All The Food Bonuses That Come With Amtrak Dining Car Access

There are a lot of bonuses to taking the train when you're trying to get from point A to point B. You have plenty of room to spread out, you can get up, stretch, and walk around, and you get to see the sights of the country from a totally unique perspective and meet your fellow travelers. Sure a plane will get you there faster, and a car stops and starts whenever you want it to, but a long-distance train ride is a true experience.

One of the most fun features during any lengthy train ride, like Canada's Rocky Mountaineer, is a visit to the dining car. Scenes from movies like "Strangers on a Train," "Murder on the Orient Express," and "The Darjeeling Limited" play up the allure of the experience, showing characters breaking bread while riding the rails at tables filled with cocktails, flowers, and fine china. While the modern-day version of the dining car on American Amtrak isn't quite as glamorous as an Alfred Hitchcock film, or as fancy as things used to be when rail travel was steeped in splendor in the early 1900s (per Condé Nast Traveler), there are still pretty good eats on Amtrak if you have overnight or extended-trip tickets that give you access to the dining car, which has a lot better options than the all-access café car.

The dining car is only available for passengers who have tickets with sleeping car accommodations (per Insider) on the Auto Train, California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, and Texas Eagle (between San Antonio and Los Angeles) lines (per Amtrak). However, there are plans to expand dining service to more passengers in the near future, according to Eater. Amtrak cut traditional dining car food service for a time in 2017 due to demands from congress that the company eliminates food service losses, leaving only the cafe car for a time, which serves bagged snacks and microwaved convenience meals. Thanks to funding specifically earmarked for Amtrak from the 2021 infrastructure bill, however (Amtrak is government-subsidized in order to keep running), the dining car is back.

The food quality and presentation are much better on the dining car than in the café car, including real plates and flatware versus plastic trays and paper napkins. Each meal includes at least three options to satisfy a variety of preferences, including pescatarian and vegetarian, and you can check out a preview of all your choices on the Amtrak website for the specific line you're taking. For instance, on the California Zephyr, you can order a three-course dinner of Mexican Soufflé with Grilled Street Corn, Rigatoni Bolognese, and dessert — not too shabby compared to a microwaved hot dog and a bag of chips from the café car. You'll definitely never get hangry!

The dining car also gives you access to unlimited complimentary soft drinks, plus your first beer, wine, or alcoholic cocktail is free, and you can purchase the next round pretty reasonably; a cocktail with Tito's vodka, Tanqueray gin, Bacardi rum, Maker's Mark whiskey or an imported beer tops out at around $7.50 (per Amtrak) — they'll even open it for you!

You don't want to skip dessert either, especially since it's included. The food menus on each of the trains change throughout the year, and different regions also vary, but their desserts get high praise from riders (per Insider). You can choose from bites like slices of carrot cake, white chocolate blueberry cobbler cheesecake, and chocolate toffee mousse — the perfect ending over a cup of coffee or a nightcap while you watch the scenery roll on by.

You don't have to be a train geek to have a great time riding the rails on your next cross-country adventure, but it does pay to get to know the train fanatics on TikTok and YouTube for tips on navigating the sleeper car scene if you're planning a long trip. One thing you don't want to skip is how much and when to tip the train staff. Be sure to bring some cash for your dining car servers, and Cruise Maven recommends tipping $2 to $3 per person for breakfast; $3 to $5 for lunch, and $5 to $10 for dinner.