Amtrak Dining and Cafe Service discussion 2024 H1

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Realistically you can do 5 seatings of 44 per seating in current Diners which is 220. So to serve a train with 1650 or so would require a very large number of Dining Cars in the train.

This is the reason that Indian Railways pretty much gave up on Dining Cars when they realized that passenger demand was such that they will have to run many doze 24 car trains to come anywhere close to meeting demand, and transitioned to service at seat with ordering for food evolving to use Smartphone Apps. There really is no other viable way to serve such volumes of customers. Before biting the bullet, in a last gasp attempt to save the Diner (or Restaurant Car as they are called in that part of the world) they had these wonderful twin unit married pair AC Dining/Kitchen/Dorm sets. But then they saw the writing on the wall and gave up on Dining Cars. This was back in the early '70s.

As long as you can keep your trains10-12 cars you can manage with several Dining Cars. A 25 Car Canadian IIRC operated with upto 5 Dining Cars in the longest incarnation of it that I have been on. That is verging on the impractical.

Fortunately I doubt that Amtrak trains will ever have to deal with that sort of demand, so they may be able to pull it off with at most two Diners per train and some additional seating in Lounges perhaps, as they do on the Auto Train.
That brought back memories of my time riding trains in India.

My wife and I rode the Mahajara Express and the Deecan Odyssey and those were impressive trains with impeccable service and food.

Indian railway was pretty good too, while the food was not fancy by any means, if one likes Indian food, especially Indian Veg, they were very tasty.

I still have memories of the Bhaingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry) with warm Naan that Indian Railway served in the Executive Class Car.
 
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That brought back memories of my time riding trains in India.

My wife and I rode the Mahajara Express and the Deecan Odyssey and those were impressive trains with impeccable service and food.

Indian railway was pretty good too, while the food was not fancy by any means, if one likes Indian food, especially Indian Veg, they were very tasty.

I still have memories of the Bhaingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry) with warm Naan that Indian Railway served in the Executive Class Car.
Maharaja and Deccan Odyssey and half a dozen similar operations in various parts of India are tourist operations, not regular commercial trains. They are run to impress mostly foreigners. Most Indian cannot afford them. They should not be compared with Amtrak, or even with the premium commercial trains on Indian Railways like the Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Vande Bharat trains. Yes, food in standard premium commercial operation on Indian Railways is more than adequate which in my opinion is better than anything served on Amtrak both in quantity and quality keeping in mind what the eating habits of the local riders are. On the rest of IR trains food service varies between adequate through abysmal to non-existent.
 
Not sure if this is the right place to post this since the re-organization but:

I took a round trip to NYC the past couple days from BOS and experienced Acela first dining.

Wow. The last trip I took was in the fall (before that in 2022). What a massive improvement in quality of food - for dinner, I ordered the kofta kebab over a basmati biryani, and my wife got beef and mash potatoes. For breakfast, we both had the fruit and yogurt as well as a quiche (more like a frittata).

All food consumed was very high quality compared to what we have ordered before.

In the NYC lounge, the croissant I had was worlds better than at the hotel a few blocks away.

Nice to see Amtrak making strides with this.
 
Any particular reason why Acela gets real plates and silverware but LD trains aren't doing that yet (unless there is new information to me).
LD trains do have silverware and glassware. There was originally talk of them ordering china when traditional dining returned, whether they ceased that plan or if its just taken them forever to receive an order I do not know. As for Acela, its an entirely different product, service format that's really modeled directly off airline first class, and has been using plates all along. I'd add that while Acela might have plates, generally the food on LD trains in the diner is better from my experiences.
 
LD trains do have silverware and glassware. There was originally talk of them ordering china when traditional dining returned, whether they ceased that plan or if its just taken them forever to receive an order I do not know. As for Acela, its an entirely different product, service format that's really modeled directly off airline first class, and has been using plates all along. I'd add that while Acela might have plates, generally the food on LD trains in the diner is better from my experiences.
Acela served on plastic plates for the majority of COVID times - much like LD traditional dining.

I understand they are different products - that's really neither here nor there.
Given what tickets cost on LD trains, and that dining is a significantly more important aspect of that trip and ticket price, you'd figure that might be something they'd fix.
 
