French Toast is back on the Empire Builder, and other menu changes.

[Devil's Advocate]

Most "restaurants" that have menus as limited as Amtrak's are simple food trucks and carts. Most restaurants that have fiberglass benches and tables are generic fast food chains. Chains like Applebees, TGIF, and Outback can cook a burger to "medium" and a whole host of other basic requests that Amtrak cannot honor. In my view there are several differences that put Amtrak into a bracket that is uniquely limited and/or expensive when compared to other offerings. The closest comparison I can think of are food stalls at airports. Those seem to have a similar mix of high prices and limited menus as Amtrak. I think if folks were spending Applebees, TGIF, or Outback prices for menus and meals that were similar to the actual restaurant experience I think they'd be much happier than what they currently receive with Amtrak.

 

[PRae_Train]

One thing that they could do to increase awarness of the dining car and items for sale? ADD MENU's to the seat pockets. Seriously, they treat the menu's in the dining car like its made of gold. Again back to my previous post regarding airlines have discovered that when people don't have to ask an employee about pricing, more will buy add on services. If menu's and pricing were more transparent, more coach passengers would probably eat in the dining car. Take the embarrassed to ask about price out of the equation. Let them decide if it is affordable for them or not instead of making their decision based on assumptions.

From time to time I have seen a Menu taped up somewhere in the Sightseer Lounge, usually looking pretty tacky. If that is going to be done, at least spend a couple bucks and put it in a decent frame. The seat pocket Menus can be smaller versions of the tri-fold, printed on basic paper to save costs. I have seen Lounge Menus put in the seta backs of some short haul trains such as Wolverine.

Of course a good sign you are a frequent rider is when you can quote every offering on the Menu more accurately than the LSA can

The last time I noticed a menu (actually I think it was framed) on the lounge wall, was in 2013. I would have been looking at breakfast, and the selections were different than the menus we received at the tables. I think they just didn't update the posted menu and probably forgot it was there.

 

[Shortline]

A coach passenger goes into the diner for breakfast. $7.50 for scrambled eggs, hash browns and a croissant. $2 extra for coffee..$2 extra for juice. What used to cost $7.50 is now $11.50.

I just had breakfast at Denny's this morning. French toast was $7.99 and coffee was $2.09. Plus tax and tip. I didn't add juice, but I am sure such would be extra.

I don't see how Amtrak's prices are all that out-of-line.

Did you get a salad with your French toast? Details man, details! This is important stuff! But I agree, the prices are not out of line, it's the quality. The "Salad" on board is a miserable attempt at best. Even free, it's over priced. If they're not going to do it well, don't do it at all, and do something else with that money to improve the actual meals, from something above tolerable for a day or two, to something enjoyable.

 

[andersone]

On the EB in August they were cooking the burgers to order

the steaks too

and they came out as ordered

 

[Devil's Advocate]

On the EB in August they were cooking the burgers to order the steaks too and they came out as ordered

Do you have a picture of an AmBurger that's pink in the middle? Because I have never seen such a thing no matter how I order it.

 

[benale]

At Denny's you are getting a better deal than on Amtrak. At $7.50 for just scrambled eggs and hash browns is quite high. When the coffee and juice was included it was worth it. Now it is not. If some kind of meat was included,it wouldn't be a bad deal. If I was a coach passenger I'd go for the bagel, pastry or breakfast sandwich in the cafe car.

The side salad should be included in the lunch and dinner price,as it was until last week. The dining car prices are high enough. I think the dining car is trying to discourage coach passengers.

 

[TVRM610]

On the EB in August they were cooking the burgers to order the steaks too and they came out as ordered

Do you have a picture of an AmBurger that's pink in the middle? Because I have never seen such a thing no matter how I order it.

I'm pretty certain Amtrak Burgers come fully cooked and are simply re-heated. They could easily "burn" some of the patties and give the illusion of well done... the opposite not so much.

the only food that I know of that starts truly from scratch on Amtrak is the scrambled eggs and I think omletts. I've seen for myself the basket of eggs and seen them scramble them up while seated in a heritage diner.

even the steaks i wonder about.. I know they are "grilled" to order but so is the french toast.

 

[Guest]

Do you have a picture of an AmBurger that's pink in the middle? Because I have never seen such a thing no matter how I order it.

Its been years since I have last seen a true pink-in-the-middle burger from any restaurant. Health codes seem to require the center of a burger to be cooked to a certain temp, and as such, it isn't pink anymore. The best they can do, is varying degrees of "well done".

BTW, this is why when you read about contaminated ground beef, its only supermarkets that get recalled, not restaurants. That's because restaurants are required to cook all ground beef enough to ensure any potential contamination is killed. Whereas, there are no such gov't controls on cooking at home.

 

[Guest]

At Denny's you are getting a better deal than on Amtrak.

It still cost me $13 for breakfast at Denny's this morning.

