Amtrak's New "Fresh Choices" Dining on CL & LSL

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A few very random thoughts:

- New Sleeper menu on CL and LSL have NO low carb breakfast items for diabetics.

- What a waste of awesome, brand new Viewliner Diners!

- Hope the ability to get a burger from the cafe car becomes official until better "hot" items become available.

- New NEC cafe car menu should be available on Star, Meteor & Palmetto - especially the Star that has no diner.

- I'm going to be on the Meteor in 10 days, and I'm going to cherish the status quo while it still exists!
 
I am hearing that the new Cafe menu, minus the specific Boars Head branding, has started appearing in the LD Cafes too. This may or may not be accurate since it is something that I consider hearsay at present having heard of such reports from a couple of people who traveled by one of those trains recently. But I thought it is interesting enough to share with y'all.

Two people who traveled by the LSL said that the Sleeper Lounge was very well patronized and the old tradition of meeting and chatting with fellow passengers over a meal or drink goes on, except that now you can do it all day instead of just at meal time. So at least these two people liked it. They thought that if the menu was improved a bit this would be overall an improvement over the past. Again, hearsay, but thought was worth sharing.
 
I tried to put my money where my mouth is and book sleeper on the LSL for an ALB-TOL-DET-CHI-ALB trip late next month, but it seems that the food changes have not led to a mass exodus from sleepers, as they were all sold out. Guess I'll be able to experience the new cafe menu anyway.
 
orm518 said:
Recently traveled on the CL on the first weekend of the new dining format. I submitted some feedback, some complaints, some praise, and received this response from Amtrak that seems to confirm it is moving towards pre-selecting meals, etc., and other things speculated at here:

"Amtrak is introducing new dining options this summer on board these routes. Amtrak aims to provide a more sustainable approach that produces less waste while maintaining the quality that our passengers have come to expect. These new offerings are intended to provide a more contemporary food service and will contribute to improved financial performance on these routes. The existing café menu will continue to be available to all passengers. Customers purchasing premium service will have additional amenities including exclusive access to tables in the sleeper lounge or in the private comfort of our passenger’s accommodations. In the future, customers will be able to pre-select their meals prior to departure. Our new service will allow additional investment into these routes to further improve the passenger experience.

Customer comments will play an important role in how we offer our service and we will take your valuable feedback into consideration as we make future changes to the dining experience on our trains. Thank you for taking the time to write to us and we hope to see you on board soon."
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Firstly, welcome to AU.
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Secondly, that seems to be the exact same email as every other member who has sent Amtrak feedback about the new system. Classy.
 
cpotisch said:
orm518 said:
Recently traveled on the CL on the first weekend of the new dining format. I submitted some feedback, some complaints, some praise, and received this response from Amtrak that seems to confirm it is moving towards pre-selecting meals, etc., and other things speculated at here:

"Amtrak is introducing new dining options this summer on board these routes. Amtrak aims to provide a more sustainable approach that produces less waste while maintaining the quality that our passengers have come to expect. These new offerings are intended to provide a more contemporary food service and will contribute to improved financial performance on these routes. The existing café menu will continue to be available to all passengers. Customers purchasing premium service will have additional amenities including exclusive access to tables in the sleeper lounge or in the private comfort of our passenger’s accommodations. In the future, customers will be able to pre-select their meals prior to departure. Our new service will allow additional investment into these routes to further improve the passenger experience.

Customer comments will play an important role in how we offer our service and we will take your valuable feedback into consideration as we make future changes to the dining experience on our trains. Thank you for taking the time to write to us and we hope to see you on board soon."
Click to expand...
Firstly, welcome to AU.
default_smile.png
Secondly, that seems to be the exact same email as every other member who has sent Amtrak feedback about the new system. Classy.
Click to expand...
Yep, same as I received on June 1 from a Customer Relations Specialist (should I reveal the name?).
 
Railroad Bill said:
Since they are not going to reduce sleeper fares on the LSL & CL, I wonder if anyone considered a voucher for $$ to be used in the cafe car for those who do not care for the new menu? I am sure it would cause havoc for cafe bookkeeping but might reduce the number of complaints.
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How many complaints are they getting from passengers who have actually ridden those trains and had the new meals? I've seen very little negative comment from actual passengers, even on this board.
 
Railroad Bill said:
Since they are not going to reduce sleeper fares on the LSL & CL, I wonder if anyone considered a voucher for $$ to be used in the cafe car for those who do not care for the new menu? I am sure it would cause havoc for cafe bookkeeping but might reduce the number of complaints.
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Has "anyone" considered it? All us back seat riders...but apparently not anyone in a position of the ability to do anything about it, except for the experience by one here in this thread who was able to get a burger from the Café car with the cooperation of his SCA.
Of course, none of we the proles are privy to internal discussions at Corporate. I'm sure someone has thought about it, but enough to make a real change? Hmmm...we're likely unable to know unless we see a change.
 
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We shall see after a few weeks to see what the consensus of opinions will be. I know that with the dietary issues I have, the current new menu will not work well. And there will always be those who enjoyed the former menus, the chance to meet new people over a nice dinner, and the ambiance of eating in the diner that will be gone.
 
