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I'll be taking the Capitol Limited out of DC to South Bend, Indiana in early November. What I'd like to know is what sort of food do they serve at dinner time on the dining car and what is the procedure for paying for it? Do I pay for the food at the table, like a restaurant, or do I go somewhere else on the train and pay?
ds555 Member # 3785
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The dining car food is mainstream-American restaurant fare, nothing exotic. There's usually a beef dish, a chicken dish, a fish dish, a vegetarian dish, and sometimes a pork dish; salad, sides, rolls, and coffee-tea-or-milk are included. Soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, and several choices of dessert are also available. Special menu selections, including kosher, vegan, vegetarian, low-sodium, and low-fat/low-cholesterol items, are available with 72-hour advance notice. You do have to order an entree in order to be served in the dining car. If you're a coach passenger, you pay for your meal in normal restaurant fashion. If you're a sleeping car passenger, meals during your trip are free except for any alcoholic beverages: you simply sign your name, and write your room number and car number (as printed on your ticket), on your to-be-filled out meal check at the beginning of the meal. You then pay for any alcoholic beverages at the end.
You might also have time for breakfast during your trip to South Bend, although unless the train is running significantly late you'll need to wake up pretty early, get all packed up, and go to the dining car right when it opens, so that when you're done with breakfast you can go back to your coach seat or sleeping car room and be immediately ready to get off the train. Note that the South Bend station is some distance west of downtown, so when you start to see the downtown area you'll know that in a few minutes it'll be time to get off. If you're in the dining car you may be on your own for figuring this out, since it may be too early in the morning for the conductor to be making station arrival announcements on the public-address system. If you're back in your coach seat or sleeping car room, your car attendant should give you a few minutes' notice of the arrival, but every now and then you'll run into an employee who, perhaps inadvertently, gives you much less notice--so be prepared.
I wouldn't advise tipping in the dining car, even though you'll see some other passengers doing it. According to a recent report by Amtrak's Inspector General, Amtrak's food service workers, who are all unionized, receive compensation that is approximately 3.5 times the full-time-equivalent pay of comparably skilled American restaurant employees, for an average of over $54,000 annually. In the summary of this report that I've seen, at http://www.house.gov/transportation/rail/06-09-05/weiderhold.pdf , it seems clear that these are before-tips numbers. I haven't been able to find out yet whether the $54,000-plus figure includes the value of benefits, but whether it does or not, it's a lot of money for that kind of work. These are not people who need our tips! Neither do any other Amtrak employees, for similar reasons.
Also, be prepared for the possibility that the dining car staff members may be stupid, uncouth, incompetent, and/or rude. Feel free to express your displeasure if necessary, but don't let yourself get internally rattled. Because of various factors, including the low prestige of train travel among much of the population and the somewhat uncomfortable conditions of dining car work, Amtrak often ends up hiring waitstaff of much lower basic quality than you'd ordinarily expect to find working in a restaurant, or working as flight attendants. The belligerent, chronically dissatisfied, chronically self-congratulatory attitude that their union then pumps them up with makes their performance even worse. This poor performance is, of course, another reason not to tip them. (And never mind if isolated employees are good: Even if we were to somehow have an inclination to tip these obscenely overpaid workers, we should take the attitude that if some of them are bad, then all of them should be considered bad and we should stiff them all equally. After all, they believe in the concept of solidarity, don't they? So they should all take the punishment for the bad performance of their union "brothers".)
(Incidentally, there's a glimmer of hope that the ever-increasing budgetary pressures on Amtrak, together with the recent light shone on the company's embarrassingly high food service losses, may lead to some sort of serious reform of food service, perhaps even to the point of contracting it all out. If that step were taken, if might put a definitive end to the problem of overpaid, poorly performing dining car workers.)
One note of warning to DesertSpirit, or to anyone who might be traveling on the westbound Capitol Limited to Indiana during the daylight-saving-time months of 2005: Based on my experience on the westbound Capitol Limited last month, at least some of the dining car crews have taken the approach of running the dining car schedule on Eastern Daylight Time right through the end of breakfast, rather than respecting the change from Eastern Daylight Time to Eastern Standard Time (identical to Central Daylight Time) that occurs between Toledo, Ohio and Waterloo, Indiana. While this maintains a certain simplicity, especially since if the train is running late breakfast might actually begin in Eastern Daylight Time territory, it fails to respect the dignity of the eastern and central regions of the State of Indiana, as well as the need for accurate local time of those dining car patrons who might be disembarking there. Another possible problem is suggested by my encounter last month with one sleeping car attendant who as far as I could tell didn't even understand the issue of Eastern Standard Time in eastern and central Indiana (frightening, since he's responsible for preparing passengers in a timely fashion to disembark there): this makes me wonder if there might not be other sleeping car attendants, coach attendants, and/or dining car waitstaff who are similarly ignorant. At least this potential problem will disappear in 2006, when all of Indiana will switch to observing daylight-saving time with most of the rest of the country.
