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ARCHIVE: 2018 AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

Old Jan 1, 2018, 1:30 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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AA/US Domestic Dining (including Canada, Mexico, & the Caribbean)


See here for the 2019 domestic meal thread.


Note: this thread is about meals served on domestic AA flights.

Link to Combined 2018 AA International Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

There is another thread for the contingent that wishes to debate and discuss linens as a primary subject, including related presentation issues: Linens / presentation debate for meal service on AA, US / both.

PLEASE: DO NOT POST OVERSIZED IMAGES; PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE AND REPEAT IMAGES IN YOUR QUOTED POST. /Moderators


Welcome to the 2018 Domestic Dining thread and the resulting discussion/trip reports/photos/shared experiences. Here, in this wiki post, I'll strive to explain what you should expect on AA flights in First and Business, meals-wise. Keep in mind that there are many domestic flights, so there are quite a few parameters to keep track of.

Basically, in its best condensed form, you should expect to receive a meal between 4:59am - 8pm on flights longer than 900 miles, which equals about two hours in the air. From that point, there are exceptions, and specific timing parameters.

What to Expect - Mainline:
Keep in mind that this list is not entirely inclusive, and there may be certain exceptions and/or abnormalities.

  • Up to 699 miles: Light snacks such as a fig bar, cookies, and/or pretzels
  • 700-899 miles: Warmed nuts, a snack plate (fruit/cheese, pita/hummus, or spinach dip/pita), and a cookie
  • 900-1298 miles: A meal (fruit/breakfast entree; salad/entree) followed by a cookie; no meals between 1:30-4pm
  • 1298-2199 miles: A full meal including an appetizer, with cake for lunch desserts and premade ice-cream for dinner desserts
  • 2200 miles and above: Same as 1298-2199 miles, but consists of made-to-order sundaes or a cheese plate for both lunch and dinner desserts

What to Expect - Regional:
Keep in mind that this list is not entirely inclusive, and there may be certain exceptions and/or abnormalities.

  • Up to 175 miles: A light snack mix along with beverage service
  • 176-899 miles: Sweet and savory, organic/healthy snack choices (snack basket)
  • 900-2199 miles: Warm mixed nuts, two meal options, and dessert. (For flights over 2200 miles, you will receive the same selection of snacks from 176-899 miles as a pre-arrival snack. All regional meal flights leaving after 8:00pm will also receive sweet and savory snacks as the only option. Editor's note: A regional jet for 2000+ miles? Hope that never happens!)

All of the meal flights that fall under the above timing parameters will receive two choices; normally, one meat and one vegetarian.

Longer westbound flights leaving from the east coast (transcontinental; non-premium) are not officially exceptions, but some flights after 8pm receive a full dinner service (such as the 8:05pm MIA-SAN flight, or the 8:30pm PHL-LAS flight). Additionally, non-premium transcontinental red-eye flights will receive snack basket service upon departure, then a continental breakfast box prior to arrival.

Official Exceptions:
The following flights all fall under 900 miles, but will receive a full meal service, with the exception of flights leaving between 1:31-4pm. Despite some of the listed flights being over 900 miles, they are remaining listed here, based on the AA website for documentation purposes.

  • Chicago (ORD) - AUS/BDL/BOS/DCA/EWR/JFK/LGA/MSY/RDU
  • Dallas (DFW) - BJX/ORD/MEX/QRO/SLP
  • Fort Lauderdale (FLL) - PAP
  • Los Angeles (LAX) - DEN
  • Miami (MIA) - DCA/IAD/PAP
  • New York (LGA) - ATL
  • Phoenix (PHX) - MZT

Additional Information:
  • JFK-LAX/SFO; MIA-LAX are considered premium transcontinental flights, and as such, receives a more refined service with three meal choices, per-course service, printed menus, and tray/tablecloth linens in both F/J. Those flights now are the only domestic flights in the system to offer special meals as another option (which can be reserved by either preordering online, or calling). Red-eye flights will receive a full "supper/snack" meal service, which is basically a condensed dinner service.

  • Hawaiian meal service is very similar to what you'd expect on 2200+ mile flights, but there also will be Hawaiian rolls served, along with a pre-arrival continental breakfast/snack (dependent on the length of the route). Tropical warmed nuts are also currently served.

  • All flights over 700 miles, regardless of a meal being served or not, will receive warm mixed nuts and a cookie.

