All About the Food on Amtrak's 35-Hour Coast Starlight Train from LA to Seattle

December 2009. At the urging of a high school friend, I took a trip with my friends around Egypt after I submitted my recession-era grad school application to USC.1 We took a 14-hour sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan and then a cruise2 on the Nile back north.

Look, I was 25 years old with major wanderlust and I thought, if I was going to blow my previous job’s 401(k), I may as well do it in the biggest way possible. And what is life if not a series of adventures?

It was the first — and last — time I had been on a sleeper train. Until…

June 2025. Several things happened:

• I just had a bad adventure (anaphylaxis in April, I do not recommend; plus the Summer of Allergy Testing3) and wanted a good adventure. Something I’d actually enjoy.

• I was invited to speak and moderate a panel at the AAJA Convention in Seattle and this year, I paid for my own travel (and that meant I didn’t have to fly if I didn’t want to).

• In July, I’d celebrate living in LA for 15 years (!), but was still ashamed that I’d seen so little of the West Coast outside of LA, SD and SF, and had never been to the Pacific Northwest.

• And as millennials used to say, YOLO.

Put that all together with a desire to take more trains (a longer story for another day) and I splurged on a one-way ticket for a 35-hour train ride on the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle at the end of July. I called it my solo journey into the soul of the West Coast.

Not a room, but a roomette! No wifi! Long stretches without cell service!

I actually looked forward to disconnecting, because, well, look at the current state of the world…and I was heading to a large journalism convention where I’d be talking and connecting with people non-stop for four days. 35 hours of quiet reflection sounded like a great time before the joyful chaos of the convention.

The number one question I get from people is: How was the Food on the Train?

What to know about the Food on the Train:

• Before my trip, everyone gave me the tip to bring snacks, so I brought a duffel bag filled with them, including nostalgic processed cheese. It turns out that my tiny roomette made me a “First Class Passenger,” and thus all my meals were included. Snacks schmacks.
• First Class Passengers have the option to eat communally in the dining car (timed reservations) or have the food delivered to the room. Save for one meal, I opted for the latter. (My mom, a real Journalist’s Mom if there’s ever been one, gave me flak for this, saying I should’ve talked to every single person on that train for their stories. Sorry, Mom.)

I grouped the meal reviews by category and day.

Breakfast

Only on Day 2: Breakfast Quesadilla with Bacon

This was the only meal I went to the Dining Car for, because I wanted to eat early and see Mount Shasta from my roomette. It was probably my favorite meal. The quesadilla was good with the salsa, the bacon was solid, and the potatoes were yummy.

Oh, and I sat with a nice older couple and a man who loves to take trains. They asked me about how AI is affecting journalism and teaching journalism.

Lunch

Day 1: Angus Burger with Butter Cake

First meal on the train and it may be the second best one. The burger was really tasty and it came with a huge onion. Did it need a huge onion? No. The butter cake was also really good.

Day 2: Grilled Patty Melt with Brownie

I really hated this sandwich and I’m getting nauseous just looking at it again. Bad choice. I should’ve gotten the burger again. I don’t have a photo of the brownie because I hated this sandwich so much.

Dinner

Day 1: Amtrak Signature Flat Iron Steak with Mixed Green Salad with Brie, Chocolate Spoon Cake, and a Dinner Roll

Steak? On a train? Why not. It was fine.

Day 2: Pasta Primavera and White Chocolate Blueberry Cobbler Cheesecake + the same sides as Day 1

After my terrible Day 2 lunch, my stomach felt a bit off, but dinner was being served early at 4 p.m., because the train was set to arrive in Seattle at 7:30. I thought pasta might be safe and for the most part, this was fine. I liked the cheesecake, though.

And here’s the IG video version: