Amtrak Dining and Cafe Service discussion 2024 H1

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fillyjonk said:
"First class" means something VERY different from what it once did.. I take the eastbound leg of the TE and I'm not sure how many more flex meals I can choke down. (Next travel is in May).

The meatballs and pasta in the earlier days of Flex weren't so bad, and I had fried cod once that was pretty good, but since then.......ugh
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Imagine traveling from San Antonio to New York. Three days of flex. Again. Why won’t they let you substitute something from the cafe car without paying extra? They have decent sandwiches. Seems so simple, yet it isn’t done.
 
Brian Battuello said:
FWIW, I was offered a choice of Flex or Cafe on my recent LSL trip, but I think it was a rogue crew.
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I wonder if their inventory control precludes them from doing that. Seems like every item in the Cafe must be accounted for, while the Flex meals are allocated to each sleeper passenger? Not sure if the crew has the latitude to make that substitution... 🤔
 
Sidney said:
Imagine traveling from San Antonio to New York. Three days of flex. Again. Why won’t they let you substitute something from the cafe car without paying extra? They have decent sandwiches. Seems so simple, yet it isn’t done.
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If you go thru New Orleans, you get 1 day of Traditional, though you do have to overnight in NOLA.
 
railiner said:
I wonder if their inventory control precludes them from doing that. Seems like every item in the Cafe must be accounted for, while the Flex meals are allocated to each sleeper passenger? Not sure if the crew has the latitude to make that substitution... 🤔
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I had thought separate accounting was the reason that cafe car items were not offered as an alternative to sleeper passengers. But on the westbound Lake Shore the past two summers, we had the H room to Albany and were offered our choice of cafe items for lunch after departing Boston. No flex meals were offered. Haven't done the eastbound Boston leg in awhile, but the last time we did, again with the H room, flex dinners were delivered to our room.

So apparently it is possible to offer cafe items in at least some circumstances. In the case of the westbound 449, sleeper passengers were offered lunch items before the cafe opened to coach passengers, and we were told we would not be able to order without a charge after that -- I'm guessing because the items given out to sleeper passengers were fully accounted for before cash sales began.
 
Sidney said:
Imagine traveling from San Antonio to New York. Three days of flex. Again. Why won’t they let you substitute something from the cafe car without paying extra? They have decent sandwiches. Seems so simple, yet it isn’t done.
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I have been offered cafe food on the LSL and Silver's in the diner car as a substitution.
 
IndyLions said:
For me - menu refreshing and variety is important. Not as important as bringing traditional dining to all LD routes - but important.

Refresh is important so if you travel twice on the same train 6-9 months apart - you don't have the same food.

Variety is important so if you travel on two different trains in a relatively short time frame - you don't have the same food.
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I’m pretty much the opposite—I eat the same breakfast every day and always order the same things if I eat lunch out. However, I don’t mind Amtrak switching it up on the menu choices, on two conditions. First, they leave (or add and keep) some basic staples/favorites. Omelet/potatoes and French toast at breakfast, the steak and salmon at lunch/dinner, plus a pasta in marinara sauce for vegetarians. Second, they continue to put the menu online so people can plan ahead (I do that with the train and restaurants—always look at the menu and decide what I will have before I get there).

If they do those two things, as far as I’m concerned, they can go wild and switch up the rest of the menu as much and as often as they want.
 
fillyjonk said:
"First class" means something VERY different from what it once did.. I take the eastbound leg of the TE and I'm not sure how many more flex meals I can choke down. (Next travel is in May).

The meatballs and pasta in the earlier days of Flex weren't so bad, and I had fried cod once that was pretty good, but since then.......ugh.
Click to expand...
All anyone who has responded this subject needs ot do is travel cross country on VIA Rail, Canada's equivalent to Amtrak , to know what dining is all about. Over a 4 day trip, almost every meal on every day is different and freshly made. They even give you a choice of ice cream. What a difference.
 
SKS1944 said:
All anyone who has responded this subject needs ot do is travel cross country on VIA Rail, Canada's equivalent to Amtrak , to know what dining is all about. Over a 4 day trip, almost every meal on every day is different and freshly made. They even give you a choice of ice cream. What a difference.
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Yes, but as I understand it, the VIA fares reflect that upgraded dining.
 
Last Fall some who claimed or purported to be "in the know" indicated that tentatively the Lake Shore would have a traditional dining service back by "late this year [2023] or early next year [2024]." Late 2023 has now come and gone and I haven't seen any traditional dining on the Lake Shore. It is now early 2024 and there is no traditional dining. This is getting to be a joke.
 
So, Here we are at the Ides of March. Friday NYP to final destinations almost all sold out. CHI, CLT coach sold out , Silvers close on coach rooms very close. NOw if Amtrak had more sleepers and coaches to these destinations the demand for diner service would be much greater. That way the "non revenue car" diners and lounges would be covered by more passengers. Many more seatings. Of course, that would necessitate intermediate servicing of the diners which Amtrak seems veery reluctant to do.
for part of each trip say 8 coaches = 500 passengers and 5 sleepers = ~ 100 - 125 passengers. IMO that would take a lot of seatings at about 45 minutes and of course several more OBS. Maybe continuous seatings 0600 - 2100? That IMO is a win. Maybe an abbreviated all-night seatings?
 
SKS1944 said:
All anyone who has responded this subject needs ot do is travel cross country on VIA Rail, Canada's equivalent to Amtrak , to know what dining is all about. Over a 4 day trip, almost every meal on every day is different and freshly made. They even give you a choice of ice cream. What a difference.
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Not if you're in coach... I rode in coach this past summer and I can tell you that Amtrak Long Distance Cafe menu beats the VIA menu for sure. The quality on Amtrak has gone up and down, but I've enjoyed meals just as good on Amtrak as on VIA.

Glad to hear the Crescent is getting a Viewliner Diner back, one step closer.
 
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Sidney said:
I’ve seen fares as high as $6000 for a berth from Toronto to Vancouver. Of course,like Amtrak, if you go by Coach for that length it’s usually $500 or less.
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Coach passengers don't have access to the diner, and I've read that VIA's cafe menu is even more limited than Amtrak's.
 
I'm on the Star to NYP currently; I had a successful bidup (I did near the lowest bid but it was successful) to a roomette. I boarded at Raleigh and did not expect to be offered breakfast (I've only done not-coach travel once before, a Superliner roomette on the flex dining CL in Dec 2023), but my SCA needed to turn/clean my room which had just been vacated, so I headed to the diner.

Let me say I am very glad they brought back traditional dining on the Silver services, and I was impressed (probably due to low expectations) with the Viewliner II dining car, and the Viewliner II sleeper that I am in! I had the Amtrak railroad french toast since it is apparently the classic, with the bacon side and orange juice. It ain't the Ritz, but I enjoyed it and especially liked the dining car layout (large windows great) and interior design features. Service was excellent, too! (I left a good tip, by Venmo, no less, since I didn't have cash and really wanted to say thanks for the great service, especially with me being the last person having breakfast).

I'll be taking lunch in my room since I'm working en route, but I am looking forward to seeing how it is! I ordered the monte cristo grilled sandwich which is a favorite of my SCA's. She brought me hot water/tea + honey which has been nice to sip while working and watching Virginia roll by. I know there's lots to improve with Amtrak, and traditional dining 150% needs to come back to all trains + be as open to coach passengers (which I usually am) as possible, but I try to be positive when things are good!
 

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