Amtrak Food Options And Tipping Information
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- We are excited to share this Amtrak food options and tipping information with you guys. We get lots of questions about if you can bring your own food on the train or about what the options are for the Amtrak Cafe as well as the Amtrak Dining Car options for sleeper car passengers. Amtrak gives you lots of options on board. We will show you the menus as well as a look at the actual food.
We will cover Amtrak traditional dining, Amtrak flexible dining, as well as food on the Amtrak Acela and in the Amtrak Metropolitan Lounges.
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I remember going on the Southwest Chief in 1973 with my parents and two brothers. I was 11 years old and my mom and dad packed so many sandwiches, chips, candy bars, fruit, pop and cookies that it lasted from Kansas City to LA😃 What wonderful memories. One sad part 😩…we thought the train pulled off, leaving our mother in Albuquerque. We cried and before our daddy asked the attendant what they could do, our mama appears and we screamed!!! We asked her where she had been and said “in the cafe car drinking coffee in peace🥰” So glad I found your channel. What a joy you guys are!!!My husband and I will take the train from Portland to Seattle in a couple of months on my 60th Birthday☺️.
Sweet that you refer to your parents as "mama and daddy". Happy and safe travels to you and hubby. n
great story! Thanks for sharing it with us, we love it!
LOL! Poor kids.
What a great story . wonderful memories..I am 70 and still call my mama and daddy. Mama and Daddy because that's what they were to me ..
Enjoy your birthday.
Nothing better than eating breakfast on Amtrak as you roll thru town with vehicles stopped at crossings on their way to work
Being arthritic I have the car attendant bring the meals to my compartment. Wonderful service!
The flourless torte is with Waldo and Carmen Sandiego
The hardwood smoked bacon is to die for..seriously.
The food was the best part on the California Zephyr. Having the roommette, they feed you three meals a day and towards the end of the trip, we found ourselves skipping lunch as we were too full!
Terrific video guys! You summarized things really well, and it’s clear you’re not just experienced Amtrak travelers, you’re passionate about it as well. Subscribed!
Taking my first train ride in January from NYC to Atlanta. Got a roomette reserved and your videos are saving me from a lot of first timer mistakes and making me more excited for the trip.
Cool! Have fun!!
I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the food on the traditional dining experience on the Sunset Limited. I still say that steak was one of the most perfectly cooked I have ever had. And the French toast... Wow. I was expecting thin slices like one might find at a Denny's or something. It was truly amazing. And if your breakfast seating is towards the end of the breakfast hours and they have it, they will let you have plenty of extra sausage and/or bacon
I’ve never been on an Amtrak train. I really want to. Total bucket list item.
Awesome, you should go!
Railroad French Toast for the win!!! 😋❤
As a diabetic I prefer the eggs...
It was good!
Hey Rob, we are on the Southwest Chief to Flagstaff now, crew change and maintenance stop in Albuquerque,NM, and I wanted to tell you I had the flourless chocolate torte for dessert at lunch! If you are a chocolate lover, this is for you! Rich, melts in your mouth and just enough whipped cream. Hope you get to sample it sometime soon.
Awesome, thanks for the review!
I am sooooo glad the dining cars are back open. Hubby and I want to take a trip, but we didn’t want to go unless the dining cars were open. I traveled as a little girl with my mother, and one my favorite things to do was to get dressed up and go to the dining car. We are soooo looking forward to taking a trip and your videos are soooo very helpful and informative. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge and answering all our questions. Safe travels to you both and may God Bless you both. 🙏🏻❤️
Thanks and thanks for watching!
I love this! Reminds me of when I was eight years old and traveling with my Mom across country! What an Adventure!
Thank you!
The green chili tamales are absolutely incredible!!!😋
They are! Rob agrees!
This is my first video with you two! I have to say you two are a terrific couple!
Wow! Much better food 🍲 than on the airplane!
Now I know why I like your channel so much even though I don’t travel 🧳 and have no intention of taking the train 🚂.
There’s sooo much anger everywhere. It’s on TH-cam and the news, etc. Yet, when I watch your videos I feel a sense of peacefulness. It’s very relaxing 😎.
Great 👍 job folks !!!
So nice of you! Thanks, we appreciate it!
I booked a bedroom from Lamy to Los Angeles this January and I love the included meals. Last January I got lunch out of Lamy Dinner and Breakfast plus the Metropolitan Lounge.
