Silver Star Cafe Car

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LookingGlassTie

LookingGlassTie

OBS Chief
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Given that the Silver Star doesn't have a dining car, does the cafe car get really busy during normal meal times?

And what advice would you give to reduce the wait time to get food and/or drinks?

Also, are there any announcements made as to when the cafe car will serve breakfast, lunch or dinner, so that passengers will be prepared?

Thanks!
 
I haven't been on the SS since this started, but there is no "breakfast time", "lunch time" or "dinner time". The café items are available at any time. (Think similar to the café on a Regional.)
 
I too would like to hear from some who have been on this train. I'm doing a cross country trip and after a night layover in DC am heading down to West Palm. I have a roomette and my current plan is to eat lunch in the station maybe Johnny Rockets. I have a cooler with a few drinks but room to spare so will pick up a light dinner.

That will leave me breakfast and lunch so I will wait to her from other travelers.
 
I am a regular traveler on the Silver Meteor and usually avoid the Silver Star. However, I have traveled on the Star twice in a sleeper since the removal of the dining car - once from Miami to Orlando and once from Orlando to DC. I have also traveled several times between Orlando and Tampa in coach.

On the trip from Miami to Orlando, I purchased a decent sandwich (much better than the cafe sandwiches on the Meteor) in the cafe. The line was not long and I had no problem finding a seat in the cafe car.

When traveling from Orlando to DC, I ate dinner at home before boarding after 7pm. I brought fruit with me for breakfast. For lunch, I ate my PBJ that I brought from home, but purchased chips and a beer in the cafe. Again, no long lines.

On one of my trips from Tampa to Orlando, I sat in the cafe car and observed while drinking an adult beverage. It did not appear to be a long wait for food. Most people were eating pizza, but some were trying the microwave meals. The LSA allowed me to look at the ingredients for one of the meals that a passenger just purchased. Due to food allergies, I am not able to eat that meal.
 
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Menu looks pretty decent actually. I would rather have this than the current City of New Orleans dining car
 
I find their cheese pretzels to be very good. They are store-bought, but I can never find them in my area. I also like the pizzas, but they seem no different than on any other Amtrak train. In my experience, the line does sometimes get very long. The worst was one time when the employee posted a sign saying he would be back at a certain time but did not show up until 20 minutes after then. Some people likely ended up waiting well over 30 minutes.
 
Sauve850 said:
I too would like to hear from some who have been on this train. I'm doing a cross country trip and after a night layover in DC am heading down to West Palm. I have a roomette and my current plan is to eat lunch in the station maybe Johnny Rockets. I have a cooler with a few drinks but room to spare so will pick up a light dinner.

That will leave me breakfast and lunch so I will wait to her from other travelers.
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Here is my recommendation after living in DC for a few weeks this year would be to take the streetcar down H street it's a free streetcar and eat at one of the wonderful places on H Street. Generally they are cheeper then options in Union Station. 1. Crown Fried Chicken H street and 8th st NE. Three pieces of chicken for three dollars.

2. Star and Shamrock H and 13 NE. It's a Jewish Irish Pub.

3. There is an Ethiopian restaurant on H street as well I haven't been there.

4. Cafe Berlin Mass Ave and 4 NE. A very good German food with reasonable prices by DC levels.

5. The Hawk and Dove Penn Ave and 3 SE. A very famous bar with good food a few blocks from Capitol Hill. Extremely good food.

6. The Tune In next door to the Hawk and Dove. A West Virginia themed bar with amazing food and an interesting vibe.

All of those being accessible from Union station either by public transit or a ten to fifteen minute walk.
 
Cho Cho Charlie said:
LookingGlassTie said:
Given that the Silver Star doesn't have a dining car, does the cafe car get really busy during normal meal times?
Click to expand...
On the Meteor, the Café gets just coach passengers. On the Star(vation), the Café gets coach + sleeper passengers. I wonder if that is really much of a difference to the Café in terms of customer load?
Click to expand...
??? On the Meteor, Sleeping Car Passengers use the cafe for snacks, drinks, and full meals if they want to pay and Coach Passengers use the dining car for meals as well.
 
I'm leaning more toward the Star due to its schedule with regard to RVR. I'd be traveling by myself and I would feel a little nervous waiting in that station at night or during the overnight hours. The southbound Meteor departs Richmond at 9:44 PM and the northbound arrives there at around 4 in the morning.

I'm not really picky when it comes to food, as long as there's food available. So the fact that the Star doesn't have a dining car doesn't really bother me.
 
crescent-zephyr said:
Cho Cho Charlie said:
LookingGlassTie said:
Given that the Silver Star doesn't have a dining car, does the cafe car get really busy during normal meal times?
Click to expand...
On the Meteor, the Café gets just coach passengers. On the Star(vation), the Café gets coach + sleeper passengers. I wonder if that is really much of a difference to the Café in terms of customer load?
Click to expand...
??? On the Meteor, Sleeping Car Passengers use the cafe for snacks, drinks, and full meals if they want to pay and Coach Passengers use the dining car for meals as well.
Click to expand...
So, you're saying that on the Meteor all the sleeper car passengers skip the diner, use the Café for meals, so it has the same customer load as the Star(vation)?
 
Cho Cho Charlie said:
So, you're saying that on the Meteor all the sleeper car passengers skip the diner, use the Café for meals, so it has the same customer load as the Star(vation)?
Click to expand...
No, he's saying (not trying to speak for anyone here) that some Silver Meteor passengers eat in the lounge car (perhaps outside meal times, for snacks, etc.) and that some coach passengers eat in the diner, as opposed to the Silver Star, where the entire food service load is necessarily served by the lounge.
 
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