Acela served on plastic plates for the majority of COVID times - much like LD traditional dining.
They never permanently moved away from it on Acela however and retained their stock of real dishware as the covid cutbacks weren't intended to be permanent. On LD trains they moved away from china quite a few years ago now and sold and disposed of all of their stock well before the pandemic. It's a worthwhile question to ask if they are still planning on bringing it back since they claimed they were in 2021, but I honestly don't know the answer to that. However I usually attend the RPA events and if I get a chance to ask someone about that I will do so. While I'd appreciate the waste reduction that going back to china would bring, I do not find the plastic dishware they are presently using to be particularly offensive or degrading to the experience - but of course that's just one person's opinion. The presentation is pretty decent as the current plastic dishware is designed to look like it's real even though it isn't.
 
I've never understood the issue with the plastic plates they use in the dining car. Visually they look just like the China plates and it doesn't really effect the experience that much. To me, drinking wine out of a plastic glass effects the experience way more.

I remember riding the Empire Builder with a couple during the "real China" days and they were just grumpy from the get go. He was complaining about the dining car not being nice and I mentioned the tablecloths, engraved silverware, flowers, china etc. He felt the plate and said "ok I guess it's a step above McDonalds" - some people are never happy. haha.

One question for the current dining car - are they still serving the packaged desserts for Lunch and only serving the "good desserts" for dinner? That was a cutback I was pretty sad to hear about and seemed very silly, but wasn't sure if that was still happening.
 
I've never understood the issue with the plastic plates they use in the dining car. Visually they look just like the China plates and it doesn't really effect the experience that much. To me, drinking wine out of a plastic glass effects the experience way more.

I remember riding the Empire Builder with a couple during the "real China" days and they were just grumpy from the get go. He was complaining about the dining car not being nice and I mentioned the tablecloths, engraved silverware, flowers, china etc. He felt the plate and said "ok I guess it's a step above McDonalds" - some people are never happy. haha.

One question for the current dining car - are they still serving the packaged desserts for Lunch and only serving the "good desserts" for dinner? That was a cutback I was pretty sad to hear about and seemed very silly, but wasn't sure if that was still happening.
Yes to your question. Brownie and butter cake at lunch. Some crews will take it out of the wrapping,
plate it, and add whipped cream and drizzle, others won’t (and will just give you the wrapped desert in its original packaging). Had one instance where they served the good deserts for lunch, but only was because they had ran out of the pre packed stuff.
 
I’m ok with the brownie and butter cake lunch as a little bit lighter choice than the full fledged cakes they use at dinner I actually love the butter cake - but maybe mix it up a bit and change it periodically. This seemed to be timed around when they opened things up to coach and expanded to the Silvers. Whether that was a factor in why they made that tweak or not I don’t know.
 
While I'd appreciate the waste reduction that going back to china would bring, I do not find the plastic dishware they are presently using to be particularly offensive or degrading to the experience - but of course that's just one person's opinion. The presentation is pretty decent as the current plastic dishware is designed to look like it's real even though it isn't.
Based on your comment about waste reduction, does this mean the plastic plates are single use and don't get washed? If so I assume they have to have a dishwasher anyway for the glassware and silverware so it seems it would make sense to have reusable plates also.
 
On a recent round trip on the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville and back, breakfast was always served with plastic forks, knives and spoons with paper napkins. Lunch too, if I recall. Dinner was served with real silverware, napkins and tablecloths (covered in white butcher paper). Drinks - except wine at dinner- were always served in paper or plastic cups. Whisky was served in a plastic cup too!

I am OK with all of this, but real plates and glasses at dinner would be nice. It is all still much better than flex meals!

I can't wait for traditional meal service on the Lakeshore Limited (between two of the biggest and most important markets in the country), the sad, famous City of New Orleans, and the poor Texas Eagle between Chicago and San Antonio. When, Oh when?!
 
Just checked for our May 2024 trip on the Cardinal. The "Flexible Dining" is still in effect. For a 28 hour service that is quite disappointing. IMO, there are better quality microwave or convention oven meals that are far better than what Amtrak is serving. Even medium cost TV dinners sold at the supermarket, taste better than what they are serving.
 
On a recent round trip on the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville and back, breakfast was always served with plastic forks, knives and spoons with paper napkins. Lunch too, if I recall. Dinner was served with real silverware, napkins and tablecloths (covered in white butcher paper). Drinks - except wine at dinner- were always served in paper or plastic cups. Whisky was served in a plastic cup too!
Usually you'll get a real glass at dinner for beer or other alcoholic beverages too. For the soft drinks its a little bit less consistent - I have gotten glasses before when I get my sparkling water but it's often plastic as well. I have gotten real silverware and glasses at the other meals on occasion, but it is definitely most consistently used at dinner.
 
