There are two important things to know about dining on Amtrak:
- The Dining Car is fun, but it's not your only option
- You can bring anything you want onto the train
f you have the money to spend, the Dining Car is a mediocre restaurant with interesting random company.
In the Dining Car, you are seated at a table for four. If there are two of you, then you can expect to share a table with one or two other passengers. Many coach riders don't spend the money for the Dining Car, because they bring their own food, but Sleeper Car passengers get their Dining Car meals in the cost of the ticket, so they always eat. This makes for good conversation.
Many of our Dining Car meals are memorable for the company, not the food.
Because you can bring your own food, there's nothing to stop you from bringing a fine wine and some foods that require no or minimal refrigeration.
You can bring a cooler that will keep some perishables cool for a day, but two days is pushing it.
Have the soft or washed-rind cheese on the first day and save the hard cheese for day two.
Fruit and raw veggies survive fine, as do breadstuffs.