Breakfast serving time on East Bound Empire Builder

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William

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Next week my family will be taking the Empire Builder from Portland, OR to Whitefish, MT (and a return trip a few days later). As a kid growing up, one of the things I loved the most was eating in the dining car and I was hoping for my boys to experience that as well. We get on in Portland about supper time but I know that we won't connect with the dining car until after Spokane, WA. My next option is breakfast but we are schedulted to pull into Whitefish at 7:46 am.

Does anyone know what time the dining car starts serving breakfast? I am hoping that maybe we'll have time to eat before getting off of the train in Whitefish.
 
Well, hopefully the train may be a few minutes behind schedule. But,no matter, be there when they open & have your bags packed & ready to depart. Oh, & eat fast!!!!

Have Fun

PS Breakfast is my favorite meal on the train!
 
They normally start breakfast around 6:30 AM. Sometimes they will let you come in a little early, since IF the EB is on time it will arrive in WFH at 7:24. Not a lot of time to wolf down your breakfast. It is a beautiful ride just before breakfast, so I do hope the train is just a few minutes late.
 
Usually breakfast is served starting at 6:30 a.m. As long as you have all your stuff together you should have no problem

eating prior to Whitefish. The WFH stop is generally 20+ minutes long so it's not urgent that you jump off the train as

soon as it arrives into the station.
 
sd75mac said:
I seem to remember they open at 6am.
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Often times the dining car opens at 6 a.m. the second morning, so that people can get breakfast before 7 a.m. arrival in St. Paul. When I rode #8 last week, the dining car opened at 6:30, perhaps because we were an hour late at that point
 
The times I have taken #8 from SEA to WFH they have always let me into the Dining car a little early and I never felt really rushed-if you are one of the first people your breakfast will come quickly anyway. This time of the year the sun is up and it's a great ride and yes, the train is normally in WFH for 20 minutes, unless it is running behind, then they try to make up a little time, but they do change crews there (new conductors and engineer) so it isn't one of those "quickees".
 
Thanks for all of the great information. I guess ultimately we will have to play by ear but at least I am no longer resigned to eating McDonalds in Whitefish.
 
Does anyone know what dinner time meal options are available on the leg from Portland to Spokane?
 
William said:
Does anyone know what dinner time meal options are available on the leg from Portland to Spokane?
Click to expand...
Since there is NO Diner on the Portland Section of the EB, Sleeping Car Passengers will have a Choice of some Excellent Boxed Meals (usually Sea Food/Beef or Veggie)prepared by a Good Portland Caterer( your SCA will Pass them out after you Leave Portland!) Coach Passengers can go to the Cafe/Snack Bar in the Sightseer Lounge and Purchase the Usual Stuff @ High Prices that is Sold by Amtrak! in their Cafe Cars! If youre riding Coach take your own Food and Drink!
 
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William said:
Thanks for all of the great information. I guess ultimately we will have to play by ear but at least I am no longer resigned to eating McDonalds in Whitefish.
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If the train does get in early--and it often did in the past-- there are two really GREAT breakfast places in downtown Whitefish which I would highly recommend: The Buffalo Cafe and Loulas. Truly outstanding, Montana style breakfast fare at very reasonable prices that all of the locals, including myself, take full advantage of.

Have a great trip.
 
montana mike said:
If the train does get in early--and it often did in the past-- there are two really GREAT breakfast places in downtown Whitefish which I would highly recommend: The Buffalo Cafe and Loulas. Truly outstanding, Montana style breakfast fare at very reasonable prices that all of the locals, including myself, take full advantage of.Have a great trip.
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Thanks, we'll keep that in mind but we won't have a lot of time in Whitefish. We are renting a call and headings straight down to Lolo for wedding that same afternoon.
 
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jimhudson said:
William said:
Does anyone know what dinner time meal options are available on the leg from Portland to Spokane?
Click to expand...
Since there is NO Diner on the Portland Section of the EB, Sleeping Car Passengers will have a Choice of some Excellent Boxed Meals (usually Sea Food/Beef or Veggie)prepared by a Good Portland Caterer( your SCA will Pass them out after you Leave Portland!) Coach Passengers can go to the Cafe/Snack Bar in the Sightseer Lounge and Purchase the Usual Stuff @ High Prices that is Sold by Amtrak! in their Cafe Cars! If youre riding Coach take your own Food and Drink!
Click to expand...
Do you know what the boxed meals consist of? You mentioned beef/seafood/veggie, but what would be in them? We are catching the eastbound EB in PDX connecting from the CS (Hopefully the connection will be good!) and are in a sleeper on AGR points.....so we will be partaking of this.

And along the same line---what if the CS is late and we get bustituted to somewhere to catch the EB....what about dinner then?

