Only chocolate donuts, perhaps?

I hope they do a better job with this than with Union Station in St. Louis. I was at a conference there a few years ago, and while the building was beautiful, the management really screwed up the conference (and tossed me out of my room a day early, even though I had a confirmed reservation, which they said I didn't).

DD also sells breakfast sandwiches and (more recently) flatbread sandwiches, so I'd guess that an "express menu" DD won't sell those hot food items. It probably also doesn't make the donuts on site, but has them trucked in from a central bakery location.

Lissa, are you sure the real reason wasn't that you and your librarian friends weren't getting a little rowdy.

It's been so many years since I've been to Penn Station that I don't even remember what food/drink options were there.

I haven't been to Penn Station for years either, but I'm not picturing ANY food places there. Am I right?

Hey! Rosebud! It's you!

The last time I was in Penn Station was about a year and a half ago. I love the old-time feel of the place.

RoCK, you got it right about librarians being rowdy (biggest drinking convention ever in Detroit was ALA. Out drank the Baptists, even.) But, no, alas, I wasn't being rowdy. Despite my printed out confirmation e-mail, they claimed I did not have a reservation for the last night, and told me if I didn't get my stuff out of the room, they'd remove it.

Illegal, I found out later, but it worked. I cleaned out the room and stored my stuff. A librarian from a thinktank let me stay on her spare bed.

I just heard that they're planning a hotel space for the top three floors of the station. they will HAVE to have a place to eat there.

How in the world can the train station at a major Eastern Seaboard city NOT have a coffee shop. I've always been underwhelmed by our Penn Station, especially when yoiu compare it to Union Station in DC or Penn Station in NYC. Last time I took a train out of Baltimore wasa about 5 years ago, and I didn;t notice the lack of java b/c I wasn't looking for it. But I thought the place was a dump. It needs a major overhaul.

I commute to DC everyday from Penn Station. It is a dump and in need of an overhaul. The former food vendors sold a couple of wonderful hot breakfast sandwiches on ciabatta bread. I will miss those.

I have had a couple trips to London over the past year and have been in many UK train stations. The main stations in London (Paddington, Waterloo) are beautifully bright, clean and loaded with food and coffee vendors. These shops/kiosks are very inviting. They serve hot coffee, tea, pastries and sandwiches. Good tasty food, quickly available and at a reasonable price. It’s a recipe for success. Even the train stations in the smaller towns have a couple of vendors at each stop. It’s very civilized. I’ve been spoiled.

Comparing Penn Station to Union Station in DC is just foolish. Union Station has a movie theatre and two malls inside. Penn Station is just a clean, pleasant place to wait for a train. Much quieter than Union Station (which I dearly love), too.

I was never impressed with the previous food vendor. Expensive, surly service and not much choice.

Don't forget that it took years for the powers that be to get Union Station right. Does anybody remember the late, unlamented National Visitor Center?

There was just an article in the Guardian (now there's a good paper!) about ten of the best railway cafes. The local one in Cardiff where I lived had a Marks & Spencer food shop, which was amazing! Here's the link.