New National Menu February, 2020

[dogbert617]

Looking pretty good.
They took away the guacamole...loved it on my omelets and burgers!

I really hate thinking guacamole isn't a part of the new national dining car menu, anymore. Since last summer, I really enjoyed adding that to my burger, when I got that during one(maybe 2?) of the times I ate lunch in the dining car on the Empire Builder. That all said I'm sure I'll find new options with the revised menu, and that it won't be the end of the world.

Be sure ro ne




Be sure not to stay at that place again. There's no shortage of pork products here in the Chicago area, either in grocery stores or restaurants. Most breakfast menus are loaded with sausage, bacon and ham -- from pigs, not chickens. And barbecue places are also extremely popular.

I still wish there were slightly more barbecue restaurants around, in the Chicago area. The BBQ situation isn't as very dire as I remember it being till like the late 90s and early 2000s in the Chicago area(when back then they all but didn't exist here!), but I still wish there were slightly more such restaurants around. Sigh I guess I'm spoiled by all my visits to see family in the South, where such restaurants are a lot more common.

Also, RIP to Hoxie's(formerly on the southwest corner of Lawrence and Ravenswood, building recently demolished for a now relocated Chase branch). Which may've been the first such attempt by anyone operating a restaurant in Chicago, to bring southern BBQ into Chicago. It only lasted a few years and sadly not longer, but it was a great restaurant when it very briefly was around. BTW the name Hoxie's, reflected the town of Hoxie, Arkansas. Which IIRC, isn't too far away from Walnut Ridge, AR, where the Texas Eagle train does stop during overnight hours.

As for how often pork is served in grocery stores and hotels/motels(for continental breakfast) and etc., it's more a thing in grocery stores vs. hotels/motels. For hotels/motels, most such places default to traditional sausage links, bacon, or turkey sausage, and don't serve pork during breakfast hours. Honestly, I can't think of a single hotel/motel chain that serves pork during breakfast hours, anyway. As for turkey sausage, I remember Hampton Inn definitely serves turkey sausage, and am almost positive my memory is that I saw that served at Holiday Inn Express the last time I stayed at a HIE.

And not to go too far off topic, but someone else did mention the Sunset/Texas Eagle's combined route in western Texas. If I could have things my way, I'd create a new train between Meridian, MS, and El Paso, TX that parallels I-20 and US 80, and has a thru-coach car and thru-sleeper car(a la how #421 and #422 serve this purpose in San Antonio) that gets attached and detached from the Crescent in Meridian. I don't think I'd run it west of El Paso, but to me that wouldn't be a huge deal, since ideally this new train would be timed to allow for a same day(and close to the same exact time) cross platform connection in the daytime with the SL/TE in San Antonio. And as for Sunset's route in western Texas, I'd keep it on THE current route it has, people whining about the lack of population out that way be darned! Since to me, even areas with lesser population(looking at you, eastern West Virginia with the Cardinal) should still have Amtrak train service. But that's just only my opinion.

Back on topic, I do wonder what the new pork wings will be like on the national dining menu. The change to cod from salmon is fine with me. As for mussels, I'm not sure if I haven't had good mussels my whole life, and that I less highly rate that vs. other types of food. Do have to say I'm slightly surprised Amtrak is removing that from the menu, due to the fact I noticed a lot of people were ordering that the one time I ate dinner in the EB dining car going east.

 

[Maglev]

Just wanted to comment on the mussels--I work at an oyster and clam farm, and mussels are considered a nuisance (although it bears mentioning that the Pilgrims thought lobsters were a trash shellfish). Mussels will grow anywhere, and I saw a documentary that showed how mussels will invade disturbed ecosystems. Despite this, my wife liked the mussels on Amtrak.

I'll miss the guacamole on my veggie burger, which I told myself was the only lunch I would order in deference to my sedentary behavior and abundance of eating on the train.

 

[NorthShore]

Also, RIP to Hoxie's(formerly on the southwest corner of Lawrence and Ravenswood, building recently demolished for a now relocated Chase branch). Which may've been the first such attempt by anyone operating a restaurant in Chicago, to bring southern BBQ into Chicago. It only lasted a few years and sadly not longer, but it was a great restaurant when it very briefly was around. BTW the name Hoxie's, reflected the town of Hoxie, Arkansas. Which IIRC, isn't too far away from Walnut Ridge, AR, where the Texas Eagle train does stop during overnight hours.

And, now, the Golden Nugget (also at Lawrence and Ravenswood....by the Metra stop: obligatory railroad connection) isn't even open all night, anymore!

I'd like a good, substantial pulled pork sandwich for lunch on Amtrak.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The more I think about it the addition of a pork product to a menu seems unusual in these politically-correct times. Many hotels have dropped it entirely from their menus. One hotel we stayed at recently even had a sign at breakfast ("out of respect...") and they served turkey bacon and vegetarian sausage.

Which hotel are you talking about? What did the rest of the "respect" sign say?