Thanks
 
jimhudson said:
William said:
Does anyone know what dinner time meal options are available on the leg from Portland to Spokane?
Click to expand...
Since there is NO Diner on the Portland Section of the EB, Sleeping Car Passengers will have a Choice of some Excellent Boxed Meals (usually Sea Food/Beef or Veggie)prepared by a Good Portland Caterer( your SCA will Pass them out after you Leave Portland!) Coach Passengers can go to the Cafe/Snack Bar in the Sightseer Lounge and Purchase the Usual Stuff @ High Prices that is Sold by Amtrak! in their Cafe Cars! If youre riding Coach take your own Food and Drink!
Click to expand...
Is it save to say it is not necessary to tip the SCA when the boxed meals are issued?
 
Dovecote said:
jimhudson said:
William said:
Does anyone know what dinner time meal options are available on the leg from Portland to Spokane?
Click to expand...
Since there is NO Diner on the Portland Section of the EB, Sleeping Car Passengers will have a Choice of some Excellent Boxed Meals (usually Sea Food/Beef or Veggie)prepared by a Good Portland Caterer( your SCA will Pass them out after you Leave Portland!) Coach Passengers can go to the Cafe/Snack Bar in the Sightseer Lounge and Purchase the Usual Stuff @ High Prices that is Sold by Amtrak! in their Cafe Cars! If youre riding Coach take your own Food and Drink!
Click to expand...
Is it save to say it is not necessary to tip the SCA when the boxed meals are issued?
Click to expand...
If it never "necessary" to tip an SCA. But if you mean is it "expected", I'm sure there are SCA's

who expect to get tipped every time they smile at you, but I don't think most people would

tip for the act of handing out a boxed meal. Since that will come at the beginning of your

trip anyway, there will likely be plenty of other opportunities/reasons/justifications for

issuing a tip before the end of your journey.
 
tonys96 said:
jimhudson said:
William said:
Does anyone know what dinner time meal options are available on the leg from Portland to Spokane?
Click to expand...
Since there is NO Diner on the Portland Section of the EB, Sleeping Car Passengers will have a Choice of some Excellent Boxed Meals (usually Sea Food/Beef or Veggie)prepared by a Good Portland Caterer( your SCA will Pass them out after you Leave Portland!) Coach Passengers can go to the Cafe/Snack Bar in the Sightseer Lounge and Purchase the Usual Stuff @ High Prices that is Sold by Amtrak! in their Cafe Cars! If youre riding Coach take your own Food and Drink!
Click to expand...
Do you know what the boxed meals consist of? You mentioned beef/seafood/veggie, but what would be in them? We are catching the eastbound EB in PDX connecting from the CS (Hopefully the connection will be good!) and are in a sleeper on AGR points.....so we will be partaking of this.

And along the same line---what if the CS is late and we get bustituted to somewhere to catch the EB....what about dinner then?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Last week the choice was beef tri tip (strips of cold roast beef), chicken or shrimp. Not many of the shrimp, they were out by the time the SCA got to me. The beef strips were rolled up on top of a bed of mixed greens with a couple of cherry tomatoes, there was a salad of broccoli and mushroom that wasn't so great, a roll, and a small square of pecan pie. There was also a small container of horseradish sauce
 
The dining car opens at 6:30AM as some others have stated.

When the train is running on-time, as in if it leaves Libby, MT on-time, it can arrive into Whitefish as early as 7:06 - 7:10 AM.

Walk to the diner at 6:29AM and if you can eat in 30 minutes you'll have enough time for breakfast.

Enjoy your trip.
 
If you are lucky, the seafood will be salmon. Last November, it was, and it was wonderful! Again, they ran out of the seafood first (I got the last one, the beef was next to run out), so be prepared with a second choice. they were all with the baby greens, cherry tomatoes, deli salad, and dessert. The dessert was very good as well.
 
Boarding at Essex: we are due to leave Essex, MT at 855 a.m. Eastbound.

Does anyone know how LATE the diner will serve? Just curious as to whether we are likely to get breakfast if number 8 is on time. :wub:
 
Amtrak George said:
Boarding at Essex: we are due to leave Essex, MT at 855 a.m. Eastbound.
Does anyone know how LATE the diner will serve? Just curious as to whether we are likely to get breakfast if number 8 is on time. :wub:
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Usually 9 AM. It's unlikely that you'll be able to get breakfast, since the EB's OTP lately has been...not good.
 
oregon pioneer said:
If you are lucky, the seafood will be salmon. Last November, it was, and it was wonderful! Again, they ran out of the seafood first (I got the last one, the beef was next to run out), so be prepared with a second choice. they were all with the baby greens, cherry tomatoes, deli salad, and dessert. The dessert was very good as well.
Click to expand...
When I was on it in December, the salmon was Atlantic salmon. For a train serving Seattle, that is the ultimate heresy. Salmon is taken very seriously here. When the first shipment of Copper River run salmon arrives in town each year, it makes the evening news.
 
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Umm, yeah, the salmon in the EB diner is indeed the Amtrak standard fare: Atlantic salmon, says so right on the menu. But the box dinner served on the Portland leg (#28) comes from a local restaurant, I understand. Does anyone know where it comes from, and what kind of salmon it is?
 

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