I recently took the Coast Starlight in a bedroom. The experience was awesome and food amazing. Flatiron steak was tasty
I was 4 the one and only time I was on a train. 51 now. I still have a few memories. Mostly seeing the snow in the Cascades as we went to Eastern Washington.
Awesome!
I’m going to take my first Amtrak trip in early August riding the Cardinal from Cincinnati connecting to the Zephyr and finally the Coast Starliner to LA. Your travel guides have been most helpful and thorough covering everything I’ve wanted to know to be prepared for my trip. Your presentations are casual yet professional. Thank you for making these videos!
Thank you for all the tips,I love your video's,, I tried to book a trip to Sandpoint, Idaho for aug. the sleepers were taken so this old lady of 82 is going to tough it out by going coach,and after watching your video on going by coach it may not be so bad,, thank you,,
Thanks! Have a great trip!
Riding the train more these days and enjoying your videos!
We back in the before times (1986), I worked on Amtrak for the summer as a dining car attendant. We worked 18 hours a day then slept in the employee dorm car at night. A brisk shower woke us up at 5:00 am and then we worked until we closed dinner down. It was a great job! $9.54 hour plus tips, and tips were generally pretty good. We'd leave out of LA and go to either Chicago or New Orleans. There, we'd stay in a hotel for the night, then report back in the morning for the trip home. It was a great job...although I learned about the long-time customs of train workers that goes down through many generations. Those "old timers" didn't really care for part time college kids taking their jobs. I learned a lot that summer!
I remember Amtrak travel back in the early 80s! NOT very "culinary-friendly" in the dining car. LOL. My mom and I took a trip on Train 4 to Chicago and she ordered one of the "microwave cheeseburgers" from the diner...She drank alcohol the rest of the way. LOL. My grand-dad was a chef on that same route back when it was the Santa Fe and I, currently, am a chef on the Coast Starlight.
While the food quality is nowhere as good as it was during the Clinton Years, Amtrak struggles to maintain a balance between "food quality" and "cost effectiveness" in large part, because of U.S. House Representative John Mica's (R., FL.) theatrics when it came to Amtrak food operational costs and his efforts to contract out Amtrak food service in entirety. I, personally, feel that Amtrak made a huge mistake by contracting out its commissary operations. Now there is neither food product nor food quality consistency...in large part because of the contractor's efforts to secure product for the "least amount".
@@grouchodarx8868 This is a great story. And yes, sadly, Amtrak is beholden to Congress' monetary whims. Hopefully it will return to some sort of glory days one day!
I saw a video about a Builder that got delayed by snow for so long they gave out of food. The called ahead to the next stop and got Subway sandwiches for everyone.
That's a great story! Thankfully we've never been delayed long enough for that to happen!
On the Capitol Limited after the diner freezer died, Amtrak called out and had a bucket of fried chicken delivered to the sleeper passengers...
Again awesome.....Southwest Chief was my ride once I got to Chicago via NJ and then road it on top level coach down to Albuquerque, NM where I now reside😀 the past 11 years.
You are the cutest couple with great advice! I am looking forward to my Empire Builder train trip in October.😁
Thanks! Have a great trip!
I absolutely love food, and from the sound of it, there's something about being on a train that makes it a more pleasurable experience.....🤓
The food on the Zephyr was delicious! I had the Café food on the way to California and the Traditional Dining on the way back. Since I have no idea if or when I will get a chance to ride again, I was determined to be bold in my selections and I was not disappointed. Everything I tried was so yummy! Some things I would not traditionally order but I was very pleased with all of their offerings.
I've only done a short trip from St. Paul to Wisconsin Dells and back, but it was lovely. My son used to go to college from Marion IL to Fargo, ND. THAT was a long haul in coachl, but the amount of luggage they'd allow made it THE way to go and from college each school year.
The free luggage is a great perk!
*YOU TWO ARE AWESOME. THANKS !!!*
Thank you!
I have taken one Acela first class trip and am officially addicted to how fun the train is and cannot wait to book my next trip! I get my fix by watching these videos. Amtrack should get you some free train rides so you can make videos...
Thanks guys. Im considering going to Vegas by train and just stumbled across your feed. Awesome thanks again. Otherwise I would not have know what to expect.
Thanks! If you do go to Vegas, the last part will be on a bus, the train doesn't go the whole way there.
I had one of my best steaks ever on the Empire Builder last month. The desserts were excellent too.