Railroad Bill said:
We shall see after a few weeks to see what the consensus of opinions will be. I know that with the dietary issues I have, the current new menu will not work well. And there will always be those who enjoyed the former menus, the chance to meet new people over a nice dinner, and the ambiance of eating in the diner that will be gone.
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Apparently the ability to meet and talk to new people is not something that is reduced by this change. Indeed it is perhaps enhanced since now you can do it at anytime rather than only at designated meal time. This has been mentioned by a few who have actually ridden the trains with the new setup.So I think that issue about meeting and chatting with fellow passengers is a red herring at best. Yeah the ambiance will be different but the ability to meet and chat, not so much.
 
"So I think that issue about meeting and chatting with fellow passengers is a red herring at best. Yeah the ambiance will be different but the ability to meet and chat, not so much"

Except for coach passengers who do not have access to a true lounge car.

And also there is something about sharing a meal which helps people open up and talk to each other more so then if they are just hanging out in the lounge car.

Which is not unique to rail travel. Why is it people like to go on dates over a meal rather than just meeting up. Because it helps people get to know each other.

That being said, if it must be changed I would be much happier if coach passengers either had access to this or another full lounge car of their own
 
PVD said:
Those exchanges now took place in the SSL.
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But on the LSL, all we've got to lounge in is one half of an AmCan. And since the windows are smaller and there's less space than in coach, I doubt many people will be hanging out there. It's still possible to talk with coach pax, but it's a lot harder.
 
On the other hand, there is much to be said for limiting such sharing, opening up and dates to consenting adults.

amtrakpass said:
And also there is something about sharing a meal which helps people open up and talk to each other more so then if they are just hanging out in the lounge car.

Which is not unique to rail travel. Why is it people like to go on dates over a meal rather than just meeting up. Because it helps people get to know each other.
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You can still chat over a meal in addition to chatting over a drink at any other time. Admittedly the choices for the meal leaves a bit to be desired as mentioned earlier.

At the risk of sounding a bit elitist, I am not sure that not having Coach passengers in the Sleeper lounge is a huge loss, just like not having them in the CS PPC was not a huge loss either.

I think it would be desirable though, to add a full length Lounge to the LSL in addition to the half Lounge that is used currently.
 
Keep in mind that my only meal aboard the LSL this trip was breakfast before Chicago since I boarded after midnight.I did no lounge visit. The CL trip Chicago to WAS was really a better chance for me to be out of the room.
 
VentureForth said:
A few very random thoughts:

- New Sleeper menu on CL and LSL have NO low carb breakfast items for diabetics.
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Agree. I'm a Type 1 diabetic, so sure I can give myself insulin, but a 100g carb breakfast is a ticket to nowheresville without some toes in 30 years. Luckily, the attendant let me choose the Antipasto Plate for breakfast, I asked nicely, I didn't play the medical card, but in the future I might if I had to.
 
Hasn't made it to the Starlight yet, darn it. Maybe on the return trip this weekend? I can hope, can't I?
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jis said:
I am hearing that the new Cafe menu, minus the specific Boars Head branding, has started appearing in the LD Cafes too. This may or may not be accurate since it is something that I consider hearsay at present having heard of such reports from a couple of people who traveled by one of those trains recently. But I thought it is interesting enough to share with y'all.
Click to expand...
 
orm518 said:
VentureForth said:
A few very random thoughts:

- New Sleeper menu on CL and LSL have NO low carb breakfast items for diabetics.
Click to expand...
Agree. I'm a Type 1 diabetic, so sure I can give myself insulin, but a 100g carb breakfast is a ticket to nowheresville without some toes in 30 years. Luckily, the attendant let me choose the Antipasto Plate for breakfast, I asked nicely, I didn't play the medical card, but in the future I might if I had to.
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Choose your poison. That antipasto plate has a formidable amount of salt.
 
Since they are loading prepared meals on the train for ticketed passengers, some sort of request system beyond kosher meal is a sensible idea. There are other religious considerations as well as health related dietary concerns that are not uncommon. It would be folly to try and satisfy everyone, it is not realistic, but their are some pretty common issues that are currently not addressed by the current system.
 
This is a list of common codes for special airline meals that I believe remain in effect even today, at least for long haul intercontinental travel on foreign legacy carriers. On US carriers these requests may be honored but in my experience they simply take the normal meal and then remove everything that doesn't match the special meal code. So if you order a VGML you might receive a fruit cup, a salad, and a roll instead of a purpose made entree.

  • AVML - Asian Vegetarian Meal
  • BBML - Baby / Infant Food
  • BLML - Bland Meal
  • CHML - Children’s Meal
  • DBML - Diabetic Meal
  • GFML - Gluten-free Meal
  • HNML - Hindu Meal
  • KSML - Kosher (Jewish) Meal
  • LFML - Low Fat Meal
  • LSML - Low Sodium Meal
  • MOML - Muslim (Halal) Meal
  • NLML - Non-Lactose Meal
  • VGML - Vegetarian Meal (non-dairy)
  • VLML – Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal
  • VVML – Vegetarian Vegan Meal
 
There is some overlap, and there certainly is no need to go that broad in Amtrak (as an example, infants aren't fare paying passengers, there is no compelling reason to offer baby /infant meals) A vegan meal by definition would have no dairy, and satisfy religious needs of Hindu as to vegetarianism. It wouldn't be that hard to have a reasonable assortment of preselects.
 
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