Amtrak Diner and Food Service Discussion

[gokeefe]

I've read through my fair share of old railroad diner menus. That one would put many to shame and make a respectable showing with most other trains in their heyday.

I understand perfectly well that the Turquoise Room this is not but it sure beats my Father's memory of "the worst hamburger ever" on the B&O to Chicago in the early 60s.

[gokeefe]

For the sake of comparison here is the 1954 Empire Builder menu (PDF Download).

[gokeefe]

A 1953 Santa Fe menu is here. A truly impressive selection of dishes that is indeed far beyond Amtrak and leaves the Empire Builder struggling to keep up.

Amtrak's offerring remains very competitive in my eyes ...

[David Benton]

I like the "for the little folks" touch.

[bostontrainguy]

I like the "for the little folks" touch.

Yeah but doesn't sound very appetizing especially for kids:
Popular Brand Sieved Vegetables and Fruits, Prune Juice.
Tomato Juice, Orange Juice, Jello. Each twenty cents.

[STrRedWolf]

It reminds me of the 20th Century Limited menus that were posted up on "I Ride the Harlem Line". Can't find them now off of the site (the owner redesigned the site some time ago).

[gokeefe]

1954 20th Century Limited menu. Certainly comparable to the Santa Fe. The canapes of Beluga caviar pretty much take the cake.

[gokeefe]

And by way of demonstrating that other railroads truly lagged behind here's the 1955 menu for the B&O Ambassador.

Amtrak is head and shoulders above this offerring.

[danib62]

I had to look up what Postum was... no thanks.

[ExCon90]

I had to look up what Postum was... no thanks.

It was widely offered and advertised as a coffee or tea substitute back then; you never hear of it today. I have no idea what it tasted like. (I still remember the announcement regularly a part of the radio commercial: "Of course you mustn't expect Postum to taste like coffee, any more than you'd expect coffee to taste like tea.")

[Rockingham Racer]

I had to look up what Postum was... no thanks.

It was widely offered and advertised as a coffee or tea substitute back then; you never hear of it today. I have no idea what it tasted like. (I still remember the announcement regularly a part of the radio commercial: "Of course you mustn't expect Postum to taste like coffee, any more than you'd expect coffee to taste like tea.")

I think it tasted more like choclate, IIRC. Had it once; that was enough.

[SouthernRailway]

Is Flexible Dining breakfast still an Egg McMuffin or the like? I have a LD trip coming up and will be on the train at breakfast. No breakfast menu is on the Amtrak website, from what I can find.

The Amtrak photos of Flexible Dining are misleading: they show drinks in real glasses. I've always just received a plastic cup onboard.

I didn't realize until now that the Flexible Dining menu is just 4 adult entrees, without variation--it's the same menu for lunch and dinner, and in each direction. The food is fine, but as I'll be taking Amtrak LD trains back and forth for the next few weeks instead of flying, I guess I'll thus need to get used to the "specialty dessert" (which is a poor description- it's just a microwaved brownie or blondie) and the same entrees over and over.

[Ken W2KB]

Is Flexible Dining breakfast still an Egg McMuffin or the like? I have a LD trip coming up and will be on the train at breakfast. No breakfast menu is on the Amtrak website, from what I can find.

The Amtrak photos of Flexible Dining are misleading: they show drinks in real glasses. I've always just received a plastic cup onboard.

I didn't realize until now that the Flexible Dining menu is just 4 adult entrees, without variation--it's the same menu for lunch and dinner, and in each direction. The food is fine, but as I'll be taking Amtrak LD trains back and forth for the next few weeks instead of flying, I guess I'll thus need to get used to the "specialty dessert" (which is a poor description- it's just a microwaved brownie or blondie) and the same entrees over and over.

The second page, i.e., scroll down of the flexible dining menu has the breakfast offerings. https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/proj ... u-1119.pdf

[STrRedWolf]

Anyone know if the Cardinal was on the "Flex Dining" menu or not before the pandemic hit? I'm looking at a Dec 2-3 trip from DC to Chicago (another convention, hope it doesn't get canceled) and back Dec 7-8... and hoping to get the regular dining experience then.

[John_Perkowski]

The fact of the matter is Amtrak serves crappy food now. The fact of the matter is pre Amtrak food service to 1960 was damn good, and UP/Santa Fe kept it going to the end.

Amtrak food service was good the first few years, but Amtrak by law didn’t have freight customers then or now. We can add in a crap ton of problems about labor costs. Point is this: I can grub hub a better meal to the platform for delivery than Amtrak can possibly serve me, and at the per day cost of a sleeper, that is AFU in the first degree.