Thank you once again for an outstanding video. Always so detailed, the good and the bad. It is a shame it isn't like the 60's when I rode the trains from Connecticut to Kansas. The Golden Age of railroad dinning. Again thank you for the video!
Hi I came across your channel this week by accident. I can’t stop watching I find it so interesting. I can’t travel on the Amtrak because I’m from the UK 😀but I’m just enjoying the content. My son is a train fanatic has been since he was very little. He is now 20! Maybe that’s the reason why your videos popped up as a recommended watch. I’m glad they did ☺️
Awesome! Thanks for watching and welcome!
I can't wait. Watching you two inspired me to do a cross country trip. I had to reschedule my trip from Feb to Oct , unfortunately had to loose my roomette and accept a family room. Really would rather be on upper level for the view.I wish they could lower some of the prices for roomettes. But because of your advise, I did get the credit card with 50,000 points and this trip taking me from Los Angeles to SFO on Coast Starlight then on the Zephyr and lastly on the Capitol Limited is free...using most of my points.Can't thank you enough....also watched your cruise videos and once it seems safe for cruising, I will improve my knowledge by rewatching those videos and book some cruises. Budgeting is always a consideration. I'm 72 and travel solo.It has been such a joy watching you both as you share your lives and travels. God bless!
Awesome that you got the 50,000 points! We just noticed they are not offering it anymore so it didn't last long!
I was on the Empire Builder heading from Chicago to St. Paul a couple of weeks ago (March 2024) noticed that the appetizers and desserts have changed a bit. The entrees are the same as in this video. I had cocoanut shrimp for the appetizer and they were great. For dessert I had a raspberry cheesecake which was also excellent. The salmon was great!
My wife and I are enjoying your videos. Traveling on Amtrak is on our bucket list. We live in Oxford, Alabama only 8 miles from the Amtrak station in Anniston, Alabama. I think the train is called the Crescent. Your videos have given us valuable information.
Awesome, the same train as our home station in Atlanta!
You guys did a excellent job in explaining everything about traveling on an Amtrak train. Thanks for your help in giving us a lot of choices on this great way to travel. My wife and I want to travel from New York to Seattle and you guys helped us make room choices easy. Thanks again
Glad it was helpful!
I'm taking Amtrak on the 25th, not my first trip with Amtrak, but My first roomette experience. Your videos have helped me look forward to this new experience.
I truly enjoy your videos they answer a lot of questions. Thanks
I love all your videos .. in 2018 we traveled by train Boston to glacier with vacations by rail. Fantastic vacation. My husband will tell you the train was the best part of our 16 day vacation in the national parks…lol now we will be going all the way to Seattle to catch a cruise to Alaska. Your videos sure help us thank you for your hard work
That is awesome! Great idea to pair the cruise and train together
You two have so much knowledge! Thinking about taking a trip. Thanks for the great info!
Hi, Rob and Ali! Great video, as always. I must have good "flourless chocolate torte" karma because I have always had it available. It is awesome . . . worthy of any top restaurant! I close my eyes and don't think about the calories when I eat it 😊. Keep the faith, Rob: There's a flourless chocolate torte out there, soon, with your name on it!
haha, thanks! Hoping to get it on the next one, glad to hear it was good!
@@GroundedLifeTravel l love your channel. I was on the Texas eagle. Wish I seen your video before I rode the train
Would of helped.
Thank you guys, that was a very enjoyable and educational video! I'm certain I will watch it again!
Another great show! I learn a great deal from watching your shows. And you guys are very entertaining too. Great job!!!
Rob totally agrees!
I'm so grateful to find this channel!! I booked my first train and solo trip to New Orleans! Your videos have helped understand what to expect and inspired me to book again! Thank you!
i appreciate your videos on Amtrak. I remember the slab of Prime Rib on the Southwest chief worth every penny! I have never had a bad or horrible meal on any of my long distance rides. Thanks once again
Thank you so much for providing tip info. We took our first long trip - 3 trains over 5 days - and We had some problems with one of the dining car attendants on our recent trip Southwest Chief trip. He apparently didn’t think we were tipping enough. But now I know that we were tipping sufficiently.
Thank you again for all the info you provided- you are the reason we are doing Amtrak and we love it.
Glad it helped!
Thank you both for these informative videos. It helped me greatly in planning my first AmTrak trip from Chicago to San Antonio. More trips to come on AmTrak.
