How are they out of chocolate cake at the first dinner? I took a lot of LDs last summer and never ran into that issue.
Well said. I couldn't agree more.
It's really not that far off from what they were charging when there were prices on the menu especially with what average restaurant meal prices are these days. It's kind of about what I'd expect them to charge especially given you get an appetizer, alcoholic beverage, unlimited soft drinks, and dessert. Certainly not implying that people should pay for it if they don't think it's worth it but I don't really have much of an issue with them charging a price that's cost based. After all coach fares are rather subsidized and coach passengers are not paying anywhere near the premium sleeper passengers are and there are costs associated with this food service model. I pretty much expect food in captive settings like a movie theatre, stadium, or other venue to be a bit overpriced and I kind of put the train in that category. And with Amtrak they also offer the cafe car for those who can't afford this or don't think the diner is worth the cost. But as you said my opinion.
Not just your opinion. I pretty much agree with everything you say.
Just curious, what makes the deserts mediocre? (I realize you had poor service, I would be disappointed if that happened to me too. I'm not trying to justify that, and I'm lucky I haven't ran into that issue, but I hope that's not the norm).
Well, the service issues are unfortunate, but also very typical of Amtrak. It really doesn't matter what price you pay for just about anything, fares, meals, Amtrak OBS is going to be highly variable and often slipshod.
This is only accurate if we assume every coach passenger always chose the steak entree plus a side salad, plus the most expensive alcoholic drink, plus the most expensive dessert. It seems a little disingenuous to call it even since pre-pandemic dinner entrees started at $16 and the vast majority of coach passengers I met were disinclined to spend another 50% - 200% of their coach fare on a single dining car meal.
The previous entrees were $16.50 - $25.00. If you add salad, wine, and dessert the total would have been $34.50 - $43.00
I disagree that the current Traditional Dinning Menu Items are " Better" than before COVID.
Well, as one who rode under the last iteration of traditional dining as well as the reintroduced version, the reintroduced version is significantly better than the last iteration of the old "traditional", which had gotten pretty sad and a long fall from what it had been in the early/mid 2000's. It really only looked good when compared to Flex.
I would strongly disagree. I don’t know if the actual entree for example cut of steak or chicken or fish is any different than before, but having had it just before they dropped it in favor of flex on the silver service the preparation, presentation effort including the sauces, garnishes, desserts are far superior to what was offered before flex. For me the auto train is also a big jump in quality. I started riding in 2016 and the meals they are serving on the AT now are much better than when I first started riding it.
Since I haven't been on the Auto Train in years, I'll bow to your recent expierience, but I didn't have any problem with the Traditional Dinning Meals before COVID brought on Fresh and Contemporary and Flex Meals! I thought that the Meals on the Western Trains( especially the Eaglette) were Excellent up to the Pandemic.( I can't speak to now since the Eaglette and CONO are still serving Flex Food!)
My memory of traditional dining from 2019 is that it was extremely variable even by Amtrak standards. I remember ordering the same entree from train to train and trip to trip and they would look and taste totally different. Sometimes it was surprisingly good but other times it was shockingly bad and I had no way of knowing what I would get ahead of time. If you asked the crews their answers were all over the place so I have no explanation for why this was the case.
The Chef/Cook is ALWAYS The Key to how the Chow is!My memory of traditional dining from 2019 is that it was extremely variable even by Amtrak standards. I remember ordering the same entree from train to train and trip to trip and they would look and taste totally different. Sometimes it was surprisingly good but other times it was shockingly bad and I had no way of knowing what I would get ahead of time. If you asked the crews their answers were all over the place so I have no explanation for why this was the case.
It would be interesting to see some statistics on the extent of dining car patronage by coach passengers before the pandemic (per train and per meal) but I don't suppose that this information is publicly available. I only recall seeing a few coach passengers in the dining car each trip so I don't have the impression that coach passengers were inundating the dining car back then but that is only my random anecdotal observation.
Can't argue with that one.
Well, that was my impression, too, over many, many trips. It's still anecdotal but my experience backs up yours.
Which is probably the point. I suspect the people that really want to go to the diner for dinner won’t be stopped by the prices. Coach fares + $45 is still a pretty good deal for “dinner in the diner” compared to the cost of sleeper accommodations.
I think a breakdown per train (bonus: and per meal) would be very interesting. When your alternative is the equivalent of convenience store food, I wonder if the two-day Western trains would have more coach passengers eating in the dining car than one-night trains.
