probably more descended from late era Pennsy/Penn Central, less from, say, Santa Fe.

 

[Palmland]

I found the dining car service on the Broadway, even under Penn Central, to be definitely courteous and even exquisite.

No doubt the PRR was proud of the Broadway- how else to explain Mountain and Tower View lasting into the late 60’s. But my experience was on the likes of the Colonial, St. Louisan, Cincinnati Ltd.

 

[joelkfla]

Why does Amtrak have such problems with salads?

On one leg of my trip last June, the LSA said there were no salads because the commissary delivered them frozen. On my trip north on the SS last week, they "ran out" of salads before lunch on the 2nd day (I mean, they know how many sleeper passengers will be on board for each meal, right?) On the return trip on the SM, the LSA said she wouldn't serve the salads because they were delivered "all wilted".

I gave the Flex pancakes a 2nd chance on the return trip, even though the LSA warned me that they would be exactly the same. Actually, they were slightly better, leading me to believe that the storage or prep may have been partially to blame. But this was the first time I've ever seen a pancake with a skin, let alone one that was separating.

The commissary also forgot to load Tabasco, which I wanted for the sausage. I'm going to resume packing my own!

 

[Widfara]

The specifics of letting coach passengers in the diner will be telling if they are serious or not about it. I think the current prices they are charging business class passengers on the Coast Starlight are a non starter. Like any business you have to know your audience. Those prices may be ok to business class passengers since they are already willing to pay a premium for a quiet car and more space. As far as the typical coach passenger I don’t see it happening.

At the minimum I hope they bring back the popular blue plate special to eat at your seat. I think that would check all the boxes. 15-20 bucks for a hot meal and a bottle of water to go. It’s not out of the box thinking it’s what they used to do.

In a conversation with a coach passenger in the diner on the Eagle years ago, he told me he likes, and can afford breakfast and lunch in the diner, but dinner was ridiculously priced too high.

 

[Palmland]

For those of you lamenting the current state of dining on the Texas Eagle, here's what it looked like in 1955 on the Texas Chief when tthe train was introduced. The second photo shows a waiter in the lounge serving passengers at their seats. Imagine! Note the caption says serving of hors d'oeuvres on the Santa Fe lasting three years into Amtrak, probably when Amtrak hired crews took over from ATSF employees.






Photos from 'Santa Fe's Last Dining Car Instructions' by David Peironnet.

 

[west point]

There may be a problem with storage space on trains now. Growing up we had a well stocked kitchen that was relatively small. Now the two of us have a larger storage area that is full. It may be that diner cars just cannot carry everything that passengers desire? It may be time for Amtrak to adopt the airline model havng frozen meal entries to be heated in convection ovens. Then have various fresh items usig the rest of the space?

 

[zephyr17]

There may be a problem with storage space on trains now. Growing up we had a well stocked kitchen that was relatively small. Now the two of us have a larger storage area that is full. It may be that diner cars just cannot carry everything that passengers desire? It may be time for Amtrak to adopt the airline model havng frozen meal entries to be heated in convection ovens. Then have various fresh items usig the rest of the space?

The Viewliner diners have about the same size galley diners have always had. Superliner galleys are larger. Traditionally, diners were able to stock enough supplies in such a space to offer a pretty good menu selection in them, though certainly not as wide as a regular restaurant. On almost all trains both Pullman and coach passengers could patronize the diner.

If they do go to an airline model more widely, flex being a poorly executed version of that model, it won't be because diner galleys lack space.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

There may be a problem with storage space on trains now.

There isn’t. Plenty of space to stock ingredients for full-service dining cars.

The CCC cars are able to store full service dining AND cafe car storage if needed.

 

[jis]

There may be a problem with storage space on trains now. Growing up we had a well stocked kitchen that was relatively small. Now the two of us have a larger storage area that is full. It may be that diner cars just cannot carry everything that passengers desire? It may be time for Amtrak to adopt the airline model havng frozen meal entries to be heated in convection ovens. Then have various fresh items usig the rest of the space?

Do you really believe that everything is cooked on board starting from raw ingredients? Most of the stuff comes frozen or deep refrigerated, much partly or wholly precooked and is thawed, finished and plated.

 

[Brian Battuello]

My fuzzy recollections of pre-Amtrak dining include a trout that was definitely cooked from fresh on board.

 

[zephyr17]

My fuzzy recollections of pre-Amtrak dining include a trout that was definitely cooked from fresh on board.

That was definitely a feature on the RGZ.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

My fuzzy recollections of pre-Amtrak dining include a trout that was definitely cooked from fresh on board.

I’m not entirely sure but I think several Amtrak fish entrees are cooked on board.

 

[user 14106]

The items fully cooked from raw on board are the eggs and the steak. A number of other items are partially precooked in the commissary or come from the vendor partially precooked and are then heated and finish cooked on board - usually with a certain amount of finish cooking to give it the feel of being cooked on board - such as the burgers which arrive partially pre cooked are heated and then finish cooked on the grill so they come off more like a freshly cooked burger than the burgers in the cafe car. I believe for the chicken and fish entrees the commissary uses the sous vide method of precooking and packaging.

