Eating one's own food in cafe car

[Rider]

I know there is a rule against bringing your own carry-on food into the cafe car. I was told this is for legal reasons.

But what about upstairs in the bi-level cafes, since the food service area is downstairs? I have seen families eating their own picnic upstairs, and wondered if they were just getting away with it, or if it is not actually against the rules.

 

[David Dodge]

fI don't know what the rules are but we brought cheese and crackers up to the view car for consumption. We bought drinks downstairs to consume as well. No one stopped us and, to be perfectly honest, we didn't think there would be a problem.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I believe upstairs on the Sightseer Lounge is alright since you are not in the actual food service area.

 

[amamba]

It is definitely allowed to eat your own food upstairs in the sightseer lounge.

 

[Pat Harper]

I have seen families eating their own picnic upstairs, and wondered if they were just getting away with it, or if it is not actually against the rules.

I was in the SSL once when a family brought in pizza which was definitely NOT from the snack bar. This was during a layover in San Antonio, as there wouldn't have been time anywhere else. No one said anything about it. I'm sure they would have shared if I'd asked for a piece, but we had just eaten in the dining car.

 

[had8ley]

I think one can import any food they so desire and consume same anywhere on the train. (I don't think I'd bring anything into the diner and expect the crew to tolerate me taking up a revenue table.) Now asking the LSA in the lounge or diner to warm up take out Chinese or anything else non-Amtrak is strickly against Amtrak & FDA regulations.

 

[Conductor -SAC]

Personal food on Amtrak,

Per FDA regualtions personal food itemes are prohibited in dining and lounge cars with the exception of the upper-level observation deck of the Sight Seeing Lounge, and in the table seating on Northeast Reginal train on the North East Corridor. Amtrak can not heat or provide refigeration for personal food or medications.

Hope this helps.

 

[zephyr17]

I think one can import any food they so desire and consume same anywhere on the train. (I don't think I'd bring anything into the diner and expect the crew to tolerate me taking up a revenue table.) Now asking the LSA in the lounge or diner to warm up take out Chinese or anything else non-Amtrak is strickly against Amtrak & FDA regulations.

Anywhere but the diner, as you pointed out, AND the downstairs tables in an SSL. They usually announce that those tables are for those who buy food from the cafe. Anyplace upstairs in the SSL is fine.

 

[dlagrua]

On the NEC trains that depart around dinner time it is common to find people with take out foods on board. Most eat at their coach seats as can be done on any train. When time is short, I sometimes eat dinner this way and also on New Jersey Transit trains. As long as you don't leave a mess behind, it should be perfectly OK to do this.

 

[Dutchrailnut]

the moral question is how dense can someone be ????

would you expect to get away with:

walking into a starbucks, and drinking your dunkin Donuts coffee ??

walking into a Mc Donalds eating a Burger king whopper ???

walking into a Boston Chicken and eating a Kentucky fried chicken meal ??

 

[jis]

the moral question is how dense can someone be ????

would you expect to get away with:

walking into a starbucks, and drinking your dunkin Donuts coffee ??

walking into a Mc Donalds eating a Burger king whopper ???

walking into a Boston Chicken and eating a Kentucky fried chicken meal ??

Speaking of Dunkin Donuts, I have actually eaten a Boston Creme and drank a Dunkin Donuts coffee sitting next to a Conductor who was drinking his Dunkin' Donuts coffee in a food service car on a Northeast Regional. The train was full and oversold, and I had just boarded at Metropark with all intention of consuming my food at my seat, which due to circumstances turned out to be in the food service car. Oh well.... I guess FDA had to take a back seat (or hang onto the foothold at the end of the car for dear life) due to circumstances for a while. :lol:

Frankly I think all of Dutch's examples are bogus, since none of those eating establishments are on wheels going to places where you are trying to get to and there are reasons that one might find oneself in a food service car against their desire even because of circumstances of overbooking, which is not that unusual.

