No Steak? SWC out of LA

[blondninja]

And I agree with the poster about the quality. I've given up too. I will no longer go to the dining car. I went once this trip. Six days on a train and I partook in one meal. The quality is poor. I don't know where I've had such poor quality food. And I don't buy frozen food at the grocery store.

 

[blondninja]

I've taken the chief about 10 times this year (just requalified for select executive on this trip).

Twice I have had the express menu boarding in Fullerton. Last week we had a full menu.

As others note, it seems to not be all the time but at their discretion. You have a good probability of having steak on the outbound dinner service.

 

[Asher]

And I agree with the poster about the quality. I've given up too. I will no longer go to the dining car. I went once this trip. Six days on a train and I partook in one meal. The quality is poor. I don't know where I've had such poor quality food. And I don't buy frozen food at the grocery store.

Six days, one meal?

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

And I agree with the poster about the quality. I've given up too. I will no longer go to the dining car. I went once this trip. Six days on a train and I partook in one meal. The quality is poor. I don't know where I've had such poor quality food. And I don't buy frozen food at the grocery store.

Six days, one meal?

Shocking to many, they do have this thing called a cafe/lounge car.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

Shocking to many, they do have this thing called a cafe/lounge car.

I would never claim that I had good food, from the café/lounge car. Tolerable, yes. Better than nothing, yes. But good, no.

Maybe over the years, I learned what was good in the dining car, and what wasn't. For example, the worse meal I ever had, was their Bob Evans Scramble. Nothing like what they actually serve by that name at a Bob Evans. I simply ordered RR French Toast the next time.

 

[The 3 Ducks Quacking]

Steak, only one place to get it and that is from the Beef Capital of the World. Amtrak refuses to go there, but should they change there minds I sure one particular restaurant would make sure every Amtrak rider got a taste. By he way, some of you have stated in past postings you ate there, Where is it? ( Location and restaurant)

 

[blondninja]

Ha ha. Yep. Bought food in Albuquerque. Ate in Chicago. Ate in Washington, D.C. Planned the same for the return home.

After about 10 trips on the chief this year, three on the capital and one on the cardinal, I'm quite over the limited dining car choices.

 

[seat38a]

What I don't understand is the need for a express menu leaving Los Angeles when it is just the start of the trip. The whole abbreviated menu due to prepping for arrival I do somewhat understand, but not so pleased with. The crews trip just started so what excuse is there for this?

 

[Triley]

What I don't understand is the need for a express menu leaving Los Angeles when it is just the start of the trip. The whole abbreviated menu due to prepping for arrival I do somewhat understand, but not so pleased with. The crews trip just started so what excuse is there for this?

Perhaps to maximize the amount of passengers they are able to serve given that they have an hour and 15 minutes less to do so? Or would you rather serve a full dining menu and risk running late because there is more of a selection to cook, which slows down service time, which leads to more time spent in the diner, etc.?

Either way people are going to complain. May as well try to maximize patronage.

 

[Triley]

And once again to clarify to those who are pointing fingers at the LSAs and basically knocking them for doing their own things? "Designated Express Meal trains that depart the initial terminal or arrive at the final destination during scheduled meal periods may offer Express Meals.", per the blue book. Dinner is scheduled from 5pm-9:30pm. So they are not "making up their own rules as usual".

 

[seat38a]

What I don't understand is the need for a express menu leaving Los Angeles when it is just the start of the trip. The whole abbreviated menu due to prepping for arrival I do somewhat understand, but not so pleased with. The crews trip just started so what excuse is there for this?

Perhaps to maximize the amount of passengers they are able to serve given that they have an hour and 15 minutes less to do so? Or would you rather serve a full dining menu and risk running late because there is more of a selection to cook, which slows down service time, which leads to more time spent in the diner, etc.?

Either way people are going to complain. May as well try to maximize patronage.

Risk running late for what? The hard limit that is set for cutting everything off at 9:30PM?? If I was a sleeping car passenger who was getting off in the morning, YES I'd rather see full service and risk running late. (Whatever that means)

 

[seat38a]

And once again to clarify to those who are pointing fingers at the LSAs and basically knocking them for doing their own things? "Designated Express Meal trains that depart the initial terminal or arrive at the final destination during scheduled meal periods may offer Express Meals.", per the blue book. Dinner is scheduled from 5pm-9:30pm. So they are not "making up their own rules as usual".

