Question on Auto Train Breakfast

[Guest_ Mike Amtrak]

Hello,

I will be riding with my family on the Auto Train soon and I have a question about the breakfast. I remember the dinner being really good, but the breakfast was not very good. It was a few bagels that didn't taste good and some basic fruit. I think also some small boxes of cereal. But nothing else that a normal continental breakfast would have, like muffins and danishes, etc. Is this the same still or has this been improved? If not we may bring something to eat for breakfast on our own. I may bring that to the dining car since drinks are provided if that is OK. Thanks to anyone with information!

Oh, I assume they still have the wine and cheese shortly after boarding?

 

[Ryan]

Bringing your own food into the dining car will be a no go.

I remember the breakfast being pretty decent, but that was a while back.

 

[Pooh2]

We were in coach, just brought our own breakfast (breakfast pastries, bagels and juice in a small drink cooler) and ate in coach while watching the scenery go by.

 

[AlanB]

I've never seen danishes on the AT, but I have seen both muffins & bagels in the basket. But otherwise the other items you've mentioned remain correct. They simply don't have all that much time to get everyone through the dining car prior to arrival, so choices are kept to a minimum.

And as already noted, bringing your own food into the car is a no go.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I know there is a difference in Coach and Sleeper Supper-is there for Breakfast as well?

 

[battalion51]

The selections at breakfast are pretty limited just because of the volume of people you have to serve in such a short period of time. Trying to run a hot breakfast service would be borderline impossible. If I remember correctly the Sleeping Car breakfast included items like Cereal and Oatmeal in addition to the breads and fruits.

 

[JoeRids]

I have travelled the AT in both sleeper and coach (most recently sleeper), and found the breakfast to be identical in both services: cereal, bagels, corn muffins, coffee, tea, juice, milk; I have never seen oatmeal, and I seem to remember yogurt in coach back in '03 but did not have it this past July in sleeper. The corn muffins ARE good, but otherwise it is what it is.

 

[Guest_ Mike Amtrak]

Thanks for the answers everyone. Regarding bringing our own food, I'm talking like a few muffins or something, not a whole lot. Our son has a tree nut allergy so we may have to bring in something for him anyway as we won't know the actual ingredients in the things they do provide (as well as cross contamination, etc). I guess my question is what will they do if we eat a few of our own muffins? I wonder if they will even notice as they are usually pretty busy. We paid for the breakfast anyway so if we eat less of it that they provide what is the issue? But I don't really want to eat in our room as I like the dining car and we get drinks/coffee there.

 

[Guest_ Mike Amtrak]

I ended up calling Amtrak because a few made it seem like it was a bad thing to bring my own food. I called and the Amtrak rep said "You can bring your own food" after I asked him. I told him Auto Train and breakfast, and he said there is no problem doing this. Not sure why a few said it is "no go" as if they will kick me out of the dining car.

 

[SarahZ]

You aren't allowed to bring your own food into the dining car because of food safety/service regulations, so I doubt they'd be okay with that, even if you tried to be discreet or explained his allergy.

Edit: I just saw your response. That's surprising. See Ryan's post below.

 

[Ryan]

Because it's against the rules and they'll kick you out.

It's a shame that Amtrak CSRs can be so ignorant of the rules.

 

[SarahZ]

Annnnnd, we've been Blue-Booked.

 

[Ryan]

It's amazing the number of questions that can be answered by RTFM.

 

[Guest_ Mike Amtrak]

Wow Ryan, you sure are a bitter person. I just asked a question about breakfast on the auto train, and you are throwing in "RTFM" - is that really needed? Is that the way you speak to people in person, or just on-line? Last I checked, that is pretty rude of you do that. I don't know about you, but when I go on Amtrak, I don't see every single passenger reading the Amtrak Manual of Life, nor the attendants. As I said, I called earlier and was told "You can bring your own food" from the reservation person on the phone. Will they stop the Auto Train to kick me out because we eat a muffin that was not an Amtrak muffin? I'm already paying a lot to ride, so I don't think they would do that. And finally, are you going to tell me that my son cannot eat something we bring, and he MUST eat something that Amtrak provides, when I do not know if he will react to that as he has an allergy? I would like to see you go in the dining car where there are kids with severe allergies and force them to eat "Amtrak provided meals" because the manual says so. Try that, and let me know what the parents do.

