Coast Starlight Breakfast

[SP&S]

The wife and I transferred from the CS to the CZ once in SAC. I think she'd kill me if I suggested that again.

It looked as if it had been a grand old station at one time but......

It was winter and half the doors wouldn't close. The staff was surly. You couldn't store your bags, even for a fee. No immediate area information was available. The taxi drivers liked to stand in the open doorways and looked as if they wanted to fight each other. There were some classy old heated wooden benches but they were all in use as sleepers for the station appeared to be the Sacramento Homeless Men's Shelter. The only food was a cart with bad overpriced coffee and prepacked danish.

It was a weekend and outside the station was just plain dead. The wife had a bum knee and it looked like either a roundabout hike or take your life in your own hand to get across the street.

It was almost as bad as being in Fresno!

 

[tp49]

Sorry about that, AGR used to allow you to connect with the Zephyr in Emeryville, Martinez or Davis but now the only Guaranteed Connection is Sacramento! They could buy a Roundtrip Coach ticket SAC-DAV-SAC and if no one had booked their room out of SAC stay in their room and also upon return from Davis occupy their room if none had booked it to SAC? Many of us have done this!

Unfortunately the area around the Sacramento Station is very quiet in the morning and there are few places to eat!There is a Riverboat Hotel with a Restaurant on the River in Old Sacramento next to the Station and several Posts have mentioned and ex Dennys that's open for breakfast in the area!

The former Denny's is occupied by a regional chain restaurant.

http://www.perkos.com

There was a place across from the California State Railroad Museum called "Harvey House" that served breakfast. I almost bought a Groupon-like offer, but they folded fairly quickly. They were going for a Fred Harvey feel.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/harvey-house-sacramento-3

Honestly it is kind of sad around this area. You'd think there would be decent places to get breakfast, but there aren't many. Not even a McDonald's.

There are no fast food restaurants on "the grid" in Sacramento. Not a one. Closest McDonald's is at Richards Blvd and I-5 or at 30th and K. There used to be a Carl's Jr. in Downtown Plaza but that closed years ago.

 

[tp49]

There is also Jim Denny's which is a local breakfast place with giant pancakes. It's a few blocks from the station.

Jim Denny's is good but they have crap days of operation. Open Tuesday-Saturday starting at 7AM.

I haven't tried Perko's since it was a Denny's. My wife and I enjoyed Jim Denny's which is on 12th St. between H and I. We walked east out H street to 12th to avoid walking past the jail on I street.

The view of the back end of the jail on H is so much better than the front and you get the added benefit of the catcalls from the inmates in the rec facilities. :giggle:

 

[tp49]

I actually enjoyed SAC. We got there around 5:15 AM. I had breakfast at a cute English restaurant called the Fox and the Goose. It was about a mile walk past the state Capitol building. I was able to store my luggage at the baggage room for the day.

I love the Fox and Goose! One of my go to brunch spots. It's at 10th and R Streets about a 20-25 minute walk from the station.

 

[tp49]

I too think Davis is a better place to wait particularly on the weekend but check the operating hours of any breakfast place you are looking to go to as some may not open before 7. Downtown SAC is pretty much dead on the weekends when all the workers are doing other things. As I've posted ad nauseum about places to eat and/or things to do in SAC in other threads I'll refrain from doing so here.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I actually enjoyed SAC. We got there around 5:15 AM. I had breakfast at a cute English restaurant called the Fox and the Goose. It was about a mile walk past the state Capitol building. I was able to store my luggage at the baggage room for the day. There is a Starbucks next to the station for those that don't want to explore. I found the city to be perfectly fine but I did wait for the sun to come up before exploring. This meant I had to sit in the station for about an hour.

This.

I've connected through SAC on multiple occasions myself, from California Zephyr (5) to Coast Starlight (14), and never had any issues with rude staff or annoying homeless people. The taxi drivers didnt stand in the doorways and seemed to be no more rude or obnoxious than they are anywhere else in the US. If you're famished then there is a Starbucks right on the corner. I mean it is literally just around the corner with no need to traverse any scary streets. There are other locations to eat as well but they will require some walking on your own two feet to get there. If thats not something you find acceptable then give Uber a try. If anything ever bugged me about SAC it would probably be Amtrak's absurd twelve hour stopovers rather than the city of Sacramento itself. I can only assume the folks calling SAC a toilet have never set foot in New York and thus have no idea what theyre talking about.

 

[amamba]

I actually enjoyed SAC. We got there around 5:15 AM. I had breakfast at a cute English restaurant called the Fox and the Goose. It was about a mile walk past the state Capitol building. I was able to store my luggage at the baggage room for the day. There is a Starbucks next to the station for those that don't want to explore. I found the city to be perfectly fine but I did wait for the sun to come up before exploring. This meant I had to sit in the station for about an hour.

This.