 

[rrdude]

the moral question is how dense can someone be ????

would you expect to get away with:

walking into a starbucks, and drinking your dunkin Donuts coffee ??

walking into a Mc Donalds Yuck eating a Burger king whopper Yuck ???

walking into a Boston Chicken and eating a Kentucky fried chicken meal ??

 

[had8ley]

the moral question is how dense can someone be ????

would you expect to get away with:

walking into a starbucks, and drinking your dunkin Donuts coffee ??

walking into a Mc Donalds eating a Burger king whopper ???

walking into a Boston Chicken and eating a Kentucky fried chicken meal ??

Maybe the answer would sound better if Amtrak management would justify serving donuts for breakfast and sodium bomb sandwiches for dinner when a food service car is bad ordered. My Chocolate Lab could order better food for an LD train.It's the mentality today~ 20 years ago you wouldn't dream of brown bagging onto a transcontinental flight because you were assured of a full meal. Now you're lucky if the pretzel bag has more than 5 pieces in it. Wonder how many politicians have franchises at airports in the U.S. ???

 

[oldtimer]

I can tell you that I once had a pizza delivered to train 304 in Springfield IL. This was in the pre-cell phone days, as a matter of fact it was a Turboliner!

:giggle: hboy:

 

[Devil's Advocate]

You may bring your own food and beverages onboard for consumption at your seat or private Sleeping Car accommodations. However, you can only consume food and beverages purchased in Dining and Lounge Cars in those cars. Personal food and beverages are allowed in the upper level of Superliner Sightseer Lounges. Federal health regulations prohibit Amtrak personnel from handling your food, heating it in our ovens, or storing it in our refrigerators. Unfortunately, trains are sometimes delayed and food supplies may become limited. If you have special dietary requirements, or a condition such as diabetes, we suggest that you carry sufficient food with you to meet your needs in the event of a delay or other contingency.

To my understanding the federal health regulations only prohibit mixing of public and private services, such that Amtrak could provide microwaves and refrigerators that any traveler could use so long as it was not part of the commercial food service operation. It would be nice for Amtrak to consider this since they don't sell much in the way of healthy meals.

the moral question is how dense can someone be ???? would you expect to get away with: walking into a starbucks, and drinking your dunkin Donuts coffee ?? walking into a Mc Donalds eating a Burger king whopper ??? walking into a Boston Chicken and eating a Kentucky fried chicken meal ??

Do you really think dead-end employees at Starbucks or McDonald's or KFC would care one bit what other food you brought in? :wacko:

 

[haolerider]

You may bring your own food and beverages onboard for consumption at your seat or private Sleeping Car accommodations. However, you can only consume food and beverages purchased in Dining and Lounge Cars in those cars. Personal food and beverages are allowed in the upper level of Superliner Sightseer Lounges. Federal health regulations prohibit Amtrak personnel from handling your food, heating it in our ovens, or storing it in our refrigerators. Unfortunately, trains are sometimes delayed and food supplies may become limited. If you have special dietary requirements, or a condition such as diabetes, we suggest that you carry sufficient food with you to meet your needs in the event of a delay or other contingency.

To my understanding the federal health regulations only prohibit mixing of public and private services, such that Amtrak could provide microwaves and refrigerators that any traveler could use so long as it was not part of the commercial food service operation. It would be nice for Amtrak to consider this since they don't sell much in the way of healthy meals.

the moral question is how dense can someone be ???? would you expect to get away with: walking into a starbucks, and drinking your dunkin Donuts coffee ?? walking into a Mc Donalds eating a Burger king whopper ??? walking into a Boston Chicken and eating a Kentucky fried chicken meal ??

Do you really think dead-end employees at Starbucks or McDonald's or KFC would care one bit what other food you brought in? :wacko:

Amtrak is under the gun from Congress constantly to make money with their food service and I don't think putting microwaves and frigs on the trains that can be used to heat up and refrigerate passengers personal food would make much sense. Following that thinking, McDonalds and other fast food outlets do not serve very healthy meals, so they should also provide microwaves and frigs for the use of the public wanting to prepare their own food. Not happening!

