Passenger Trains > Amtrak release on food service May 1 Silver Star ++

Flexible Dining Launches on Silver Star for Sleeping Car CustomersEffective May 1, 2020Starting May 1, Amtrak will debut a new, complimentary dining experience exclusively for Sleeping Car customers aboard the Silver Star: flexible dining. This dining service is currently available on six routes: Capitol Limited, Cardinal, City of New Orleans, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited and Silver Meteor. Sleeping Car customers aboard the Silver Star can expect the following enhancements to their trip:

• A new dining menu with hot, ready-to-serve choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner
• A wide selection of wine, beer and spirits (the first one is on us), plus unlimited soft drinks throughout the journey
• Complimentary room service provided by the Sleeping Car attendant
• Exclusive onboard lounge space for Sleeping Car customers to dine and socialize 24x7
• Flexible dining times without the need for reservations

The new flexible dining menu offers entrees such as:

• Lunch & Dinner: Asian Noodle Bowl, Red Wine Braised Beef, Chicken Fettuccini with Broccoli, Creole Shrimp and Andouille. Plus, a children’s menu with Pasta and Meatballs.
• Breakfast: Deluxe Continental Breakfast will be served buffet style from a selection of muffins, yogurt, fresh fruit, hard-boiled eggs, cereal, oatmeal, breakfast sandwich.
• Dessert: Blondies, Brownies

Café service will also be available for both Sleeping Car and Coach customers, offering meals, snacks and beverages for sale. More information and sample menus can be found at Amtrak.com/flexdining. Information on special dietary requirements, including kosher meal requests, can be found at Amtrak.com/dining.Amtrak’s traditional dining service will continue to be offered on seven overnight routes: California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle and for sleeping car customers aboard the Auto Train.In the coming months, customers aboard overnight trains can also expect:

• The completion of fully refreshed Amfleet II cars for Coach class along the East Coast, including new seating cushions, carpets, curtains and LED reading lights.
• Upgraded bedding, towels and linens for Sleeping Cars-beginning with the Auto Train
• The debut of new Viewliner II Sleeping Cars for trains on the East Coast — the first addition to the Amtrak sleeper fleet in over 25 years.

  

Thanks for posting this information, mundo.

Retaining the current dining program for all passengers on the western trains is a constructive move.  As is the provision to offer kosher and other specialty meals with advance request.

Yum. Sounds great.  I've already scoped out restaurants to have dinner before boarding the Meteor in Jacksonville next month. Ideally I'd board in Orlando but then noting suitable available for dinner. The taxpayer funded state of the art diners serving as lounge cars should be nice though. Such is the world of Amtrak. 

Free beer!
Wonder what they mean by upgraded bedding.
Did the old blue bed napkins finally wear out?
Happy to hear the reading light is still complimentary.
 

You know, Anderson is just fooling us with this nonsense.

These cars are nothing but "Am-cafe" cars for sleeper passengers.  They are NOT dining cars. 

Including warmed over food in your ticket doesn't change a thing!.  The EXPERIENCE remains that of an Am-cafe car - i.e.

you walk in--stand in line - tell the lone agent what you want -- he hands you plastic - you walk to a table - then buss your own table.
This is the AM-CAFE in all its glory.. 

Can't wait for Congress to wise up - and fire the Delta team, who have so terribly downgraded these trains.



 

One of my favorite parts of the Crescent is the northbound and southbound schedules are pretty much perfect for avoiding all meals except breakfast in the new "dining car". 
Southbound from NYP to Atlanta: 2pm departure so lunch in NYC. Arrival into DC at 6pm, so run upstairs and get a nice hot proper meal from Union Station to go, enjoy in the room. Next morning, have a heated item and cereal from the "diner" and done. 
Northbound from Atlanta to NYP: usually late so 9-10pm departure from Atlanta-already ate in ATL. straight to bed. Light breakfast then arrival into DC between 10 and 12pm. Run upstaris get a proper nice lunch from anywhere to go, arrival into NYP prior to dinner. 

