Blog: Food

I take Amtrak from New York to Boston and generally like it a lot. I don't like to rag on Amtrak, an organization that has a nearly impossible mandate, not enough funding, and politicians ready to gut it at every turn except for keeping their own silly money-losing routes to their own home states.

However, the dining car is just ridiculous. They are always out of almost everything. They typically have one pretty standard entree, like a turkey sandwich. And if I try to get it, they're usually out of it. Which is okay, especially if it's a Regional train and I don't try to get it until New London going north or something.

But Saturday I took the Acela Express to Boston. A bit before New Haven, I went to get some food. Turkey sandwich? Out of it. How about cheese pizza? Out of it. Apple juice? Orange juice? Out of it, out of it, out of it. I settled for water and some pepperoni pizza, picking off the pepperoni by hand. It wasn't even that good.

Okay, so it was a fairly full train and I did wait an hour and a half after the restocking in New York. You'd think they would have more juice at least, but whatever. The final insult came today heading home. I had gotten some food not from Amtrak but forgot to grab a few Odwallas from the Boston office fridge. Ten minutes after the train left Boston - it's origin point, mind you - I went to get some juice. Out of it. No juice at all. Sold out already? No, it's just that they never loaded any in Boston.

What's the point of a cafe car if it's always out of everything? Amtrak. Nice trains, seat power outlets, but always out of food.