You SoCal folks likely know the Pacific Dining Car. Venerable old
restaurant created in 1921, literally in an old railway car parked in
a lot in downtown LA. It's been added onto over the years and now
sprawls into 5 separate dining areas. Wonderfully elegant atmosphere
that puts you in mind of celluloid collars and spats. My boss and I
had an appearance at the District Court in downtown LA yesterday, so
we grabbed lunch at the Dining Car. Hadn't been in a while and was
somewhat saddened to see it looking a bit down in the heels. We were
seated at a banquette and the fabric was wearing through in places,
some of the chairs looking scuffed, but the power brokers were still
littered about the place, the waiters (all male) in their green vests
and long white aprons, single roses on the tables, and the menu is
still decidedly guy-oriented (reminding me of The Arches in Newport
Beach). Still, it's nice to see a venerable old institution such as
the Dining Car doing a good business and sticking to its tradition.
And the Grilled Shrimp Cobb Salad was heaven!

http://www.pacificdiningcar.com/lunch.html

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

--

"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "meatloaf" with "cox"

On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:05:18 -0800, Terry Pulliam Burd
> wrote:

>You SoCal folks likely know the Pacific Dining Car. Venerable old
>restaurant created in 1921, literally in an old railway car parked in
>a lot in downtown LA. It's been added onto over the years and now
>sprawls into 5 separate dining areas. Wonderfully elegant atmosphere
>that puts you in mind of celluloid collars and spats. My boss and I
>had an appearance at the District Court in downtown LA yesterday, so
>we grabbed lunch at the Dining Car. Hadn't been in a while and was
>somewhat saddened to see it looking a bit down in the heels. We were
>seated at a banquette and the fabric was wearing through in places,
>some of the chairs looking scuffed, but the power brokers were still
>littered about the place, the waiters (all male) in their green vests
>and long white aprons, single roses on the tables, and the menu is
>still decidedly guy-oriented (reminding me of The Arches in Newport
>Beach). Still, it's nice to see a venerable old institution such as
>the Dining Car doing a good business and sticking to its tradition.
>And the Grilled Shrimp Cobb Salad was heaven!
>
>http://www.pacificdiningcar.com/lunch.html
>
>Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

There used to be a chain of restaurants called Victoria Station - they
built their restaurants out of train cars too. Not as fancy as your
place, but one location was in the Financial District and it was
crowded all the time. Something happened (maybe they expanded too
quickly) and they went belly up. Too bad, I enjoyed eating there.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:14:22 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>Years back there were a couple of Victoria Station restaurants in the
>Cleveland area. IIRC, they aged their own beef.

Yes, that's the one!

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Nov 10, 7:05*pm, Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:
> You SoCal folks likely know the Pacific Dining Car. Venerable old
> restaurant created in 1921, literally in an old railway car parked in
> a lot in downtown LA. It's been added onto over the years and now
> sprawls into 5 separate dining areas. Wonderfully elegant atmosphere
> that puts you in mind of celluloid collars and spats. My boss and I
> had an appearance at the District Court in downtown LA yesterday, so
> we grabbed lunch at the Dining Car. Hadn't been in a while and was
> somewhat saddened to see it looking a bit down in the heels. We were
> seated at a banquette and the fabric was wearing through in places,
> some of the chairs looking scuffed, but the power brokers were still
> littered about the place, the waiters (all male) in their green vests
> and long white aprons, single roses on the tables, and the menu is
> still decidedly guy-oriented (reminding me of The Arches in Newport
> Beach). Still, it's nice to see a venerable old institution such as
> the Dining Car doing a good business and sticking to its tradition.
> And the Grilled Shrimp Cobb Salad was heaven!
>
> http://www.pacificdiningcar.com/lunch.html
>
> Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
>
> --
>
> "If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
> old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
> waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."
>
> - Duncan Hines
>
> To reply, replace "meatloaf" with "cox"

one of my favorite places to go; it is open 24/7 and the food has
always been wonderful.

harriet & critters in azusa

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:30:39 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>There's a book
>out about their history, quick rise to fame and almost as quick a decline.
>If it wasn't over $30 I'd buy it. :-)

I wonder if you can get it through the library system?