To, me its the perfect avoidance of Amtrash food. 

With other trains, Uber Eats has worked well for me. Ill wait until about 20 minutes outside of a major service stop, order, and promise if the train is late to heavily tip the driver. 95% of the time its perfect. Once I got hung up outside the station for 90 minutes but ended up just having the driver drop it at the ticket office and tipped $10 if he told them I was on the train and starving. Went in and picked up my food. Ive made a pretty good game of  it actually. The capital limited is a challenge as there is no Uber Eats service anytime near dinner, so I end up getting food in DC prior to boarding and just reheating it. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 14:15 by Amtrak-P42.

Memories...................
https://history.amtrak.com/archives/@@archives?q=menu&pagenumber=1&pagesize=10

The worst part of Anderson’s class warfare is the denial of “dining car” (such as it is) service to coach passengers. Yes, I know the new service isn’t taking anything away from coach passengers on the Silver Starvation, it’s simply “adding’ a service for the more elite sleeping car passengers who used to have to mingle with the riff raff in the Am Cafe in order to eat. Now, I guess they have their own Amcafe. Or do they? Is a second Amcafe  being added for the upper class passengers? Or will the elite enter the same Amcafe and take away free dinners as the great unwashed look on at the forbidden food? 

John Webb
Trinidad, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 15:33 by Winnemucca.

Winnemucca Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The worst part of Anderson’s class warfare is
> the denial of “dining car” (such as it is)
> service to coach passengers. Yes, I know the new
> service isn’t taking anything away from coach
> passengers on the Silver Starvation, it’s simply
> “adding’ a service for the more elite sleeping
> car passengers who used to have to mingle with the
> riff raff in the Am Cafe in order to eat. Now, I
> guess they have their own Amcafe. Or do they? Is a
> second Amcafe  being added for the upper class
> passengers? Or will the elite enter the same
> Amcafe and take away free dinners as the great
> unwashed look on at the forbidden food? 

you make some very valid points.  Maybe Amtrak is better off leaving the train as it is.  

JohnM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Winnemucca Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The worst part of Anderson’s class warfare is
> > the denial of “dining car” (such as it is)
> > service to coach passengers. Yes, I know the
> new
> > service isn’t taking anything away from coach
> > passengers on the Silver Starvation, it’s
> simply
> > “adding’ a service for the more elite
> sleeping
> > car passengers who used to have to mingle with
> the
> > riff raff in the Am Cafe in order to eat. Now,
> I
> > guess they have their own Amcafe. Or do they? Is
> a
> > second Amcafe  being added for the upper class
> > passengers? Or will the elite enter the same
> > Amcafe and take away free dinners as the great
> > unwashed look on at the forbidden food? 
>
> you make some very valid points.  Maybe Amtrak is
> better off leaving the train as it is.  

No, of course not. Amtrak is better off extending all meal service to anyone willing to pay for it. Better yet bring back real dining car service.

John Webb
Trinidad, CA

Oh Jeez.....

I guess I shouldnt be so surprized.....all negative comments to start off...even if it is an upgrade to service.

And now Amtk/Anderson are being accused of class warfare?   How about all the airlines that give better service to 1st class passengers than coach?
Are you demanding that all airlines should allow coach passengers to buy 1st class meals if they want to.  (and i guess sit in 1st class when eating them)
If you're pissed off that ppl with money get treated than people without money, you;re living in the wrong country.  I'm not saying its right, it just is.
 

Bring back the Harvey Houses.  

Gerry

Dear John Webb
Trinidad, CO

If you pay or coach service, you are going to get coach service. 
I see nothing written anywhere that says coach passengers have self professed entitlement to seats in the 1st class dining lounge.

Cooked to order restaurants on wheels are a holdover from the 1950's.   You all are lucky that they are still around on the 7 LD trains mentioned.
You want nostalgia, ride a nostalgia train. 
Im just sayin.

B. Marshall
Paso Robles, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 16:21 by pdt.

SPB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bring back the Harvey Houses.  
>
> Gerry

A Harvey House food truck would be kinda cool....

