I always assumed that passengers ate these cold meals in their rooms. However, on another thread here I just read that sometimes a section of the best seats in the SSL are blocked off so sleeper passengers can eat their meals while going through the Columbia River Gorge. Is that true? Has anyone else experienced this?
When I rode the Builder eastbound about 3 years ago, the attendant served the meals in the room. He did a nice job of making it as classy as he could. Back then the Empire Builder still served champagne or the sparkling cider as a "Welcome Aboard" gift. He made that apart of the dinner to class it up. I must admit... it worked! I had the shrimp entree' that the above poster mentioned, and I thought it was very good. I enjoyed eating dinner in my roomette and watching the gorge.
Last fall I rode the Builder west bound and had a pretty average attendant. He didn't do anything wrong, just didn't go out of his way to be friendly. He told everyone to go the cafe car when they woke up to get their breakfast. The cafe car attendant offered to heat up my croisaint sandwich which was nice. Since I was already in the car, I sat in the SSL for breakfast.
Something to remember... the Empire Builder is a very short train at this point. Couple coaches and 1 sleeper. There would be no reason to block off seats in the SSL... should be plenty of room.