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Dining Onboard Amtrak
by Lynne Williams — (Unfortunately, SoloDining.com has lost track (no pun intended) of Williams.)
Originally published in SoloDining.com, the newsletter — Winter 2003.
(Williams' excellent review of dining on the Napa Valley wine train captivated us!
During an exchange of e-mails, Williams revealed, "I am a constant solo diner, with all the travel
I do."
SoloDining.com thanks Lynne Williams for sharing her "insider information" on dining while riding
the rails!)
As publisher of The Train Traveler web site, I receive many questions about dining onboard Amtrak and I'd like
to pass along some of my thoughts, observations and recommendations.
Available food service will differ, depending on whether you are on a short trip or a long distance trip. For example,
travel in the northeast, between Washington D.C. and Portland, Maine will be on trains that offer only café
service, rather than dining car service.
All of these trains offer the usual fare, such as pizza, burgers, breakfast sandwiches and pre-made deli sandwiches.
However, there are some very pleasant surprises too, such as biscotti as an alternative to a bag of chips, or a
cheese plate as an alternative to pizza. All of the cafes offer a good California wine, domestic and imported beer
and pretty good, strong coffee, often Green Mountain coffee.
The Downeaster, which runs between Boston and Portland, Maine, is the apex of cafe cars, offering fresh pastries,
Legal Seafoods chowder and locally brewed beers. They also offer a wider variety of deli-style sandwiches, a fruit
and cheese plate, and other alternatives to the typical onboard fare.
Long distance trains also include dining cars, as well as the cafe car. The dining car has booths for four, and
if you are traveling alone or in less than a group of four, be prepared to dine with one or more other travelers.
This turns out to be great fun, and gives you an opportunity to meet fellow travelers and share your stories.
Dining car food is far superior to airline food. The meals are freshly prepared onboard, rather than microwaved,
precooked meals. The dining car menus vary, and some are especially good, offering regional fare. The City of New
Orleans, for example, usually offers Cajun entrees. The Coast Starlight stocks some excellent varieties of Napa
and Sonoma Valley wines, to accompany entrees prepared with locally grown produce.
Be aware that if you are a sleeping car passenger, all of your meals, three per day, are included in the price
of your ticket. Coach passengers may dine in the dining car, but will need to pay for their meals. Wine, beer and
alcoholic drinks are extra for all passengers.
Meals are pretty hefty and both lunch and dinner include dessert. Dinner includes a salad. I am rarely able to
eat dessert, so I usually take it back to my sleeping compartment and eat it later, or give it to one of the children
onboard, who seem to always have room for dessert.
All menus offer a vegetarian entree, which is usually pasta primavera or something along that line. I have found
the fish entrees, usually salmon, trout or catfish, to most consistently be the tastiest meals. Although the beef
and chicken are good, they are most often covered in a sauce or gravy; occasionally pepper blackened steak or a
similar dish will be offered.
Most lines now offer an excellent selection of wine, domestic and imported, by the bottle, with prices ranging
from $15 to $25. You can also get small bottles, usually California table wine, for $4.00 or $4.50.
Any traveler, whether sleeping car or coach passenger, can ask the attendant to bring a meal to his or her seat.
By all means use this service if you have mobility problems or other physical reasons for not going to the dining
car. However, don't eat alone just because you are traveling alone.
Go to the dining car and you will be seated with other passengers, who may also be solo travelers. Soon you will
be chatting like old friends.
On long distance routes, dinner is usually by "reservation." Anyone who wants a dining car reservation
can get one, but you must request the reservation for a specific time, as there are scheduled seatings.
Sometime in the mid afternoon the dining car steward will traverse the train, going first to sleeping cars and
then to coach, taking the reservations. However, if you fail to make a reservation, or change your mind, the steward
will usually make an announcement at the beginning of the last seating that anyone who still wishes to dine in
the dining car should come down immediately.
Tipping your waiter, and your cafe car attendant, is a very welcome practice. In the cafe car, I usually leave
a quarter or $.50 each time I buy something. In the dining car, I usually tip $1.00 per person for breakfast, $2.00
per person for lunch and $3.00 per person for dinner, more for excellent service. Remember that even if you get
your meals for free as a sleeping car passenger, you should still tip your waiter.
Major credit cards are accepted in the dining car, but the cafe car is cash only. Don't plan on finding an ATM
machine at every station since only the largest stations have them.
You are welcome to bring food onboard with you, and you can eat what you bring at your seat or while in your sleeping
compartment, but not in the cafe or the lounge. Although you can bring alcohol onboard, it may only be consumed
in your sleeping car.
Sooner or later, EVERYONE — business and pleasure travelers, singles, those divorced
or widowed, very-marrieds whose spouses are on the road, harried moms and dads, etc. — faces the challenge of eating
out alone!
THE How-to Booklet of Solo Dining Tips & Strategies:
The Art and Satisfaction of Dining Alone — REVEALED!
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