On my recent Coast Starlight trip, it was plastic utensils for all meals, even though they had the trays of real silverware set out in the kitchen area. We did have real glasses for our wine.
 
Definitely depends on the crew. I've had some that will use the actual silverware for all meals, others will only use it at dinner.

If you get room service, expect to get the plasticware.
 
On a recent round trip on the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville and back, breakfast was always served with plastic forks, knives and spoons with paper napkins. Lunch too, if I recall. Dinner was served with real silverware, napkins and tablecloths (covered in white butcher paper). Drinks - except wine at dinner- were always served in paper or plastic cups. Whisky was served in a plastic cup too!

I am OK with all of this, but real plates and glasses at dinner would be nice. It is all still MUCH better than flex meals!

I can't wait for traditional meal service on the Lakeshore Limited (between two of the biggest and most important markets in the country), the sad, famous City of New Orleans, and the poor Texas Eagle between Chicago and San Antonio. When, Oh when?!
What about the Capitol Limited, doesn't that count, too? :)
 
I'm fine with paper napkins instead of cloth for Breakfast and Lunch, but plastic is pretty cheap. Is that just the crew not wanting to bother with collecting the silver ware?
 
Just checked for our May 2024 trip on the Cardinal. The "Flexible Dining" is still in effect. For a 28 hour service that is quite disappointing. IMO, there are better quality microwave or convention oven meals that are far better than what Amtrak is serving. Even medium cost TV dinners sold at the supermarket, taste better than what they are serving.
The sandwiches served in the cafe car are pretty good. Why can’t they be served as a substitute for the TV dinners? If you are going from San Antonio to New York in a sleeper, that’s three days of flex crap. Why doesn’t Amtrak allow substitutions from the cafe car. It’s actually a step up.
 
Planning out our early May trip on the Texas Eagle, SAS to CHI. Does anyone have recent flex menu ingredient labels for the following items? Or might be willing to snap a good photo of them on an upcoming trip?

  • Continental breakfast, specifically the muffin & sandwiches
  • Pancakes and Sausage plate
  • Omelet plate
  • Beef Burgundy
  • Chicken Enchiladas
  • Asian Salmon plate
  • Chicken Parm plate
  • Dessert items
Amtrak customer service is being less than helpful since my teen's allergies are not top 8 items. The biggest two we're worried about are Oat and Avocado for her, as they seem to be hidden in so many foods now. Neither are life threatening, but would stand to make the trip very miserable for her due to stomach upset. Peanuts is the bigger concern for myself, but Amtrak did say at least that nothing appears to contain peanuts, but there could be peanut items in the cafe.

I'll be bringing a cooler of snack items anyways just in case, but we'd like to stretch it as long as possible as we're doing a 2 day trip in total with no meal service on the second train {Blue Water} and I'm not sure if I'll be able to grab food at Union Station in Chicago with my mobility issues.
 
Planning out our early May trip on the Texas Eagle, SAS to CHI. Does anyone have recent flex menu ingredient labels for the following items? Or might be willing to snap a good photo of them on an upcoming trip?

  • Continental breakfast, specifically the muffin & sandwiches
  • Pancakes and Sausage plate
  • Omelet plate
  • Beef Burgundy
  • Chicken Enchiladas
  • Asian Salmon plate
  • Chicken Parm plate
  • Dessert items
Amtrak customer service is being less than helpful since my teen's allergies are not top 8 items. The biggest two we're worried about are Oat and Avocado for her, as they seem to be hidden in so many foods now. Neither are life threatening, but would stand to make the trip very miserable for her due to stomach upset. Peanuts is the bigger concern for myself, but Amtrak did say at least that nothing appears to contain peanuts, but there could be peanut items in the cafe.

I'll be bringing a cooler of snack items anyways just in case, but we'd like to stretch it as long as possible as we're doing a 2 day trip in total with no meal service on the second train {Blue Water} and I'm not sure if I'll be able to grab food at Union Station in Chicago with my mobility issues.
The huge problem with ingredient labeling (especially with prepared foods) on non statutory items is that common items are often components pf other ingredients, or may be present in a prep facility. Oat has to be really tough for you, it's everywhere...
 
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