 

[Shortline]

Must be a state thing. I haven't had a burger at a real (non fast food) place that WASN'T somewhere between rare and Med Rare in years, by choice. Most now have to put a warning against undercooked meat/eggs/seafood risk, but they can certainly cook em rare as you like. Maybe some box chains won't do it per their policy, but I can't believe there is any law prohibiting it. Same with over easy eggs. They can recommend against it, but I do not believe it's prohibited by nanny state laws (yet)....but I could be wrong, maybe it is illegal. Thankfully I eat at establishments that apparently practice civil disobedience. I like to live on the edge, with a side of fries.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Do you have a picture of an AmBurger that's pink in the middle? Because I have never seen such a thing no matter how I order it.

Its been years since I have last seen a true pink-in-the-middle burger from any restaurant. Health codes seem to require the center of a burger to be cooked to a certain temp, and as such, it isn't pink anymore. The best they can do, is varying degrees of "well done". BTW, this is why when you read about contaminated ground beef, its only supermarkets that get recalled, not restaurants. That's because restaurants are required to cook all ground beef enough to ensure any potential contamination is killed. Whereas, there are no such gov't controls on cooking at home.

There are recalls for restaurant suppliers as well as retailers. Where I live restaurants are in no way required by the government to cook ground beef until it's well done. After the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak in the mid-1990's many restaurants started insisting on cooking their poorly sourced and rarely inspected meat until it was nearly burned in an effort to avoid poisoning their own customers. However, there are plenty of other restaurants where they have enough faith in their suppliers and chefs to cook their meat however you like it. If anything I'd say it's the continuing lack of routine inspections at the sourcing, processing, and shipping stages of potentially harmful ingredients (like raw beef) that is resulting in today's overcooked burgers.

Must be a state thing. I haven't had a burger at a real (non fast food) place that WASN'T somewhere between rare and Med Rare in years, by choice. Most now have to put a warning against undercooked meat/eggs/seafood risk, but they can certainly cook em rare as you like. Maybe some box chains won't do it per their policy, but I can't believe there is any law prohibiting it. Same with over easy eggs. They can recommend against it, but I do not believe it's prohibited by nanny state laws (yet)....

The menu warning is absolutely the government's involvement and it's also the key to understanding the AmPuck. If you look at the Amtrak menu you'll notice that the warning is only applicable to certain items. Namely, the Scrambled Eggs, the Omelet, the Seafood Catch of the Day, and the Steak. From that warning we can deduce that those are the only meat/fish based options that are cooked fresh on board the train. The AmPuck burgers are already cooked and frozen before they're loaded so there is no need for the warning to apply to them. The fact that Amtrak staff pretend to cook your reheated burger to order makes no difference to the government (or to your taste buds for that matter).

 

[andersone]

Well I can't get out of Bob Evan's for less than $12 on a good day

I would gladly trade it for an Amtrak Breakfast,,,,,

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Diner menu in the lounge car on the CZ today.

 

[benale]

$12 at Bob Evans, $13 at Dennys. It may cost a bit more than $11.50 for scrambled eggs,hash browns,juice and coffee on Amtrak, but you are getting a better value for your money at Dennys and Bob Evans. I still say $7.50 for just scrambled eggs and hash browns is a bit overpriced. Usually for that price or a dollar more you can get eggs,toast,homefries and breakfast meat or pancakes at Friendlys,Dennys,Bob Evans,Perkins and other similar restaurants.

 

[fair28]

The government is good a lot of things, mainly infrastructure things, but, providing personalized service is not one of them (think of the IRS or the local DMV....). Dining probably should be handled by a vendor that understands food, not just bean counting. Constantly cutting service and raising prices is like a toilet flushing.... it spirals down. The company I work for tried that for years and years and ended up in bankruptcy and wondered... how did this happen?????

 

[PRae_Train]

The menu disclaimer for raw food that I found at Five restaurant in Edmonds, WA (where I recently spent a week):

* Some of our ingredients contain raw eggs which may kill you someday. We also serve seafood which may also harm you
in some way that you may or may not recover from. For those that consume under-cooked foods, some will end up stronger,
some will die. Careful crossing the street and enjoy life.

 

[zepherdude]

ImageUploadedByAmtrak Forum1413311556.550590.jpg

Diner menu in the lounge car on the CZ today.

Someone must have heard us talking...............

 

[jebr]

$12 at Bob Evans, $13 at Dennys. It may cost a bit more than $11.50 for scrambled eggs,hash browns,juice and coffee on Amtrak, but you are getting a better value for your money at Dennys and Bob Evans. I still say $7.50 for just scrambled eggs and hash browns is a bit overpriced. Usually for that price or a dollar more you can get eggs,toast,homefries and breakfast meat or pancakes at Friendlys,Dennys,Bob Evans,Perkins and other similar restaurants.

A crossaint or biscuit is also included in the Amtrak price.

Also, are you making sure to count the cost of two drinks (juice and coffee) in that price? Coffee is around $3 at Perkins last time I went, not sure how much juice is. There's also tax at sit down restauarants in most states, whereas Amtrak bundles that in as well.