Another words they "MAY" choose to do it if they want and nothing is stopping them from offering the full menu.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Funny, I've seen steak and salmon on the menu when I did #4 from LAX last summer (2015). I got the salmon and it was pretty good.

 

[Asher]

And I agree with the poster about the quality. I've given up too. I will no longer go to the dining car. I went once this trip. Six days on a train and I partook in one meal. The quality is poor. I don't know where I've had such poor quality food. And I don't buy frozen food at the grocery store.

Six days, one meal?

My bad, I thought you may be fasting

 

[AmtrakBlue]

What I don't understand is the need for a express menu leaving Los Angeles when it is just the start of the trip. The whole abbreviated menu due to prepping for arrival I do somewhat understand, but not so pleased with. The crews trip just started so what excuse is there for this?

Perhaps to maximize the amount of passengers they are able to serve given that they have an hour and 15 minutes less to do so? Or would you rather serve a full dining menu and risk running late because there is more of a selection to cook, which slows down service time, which leads to more time spent in the diner, etc.?

Either way people are going to complain. May as well try to maximize patronage.

Risk running late for what? The hard limit that is set for cutting everything off at 9:30PM?? If I was a sleeping car passenger who was getting off in the morning, YES I'd rather see full service and risk running late. (Whatever that means)

I'm thinking he's saying they'd serve fewer pax because pax being served would be spending longer times in the diner. As for the 9:30 cut-off, don't forget they have a lot to do after the last pax leave the diner and only get ?4? hours off (for sleep) before they have to get up to prepare for breakfast.

 

[Triley]

Perhaps to maximize the amount of passengers they are able to serve given that they have an hour and 15 minutes less to do so? Or would you rather serve a full dining menu and risk running late because there is more of a selection to cook, which slows down service time, which leads to more time spent in the diner, etc.?
Either way people are going to complain. May as well try to maximize patronage.

Risk running late for what? The hard limit that is set for cutting everything off at 9:30PM?? If I was a sleeping car passenger who was getting off in the morning, YES I'd rather see full service and risk running late. (Whatever that means)

I'm thinking he's saying they'd serve fewer pax because pax being served would be spending longer times in the diner. As for the 9:30 cut-off, don't forget they have a lot to do after the last pax leave the diner and only get ?4? hours off (for sleep) before they have to get up to prepare for breakfast.

Thank you Betty, that's pretty much exactly what I meant. And I'm not sure exactly much sleep they are able to get, but in between dinner and breakfast is where they should be able to get the most. From dinner end to breakfast start would be eight hours given the fact they cross a time zone overnight. Figure an hour to clean up and get everything locked up after dinner, and figure an hour for getting ready and prepped in the morning (I honestly don't know, as we don't work diners in Boston), and you're now talking about having six hours off, so maybe what, four and a half hours of sleep? Five hours at absolute best, if you're able to fall right asleep and jump right up and get in the shower in the morning? Keep in mind...it is basically like this for six days for these folks. So asking them to keep serving past their close time is..not very nice of someone to do.

And in case it's still not clear of what I meant about "running late"? I mean taking reservations up until say 8:30, and falling behind because passengers don't leave the tables quick enough, and now you're seating the people with 8:30 reservations at 9, 9:15, etc.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Oh those poor dining car workers. How dare we expect them to serve a full menu!!!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

What I don't understand is the need for a express menu leaving Los Angeles when it is just the start of the trip. The whole abbreviated menu due to prepping for arrival I do somewhat understand, but not so pleased with. The crews trip just started so what excuse is there for this?

Perhaps to maximize the amount of passengers they are able to serve given that they have an hour and 15 minutes less to do so? Or would you rather serve a full dining menu and risk running late because there is more of a selection to cook, which slows down service time, which leads to more time spent in the diner, etc.? Either way people are going to complain. May as well try to maximize patronage.