As far as anyone noticing if you brought outside food into Starbucks or McDonalds I think they would notice and I don't think you would last too terribly long in their establishment.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Amtrak is under the gun from Congress constantly to make money with their food service and I don't think putting microwaves and frigs on the trains that can be used to heat up and refrigerate passengers personal food would make much sense.

I don't think pushing a menu full of exceptionally fatty and sugary meals on an already bloated and diabetic population makes much sense, but maybe that's just me.

Following that thinking, McDonalds and other fast food outlets do not serve very healthy meals, so they should also provide microwaves and frigs for the use of the public wanting to prepare their own food. Not happening!

Did you bother to consider that McDonald's doesn't have you trapped on-board for days on end? There is no obvious need for anyone to store their personal food in a McDonald's refrigerator or to heat it in a McDonald's oven. Not to mention that as bad as McDonald's is, they still offer fresher and healthier options than Amtrak does.

As far as anyone noticing if you brought outside food into Starbucks or McDonalds I think they would notice and I don't think you would last too terribly long in their establishment.

In my experience most of them won't care one bit that you brought a Whopper into Big Mac territory or vice versa, and I find it odd you're so convinced they would care or even notice. I guess you never worked a job like that or never tried to bring anything of your own inside.

 

[haolerider]

Amtrak is under the gun from Congress constantly to make money with their food service and I don't think putting microwaves and frigs on the trains that can be used to heat up and refrigerate passengers personal food would make much sense.

I don't think pushing a menu full of exceptionally fatty and sugary meals on an already bloated and diabetic population makes much sense, but maybe that's just me.

Following that thinking, McDonalds and other fast food outlets do not serve very healthy meals, so they should also provide microwaves and frigs for the use of the public wanting to prepare their own food. Not happening!

Did you bother to consider that McDonald's doesn't have you trapped on-board for days on end? There is no obvious need for anyone to store their personal food in a McDonald's refrigerator or to heat it in a McDonald's oven. Not to mention that as bad as McDonald's is, they still offer fresher and healthier options than Amtrak does.

As far as anyone noticing if you brought outside food into Starbucks or McDonalds I think they would notice and I don't think you would last too terribly long in their establishment.

In my experience most of them won't care one bit that you brought a Whopper into Big Mac territory or vice versa, and I find it odd you're so convinced they would care or even notice. I guess you never worked a job like that or never tried to bring anything of your own inside.

I am always amazed at your consistenly negative attitude toward everything about Amtrak. No matter what it is, you manage to find fault or maybe you are just a very argumentiative person.

I have traveled on almost every Amtrak route and have never had a major issue with the food selection. Is it Five Star quality - no, but there are enough selections for me to enjoy and not feel guilty about what I am eating. If you have special nutritional requirements, Amtrak may not be for you - or you can do like many Vegans do - simply find something on the menu that satisfies your own needs and be done with it.

By the way, I have never felt "trapped" on an Amtrak train, but that may also be your own personal problem. As they say, "Enjoy the Journey"!

 

[PRR 60]

...I have traveled on almost every Amtrak route and have never had a major issue with the food selection. Is it Five Star quality - no, but there are enough selections for me to enjoy and not feel guilty about what I am eating. If you have special nutritional requirements, Amtrak may not be for you - or you can do like many Vegans do - simply find something on the menu that satisfies your own needs and be done with it.

By the way, I have never felt "trapped" on an Amtrak train, but that may also be your own personal problem. As they say, "Enjoy the Journey"!

