I tried both Amtrak's new food service and its traditional dining car, and now I understand why people were so upset about the change

Graham Rapier

October 19, 2019 3:13 PM

Graham Rapier / Business Insider

Dinner requires reservations, which immediately signals "fancy" to me.

I recently set off on a four-day journey from coast to coast via Amtrak.
The food, for the most part, was way better than I had ever expected.
I stepped off the train a few pounds heavier and much happier than I thought possible.
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Surf and turf was far from what I expected to eat on my first cross-country Amtrak trip.

I had previously reported on a massive backlash to some dining-car changes on shorter routes , where custom-cooked food is going by the wayside, but the promise of gourmet eats on a moving train in the middle of North Dakota seemed far-fetched to say the least.

Determined to figure out for myself what was behind the hype, I set off on Amtrak's Empire Builder in Chicago last week. Over three days and five meals we crossed through wide expanses of the American heartland, through towns large and small, and past beautiful snow-capped peaks.

To be sure, the food on this part of my journey was a stark difference from my introduction to dining on rails. On the first half of the trek from coast to coast, I tried Amtrak's new "contemporary" meal service, which has rolled out on some routes east of the Mississippi River.

But after Chicago, things improved massively. Here's what we ate:

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