 

[Ryan]

Not bitter at all.

As for how I act in person, I just spent the weekend here with a bunch of posters, I'll let them comment as they so choose.

The rules are what they are, and the rules say "No personal food in the diner", regardless of what some poorly trained CSR told you on the phone.

Will they kick you off the train? I doubt it, unless you throw a hissy fit about it. But you will almost certainly be asked to take your food out of the dining car.

I never said that your son must eat only Amtrak provided food, so drop the ridiculous strawman. I only said that you can't eat your home-brought food in the dining car. It can be eaten in the locations listed in the rules I posted above. As far as food allergies go, I've got a good friend that has one to a pretty common ingredient. She goes to the dining car and eats what she can safely be assured doesn't contain the ingredient. If there isn't anything, she has her own stock of known-safe food that she consumes in an approved location.

It's not rocket science here.

 

[jebr]

Mike:

You were saying that you wanted to bring it into the diner. That's clearly against the rules. You can eat it in your own seat in coach (or in the room if you have a sleeping car reservation) but you can't bring it into the diner. Just like you couldn't bring your own food into a normal restaurant.

And I would hope the attendants have read the Service Manual. After all, those are the rules that they are expected to follow, just like any other employee manual. My boss wouldn't appreciate me disobeying rules clearly spelled out in my employee manual.

As for how I act in person, I just spent the weekend here with a bunch of posters, I'll let them comment as they so choose.

You're going to give us that open ticket? After those looks SarahZ gave you?

 

[SarahZ]

Haha. I love Ryan, even though he IS bitter and grumpy.

Mike - I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think Ryan's "RTFM" was directed at the CSRs, not you. There is a history of people turning to this forum for answers because three CSRs tell them three different things, and we have a few members who have copies of the Blue Book (what we call the manual) to help everyone out. I know you were just searching for information and that it can be confusing when you get different answers, hence the Blue Book excerpt.

Nobody would ever force your child to eat food he is allergic to or that could have been contaminated. Food service rules simply restrict people from bringing food into a restaurant (or in this case, a dining car). If they saw you consuming other food in there, they would simply ask you to bring it back to your room or the lounge, where it is perfectly okay to consume it, so I would suggest you ask if you can take some coffee/tea/juice/milk to go and have a nice breakfast in the lounge where you get a great view and don't have to worry about cross-contamination from the other breakfast items.

 

[Ryan]

Mike - I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think Ryan's "RTFM" was directed at the CSRs, not you.

That is indeed what I'm getting at.

If I can look up the right answer, take a screen shot, upload it and post it in less than a minute with the book in front of me, a freaking agent should be able to get you the correct answer while on the phone.

Pity that isn't the case, though.

Anyhow, my bitterness was solely directed at agents that pass out bad information. You can only go on what you were told. What would your reaction be if this conversation didn't happen and you just got on the train, took your food to the diner and then were asked to leave? Probably not pleasant, and justifiably so.

 

[AlanB]

If I can look up the right answer, take a screen shot, upload it and post it in less than a minute with the book in front of me, a freaking agent should be able to get you the correct answer while on the phone.

I'm not sure that the agents have access to the Blue book.

 

[Ryan]

That just shifts the focus of my ire from them to their management that doesn't give them the proper tools (either the Blue Book or other written documentation) to do their jobs correctly.

 

[AlanB]

That just shifts the focus of my ire from them to their management that doesn't give them the proper tools (either the Blue Book or other written documentation) to do their jobs correctly.

