California Zephyr: The Dining Car Experience, Meals and Customer Service

Chipotle Black Bean & Corn Veggie Burger 

A spiced, full-flavoured veggie burger, served with or without cheese on a sesame bun with lettuce, tomato, red onion, dill pickle and kettle chips. $9.75

This was the only vegetarian option for lunch, and we got so fed up by it that on our third and final meal aboard the California Zephyr, we remained in our room, refusing to be subjected to another dose of the veggie burger.

We ate bananas and peanut butter sandwiches with the bread we brought along with us. The server, who became our friend by then, got worried when we did not show up at lunchtime. Such a sweet person!

For dinner, we had tofu Pad Thai one evening and salmon fillet the other. For dessert the options were Tiramisu, vanilla pudding (sugar-free), and ice cream.

The staff working in the Dining Car were all so friendly, funny and nice!

On our way back to our room after lunch one afternoon, the door that connects the Dining Car to the Sleeper Class Car got stuck.

While waiting for the door to open, we were told that Amtrak is a privately held company, but its single shareholder is the US Government. It was created in the early 1970s as a temporary solution (for a couple of years at best) to save passenger rail in the US. Despite this, Amtrak—with this stuck door that refused to open—hung on by a thread for 40 years and is heavily subsidized.

One of the staff had to call in the conductor. They struggled, pushing and pulling the door, and finally managed to open it.

After climbing thousands of feet from Reno, Nevada, we saw the ice breaking up on Donner Lake. I took this picture from the window of the Dining Car as we had lunch.

For those unfamiliar with dining aboard Amtrak, each booth holds four and if you have a smaller party, you will most likely be seated with other passengers. Some are uncomfortable with this, like how I initially was, but it turned out kind of fun.

My favourite meal aboard Amtrak would be breakfast.

I’m fresh after a night’s sleep on the comfortable bed, the gentle rays of the rising sun pouring into the Dining Car through the huge windows, the aroma of coffee brewing somewhere, and the anticipation of having warm eggs and toast for breakfast.

We met so many wonderful strangers during our two-day trip from San Francisco to Chicago.

There was a couple—middle-school teachers in their late fifties—who seemed anxious to know how we, as Muslim tourists, found America and her people. They felt relieved when we told them how much we’d enjoyed our stay.

We had lunch with a nurse and her husband. When they found out that Masood works in the IT industry, the nurse proudly proclaimed, “My son works for Google! He had even shown us where he works. But don’t ask me what he does there because I can’t seem to understand these things!” The husband chimed in, “He works with computers there. He’s very good with them.” They told us how the husband loved to collect computers and that they still have a dot matrix printer at home.

We shared a table with an elderly couple for breakfast one morning. They had travelled to Morocco and Egypt not too long ago and were deeply fascinated by Arab history, culture and architecture. They wanted to know what the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were like for tourists.

A freelance writer was seated in our booth for dinner one evening. He was in his late thirties and was travelling alone. He was a shy gentleman who did not talk much at the start of the meal, but when I asked him questions about his work and what sort of articles he wrote and what he thought about bloggers in general, he began to feel comfortable with us and the conversation flowed. He never travelled outside North America, so we only talked about books and current affairs.

A large, middle-aged man and his extremely quiet male companion joined us for lunch the next day. The man was loud enough for the entire Dining Car to hear, and when he laughed the table shook. The conversation began with him asking us where the UAE is located on the map. He knew where Saudi Arabia and Iran were, but he didn’t know where Dubai is. Then he talked about his great interest in stars and, trying to impress everyone within earshot, named at least 20 stars in the galaxy.

There were certain things common among our dining companions.

They were almost always surprised to learn that I, as a Muslim hijabi woman living in the Middle East, can speak English fluently, have two college degrees, and work full time.

They found it surprising that it was our third trip to the US, considering how the news is currently painting most Americans as anti-anything Islam related. And almost everyone we shared the table with hated their yellow-haired presidential candidate with a passion.

Masood and I tried to steer clear of any political discussion, but it always came up. It was interesting to note that half of the folks we dined with had zero knowledge about international politics and current affairs but were expecting us, foreigners visiting their country, to be up-to-date with the American presidential race.

Tips!

1. It’s expected to tip the servers in the dining car and the attendants $10 to $15 per day.
2. Bring fruits and snacks with you.
3. Don’t bring pre-packaged meals that needs reheating because there’s no microwave for you to use aboard the train.
4. Passengers riding in the coach section do not have their meals included but are free to walk to the dining car to make a reservation.
5. Don’t dawdle too much. Enjoy your meal and take your time. But do understand that the servers need to prepare the table for the next seating.
6. Room service, at no extra charge, is also an option. You know, just in case you don’t feel like socializing in the Dining Car.
7. There is an endless supply of bottled water, coffee and ice outside your room at a central station.
8. To reserve Kosher meals, I suggest calling Amtrak at least two weeks prior to your departure date, just to be sure. Likewise, you can view the menu ahead of time through the Amtrak website if you have dietary concerns.
9. After boarding, a member of the dining car’s wait staff comes through each car to offer a choice of reservation times in 15 minute increments. You select a time and receive a confirmation slip for your reservation. You need to bring this slip to the dining car at your selected time. If the car is full and you don’t have a reservation, your name will be added to a waitlist.

While the food served aboard Amtrak needs improvement and variety, the changing scenery outside the window, the strangers who share your table, and the conversations that ensue make dining in California Zephyr an interesting and memorable experience.