It still isn't an amazing deal (especially for supper!) but it's still an okay deal. I'll still eat breakfast in the diner when I travel coach. Lunch is a bit more of a mixed bag, but it's still possible that I'll buy it (I really like the black bean burger.)

 

[benale]

Again, I was just stating that for $7.50 on Amtrak you get just scrambled eggs, hash browns and a biscuit. Until last week coffee and juice were included. Now you pay $4 more for their breakfast. At Perkins, for example for the same price or a little more you can get eggs,hash browns or pancakes and breakfast meat. That does not include the drinks. With coffee and juice at Perkins you'll probably pay an additional $5. Denny's still has their basic Grand Slam at $4 which includes two pancakes and two eggs and bacon or sausage..

On balance you are getting a better deal at almost any place that serves breakfast. On the other hand, you are dining on a moving car enjoying the scenery on Amtrak and there is no tax. My point was that the breakfast that cost $7.50 last week has jumped up $4.

 

[William W.]

So just to be clear, nothing is changing for first-class passengers, right?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

There's also tax at sit down restauarants in most states, whereas Amtrak bundles that in as well.

I'm not aware of any taxes being bundled with Amtrak's fares or dining fees. To my knowledge Amtrak is not expected to collect taxes due to special exemptions.

 

[neroden]

I'd be surprised if this led to a large decline in coach passengers eating meals in the diner, though there will be some.

I expect that it will be substantial.

But for each drink and salad the diner "sells" to sleeper passengers, that's additional revenue counted towards the diner, even though no cash changes hands. I think that's ultimately what they're trying to do: make the diners "profitable" by increasing the revenue share from the sleeper passengers.

Unfortunately, this makes the sleepers look less profitable than they really are.
It's just stupid. Mica isn't even running the subcommittee any more. The new committee chair will have some other thing he wants to rant about.

 

[amamba]

Do you have a picture of an AmBurger that's pink in the middle? Because I have never seen such a thing no matter how I order it.

Its been years since I have last seen a true pink-in-the-middle burger from any restaurant. Health codes seem to require the center of a burger to be cooked to a certain temp, and as such, it isn't pink anymore. The best they can do, is varying degrees of "well done".
BTW, this is why when you read about contaminated ground beef, its only supermarkets that get recalled, not restaurants. That's because restaurants are required to cook all ground beef enough to ensure any potential contamination is killed. Whereas, there are no such gov't controls on cooking at home.

I always order burgers and steaks medium rare. At most restaurants by me I have no problem getting a medium rare burger.
On my last EB trip with a fabulous crew in the diner I got a rare steak. I was told it was not possible for a burger and they only come well done.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Coach Passengers are notified that Everything will now be a-la-carte when ordering! Perhaps the moron, er manager that dreamed this up thought he was working for Ruth Chris Steakhouse?

Also noticed on #6,that the dinner rolls, instead of being served individually with a customers order as usual, when more than Two customers are seated @ a table they are served COLD, Not Heated, but in a basket covered with an Amnapkin! If they were heated it is a nice touch!

Also the tilapia, which is a cheap, common fish served everywhere, and one I normally don't order,was heavily spiced and tasted excellent! Perhaps it depends on the Chef and the Diner Crew??? More Amtrak inconsistency!

 

[jebr]

I'd be surprised if this led to a large decline in coach passengers eating meals in the diner, though there will be some.

I expect that it will be substantial.

Maybe. I wouldn't be shocked to see it go down substantially, but I'm not expecting it either. Supper was already priced out of many sleeper passengers' budget already, and the extra $2-$5 probably won't show a substantial downturn. Breakfast, in my opinion, is still a good enough deal even with the extra $2 for a drink (you can still get eggs, potatoes, a croissant, and a drink for under $10, which while not amazing isn't bad.) Lunch will be interesting to see...the extra $2 puts the cafe car back on a better footing, whereas before you'd be pretty much equal either way. Lunch is where I expect to see most of the drop.

But for each drink and salad the diner "sells" to sleeper passengers, that's additional revenue counted towards the diner, even though no cash changes hands. I think that's ultimately what they're trying to do: make the diners "profitable" by increasing the revenue share from the sleeper passengers.

Unfortunately, this makes the sleepers look less profitable than they really are.
It's just stupid. Mica isn't even running the subcommittee any more. The new committee chair will have some other thing he wants to rant about.

Sure, but Boardman only stated that the dining service would be profitable, not Amtrak in general. It's an accounting trick, but it's one to get a desired result.

That being said, I don't think it's particularly unfair to have the sleepers shoulder a large portion of the cost of running the sleeper car. If a train went cafe car only, I'd expect to see a much higher (in percentage) drop in sleeper passengers than coach passengers. I would expect to simply see most coach passengers adapt to the changes of cafe car only (if they haven't pre-adapted due to cost already) but I would expect to see a large drop in sleeper passengers, even if a voucher was included for the cafe car. Sleeper passengers (myself included, when I travel sleeper) expect more than a cafe car, but when I'm traveling coach, I can usually make do with just a cafe car if I needed to.