Somehow you both are comforting as well as adventurers to me. Keep up a great job. Maybe my hubby and I will take an Amtrak train vacation. I would love it a lot. Thanks, Laura from New Hampshire
As a 21 yr Amtrak rider, I very much appreciate this couples videos and their honest opinions on travel. . I must disagree on one point. We've tried them many times but The Flexible meals are absolutely terrible, not even as good as a premium TV dinner. If you read the Flex labels they are loaded with salt, sugar and all kinds of toxic chemicals. Last time we were on the Cardinal we rejected the flex meals and just chose the cheeseburgers; not healthy but a better taste than flex.
I would also appreciate their opinion on Superliner bedroom A that is pretty tight.
Another great comprehensive overview. Excellent job as always!
Thanks!
This is all so incredibly helpful. Great content. Thank you.
Thanks!
Thanks for all this information. These travels with you two are great and exciting! I enjoy taking the journey with you! Life of traveling is so fascinating!
Thanks!
This is really useful, thanks!
Love your videos! I haven't been on an Amtrak adventure yet but definitely on my bucket list. I love all the tips. Thanks for the great content.
Gotta do it!!
Thank you SO much! This was incredibly helpful :)
You guys are awesome!!! 😀 I have a couple trips planned this summer. One in June and one in July .
I hope I can be lucky enough to "bump " into you...🙂
A Canadian who loves your channel...👍👍👍
Thank you for reviewing these options. We're in a Roomette in April so we'll have dining included. And I wasn't sure how much to tip, and knew you mentioned it before in a video so I'm happy you give that information frequently so we know what you do for tips.
Glad it was helpful!
And cash ,,. Needed
Love you two! you have great informative, interesting videos. After watching this I am so hungry, it all looks so good!
Thanks so much!
I really enjoy your videos. I've booked a Roomette on the Southwest Chief next August. You've answered a lot of questions I've had. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Hi Allie and Rob, you have some great information here... thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
Planning a trip on the California Zephyr next year. So I’m finding your information very helpful and reassuring since I’ll probably travel solo!
Thank you for this effort. Working on my dad's bucket list and this is very helpful. I appreciate this more than you know. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching!
I'm late to it, but I love 💘 💕 ❤ your channel.
Thank you for posting these helpful videos!
You are so welcome!
I appreciate the menu lists! Thank you!
You are so welcome!
I rode Amtrak for the first time from Alabama to New York. We had pancakes. This was in Sept of 2022.
This reminds me of my childhood traveling to the East coast with my Godmother, and I can remember being afraid; but now I'm ready to take my self on a train and travel the world.
Thanks GLT. Always great content. We were on the Texas Eagle before the pandemic and got the flourless chocolate cake like 4 times. It was AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME !!!!
That carrot cake and cheese cake are also GREAT!
That is awesome!
Very good info thank you!
Great job guys. 👍🏻 Thank you for all the ideas of what to expect. 😋
You are welcome!
Thank you this review and especially for the tipping - going on Amtrak in the Spring and never confident about tipping in the US in general, so really helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
I was so disappointed that the Empire didn’t have a diner car. I was so looking forward to it, since I purchased a roomette
Thank you for the info
Thank you for sharing how you two felt about eating on Amtrak. My Mother loved traveling first class with a sleeper cabin to the west coast and liked eating in the sit down restaurant. She loved trAin to do g a lot.
You are welcome!
If you bring your own food, will a microwave be available? You may answer this later, I’ll keep viewing. Thanks. Found the channel today and I am binge watching. Love it.
No, there is no microwave. Thanks for watching!
No microwave...
Love all your videos. So informative and detailed. Greetings from 🇨🇦
Glad you like them! Greetings!
Thanks. This was helpful.
Thank you so much for this. So informative!!
You are so welcome!
Your videos are very useful and interesting. I like how you provide the information. Thank you for this video.
I love all of your videos. When I lived in the Philadelphia area, I loved traveling on Amtrak. I would like to take some long distance Amtrak trips in the future.
Thank you!
I've been thinking of going from North Carolina to California on Amtrak. Has helped me out on making the decision.
This is now out of date. At least on the Zephyr - traveled in mid-April - the dining car is open to coach passengers. There is now a fixed price menu with several options for each meal. Breakfast was $20, lunch $25, dinner $45. It was excellent, served on china (or faux china), high quality. $45 may sound steep - but includes salad, main course, good dessert, and a beverage including alcoholic beverage at that price. Dinner items on the train included vegan option, and as I recall chicken and, but I chose an delicious Angus flank steak. Didn't have lunch, but breakfast was also a good value. Service was top-rate. No reservations now for meals in the dining car, at least on our train from Reno to Salt Lake, or back to Reno.
