The Union Pacific seemed to have complete control over the menus of the City of Los Angeles and City of Portland even though these trains also went over the Chicago & North Western (before 1955) and Milwaukee Road (after 1955). But the City of San Francisco was another story, one over which the Southern Pacific seemed to have more influence.
Click image to download a 2.0-MB PDF of this menu.
The Union Pacific never hesitated, for example, to put Mt. Rainier on the cover of a City of Los Angeles menu or Disneyland on the cover of a City of Portland menu. But City of San Francisco menus all seemed to have scenes from San Francisco on their covers.
The cover of this 1958 menu has downtown San Francisco, with the Bay Bridge in the background. Inside, the menu looks quite a bit different from Union Pacific menus of the same vintage. Seven “select breakfasts” are available, complete with fruit, juice, or cereal; bran muffins or toast; and coffee, tea, milk, or cocoa.
The a la carte side has nine different entrées, the most expensive of which (at $1.70, or about $13.50 in today’s money) is six ounces of charcoal broiled ham and two eggs. The same entrée, complete with fruit, juice, or cereal; bread; and another beverage is just 25 cents more (about $2 in today’s money) on the table d’hôte side. This is a bargain considering these same items add up to nearly a dollar on the a la carte side.