I’ve not taken a trip since early this year when the LD diners were still in full-service operation and haven’t had the pleasure of a delicious Amtrak microwaved meal. However, I read travelers state that the meals range from terrible (had to throw away), to just “okay”. If this is true, there is absolutely no excuse for serving bad food, unless of course this is being done on purpose.
It’s 2020! Most grocery stores now offer ready-to-eat microwaved meals that are very tasty, some even prepared by local restaurants. I would much prefer that the full-service diners return. However, in the meantime, Amtrak could do so much better, at probably the same costs it’s paying for lousy food. After all, you’re paying for it with your sleeper fare.
Chef Boy-Ar-Dee canned pasta, you know, the pasty noodles floating in ketchup that kids eat. Awful stuff. Here at the old folks home, I mentioned to a neeighbor a while back that the store was out of toilet paper still and oddly enoug also out of canned pasta. He said, “Oh i really like those.” Bad food is in the eye of the beholder. I had shrimp and grits warm-up meal on a train I thought wasn’t bad, but no matter what it was, my mother would have found fault with it.
My local store deli has meals ready to heat, they may be good, but are $8-10 each. Too much for essentially a TV dinner. I have tried some of the microwavable “meals” from the shelves, name brands, and found them awful. There will always be someone who likes it and someone who hates it.
CMSTPnP’s reports on his recent trips on the Texas Eagle to and from Chicago have some good insights regarding the meals on the Eagle.
My supermarket has excellent ready to eat meals that can be heated in the micro-wave or oven. They are good. They have to be good because if my store does not deliver a good product I can go to the competition. But Amtrak does not have any rail competition. So it can serve up whatever it wants irrespective of the quality.
I have not been on an Amtrak train since October because of the consistant late running of the Texas Eagle and now Covid-19. Pror to October 2019 I had taken the Texas Eagle to Dallas from San Antonio or Austin and back an average of six times a year for nearly 13 years.
Many of the coach passengers took advantage of the long layover in Fort Worth to get their lunch at the Subway located in the station. That speaks volumes about the quality of the food on Amtrak.
I lived in Charlotte for three years. It was scrambled eggs, sausage, and grits along with coffee for me and most of the people around me.
I never saw anyone have shrimp with grits. Then too I only saw a small slice of the population that frequented the down-market restaurant where I frequently ate breakfast.
Down market? My wife referred to it as a roach palace. I did not think the roaches looked regal.
Yeah, I meant ‘Low Country’ – same for the areas of Georgia involved, which would plainly not be the whole state. I have edited the post accordingly (as it contained an appalling statement unjustified by the actual situation).
A similar effect can be seen between Cajun and Coonazz culture in Louisiana.
In New Orleans, the shrimp and grits breakfast in the restaurants had the shrimp wrapped in bacon, served with the grits, with bacon bits sprinkled on the whole thing.
Im originally from New Orleans and have lived in GA MS and SC.
In my experience, shrimp & grits is mainly coastal, and not commonly eaten for breakfast. But it’s huge at seafood restaurants for dinner or a large lunch.
I’ve eaten thousands of breakfasts of eggs, grits, sausage/bacon. And somtimes with a pancake to boot.
I’m probably wrong, but living in New Orleans, I found that grits were not nearly as common as found in Mississippi, Alabama, or Georgia. Maybe it was the French influence on restaurants in NO.
My brother and family live in Georgia, and it seems like a sin if breakfast doesn’t have grits. Grits were common in New Orleans, but I don’t remember them to that extent.
My daughter and granddaughter took a 29 hour trip on Amtrak 2 years ago. It was their first and presumably last trip on it. The train was over 6 hours late, it was dirty especially the restrooms, the Amtrak personnel weren’t that friendly, and they said the food was lousy.
When I heard that I though of all the LD trains I took in the 1950’s and 1960’s. My experiences were very different. But back then the trains were operated by private railroads not government employees.
Something to remember, it is well-known that dining car services were not profitable in the pre-Amtrak era and were viewed more as part of the overall service and not as a profit center.
True! But the taxpayers were not on the hook for the losses. They were worn by the shareholders.
I am 81. I cannot understand why some people insist on clinging to the past when for the most part it is no longer relevant. The day of the long-distance passenger train is mostly dead; it should be given a decent burial.
The railroad buff in me says don’t take away my Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited because I like to ride them, and they are the only “real trains” in Texas. The finance person in me chokes at the notion of throwing more good money after bad.