Winnemucca Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JohnM Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Winnemucca Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > The worst part of Anderson’s class warfare
> is
> > > the denial of “dining car” (such as it
> is)
> > > service to coach passengers. Yes, I know the
> > new
> > > service isn’t taking anything away from
> coach
> > > passengers on the Silver Starvation, it’s
> > simply
> > > “adding’ a service for the more elite
> > sleeping
> > > car passengers who used to have to mingle
> with
> > the
> > > riff raff in the Am Cafe in order to eat.
> Now,
> > I
> > > guess they have their own Amcafe. Or do they?
> Is
> > a
> > > second Amcafe  being added for the upper
> class
> > > passengers? Or will the elite enter the same
> > > Amcafe and take away free dinners as the
> great
> > > unwashed look on at the forbidden food? 
> >
> > you make some very valid points.  Maybe Amtrak
> is
> > better off leaving the train as it is.  
>
> No, of course not. Amtrak is better off extending
> all meal service to anyone willing to pay for it.
> Better yet bring back real dining car service.


You nailed it in a nutshell with your second to last sentance.  They are not willing to pay for it! The dining cars were losing $2.00 for every $1.00 of revenue.  

I just don't understand all of the uproar over coach passengers and dining car service. On most east coast trains less than 10% of coach passengers availed themselves of the dining car and when they did it was usually breakfast.

Nope, not interested in nostalgia. Just interested in fairness.

Yes, it's class warfare. If Anderson thinks sleeping car passengers might be offended by proximity to plebeian coach passengers then he can run a separate car for those folks who want to pay more, as is the case on the Capitol. It frosts me that in America, a supposedly classless society, that people of moderate means cannot even purchase the same food being handed out gratis (yes, I know it's built into the sleeping car fare but when you have to pay for a slice of microwave pizza for dinner and you see a full dinner handed out to a person of more fortunate background it doesn't feel like that). The rich get richer the poor get poorer. Here's a perfect example of that.  

John Webb
Trinidad, CA

How much do roomettes and bedrooms lose for every dollar of revenue?

another_view Wrote:

> I just don't understand all of the uproar over
> coach passengers and dining car service. On most
> east coast trains less than 10% of coach
> passengers availed themselves of the dining car
> and when they did it was usually breakfast.

You are wrong. And that would not explain 3 or 4 dinner seatings on the westbound Lake Shore Ltd. Furthermore the PIP for that train said it was 50%. Naturally Anderson removed all PIPs from the website. We can't have anyone seeing facts. Dinner seatings had time slots. Breakfast and Lunch often had numbered wait lists. 

Lying repeatedly does not make you or your management have any credibility. 

There is now NO FOOD SERVICE at all for coach passengers south of Schenectady through a dinner period because the NY section has lacked a cafe car since the 1980's, and west of there, no place to eat it except at coach seats. That is inferior treatment to even corridor passengers. All other trains contiuing past Albany have staffed dinette cars between NY and Albany. 



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 17:48 by joemvcnj.

> Yes, it's class warfare. If Anderson thinks
> sleeping car passengers might be offended by
> proximity to plebeian coach passengers then he can
> run a separate car for those folks who want to pay
> more, as is the case on the Capitol. It frosts me
> that in America, a supposedly classless society,
> that people of moderate means cannot even purchase
> the same food being handed out gratis (yes, I know
> it's built into the sleeping car fare but when you
> have to pay for a slice of microwave pizza for
> dinner and you see a full dinner handed out to a
> person of more fortunate background it doesn't
> feel like that). The rich get richer the poor get
> poorer. Here's a perfect example of that.  

I'm shocked, shocked that the rich are self-serving! 

Todd....

You need to start the "dining car" thread, for the "eating is my life" crowd.    I've known a few ppl where it was medical....they just couldnt go for too long a time  (like 8 hours) without eating or it would affect them physically). 

And maybe a link to a mental health forum would be helpful. 

I just cant believe some of what Im reading..... Not that its of any importance whatsoever in the grand scheme of thinga....

Im just sayin