I've connected through SAC on multiple occasions myself, from California Zephyr (5) to Coast Starlight (14), and never had any issues with rude staff or annoying homeless people. The taxi drivers didnt stand in the doorways and seemed to be no more rude or obnoxious than they are anywhere else in the US. If you're famished then there is a Starbucks right on the corner. I mean it is literally just around the corner with no need to traverse any scary streets. There are other locations to eat as well but they will require some walking on your own two feet to get there. If thats not something you find acceptable then give Uber a try. If anything ever bugged me about SAC it would probably be Amtrak's absurd twelve hour stopovers rather than the city of Sacramento itself. I can only assume the folks calling SAC a toilet have never set foot in New York and thus have no idea what theyre talking about.

Thank you DA. I agree with you completely. The Starbucks requires crossing zero streets. After I stored my luggage, I happened upon it. Just go out the doors of the station and turn left. It is the next building down on the corner. It was perfectly fine inside - like any other starbucks - and I got an iced americano for my walk about town. I even popped in to use the restroom on the way back from my walk.

I walked past the jail on I street. I didn't know it was there until I looked over and saw the sign. Across the street are a few bail bondsman with neon lights, but honestly, it just seems like a city. Maybe its because I'm an East coaster, but again, I found the city to be actually cleaner and nicer than some big ones back here. Yes there are more visible homeless but I always assume that is because that they don't have a freezing/snowy winter like we do up in New England. I walked around as a single woman in my 30s for hours and at no point did I feel unsafe. There were beautiful parks in the city and the palm trees were so tall! I was just amazed at the plants and the flowers (it helped to see them since it was winter back home).

And the Fox and the Goose was WELL worth the walk. Plus it was nice to walk around - I walked over 4 miles when I was in SAC which is good since I was going to be on a train for the next three days.

TBH I was a little nervous about this SAC connection after everyone on this board told me to try for Martinez or Davis, but I was glad I went to SAC as it was interesting and there was plenty to do in my early morning layover. I walked around the old town part - everything was closed because it was still early, but that was fine. It was still interesting to look at. I took a ton of pictures and made the best of it.

 

[BCL]

I too think Davis is a better place to wait particularly on the weekend but check the operating hours of any breakfast place you are looking to go to as some may not open before 7. Downtown SAC is pretty much dead on the weekends when all the workers are doing other things. As I've posted ad nauseum about places to eat and/or things to do in SAC in other threads I'll refrain from doing so here.

I've spent quite a few weekends around there and the occasional weekday. I've only taken Amtrak from SAC once but have dropped off friends. It's mostly my membership at the railroad museum and a train crazy toddler. I'm also cheap, so I'll park on the street on Sundays.

Even on the weekends it picks up in the afternoon, but too late for the CS/CZ layover. The food court at Downtown Plaza isn't great, but it won't kill you. I haven't tried River City Brewing. Old Sac has options including Joe's Crab Shack.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

The wife and I transferred from the CS to the CZ once in SAC. I think she'd kill me if I suggested that again.

It looked as if it had been a grand old station at one time but......

It was winter and half the doors wouldn't close. The staff was surly. You couldn't store your bags, even for a fee. No immediate area information was available. The taxi drivers liked to stand in the open doorways and looked as if they wanted to fight each other. There were some classy old heated wooden benches but they were all in use as sleepers for the station appeared to be the Sacramento Homeless Men's Shelter. The only food was a cart with bad overpriced coffee and prepacked danish.

It was a weekend and outside the station was just plain dead. The wife had a bum knee and it looked like either a roundabout hike or take your life in your own hand to get across the street.

It was almost as bad as being in Fresno!

I transferred this past April in SAC. from the CZ to the CS with a long wait. I felt very safe in the station even after midnight as the CS was 3 hours late. There was an Amtrak Policeman there and made hourly walks around through the station and anyone that was sleeping was asked to show their ticket. He even called the local police to come and extract two men who did not have tickets and would not leave. They have really cleaned up the station. They are still working on it, but it is going to be a great place when finished.

 

[PaulM]

I was only allowed the SAC connection from the CS to the CZ in March and Anthony confirmed for me that this was now a rule from the folks in operations.

I hope he confirmed that the rule in question is AGR's, not operations. It is AGR's rule that only published (non-multicity) routes are allowed; and operations won't publish connections other than SAC.

 

[crescent2]

Why is SAC the only one they are willing to publish? If I ever get to make that trip, I'd much prefer DAV.

 

[chakk]

Why is SAC the only one they are willing to publish? If I ever get to make that trip, I'd much prefer DAV.

Probably because if they were to publish DAV as a legal connection, then they might have to hold the second train on the mainline for a late first one to arrive DAV, thereby blocking BOTH tracks from use by other passenger and freight trains.

In SAC, there are multiple tracks that trains can be held for late-arriving connections, leaving open at least one track through the station area at all times for use by other rail traffic.