Today's "full dining menu" is already nearing the size and selection of express menus from previous years. How much more limited do they need it to get before they're satisfied they can handle it? For minimal service standards and maximum patronage nothing can beat a return of the automat car. Where I work we have vending machines with precooked frozen junk food and a bank of microwaves. Seems like the perfect fit for Amtrak's ever decreasing standards. Bon appetit.

 

[Triley]

What I don't understand is the need for a express menu leaving Los Angeles when it is just the start of the trip. The whole abbreviated menu due to prepping for arrival I do somewhat understand, but not so pleased with. The crews trip just started so what excuse is there for this?

Perhaps to maximize the amount of passengers they are able to serve given that they have an hour and 15 minutes less to do so? Or would you rather serve a full dining menu and risk running late because there is more of a selection to cook, which slows down service time, which leads to more time spent in the diner, etc.? Either way people are going to complain. May as well try to maximize patronage.

Today's "full dining menu" is already nearing the size and selection of express menus from previous years. How much more limited do they need it to get before they're satisfied they can handle it? For minimal service standards and maximum patronage nothing can beat a return of the automat car. Where I work we have vending machines with precooked frozen junk food and a bank of microwaves. Seems like the perfect fit for Amtrak's ever decreasing standards. Bon appetit.

I'm only speculating what their rationale is, since like I had mentioned I've never worked a dining car. And although I haven't been around long enough to actually experience the diners in their full glory, I've got to admit that it sounds like it's quite a shame what they've been reduced to. It'd be nice to see them return to carrying better menus (ViaRail certainly does on the Canadian), but we all know that isn't going to happen, unfortunately.

And with that response I need to remove myself from this thread before I start to get a little snarky. I would like to remind people that OBS crews on those long distance trains are pretty much onboard for up to six days round trip with around four hours of sleep per night, before you expect them to be willing to work past the time they're required to. Also, if the train is on the heavy side on a given departure they may have to face the choice of either being able to serve all passengers who want to eat in the diner with a limited menu, or serve a limited amount of passengers with the full menu. If the passenger load is light, I see no reason to not serve the full menu.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

A paying customer should be able to expect a "full menu" in the diner. As DA said... The full menu is pretty basic to begin with.

There are some truly great Amtrak Diner crews out there.... But there are some truly lazy ones out there too. Making excuses for the lazy crews doesn't help anyone.

 

[Bob Dylan]

A paying customer should be able to expect a "full menu" in the diner. As DA said... The full menu is pretty basic to begin with.

There are some truly great Amtrak Diner crews out there.... But there are some truly lazy ones out there too. Making excuses for the lazy crews doesn't help anyone.

True this! Nuff said!

 

[blondninja]

The problem is the price. For what you pay, I'm beginning to question the value for money. Room wise I'm paying about $400 a night for a beat up room that needs new upholstery etc. and less than stellar food and service. What I love about train travel I'm realizing has to do with train travel itself, in spite of Amtrak, not because of. As someone once said, we ride Amtrak because it's what we've got. But based on the price point, I could care less if the dining car staff are tired or not. Hire more staff, get a new job, whatever. Nobody cares if I'm tired or overworked in my job, why should we care? We need value for our dollar.

 

[seat38a]

A paying customer should be able to expect a "full menu" in the diner. As DA said... The full menu is pretty basic to begin with.

There are some truly great Amtrak Diner crews out there.... But there are some truly lazy ones out there too. Making excuses for the lazy crews doesn't help anyone.

2 thumbs up to crescent-zephyr! After my last trip on the SWC, I've kind of lost all sympathy for the dining car crew. Extra sleep is obviously not helping with their lazyness and scowl. And with all the moaning that coach passengers can't afford the dining car and they are not eating, I highly doubt them not getting into eat is going to be a problem. The two choices on the express menu are chicken or pasta, and if someone can't eat both????

 

[tommylicious]

Pathetic yet again. This is why we're taking the VIA Canadian this fall instead of the Zephyr. Prefer to be treated like valued customers, not pests bothering a unionized crew.

 

[zephyr17]

I don't blame the unionization, VIA's crews are unionized as far as I know. The problem is the general onboard customer service inconsistency, which I lay squarely at the feet of Amtrak management. The main difference is VIA has an onboard service manager to whom all onboard staff is accountable. Amtrak doesn't. Their crews are "free range".