Management has a hard enough time getting people to remember the things that they need to know as a reservations agent and to read the materials that come out related to that job. Getting them to read a manual that doesn't really affect them & their jobs would be impossible.

What should exist, and I have no idea if it does or does not, is a database of the top 100 questions or so that an agent is likely to get, so that they can look up the answers to such common questions. And this is a pretty common question.

 

[buddy559]

Wow Ryan, you sure are a bitter person. I just asked a question about breakfast on the auto train, and you are throwing in "RTFM" - is that really needed? Is that the way you speak to people in person, or just on-line? Last I checked, that is pretty rude of you do that. I don't know about you, but when I go on Amtrak, I don't see every single passenger reading the Amtrak Manual of Life, nor the attendants. As I said, I called earlier and was told "You can bring your own food" from the reservation person on the phone. Will they stop the Auto Train to kick me out because we eat a muffin that was not an Amtrak muffin? I'm already paying a lot to ride, so I don't think they would do that. And finally, are you going to tell me that my son cannot eat something we bring, and he MUST eat something that Amtrak provides, when I do not know if he will react to that as he has an allergy? I would like to see you go in the dining car where there are kids with severe allergies and force them to eat "Amtrak provided meals" because the manual says so. Try that, and let me know what the parents do.

It makes an uncomfortable situation for other passengers, and the crew on board. From your own account of the conversation you asked the agent if you could bring your own food, (Correct) You also mentioned "auto train" and "breakfast"

Yes, you may bring food on the auto train and it may be breakfast food, and you may eat it at breakfast time. You may not eat it in the diner car. Your son has a peanut allergy. What if someone else on the train wanted to bring their jar of peanut butter, and jelly, and a loaf of bread with them, to enjoy along with the Amtrak provided beverages. Why should the 2 of them and their 3 kids be cooped up in a family bedroom? Is that ok with you.

I can already see how this situation will play out on board. It will involve a big confrontation in the dining car, with the amount paid for the ticket, and the agents permission to bring food "Onboard" the train with you. The attendant (who will be doing their job) will be put through the ringer, and the conductor and your SCA will have a mess on their hands for the rest of their trip.

The "rules" that were thrown at you are there for a reason, because people try to push every rule to the farthest point even expecting crew to regularly disregard regulations, and thus putting their job on the line, and then complaining about every minor infraction to the rules that anyone else does, that does not happen to suit them.

If you don't like what dad told you, go ask mom.

 

[dlagrua]

Bringing your own food into the dining car will be a no go.

I remember the breakfast being pretty decent, but that was a while back.

The last few breakfasts that we had on the Autotrain were "continental" meaning juice, cereal, coffee and rolls. It was so uninspiring that we now take a small container of Hummous spread for the rolls/bagels. Since I do not like brown coffee I also take a Starbucks "double shot" espresso with me to breakfast. While bringing your own food to the dining car may be against the rules; if you take small items to the breakfast table, not act in the blatant manner,( and tip well) I doubt if anyone will bother you. In the last eight A/T trips, no one has said a word to us but we are discreet when we BYO to breakfast.

 

[Ryan]

Getting them to read a manual that doesn't really affect them & their jobs would be impossible.

If they're answering questions about what happens on board, the Blue Book very much impacts their job.

I don't think that it's an unrealistic expectation to get correct answers from a CSR when you call Amtrak.

 

[buddy559]

I ended up calling Amtrak because a few made it seem like it was a bad thing to bring my own food. I called and the Amtrak rep said "You can bring your own food" after I asked him. I told him Auto Train and breakfast, and he said there is no problem doing this. Not sure why a few said it is "no go" as if they will kick me out of the dining car.

Using the information provided from the caller the representative did give correct information. "You can bring your own food" There is no mention of the caller asking if they could eat it in the diner, it probably was not mentioned by the caller for fear of not receiving the answer they wanted.