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
> I was sorry to see them close. Enjoyed many a meal there. There's a book
> out about their history, quick rise to fame and almost as quick a decline.
> If it wasn't over $30 I'd buy it. :-)

You can look at Wikipedia for free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victori...on_(Restaurant)

And sample bits of the book he

http://www.vicsta.com/

On Nov 10, 7:05 pm, Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:
> You SoCal folks likely know the Pacific Dining Car.

Indeed. Really good food, really good service, a favorite of the
downtown establishment for decades, not cheap.

> ...... Hadn't been in a while and was
> somewhat saddened to see it looking a bit down in the heels. We were
> seated at a banquette and the fabric was wearing through in places,
> some of the chairs looking scuffed, but the power brokers were still
> littered about the place, the waiters (all male) in their green vests
> and long white aprons, single roses on the tables, and the menu is
> still decidedly guy-oriented ....

The menu gives you some tough choices. Steaks are excellent, seafood
is perfectly done. I usually chose scallops whenever the waiter
suggested them, otherwise a steak. Except that breakfast/brunch was
their outstanding roast beef hash. Sorry to hear the place is showing
its age but I'm inclined to be confident about their continued
success. They're open all night but I never went there late after
partying. Not too far from there is the original Tommy's burger stand
and sometimes at 3 in the a.m. you needed that grease fix. -aem

Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:

> You SoCal folks likely know the Pacific Dining Car. Venerable old
> restaurant created in 1921, literally in an old railway car parked in
> a lot in downtown LA. It's been added onto over the years and now
> sprawls into 5 separate dining areas. Wonderfully elegant atmosphere
> that puts you in mind of celluloid collars and spats. My boss and I
> had an appearance at the District Court in downtown LA yesterday, so
> we grabbed lunch at the Dining Car. Hadn't been in a while and was
> somewhat saddened to see it looking a bit down in the heels. We were
> seated at a banquette and the fabric was wearing through in places,
> some of the chairs looking scuffed, but the power brokers were still
> littered about the place, the waiters (all male) in their green vests
> and long white aprons, single roses on the tables, and the menu is
> still decidedly guy-oriented (reminding me of The Arches in Newport
> Beach). Still, it's nice to see a venerable old institution such as
> the Dining Car doing a good business and sticking to its tradition.
> And the Grilled Shrimp Cobb Salad was heaven!
>
> http://www.pacificdiningcar.com/lunch.html

Okay, I've looked at the Web site and the menus. If it is an attempt to
keep up the legendary dining car tradition, it looks like it fails
miserably. It appears to be a mockery of a tradition, instead being an
imitation of a second-rate steakhouse.

Railroad food, once the Pullman dining car had made its appearance, used
to be the glory of American dining - unmatched anywhere but at a few
special restaurants. It is not for nothing that the first Pullman
dining car was christened "Delmonico".

According to _Eating in America_ by Waverley Root & Richard de
Rochemont,
"Dining car menus on 1870 offered seventy-five cent meals of oysters on
the half-shell, porterhouse steak, quail, antelope, plover, fresh trout
and terrapin, with second helpings on the house. There was Champagne at
every meal, including breakfast, and passengers ate in the splendor of
Turkish carpets, French mirrors, fringed portières and rare inlaid
woods. The Denver and Rio Grande made a specialty of mountain trout,
the Union Pacific was famous for its antelope steaks, the Northern
Pacific for its grouse and salmon."

Victor

On Nov 11, 9:45 am, (Victor Sack) wrote:

> Okay, I've looked at the Web site and the menus. If it is an attempt to
> keep up the legendary dining car tradition, it looks like it fails
> miserably. It appears to be a mockery of a tradition, instead being an
> imitation of a second-rate steakhouse.