I, too, find the food selections on Amtrak, particularly in the dining cars, to be poor for anyone who cares about eating heathy. I was on an eastbound Southwest Chief that arrived ABQ early, and I took the opportunity to walk over to a nearby Subway for a nice, low-fat, reasonably sized sandwich rather than deal with the huge, heavy dining car lunch offerings (which would have been free for me). I don't mind heavy dinners as much, but I do not need heavy, fatty food at breakfast and lunch as well. I think the new menus make a small effort to provide a healthy option for each meal (or so they say), but it is still pretty sad. I'd like to see Amtrak publish nutritional information for the dining car food. I bet it would be quite interesting.

I enjoy train travel, but when it comes to food options, I also feel trapped on Amtrak trains. I escape for some other option whenever I get a chance, even if I have to pay for the privilege.

 

[jis]

+1. I agree completely with PRR. If you are on a 1500 cal / day diet, traveling on Amtrak LD trains is nothing but a major chore as far as food goes. I truly wish that there were more stations with establishments like Subway close by. I would most likely avoid my free/complementary food and go and get stuff from external establishments if I could.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I have traveled on almost every Amtrak route and have never had a major issue with the food selection.

What non-Amtrak routes have you traveled?

 

[haolerider]

I have traveled on almost every Amtrak route and have never had a major issue with the food selection.

What non-Amtrak routes have you traveled?

The ICE train in Germany, local German, Italian and French trains, the Orient Express, VIA Rail and the Bullet train in Japan.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I have traveled on almost every Amtrak route and have never had a major issue with the food selection.

What non-Amtrak routes have you traveled?

The ICE train in Germany, local German, Italian and French trains, the Orient Express, VIA Rail and the Bullet train in Japan.

Interesting. After riding the trains in places like Japan and Germany I came back rather unimpressed with Amtrak. I enjoy rooting for the underdog as much as the next guy, but sometimes I have to call a spade a spade. In the area of meal selection and preparation I find Amtrak's offerings to be mostly unhealthy and unappetizing heavily processed foods and I have no apologies for those who disagree with me. I would prefer Amtrak offer much fresher and healthier selections or at least allow a refund of whatever portion of my sleeper ticket is being reserved for my unused dining privileges.

 

[haolerider]

I have traveled on almost every Amtrak route and have never had a major issue with the food selection.

What non-Amtrak routes have you traveled?

The ICE train in Germany, local German, Italian and French trains, the Orient Express, VIA Rail and the Bullet train in Japan.

Interesting. After riding the trains in places like Japan and Germany I came back rather unimpressed with Amtrak. I enjoy rooting for the underdog as much as the next guy, but sometimes I have to call a spade a spade. In the area of meal selection and preparation I find Amtrak's offerings to be mostly unhealthy and unappetizing heavily processed foods and I have no apologies for those who disagree with me. I would prefer Amtrak offer much fresher and healthier selections or at least allow a refund of whatever portion of my sleeper ticket is being reserved for my unused dining privileges.

I would strongly encourage anyone who is concerned about the nutritional value of the Amtrak meals and those who would like to see more healthy choices to use the following link to the Amtrak Culinary Advisory Team and make your feelings known.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241337915346

Having worked with many of these chefs in the past, I know that although people in focus groups and on the boards/forums constantly ask for healthier choices, when they are put on the menu, people do not purchase them and they generally end up condemmend at the end of the trips. Many people talk about eating healthier, but when it comes to actual purchase they tend to gravitate to the traditional fare.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I would strongly encourage anyone who is concerned about the nutritional value of the Amtrak meals and those who would like to see more healthy choices to use the following link to the Amtrak Culinary Advisory Team and make your feelings known.

I followed the link but didn't see any obvious way to contact the advisory team. Although the page heaps praise on these chefs it doesn't really explain what exactly they do for Amtrak when they're not busy with their post at the Ritz-Carlton or serving the King of Malaysia.

I know that although people in focus groups and on the boards/forums constantly ask for healthier choices, when they are put on the menu, people do not purchase them and they generally end up condemmend at the end of the trips. Many people talk about eating healthier, but when it comes to actual purchase they tend to gravitate to the traditional fare.

What sort of choices have they offered in the past?