diner étiquette

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maags

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We are taking our first trip on the CL from CHI to WAS. I have read on the AMTRAK site that dinner reservations are taken in 15 minutes intervals and that we will be seated with two other passengers to fill table. I'm wondering if amtrak expects you to be served and complete the meal in 15 minutes. If not, what is the proper etiquette when you are finished before the diners you are seated with?
 
No, Amtrak does not expect you to eat in 15 minutes! Basically, they're just saying that reservations are offered on the quarter hour: you can get a reservation for 6:00 pm or 6:15 pm, but you cannot get a reservation for 6:10 pm, if that makes sense.

So, you'll be seated with other people at the same time. At worst, you and your tablemates may be seated a few minutes apart, but they will almost always wait to take your order until all 4 people have been seated. Then, you're all served together (ideally - much like a restaurant, it's possible that one person's meal may get held up, but they try to avoid that).

Since everyone is served together & given their checks together, it's normal for most people to leave at the same time too. I try to get one of the later seatings, so that there aren't other diners waiting for my table. That way, I can linger over a meal / dessert and not worry about slowing someone else down. The downside to that is that sometimes, the more popular meal or dessert options are gone by then!
 
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DP Roberts..Good answers and you answered ones I didn't think to ask! Thanks much for the quick response.
 
The CL diner can seat about 64 at one time for a meal, but my experience is that the crew generally hands out reservations less than half that number at each seating, and stagger the folks between different tables, so that people are never really rushed to finish their meal. I typically find my seating duration is 45 minutes to an hour.
 
While I've never ridden the CL (first time will be in May), I've never been rushed in the diner--45 minutes sounds about right. It's only after lingering a while that you bump up against the next slot and may be politely asked to leave. Or, there's the one case I rushed myself, on the northbound Silver Meteor finishing breakfast before our arrival in Washington around 7 am!
 
Feeling rushed in the diner has never been an issue for me.

Trying to pay the bloody check and get out of there....that's the issue.
 
I've never had a problem in the diner. Sometimes a couple will be seated with a single traveler ( which is usually my case.)

I always like the last seating so I can linger and always tell the crew it doesn't upset me if they start cleaning the car when I'm stil eating.

In fact, I'm still a large person ( 320) but before I lost 40 pounds I had gone to the diner for my seating at lunch and as I approached my table I noticed ( what I thought ) was a smaller than normal booth. I smiled at the woman greeting me and said "uhhh I think I'll eat in my room". She smiled and asked if I didn't mind coming back in 15 minutes she would seat me in a more comfortable booth.

When I went back in 15 minutes she showed me to a booth with a LARGE couple already seated and sat in a VERY comfortable booth. When she changed the table cloth she also removed the back cushion from both sides and removed the "padding" from it and just placed the cushion cover back on the seat with the velcro tabs. This woman was a pro. I was dumbfounded when I realized how she had made 3 uncomfortable people feel so comfortable and at home. While the couple and myself talked about it, the woman never mentioned it.

Yes, she got a large tip from all three of us and were more than happy when she offered to seat us together again for diner and breakfast if we would like. Of course we said yes and asked her if it would be easier for her if we ate early or late, we would do either. of course she said anytime we wish but we figured it would be best to eat at the last seating and told het to let our SCA know to tell us when she was ready.

What great service. Just one of many reasons I like Amtrak
 
Like others said, seating are done every 15 minutes or so, but they are staggered. Your reservation may be at say 5:15, but the next people to occupy your table may be at the 6:15 seating. Meanwhile, passengers who have 5:30, 5:45 and 6 pm reservations will be seated at other tables.

I find that one of the most enjoyable parts of train travel are the other passengers you meet at your dinner table! Yes, some may be bores, but most are very enjoyable. I just completed a 9 day journey on Amtrak and I don't think I had the same person at my table twice!

And some of the people I've met at dinner have been:

  1. People from across the US (naturally)
  2. People from across Canada
  3. People from the UK
  4. People from Australia
  5. People from France
  6. Other AU members (some who I have not met before)
  7. Many first time riders
  8. Many repeat riders
  9. Many railroad employees
  10. And even an Amtrak VP
Plus many more to name!
 
the_traveler said:
Like others said, seating are done every 15 minutes or so, but they are staggered. Your reservation may be at say 5:15, but the next people to occupy your table may be at the 6:15 seating. Meanwhile, passengers who have 5:30, 5:45 and 6 pm reservations will be seated at other tables.
I find that one of the most enjoyable parts of train travel are the other passengers you meet at your dinner table! Yes, some may be bores, but most are very enjoyable. I just completed a 9 day journey on Amtrak and I don't think I had the same person at my table twice!

