Amtrak Empire Builder dining is among the more pleasant experiences on passenger trains these days. Join David Popp for a look at eating on a moving train in Summer 2022.
When traveling on Amtrak’s premier long-distance trains, sleeping car passengers are provided complementary meals in the dining car, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Amtrak’s website explains which long-distance trains feature this service.
Dining cars include chef-prepared meals and feature comfortable booths with linen tablecloths and napkins, metal cutlery, and real glassware. With dinner, the first alcoholic drink is free, and there are a variety of offerings, including wines, beers, and spirts. Additional drinks may be purchased by the glass or bottle, and they don’t take cash, so be sure to have your credit card handy.
During a recent trip aboard the Empire Builder from Chicago to St. Paul, Minn., my wife and I got our first taste of Amtrak’s dining car service.
The experience began before we even left Chicago. The dining car hostess came to our roomette with available seating times. She then left us a reservation card, which was our ticket into the dining car. Calls for dinner are announced on the sleeping car PA system. Those not wishing to eat in the car can also arrange to have the food delivered to their rooms.
Our roomette had a dining car menu in it to whet our appetites, and we were given another copy once seated. Dinner is a three-course affair, including appetizers, entrees, and desserts, as well as ample choices of beverages.
Because we were traveling as a couple, we had the option to have our own table. However, earlier in the trip, we’d struck up a conversation with a gentleman across the hall traveling alone, so we decided to make a three-some out of it. Be sure to let the car hostess know ahead of time if you wish to do something like this, as they arrange seating in advance, and need a bit of warning to be able to make adjustments.
Our train had a 4-hour late start from Chicago, which meant that the kitchen staff did not have time to prepare the listed appetizers for that evening, so my wife did not get her anticipated baked brie starter. As a substitute, we began dinner with a green salad, which was fine with me, as the balsamic dressing it included was excellent.
For entrees, I chose the Amtrak Signature Flat Iron Steak, which featured a port wine sauce, as well as mashed potatoes and green beans. I had the steak cooked medium, and it was done perfectly by the kitchen staff. The steak went very well with Amtrak’s Dark Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon wine.
My wife ordered the Atlantic Salmon, oven roasted in a lemon caper white wine sauce. It included couscous and quinoa, and also green beans as a substitute for the listed carrots, bell peppers, and peas. The substitution was just fine with her, as she doesn’t care for peas anyway.
For the dessert course, I ordered the flourless chocolate cake (and a second glass of wine), and my wife had the white chocolate blueberry cobbler cheesecake and coffee. By this point, I was so involved in the meal and the table conversation that I totally forgot to photograph the desserts before they were nearly gone. You’ll have to take my word for it – they looked as delicious when delivered as they tasted going down.
All in all, despite menu substitutions, which can happen at even the best restaurants, the food was presented well, of good quality, and flavorful. The waitstaff was efficient and friendly. We never felt rushed and had a relaxing time watching the world slip by from the comfort of an Amtrak dining car booth while sipping a glass of wine, eating real prepared food, and enjoying pleasant dinner conversation. You will never ever get this kind of experience on a conventional airline flight, and it left me hungry for more dining car adventures.