I understand what you're comparing it to, but that's not the case at
all. It is a first class steakhouse that happens to have originally
started a couple of generations ago with a dining car. Yes, railway
food was once elegant but this restaurant already existed in those
times and kept its standards high while the railway business
declined. -aem

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:05:18 -0800, Terry Pulliam Burd
> > wrote:
>
>>You SoCal folks likely know the Pacific Dining Car. Venerable old
>>restaurant created in 1921, literally in an old railway car parked in
>>a lot in downtown LA. It's been added onto over the years and now
>>sprawls into 5 separate dining areas. Wonderfully elegant atmosphere
>>that puts you in mind of celluloid collars and spats. My boss and I
>>had an appearance at the District Court in downtown LA yesterday, so
>>we grabbed lunch at the Dining Car. Hadn't been in a while and was
>>somewhat saddened to see it looking a bit down in the heels. We were
>>seated at a banquette and the fabric was wearing through in places,
>>some of the chairs looking scuffed, but the power brokers were still
>>littered about the place, the waiters (all male) in their green vests
>>and long white aprons, single roses on the tables, and the menu is
>>still decidedly guy-oriented (reminding me of The Arches in Newport
>>Beach). Still, it's nice to see a venerable old institution such as
>>the Dining Car doing a good business and sticking to its tradition.
>>And the Grilled Shrimp Cobb Salad was heaven!
>>
>>http://www.pacificdiningcar.com/lunch.html
>>
>>Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
>
> There used to be a chain of restaurants called Victoria Station - they
> built their restaurants out of train cars too. Not as fancy as your
> place, but one location was in the Financial District and it was
> crowded all the time. Something happened (maybe they expanded too
> quickly) and they went belly up. Too bad, I enjoyed eating there.
>
> --
> I love cooking with wine.
> Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Victoria Station, specialized in Prime Rib and went Belly UP - they
purposely kept hard benches and chairs so patrons would be uncomfortable and
leave right after their meal - then mistakenly believer making their patrons
uncomfortable would yield and extra turn on their tables- GOOD RIDDANCE!
says I.


--
Dimitri

Mirepoix

http://kitchenguide.wordpress.com.

sf > wrote:

>There used to be a chain of restaurants called Victoria Station - they
>built their restaurants out of train cars too. Not as fancy as your
>place, but one location was in the Financial District and it was
>crowded all the time. Something happened (maybe they expanded too
>quickly) and they went belly up.

Severe mismanagement, various financial shenanigans, and a schism
between the founders IIRC led to the demise of the chain.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:51:19 -0800, "Dimitri" >
fired up random neurons and synapses to opine:

>Victoria Station, specialized in Prime Rib and went Belly UP - they
>purposely kept hard benches and chairs so patrons would be uncomfortable and
>leave right after their meal - then mistakenly believer making their patrons
>uncomfortable would yield and extra turn on their tables- GOOD RIDDANCE!
>says I.

The train station at San Juan Capistrano is a couple of cobbled
together old railway cars. One of 'em is a restaurant and you'd be
hard put to find a more pedestrian menu or more indifferently prepared
food. The wait staff, however, has been around since the mission was
built, AFAICS, and are pretty much a floor show on their own.

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

--

"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "meatloaf" with "cox"

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:29:05 -0800 (PST), aem >
fired up random neurons and synapses to opine:

>On Nov 10, 7:05 pm, Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:
>> You SoCal folks likely know the Pacific Dining Car.
>
>Indeed. Really good food, really good service, a favorite of the
>downtown establishment for decades, not cheap.
>till decidedly guy-oriented ....
>
<snip>

>The menu gives you some tough choices.

My boss is *very* partial to their breakfast menu. They're open 24
hours a day and when we have a later court appearance (1:00-ish) or
the traffic surprises us and we get to downtown LA early for a 10:00
a.m. appearance, it's eggs sardou for my boss. Frankly, I can't see
eating poached eggs over artichoke bottoms and creamed spinach with
hollandaise. He *loves* it!

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

--

"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "meatloaf" with "cox"

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:45:47 +0100, (Victor Sack)
fired up random neurons and synapses to opine:

>Okay, I've looked at the Web site and the menus. If it is an attempt to
>keep up the legendary dining car tradition, it looks like it fails
>miserably. It appears to be a mockery of a tradition, instead being an
>imitation of a second-rate steakhouse.

Victor, I don't think they had a single thought about keeping up the
traditional dining car menu. This is southern California, where every
other thing is smoke and mirrors, illusion and puffery. It's something
of a throwback to the 20s in SoCal when "tradition" was being built by
those who had just read about it in books or had seen it on the silver
screen.

