I ate my way through Amtrak's cafe-car menu during a 74-hour ride in coach. Here's what it was like.

I've gone on many Amtrak rides, but I never paid the cafe car much attention.

As a frequent Amtrak rider, I'm used to bringing my own meals and snacks rather than buying food on board. With options like frozen cheeseburgers and pizza, it was never particularly appetizing. 

That's why I was so excited when, in August, the national rail system debuted its new cafe car menu, featuring a variety of sandwiches, salads, and snacks (and at long last, fresh vegetables!). 

As a passenger in coach, I couldn't access the dining car — a full-service restaurant — during my 74-hour journey from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. at the end of August.

So I decided to taste my way through the new cafe-car menu and see if it met my expectations. Here's what I found.

After boarding my train at lunchtime, I made my way to the cafe car.

On the California Zephyr, it's located in the same car as the observation/lounge area, which is down a flight of steep stairs from where I was seated in coach.

There, you can find tables to sit at and enjoy your meal, as well as condiments, utensils, and napkins, so no need to bring any of that from home. 

Make sure to listen to the train announcements, as the cafe shuts down occasionally to allow the attendant to take lunch and dinner breaks. But typically, it's open from around 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

The first meal I bought on board was a turkey-and-cheese sandwich.

Price: $5 (normally $7.50)

This sandwich is one of the new cafe offerings, and frankly, it felt like a disappointing start.

Heavy on the meat and cheese, with one wilted lettuce leaf, the sandwich was pretty much what I'd expect from a standard convenience store.

Mine was discounted for $5, though I'm not sure why, which made it a fairly good price point. With some mustard and mayonnaise, this was palatable. 

For dinner, I bought a stromboli, which the attendant heated up for me.

Price: $6

Though my partner, who is from pizza-loving New Jersey, made it clear that he did not consider this a stromboli (which is supposed to be a long roll rather than a ring), this meal checked the boxes of carbs and cheese.

The marinara sauce was a nice addition, and the bread was pleasantly springy and soft. I didn't detect a lot of flavor, but it made for a filling dinner. 

The next morning, I headed over to the cafe car again for a breakfast sandwich.

Price: $6

Though the official name of this sandwich on the Amtrak menu is "Sausage, Egg & Cheese Bialy," it did not seem to be served on a bialy, which is a type of Jewish bread roll with a seasoning-filled depression in the middle.

Nonetheless, it did contain sausage, egg, and cheese, if that's something you need to help start your morning. 

This felt a few notches below what you could order from a New York City street cart or even a Starbucks. Still, it got the job done as a filling breakfast. 

I found it fairly heavy and the American cheese too melty. I'm also not a huge fan of sausage, but that's on me.

 

 

For lunch, I grabbed an Asian noodle bowl for my first serving of vegetables on board the train.

Price: $7.50

At long last, a vegetable! This was definitely the best item I had tasted up to this point.

The broccoli, snap peas, and peppers in the bowl tasted fresh and crunchy, and the sauce (sweet, spicy, and slightly tangy) wasn't bad either. The portion size also felt generous. 

The noodles left something to be desired (perhaps there were just too many of them, or maybe what I really wanted was a salad) but overall I loved this dish. 

For dinner, I wasn't particularly hungry so I just had some more snacks I'd brought on the train with me.

Sitting in one place and not moving for days at a time means my appetite wasn't what it usually is, so I took a break from Amtrak's cafe car to eat some snacks I'd brought with me.

I ate hummus and pita chips, as well as some clementines, granola bars, and biscotti I bought at Trader Joe's. 

I think it's always a good idea to bring your own snacks, even though the cafe car has lots of options — sometimes they sell out. Throughout my trip, Amtrak ran out of a few items I'd wanted to taste. 

Still, if you do want to buy snacks in the cafe car, you can expect to find prepackaged items like Hippeas Vegan Nacho Puffs, pistachios, and beef jerky. 

The next morning — day three on a train — I bought a ham-and-Swiss sandwich.

Price: $7.50

I had wanted to try the bacon-and-cheese egg bites, but the train was out of all breakfast items by this point except for bagels and oatmeal.

I got the sandwich heated up, which improved it somewhat, but I still found it lacking in flavor. Although it's supposed to be on a pretzel roll, the bread was soft and not at all pretzel-like, in my opinion. 

I also realized that, by the third day of the train ride, the cafe car was running low on many items. So although I had wanted to try the Greek salad for lunch, I made do with some more snacks to tide me over until I got on my next train in Chicago. 

After I boarded the Cardinal, I had a Greek salad for dinner.

Price: $7.50

Once again, I was just happy to have some vegetables. The Greek salad had a nice combination of feta cheese, red onions, pepperoncini, olives, and a couple of grape tomatoes.

The spring mix was fresh and flavorful, and the dressing added a nice finish. 

For breakfast on the Cardinal, I finally tried those bacon-and-cheese egg bites.

Price: $4.50

Though possibly oversalted, these bites were pretty tasty, somewhat like a quiche without a crust.

They weren't too big and were nicely warmed up. If you like the sous-vide egg bites at Starbucks, you'll probably like this. 

My last meal before getting to DC was lunch, and I bought a veggie tamale.

Price: $5

Clearly, the best had been saved for last. Though I'm not sure how this item compares to homemade tamales, I found it delicious — the blue-corn masa was soft and flavorful, and the vegetables at the center (like corn and squash) added a nice bit of crunch. 

The dish was warm and filling, but not overly heavy.

When topped with salsa (provided among the condiments in the cafe car), it was something I would eat even when not stuck on a four-day train ride. 

Overall, I found the new menu an improvement on the old one, although it still lacks some fresh and flavorful items.

I liked that the new menu had a decent number of new vegetarian and vegan options, such as the tamale. There are also some menu items that can probably be made vegan by not adding cheese, like the Greek salad.

Those items that had vegetables tasted really fresh and provided a welcome dose of nutrients during a long ride. 

But the sandwiches could definitely be improved, and it was tough to find food I wanted to eat by the third day when many items had sold out.

Once Amtrak smooths out these wrinkles, though, dining in the cafe car promises to be almost as enjoyable as the restaurant-quality meals being served to the sleeping-car passengers. (Or at least, that's what I tell myself, knowing I'll never be able to afford more than coach).