And some of the people I've met at dinner have been:

  1. People from across the US (naturally)
  2. People from across Canada
  3. People from the UK
  4. People from Australia
  5. People from France
  6. Other AU members (some who I have not met before)
  7. Many first time riders
  8. Many repeat riders
  9. Many railroad employees
  10. And even an Amtrak VP
Plus many more to name!
Click to expand...
Any passengers not from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France, AU members, railroads or Amtrak? Maybe Lithuania, Luxemburg or Lesotho, or Poland, Panama, Pakistan or Paraguay, or Nigeria, Niger, Norway or New Zealand, or Mexico, Madagascar, Mozambique or Mali, or Germany, Japan or Jordan, or India, Italy, Israel, Ireland, Indonesia, Iran or Iraq, or Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or Columbia, or Chad, China or Chile, or Thailand, Tibet, Tanzania, Turkmenistan or Tajikistan, or Burma, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Brazil, Bolivia or Bulgaria, Sweden, Sudan, Syria or Surinam--just to jog your memory with a few?

With all of your wide and wily travels? :eek:
 
You are under no obligation to stay as long as your seatmates. Many times people have excused themselves while we were still eating and it didn't bother me. However, you will probably find yourself in an interesting conversation with them and it is likely that the conversation termination rather than the meal finish time will determine when you all get up.

I have never had a conversation with fellow seatmates that wasn't enjoyable. We even had one guy who never said a word for about 3/4 through breakfast even though we each had tried to start up a conversation. I gave it one last try and we ended up staying extra-long after the meal ended talking to him.
 
I agree with me_little_me that you are under no obligation to stay as long as your table mates stay at dinner -- but you will likely find them so interesting that you will want to stay!

My two favorite conversations (both on the Coast Starlight):

1. A couple from the same town in England that my grandfather was from.

2. A couple who had gotten married the day before and were on their honeymoon.
 
trainman74 said:
world traveler said:
Any passengers not from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France, AU members, railroads or Amtrak?
Click to expand...
I've eaten with Scandinavians in the dining car -- Swedes and Norwegians, I recall. Maybe the_traveler has, too, but didn't realize it because their English was too good. :p
Click to expand...
You could very well be right! My BIL's daughter is Sweedish - and her Engish is much better than mine! :eek:
 
I ate with a woman from Luxembourg on the CS.
 
I've had very interesting conversations during Amtrak dinners in the diner with Iranians. So far, no dinners in diners with North Koreans.
 
maags said:
We are taking our first trip on the CL from CHI to WAS. I have read on the AMTRAK site that dinner reservations are taken in 15 minutes intervals and that we will be seated with two other passengers to fill table. I'm wondering if amtrak expects you to be served and complete the meal in 15 minutes. If not, what is the proper etiquette when you are finished before the diners you are seated with?
Click to expand...
Here is my take: I've taken 3 overnight trains so far each being two night long. I am speaking about a diner car and not a cross country cafe which I know nothing about. The diner is set up as community seating, that is booths that hold 4 people on either side of the car and either end of the car. There is a galley dead center of the car and you may end up having to go through there to get to or from your seat. Having worked in restaurants if I have to go through the galley I make my presence known so I am not backed into or the cause of a tray being dropped. You will be seated with others. If there is two in your party, you will slide in on the same side of the table. You do not need to rush through to eat in 15 minutes, but remember they have an entire train to feed. Sleepers get priority on reservations. Be prompt or they may pass your reservation over. You did not say what class you are in, but meals are included with the sleeper and my experiance has been: Breakfast, entree, meat, coffee, and juice; Lunch entree, coffee, tea, or milk and desert, Dinner is salad, entree coffee, tea, or milk and desert. You are welcome to order anything off the menu --- it is included if you are in a sleeper, the prices are for coach. Tipping is a touchey subject on these boards, but think of it as a restaurant from 0% for very bad and poor service to 20% for exceptional service. Look at the menu and base it on what you would have paid. Gourmet it is not, but from the 1990's it is a world of difference. Once your party is finished, you may either continue your coversation with your seat mates or politely bid a farewell and excuse yourselves so other diners may take your seats. Right now Amtrak.com is having fits, but once the site comes back up, click on the routes tab and select your route. From their you can view your route specific menu so you can plan on how much cash to bring. I base it on the most expensive item for that meal. If I have that item I am covered, if I have the cheapest, I have extra pocket money to spend in the lounge car. You are lucky. They Capitol Limited has enhanced dining car service with complete meals served on china while the rest of us have plastic plates. From Chicago to Washington you may get a dinner going out of Chicago and a breakfast. I think with a 12:40 PM arrival there is no lunch but someone will need to confirm. If you are doing a round trip then you get a dinner out of Washington and probably a modified breakfast going into Chicago, again someone will need to confirm. Ask at the stations about Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago or Washington if you are in a sleeper.
 
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