 

[user 14106]

The items fully cooked from raw on board are the eggs and the steak. A number of other items are partially precooked in the commissary or come from the vendor partially precooked and are then heated and finish cooked on board - usually with a certain amount of finish cooking to give it the feel of being cooked on board - such as the burgers which arrive partially pre cooked are heated and then finish cooked on the grill so they come off more like a freshly cooked burger than the burgers in the cafe car. I believe for the chicken and fish entrees the commissary uses the sous vide method of precooking and packaging.

Should be noted about the eggs though while they are fully cooked on board - they are made from pre scrambled egg product out of a carton. This is why only scrambled eggs and omelettes are the only prep options. I think pre Covid the omelettes actually were pre made and reheated and only the scrambled eggs were fresh - now both are fresh.

 

[trimetbusfan]

Wow, I’m shocked. On the coast starlight #11(30) today. The dining car LSA just came through the Coach cars offering (and giving) passengers dinner reservations. Not just buisness class today.

They are doing it on a space avalible basis, and are charging $45 flat rate for dinner just like in business class.

 

[JP1822]

That’s good to hear about the Coast Starlight. I wonder if that’s a pilot program of some sort. It should work I think. For $45 you get the three options (appetizer, entree, and dessert), but what about a regular drinks and alcoholic drinks? Are the drinks extra or on top of the $45. If you do get a alcoholic drink and soft drink for the $45, not a bad deal these days. Just saying!

 

[user 14106]

That’s good to hear about the Coast Starlight. I wonder if that’s a pilot program of some sort. It should work I think. For $45 you get the three options (appetizer, entree, and dessert), but what about a regular drinks and alcoholic drinks? Are the drinks extra or on top of the $45. If you do get a alcoholic drink and soft drink for the $45, not a bad deal these days. Just saying!

It mirrors what sleeper passengers get. You get the first alcoholic drink free and unlimited non alcoholic drinks during the meal.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

I believe for the chicken and fish entrees the commissary uses the sous vide method of precooking and packaging.

One of the fish dishes used to say “grilled to order” so that wouldn’t be sous vide. If it was partially cooked or not I can’t say. I didn’t think Amtrak was still doing the sous vide entrees…. They were the best I’ve ever had on any train. The Lamb Shank especially!

Should be noted about the eggs though while they are fully cooked on board - they are made from pre scrambled egg product out of a carton. This is why only scrambled eggs and omelettes are the only prep options.

I do know that the crescent was using actual eggs even in the “scrambled eggs only” era of dining car menus. I saw them with my own eyes! Haha. Obviously that was before October 2019 so maybe the western trains are now using something else. I notice they don’t have the “using cafe free eggs note”’on the menu anymore.

 

[user 14106]

One of the fish dishes used to say “grilled to order” so that wouldn’t be sous vide. If it was partially cooked or not I can’t say. I didn’t think Amtrak was still doing the sous vide entrees…. They were the best I’ve ever had on any train. The Lamb Shank especially!

I do know that the crescent was using actual eggs even in the “scrambled eggs only” era of dining car menus. I saw them with my own eyes! Haha. Obviously that was before October 2019 so maybe the western trains are now using something else. I notice they don’t have the “using cafe free eggs note”’on the menu anymore.

Pretty sure the chicken and fish are sous vide. Liquid egg doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not cage free it’s possible to get cage free liquid whole egg product. It just means it’s not uncracked eggs - and allows for only scrambled and omelettes. There may be occasions where they have fresh uncracked eggs too but I think it’s usually a container of liquid eggs. I could be wrong though maybe they don’t pre beat the eggs - if you saw real eggs on the crescent I may be incorrect. I was pretty sure though I heard and saw that they use liquid egg product which is common in commercial kitchens.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Here’s my scrambled eggs from a month ago…. If these are a egg product they are way better than the “powdered” eggs served on Alaska Railroad that’s for sure!

 

[trimetbusfan]

That’s good to hear about the Coast Starlight. I wonder if that’s a pilot program of some sort. It should work I think. For $45 you get the three options (appetizer, entree, and dessert), but what about a regular drinks and alcoholic drinks? Are the drinks extra or on top of the $45. If you do get a alcoholic drink and soft drink for the $45, not a bad deal these days. Just saying!

I believe it is unlimited soft drinks and then each alcoholic drink after the first one you have to pay for at a certain price.

 

[zephyr17]

That’s good to hear about the Coast Starlight. I wonder if that’s a pilot program of some sort. It should work I think. For $45 you get the three options (appetizer, entree, and dessert), but what about a regular drinks and alcoholic drinks? Are the drinks extra or on top of the $45. If you do get a alcoholic drink and soft drink for the $45, not a bad deal these days. Just saying!

Well, the BC was considered a trial for non-sleeper access, so they might piloting coach in the same way.

$45/dinner includes ONE alcoholic beverage. It isn't bad deal with the steak.

 

[JP1822]

The eggs seem better on more recent LD trips I’ve taken - for what it is worth. Better even since 2018…. They have more taste and a bit fluffier, not as bland. Steak though always ask how you want it cooked - so presuming that’s being put on the grill at least, as well a the salmon……Planko Chicken was tasty and not rubbery, so not sure how that’s prepared exactly. Presume it’s frozen (pre-cooked) and put in a convection oven or something.