The 12 Best & Worst Cafe Items on Amtrak: from Thrillist.com

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Some new items since my last ride. Sad to see no breakfast items made the list. They have the best cinnamon rolls. Another thing I noticed is the prices have gone up quite a bit.
 
Matt Lynch, who wrote the article, should go back and review the dining car. The steak and baked would knock his socks off, imo.

I think his review of the cafe items is pretty balanced. The only things I've found palatable there are the crudites (which he mocks!) and the pasta salad which he kind of likes--but not for his Italian grandmother.
 
They used to have a much nicer garden salad--twice the size of the pasta one and delicious. Also a very good chicken salad sandwich. And good cinnamon rolls (the recent ones have been smaller, at least it seems that way to me).

I used to get breakfast or lunch on the Regionals, but now I just pick up something to take on the train with me.
 
Another astute point the author makes is that his top ranked choice, the ham and cheese pretzel hero, is going to be inaccessible to half of Amtrak's riders on either health or religious grounds. I wonder if anyone at HQ ever takes those points into consideration.
 
Manny T said:
Another astute point the author makes is that his top ranked choice, the ham and cheese pretzel hero, is going to be inaccessible to half of Amtrak's riders on either health or religious grounds. I wonder if anyone at HQ ever takes those points into consideration.
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Surely you jest?!!! It's Amtrak!!!
Mica would have a hissy fit if they dared serve tasty, healthy items @ affordable prices!
 
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Manny T said:
Matt Lynch, who wrote the article, should go back and review the dining car. The steak and baked would knock his socks off, imo.

I think his review of the cafe items is pretty balanced. The only things I've found palatable there are the crudites (which he mocks!) and the pasta salad which he kind of likes--but not for his Italian grandmother.
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The fresh food options are only available on the Corridor (and some off-corridor trains that originate in WAS/NYP), so he's...not that knowledgeable as far as I'm concerned. Long distance Cafes/Lounge cars will have different menus, aside from the cheeseburger, hot dog, and pizza.
 
Triley said:
. . . so he's...not that knowledgeable as far as I'm concerned.
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What does his knowledge of the nuances of what's served on what trains have to do with his assessment of the foods he did sample?
 
I suspect that many of these items are sourced from different suppliers (possibly to Amtrak's specs) and that the quality can differ based on said suppliers. Also - the results often differ based on the equipment used. I got something heated in a microwave once when this downstairs cafe car didn't have a convection oven.

Besides that - what about beer? It's pretty difficult to mess up bottled beer, although I suppose the choices are often regional.
 
Triley, I think you are right. I've had the crudites and pasta salad on the Acela only. But think about it if he's only reporting on what's available in the cafe on Amtrak's top of the line, all business/first class NEC train, and more than half the options are unacceptable from his POV. From his descriptions, I would say he's pretty knowledgeable about food, if not a wiz when it comes to the nuances of Amtrak's various menus.
 
CA, I think you are both right: he says you can "visit" the cafe car whenever you want, which means you are not seat-belted in like on a plane and told to stay put; you mean it's not always open, so you can't always buy something when you get there!!
 
It's obvious the writer is an NEC rider. Although he seems to know about dining cars, he may never have actually ridden an LD train or a regional train in other parts of the country. He's basing his choices on what is available to a NEC rider. NEC snack cars seem to be open during the entire trip (except for the station stop at NYP), so he's basing that statement on his experience. Those views have nothing to do with the service hours on LD trains.
 
Having been subject to a cafe-only menu more than once...yeah, I can generally agree with what he says. I've never had the pasta salad (I'll look into it at some point, it looks pretty decent), but I can agree that the panini options are spotty and I've only had an Amburger from a cafe once IIRC...for a reason.
 
keelhauled said:
Today I learned I have horribly low expectations for food.
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Don't feel like the Lone Ranger! But you gotta remember that food critics seldom get anywhere in life by saying they liked what they ate. Brings to mind the short spiel by the food critic toward the end of the animated feature film Ratatouille - one of my favorite movies.
 
I have to agree with the burger assessment. Things haven't been the same for me ever since the Pepperidge Farms Croissant Pizza was discontinued. I can still taste them. I remember when they still used the convection oven to make them. Some of the cafe car employees that didn't use the convection would open it up and rearrange all the toppings instead of lobbing it in the microwave as is.

Bring them back Pepperidge Farms!!

croissant-pizza-pepperidge-farm-watermarked1.jpg
 
Out of Chicago on the Michigan service trains they have the White Castle frozen burgers. Which are about as good as the ones you'd get in the grocery store's frozen section and take home and nuke. (Because that's what they are!) I get they're trying to plug in some regional favorites, but my thought with this on the MI trains are... if you dare to eat White Castle... why wouldn't you just yaknow... go to White Castle? Now I've gotten 'em, because frankly, I get so wrapped up in Pizza, Italian Beefs and some of the really great food I can't get outside of Chicago... that a trip to White Castle usually doesn't happen on my Chicago visits... and usually nothing else really seems any better and I at least KNOW what to expect with these things from when I worked in Chicago and they were my go-to dinner from a vending machine at work.

A couple of other cafe experiences...

Amtrak Hotdogs in the 70s... they were individually packaged... and would get heated in the wrapper... bun would be soaked... interesting taste... that my 7 year old self liked. My parents... would get ticked off... I guess you could call it an Amdog!

White Rock Iced Tea... that stuff was like crack!
 
I do not know if these appear on the Regionals-they don't on the Heartland Flyer, but the Single DiGiorno Nuclear Pizzas on the National Cafe Menu are good. In fact I buy them at Walmart all the time and based on what I pay there, the Amtrak markup on them isn't really that bad.
 
Ditto on the White Rock Ice Tea!!

While they're at it, how about more Regional Craft and Specialty Beers as well as Better Wine! There's a big mark up in alcohol and the swill Amtrak sells now isn't fit to serve in Oklahoma!

And down with Pepsi! Coke rocks the World!
 
The item that I purchase most often in cafe cars is the hummus and pretzels. Not saying everything they have us junk, but I certainly would not make the cafe car my sole food supply on a long trip.
 
greatcats: "...but I certainly would not make the cafe car my sole food supply on a long trip."

Ditto for me. Yet I fear this is exactly what they are aiming to do.

In which case LD would be over for me. Game Set Match.
 
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