One last note: If you want to maximize the chances that Amtrak will still be around when it's time for your November trip, send your Representative and your two Senators the message that, whatever reforms need to be made to Amtrak and to America's transportation public policy in general (and you should feel free to specify what you think those reforms are), Amtrak needs full funding of $1.82 billion for fiscal 2006.
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On the Southwest Chief that I just took a few weeks ago, the dining car workers were seasonal help and not overpaid, I don't think.
ds555 Member # 3785
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To sojourner: Are you sure that the dining car workers who served you on the Southwest Chief a few weeks ago were "seasonal help"? I presume it was the middle of spring. Isn't it usually during the summer, and possibly to a lesser extent during the winter, that seasonal help is hired?
And what evidence do you have that they were "not overpaid"?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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quote:Originally posted by mpaulshore: I wouldn't advise tipping in the dining car, even though you'll see some other passengers doing it. According to a recent report by Amtrak's Inspector General, Amtrak's food service workers, who are all unionized, receive compensation that is approximately 3.5 times the full-time-equivalent pay of comparably skilled American restaurant employees, for an average of over $54,000 annually. In the summary of this report that I've seen, at http://www.house.gov/transportation/rail/06-09-05/weiderhold.pdf , it seems clear that these are before-tips numbers. I haven't been able to find out yet whether the $54,000-plus figure includes the value of benefits, but whether it does or not, it's a lot of money for that kind of work. These are not people who need our tips! Neither do any other Amtrak employees, for similar reasons.
The belligerent [staff], chronically dissatisfied, chronically self-congratulatory attitude that their union then pumps them up with makes their performance even worse. This poor performance is, of course, another reason not to tip them. (And never mind if isolated employees are good: Even if we were to somehow have an inclination to tip these obscenely overpaid workers, we should take the attitude that if some of them are bad, then all of them should be considered bad and we should stiff them all equally. After all, they believe in the concept of solidarity, don't they? So they should all take the punishment for the bad performance of their union "brothers".)
It took me two years to respond to Mr. Paulshore's thoughts, but tipping is customary in Amtrak Dining cars. My guidelines remain at $3 for Dinner $2 for other meals, pluis in both cases the customary 15-20% of alcohol purchases. Possibly, I should review these fixed amounts, but since my Amtrak riding has now been curtailed to Auto Train owing to lack of reliable same-day connections to Stamford with either #30 @ WAS or 48 @ NYP (using #66 and arriving STM @4AM is quite simply unacceptable), I no longer have reason to see an Amtrak menu with prices printed thereon.
A server's remuneration is not a factor in whether or not to tender a tip; while others disagree, unless flagrant, I do not vary my tipping with the quality of service and in which case it will be upward if exemplary.
FYI, Mr. Paulshore, a New York Times restaurant article suggested that a waiter at a "big spender' steakhouse, such as Peter Luger's', likely has annual earnings in the $125K range. Since Luger's does not accept credit cards, "it's all cash"...In view of my professional background, I shall not dwell further on that point.
But somehow, I think it would be less than wise, especially if you contemplate returning to that restaurant in the future, to withhold a tip on the strength of "you make enough anyway'.
I strongly disagree with your reasoning on this point.
20th Century Member # 2196
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In good conscious, I can't imagine not leaving a dining tip on the premise of the waiter's income. Quality of service is another story. Solidary or not a tip is deserving.
Mike Smith Member # 447
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If my waiter deserves a tip, based on the service, he/she gets one. I don't care if they make $250,000 a year.
Bad service = no tip
abefroman329 Member # 3986
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quote:Originally posted by Mike Smith: If my waiter deserves a tip, based on the service, he/she gets one. I don't care if they make $250,000 a year.
Bad service = no tip
I'd hate to hear your idea of what a waiter needs to do in order to "deserve" a tip.
cubzo Member # 4700
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I agree with Mr Smith that tips are earned, a pleasant smile and as timely service as the server can deliver owing to conditions is all that I require.
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