We took the Amtrak Coast Starlight from LA to San Francisco last year
and the dining experience was just sad. They tried, bless 'em, but at
least we didn't starve to death. They did offer a wine and cheese
tasting about 4:00 p.m. which was fun, but it took a while for my
taste buds to forgive me.
>
>Railroad food, once the Pullman dining car had made its appearance, used
>to be the glory of American dining - unmatched anywhere but at a few
>special restaurants. It is not for nothing that the first Pullman
>dining car was christened "Delmonico".
>
>According to _Eating in America_ by Waverley Root & Richard de
>Rochemont,
>"Dining car menus on 1870 offered seventy-five cent meals of oysters on
>the half-shell, porterhouse steak, quail, antelope, plover, fresh trout
>and terrapin, with second helpings on the house. There was Champagne at
>every meal, including breakfast, and passengers ate in the splendor of
>Turkish carpets, French mirrors, fringed portières and rare inlaid
>woods. The Denver and Rio Grande made a specialty of mountain trout,
>the Union Pacific was famous for its antelope steaks, the Northern
>Pacific for its grouse and salmon."

Where's a robber baron when you need him?

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

--

"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "meatloaf" with "cox"

Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:

>On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:45:47 +0100, (Victor Sack)
>fired up random neurons and synapses to opine:
>
>>According to _Eating in America_ by Waverley Root & Richard de
>>Rochemont,
>>"Dining car menus on 1870 offered seventy-five cent meals of oysters on
>>the half-shell, porterhouse steak, quail, antelope, plover, fresh trout
>>and terrapin, with second helpings on the house. There was Champagne at
>>every meal, including breakfast, and passengers ate in the splendor of
>>Turkish carpets, French mirrors, fringed portières and rare inlaid
>>woods. The Denver and Rio Grande made a specialty of mountain trout,
>>the Union Pacific was famous for its antelope steaks, the Northern
>>Pacific for its grouse and salmon."
>
>Where's a robber baron when you need him?

Living in the same imaginary land with honest politicians supping on
magnificent railroad food.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:28:34 -0800, Terry Pulliam Burd wrote:

> On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:45:47 +0100, (Victor Sack)
> fired up random neurons and synapses to opine:
>>
>>According to _Eating in America_ by Waverley Root & Richard de
>>Rochemont,
>>"Dining car menus on 1870 offered seventy-five cent meals of oysters on
>>the half-shell, porterhouse steak, quail, antelope, plover, fresh trout
>>and terrapin, with second helpings on the house. There was Champagne at
>>every meal, including breakfast, and passengers ate in the splendor of
>>Turkish carpets, French mirrors, fringed portières and rare inlaid
>>woods. The Denver and Rio Grande made a specialty of mountain trout,
>>the Union Pacific was famous for its antelope steaks, the Northern
>>Pacific for its grouse and salmon."
>
> Where's a robber baron when you need him?
>
> Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

'all that's very nice, but all i really wanted to do was to get from here
to philadelphia.'

your pal,
blake

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:16:26 -0800, Terry Pulliam Burd
> wrote:

>Frankly, I can't see
>eating poached eggs over artichoke bottoms and creamed spinach with
>hollandaise. He *loves* it!

I know how he feels. You can't find eggs florentine just anywhere.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:

> (Victor Sack) fired up random neurons and synapses to
> opine:
>
> >Railroad food, once the Pullman dining car had made its appearance, used
> >to be the glory of American dining - unmatched anywhere but at a few
> >special restaurants. It is not for nothing that the first Pullman
> >dining car was christened "Delmonico".
> >
> >According to _Eating in America_ by Waverley Root & Richard de
> >Rochemont,
> >"Dining car menus on 1870 offered seventy-five cent meals of oysters on
> >the half-shell, porterhouse steak, quail, antelope, plover, fresh trout
> >and terrapin, with second helpings on the house. There was Champagne at
> >every meal, including breakfast, and passengers ate in the splendor of
> >Turkish carpets, French mirrors, fringed portières and rare inlaid
> >woods. The Denver and Rio Grande made a specialty of mountain trout,
> >the Union Pacific was famous for its antelope steaks, the Northern
> >Pacific for its grouse and salmon."
>
> Where's a robber baron when you need him?

Who needs a robber baron? The meals cost 75¢ in 1870, an approximate
equivalent of US$12 in today's dollars, according to some historical
value tables, such as <http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/Documents/dollar/>.
It is certainly not very expensive, especially considering the foods
offered and their putative quality.

Victor