Amtrak dining and cafe service

[Oaxacajo]

I keep seeing the suggestion of pre-ordering the breakfast omelet. How? Can this be done during Flex Meal service?

 

[Way2Kewl]

Until June 30 they have a free pass to do whatever. After June 30 they start violating the stipulations for the funding provided in the supplementary bill, which may upset some Congress people, and certainly give them a stick to beat them on the head with.

I sure hope AMTRAK management agrees.

I’m going back out July 3 on the Zephyr, hang at the Joliet Casino for 2 days and return back to Dallas on Eagle. I’ve really tried hard to put up with the Flex meals but after 4 Zephyr/Eagle trips in the last year I really don’t even want to order one again. I’ve been working hard to find layovers where the depot has food close enough to order should we be on time. I just can’t eat another Flex meal, they are really bad. The traditional dining not only was an experience, the food was extremely good considering they’re in a moving kitchen. I’m hoping come July 1 we see traditional dining return and I can order another Omelet for breakfast and Steak for dinner. I’d also like to see the coffee stations in the sleepers stocked possibly with a sign that says if you’ve not had your vaccine shots then enjoy at your own risk. I travel alone and early morning I’m tied of asking the cafe person for 4 cups of coffee so I don’t have to go back and forth until I’m ready for full breakfast. Oh well… just venting… sorry

Sure hope all goes well for the $80B Amtrak funding

 

[20th Century Rider]

I though it meant that you could use those little plastic plates as frisbees, or balance the little casserole meal on your head as you walked through the train and back to your room...

View attachment 22255

Flex meals are very tiny and flimsy and don't require a lot of effort to grab, gulp, and then dance around with the plates balanced upon one's elbows. But please understand that the millennials don't like to be cast upon as the recipients of such silly nonsense that has evolved from the misguided, confused, and incompetent Amtrak management who assign and determine what the passengers will eat... and the reasoning therein!

 

[20th Century Rider]

I sure hope AMTRAK management agrees.

I’m going back out July 3 on the Zephyr, hang at the Joliet Casino for 2 days and return back to Dallas on Eagle. I’ve really tried hard to put up with the Flex meals but after 4 Zephyr/Eagle trips in the last year I really don’t even want to order one again. I’ve been working hard to find layovers where the depot has food close enough to order should we be on time. I just can’t eat another Flex meal, they are really bad. The traditional dining not only was an experience, the food was extremely good considering they’re in a moving kitchen. I’m hoping come July 1 we see traditional dining return and I can order another Omelet for breakfast and Steak for dinner. I’d also like to see the coffee stations in the sleepers stocked possibly with a sign that says if you’ve not had your vaccine shots then enjoy at your own risk. I travel alone and early morning I’m tied of asking the cafe person for 4 cups of coffee so I don’t have to go back and forth until I’m ready for full breakfast. Oh well… just venting… sorry

Sure hope all goes well for the $80B Amtrak funding

You're not 'just venting' but you are reacting to what amounts to scamming the loyal patrons!

Kinda sad that all of us passengers paying so much for LD must fend for ourselves when it comes to sustainable nourishment. The offensive deterioration of service is a clarion that Amtrak wants to get out of the business it is in and stop existing. We must assume the responsibility of extending dilemma by giving management what it wants... cancellation of our patronage.

 

[zephyr17]

Way2Kewl, you have every right to vent. The whole thing is beyond ridiculous.

The Amtrak Board of Directors needs to be replaced, with executive management, especially Gartner, following close behind.

 

[cocojacoby]

Although I have never personally had them, many people raved about the mussels. They probably were an easy entrée to "cook" in a microwave and it sounded like a very popular choice. Don't know why Amtrak discontinued them since it would seem like an easy option to add to the "Flex Meal" menu. If you got something that works don't eliminate it.

 

[zephyr17]

If you got something that works don't eliminate it.

You would clearly be unqualified to be on Amtrak's management team with such thoughts.

 

[Sidney]

Although I have never personally had them, many people raved about the mussels. They probably were an easy entrée to "cook" in a microwave and it sounded like a very popular choice. Don't know why Amtrak discontinued them since it would seem like an easy option to add to the "Flex Meal" menu. If you got something that works don't eliminate it.

Loved the Mussels. They were replaced by short ribs. Both were good. I really hope Traditional dining is back by July 1. I had high hopes for May 22 and I even booked a trip for that day.

 

[Cal]

Loved the Mussels. They were replaced by short ribs. Both were good. I really hope Traditional dining is back by July 1. I had high hopes for May 22 and I even booked a trip for that day.

Never have high hopes with Amtrak...

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Never have high hopes with Amtrak...

You can have high hopes, as long as you also have low expectations. That's what we tell people who get Cochlear Implants to have for their activation day.

 

[zephyr17]

You can have high hopes, as long as you also have low expectations. That's what we tell people who get Cochlear Implants to have for their activation day.

I'm just happy when the floor heat in my roomette isn't stuck on "roast".

 

[JRR]

Although I have never personally had them, many people raved about the mussels. They probably were an easy entrée to "cook" in a microwave and it sounded like a very popular choice. Don't know why Amtrak discontinued them since it would seem like an easy option to add to the "Flex Meal" menu. If you got something that works don't eliminate it.

They were very good. My wife and I always got them when available and added a splash of white wine to the sauce!

 

[Sidney]

They were very good. My wife and I always got them when available and added a splash of white wine to the sauce!

It wasn't a pre packaged meal. So many asinine moves Amtrak is making

 

[Bob Dylan]

They were very good. My wife and I always got them when available and added a splash of white wine to the sauce!

The only problem was the serving was small, I could have eaten twice as many!

 

[pennyk]

They were very good. My wife and I always got them when available and added a splash of white wine to the sauce!

I think I recall sitting at a table on the Meteor (I think) and watching her do that.

 

[20th Century Rider]

Although I have never personally had them, many people raved about the mussels. They probably were an easy entrée to "cook" in a microwave and it sounded like a very popular choice. Don't know why Amtrak discontinued them since it would seem like an easy option to add to the "Flex Meal" menu. If you got something that works don't eliminate it.

I really enjoyed the mussels at lunch... very light but savory and delicious... and a great food to eat as you make new friends at the table and watch the scenery fly by. Brings back great memories of rail travel!

 

[Trailrider1951]

I never got to try the mussels, so I hope they come back some day. In the meantime, here's a guy that shows you how to prepare them:

 

[willem]

After the (fully justified) nutrition comments about sugar-bomb breakfasts, I'm surprised no one has commented on the sodium content of the mussels. While I agree that they tasted good, I think they could have tasted just as good with two days' worth of sodium rather than four. (No, I don't recall the actual sodium content, but I do recall commenting that it was sufficient to stiffen the arteries on a corpse so it could stand at attention.)

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Just found this. Cue to 16:51. I especially enjoyed seeing the waiter debone the fresh trout. So glad we have flex dining. Thank God for Amtrak:

 

[20th Century Rider]

Just found this. Cue to 16:51. I especially enjoyed seeing the waiter debone the fresh trout. So glad we have flex dining. Thank God for Amtrak:

OMG! Do I wish we could turn back the clock!

Which brings a big issue... why does the passage of time need to decrease the quality of life?

The downfall of passenger service quality on Amtrak is a disservice to the American heritage of railroad transportation.

 

[jruff001]

Just found this. Cue to 16:51. I especially enjoyed seeing the waiter debone the fresh trout. So glad we have flex dining. Thank God for Amtrak:

Great find, and thanks for sharing!

But the business model that would support a waiter deboning fresh trout nightly on a method of transportation that takes three days to get from Chicago to San Francisco has been dead for what, like 60 years now? So forgive me if I am taking your last sentence the wrong way, but are you really blaming Amtrak for that? Or do you think that simply changing Amtrak management would make that return in any sustainable way?

IMO, I do indeed thank Amtrak for keeping some semblance of transcon rail travel alive all this time, given all the challenges.

 

[SanDiegan]

It doesn’t solve any issues. If Amtrak wants to serve better food, they just have to order better quality food. That’s literally all it takes.

They already order it for their beloved Acela First Class passengers

 

[jruff001]

Which brings a big issue... why does the passage of time need to decrease the quality of life?

Big issue indeed. 99% of people would say being able to go affordably from Chicago to SF in four hours vs. three days is a HUGE increase in QoL, no?

And a decrease in QoL for whom? Yes the white people being waited on hand and foot in the dining and sleeping cars and swimming happily in the Glenwood Springs resort pool looked very happy, but those images certainly don't look like the U.S. today (and seemed to be leaving out a lot of the people who were in the U.S. even in the 1950s).

Plus I am not sure how many women in 2021 would enjoy wearing all those crazy hats all the time.

 

[SanDiegan]

Because of this, I believe that the self-serve buffet's everywhere, land and sea, will be forever, "gone with the wind"...
You'll still have buffet's, but you'll place your plate in front of the server, and they will dish it out for you. This will of course mean greater staffing costs, but may also limit waste, as 'glutton's' may be too embarrassed to ask for a huge pile of food at each serving...
I wonder how the "Golden Corral" chain is faring, these days...?

They've pretty much disappeared around here ...

 

[20th Century Rider]

No one will argue that America is a land of many abuses and sins to humanity. In humble respect to these atrocities and to your comments. The railroad building era did not respect the dignity of human individuals ... and that needs to be acknowledged. This includes Chinese slave labor where lives were sacrificed to build rail across the great divide... and others who were brought in to build the road beds across mountain passes... as well as the service on the cars... which involved so much humility and suffering. Standing in solidarity with the need for respect to all humanity.

This predates Amtrak but I wonder is Amtrak acknowledges the human injustices in its history.