Very informative!!
Rob is such the meat man. Thanks for sharing.
Always
I remember train trips on Amtrak to Chicago 10+ years ago and the hot option in the cafe was a package of microwaved frozen Whitecastle burgers (like you'd find in the frozen section of the grocery store.)
Yummy got me hungry just watching. Good thing I’m eating while watching. Great review as always.✨✅✨Your Awesome!
Thank you 😋
I traveled by Amtrack to go to Calif, and Texas in the 90s. When I traveled in the 2000, I saw a big difference. The ticket went up over 50%. Maybe more. I know it was a ridiculous price. The Attendant didn't answer my call bell so I could order my meals. The meals were like Marie Calendar freezer food. They used to have good steaks for dinner. I was disabled and had a hard time walking up the narrow stairs. The toilet and electricity didn't work which had us going up and down those stairs. The train hit a bump and tossed me from side to side when I was walking down the stairs and I injured myself. It took a long time to get compensated for that. Ever since the government bought Amtrack everything went down. The dinners included steaks just to give you an example. This last time I saw a big difference in the menu. They also had wine tasting and a movie and playroom where the children could watch cartoons. They didn't have that. The employees told me that when the government took over the rails all that stopped. My last trip was a nightmare.
This is semi in response to These Cats and Arctic Rev, but for anyone. After living and working on Long Island for 30 years and paying off my mortgage, I moved to Florida. I chose to drive my car to outside Wash. DC (10 hours; hit tons of traffic) and take the Auto Train. As boarding was early the next morning, stayed overnight at the Amtrak sponsored Quality Inn and next morning put my car on the Amtrak Auto Train. I tried to buy an inexpensive roomette, but it was October and only the full suites were available. It was huge!! It had 2 captains chairs with armrests, a full shower and bathroom, and 4 beds. I insisted on the second floor, middle of train car. Was an amazing experience and yes, had full dining car experience with, as you said, white cotton tablecloths and real silverware. Was seated at a table of 4 so I had someone to talk to; seated opposite a husband and wife and next to another single traveler. A very expensive room, but no complaints; entire experience, for a single person age 50, was wonderful. Now I spend my money on Disney and Universal tickets.
The food looked wonderful!!!
We like it!
What a through review. I wish they had more vegan options.
Since we choose to eat vegan meals at home, we are also looking for tasty vegan options while riding on Amtrak. As things stand now, we realize that we might need to eat cheese with the vegetarian option.
@@peggycarilli4130 Unfortunately it's a pain to travel vegan. The food choices are so limited. One of the first things I think of when traveling is where I'll get vegan food.
Thanks! hopefully it was helpful to plan a trip.
@@GroundedLifeTravel Yes, it was very helpful.
@@janis902 us too!
I'm so glad I found your videos. They help me understand Amtrak so much better! Also, Ali is SO PRETTY!! Are you Indian? Love your gorgeousness. Thanks again for all the info!
We are leaving Sunday for an Amtrak trip from Chicago to the Grand Canyon. We have sleeper car tickets and I have been wondering about the meals. I had heard that everything was flexible dining no fresh cooking in the kitchen. So happy to see your video! Looking forward to the trip and food along the way!
Which train are you on? Everything west of Chicago will have traditional dining, except the Texas Eagle, which will have it, but not until it gets to Texas.
We are traveling on the Southwest Chief to Flagstaff out and back. We also will be taking the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon and back.
I love that Amtrak. Every year, for 6 years or more, I ride it to Illinois to see my daughter and grands! The food is too expensive for me, so I do take my own food with me, because I'm on the train from 18-20 hours all depends if it starts to run behind.
I remember Newark to Miami 1969, French toast PUT OF THIS WORLD. One train car was the kitchen. T hey never stopped cooking.
The food seems pretty good
We like it better than airline food by quite a bit
Hello folks. I'm pretty new to yall channel on youtube. My comment to this video is that years ago, mid 90s, there use to be tuna sandwiches in the cafe car on all Amtrak trains. When I started riding since 2010, I noticed they stopped selling it. Also, in 1993, on the former Broadway Limited, I actually had a Prime Rib for the 1st and so far only time. I must say I REALLY LOVED IT. Since I've been riding the Cardinal, there's no full service dining car. Even before the pandemic. I was very disappointed. Although the food that they do have on that train is still pretty good.