Disclaimer: The editor of this Wiki does not guarantee the information presented above will always be accurate or properly followed by AA, given catering mishaps, irregular operations, rogue crews, or mismanagement. For the best up-to-date information, it would be prudent to check AA's website constantly for any updates, or call AA. The editors of this Wiki will keep this Wiki updated as often as possible.
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ARCHIVE: 2018 AA Domestic Meal / Meals - menu / photos / etc. (master thread)

Old Jan 15, 2018, 11:20 am
  #16  
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I just pre-ordered the Vietnamese salad for Thursday's SEA-DFW flight. The other choice was some ricotta italian concoction. Anyone tried either of these?
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 11:38 am
  #17  
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Originally Posted by enviroian
I just pre-ordered the Vietnamese salad for Thursday's SEA-DFW flight. The other choice was some ricotta italian concoction. Anyone tried either of these?
I like the ricotta option....it's basically 3 small roll ups with cheese inside but feels much lighter than the lasagna dishes. The vietnamese salad doesn't come with a proper asian dressing.....it's the same italian dressing that AA seems to serve with everything domestically.
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 11:45 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by TheFlyGuy1992
Hello, I’m looking at booking a 2:30 pm flight out of DFW to RSW and it shows lunch. Is this an error seeing as this is outside traditional meal times?

Thanks.
Do a dummy booking you should come to a screen where you can pick your entree, this will tell you if you get something or not.
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 12:13 pm
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by AANYC1981
I like the ricotta option....it's basically 3 small roll ups with cheese inside but feels much lighter than the lasagna dishes. The vietnamese salad doesn't come with a proper asian dressing.....it's the same italian dressing that AA seems to serve with everything domestically.
I've had the Vietnamese salad 4x in the past month with an Asian inspired dressing (though it doesn't taste like a proper Vietnamese dressing), although looking through the 2017 meal thread, it seems like it was frequently paired with wrong dressings. Not sure if those were catering errors or they finally changed the dressing. It's a good choice if you want a clean, crisp meal.
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 12:30 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by flightrisk
I've had the Vietnamese salad 4x in the past month with an Asian inspired dressing (though it doesn't taste like a proper Vietnamese dressing), although looking through the 2017 meal thread, it seems like it was frequently paired with wrong dressings. Not sure if those were catering errors or they finally changed the dressing. It's a good choice if you want a clean, crisp meal.
great to hear!
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 12:30 pm
  #21  
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Originally Posted by flightrisk
I've had the Vietnamese salad 4x in the past month with an Asian inspired dressing (though it doesn't taste like a proper Vietnamese dressing), although looking through the 2017 meal thread, it seems like it was frequently paired with wrong dressings. Not sure if those were catering errors or they finally changed the dressing. It's a good choice if you want a clean, crisp meal.
do you really think AA cares about “pairing” salad dressings? Lol hell no Parker too cheap for that
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 1:50 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by FlightNurse
Do a dummy booking you should come to a screen where you can pick your entree, this will tell you if you get something or not.
It’s a lunch flight with a choice of lasagna or a Greek salad. I was expecting a snack ... so even better!
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 1:52 pm
  #23  
 
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Does anyone know if there is any difference between meals on lunch and dinner flights? It appears the options are the same (hot entree or a salad for both).
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 2:53 pm
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by TheFlyGuy1992
Does anyone know if there is any difference between meals on lunch and dinner flights? It appears the options are the same (hot entree or a salad for both).
Lunch is a salad and a hot option, dinner is two hot options.
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 9:16 pm
  #25  
 
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PHL - SEA 6pm Flt#706

Filet with quinoa, asparagus + salad with oeppers and one cherry tomato and appetizer of two shrimp cocktail & coleslaw, plus a roll and butter. WOW AA healthiest meal Ive ever had, though one should not over consume quinoa as healthy as it is. Lastly, not as healthy ice cream sundaes to finish things off. The other meal choice was lasagna and by my count only one person preordered dinner everyone else picked onboard. I missed the 24 window. Now in fairness it must have been a 2 oz. filet quite petite then again maybe this is a more proper portion size vs. McHuge servings.

i also say healthy cuz breakfast recently was terrible as it was ALL loaded with sugar some 60g worth on the tray - shameful.
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 9:23 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by enviroian
I just pre-ordered the Vietnamese salad for Thursday's SEA-DFW flight. The other choice was some ricotta italian concoction. Anyone tried either of these?
I was reading this whilst eating the Ricotta ritolo! Also had the same Vietnamese salad as an option on my PHX-CLT flight. I generally find the pasta dishes to be a more predictable option. A bad pasta dish is better than a bad meat dish. With airline meals (at AA domestic standards) it's best to keep it simple...
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Old Jan 15, 2018, 9:37 pm
  #27  
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AA1587: JFK-PHX: 4.05pm
Dinner
737-800
First Class, 4A





Ravioli stuffed with burrata cheese in tomato garlic sauce with roasted cherry tomatoes.

Another solid pasta dish, nothing to write home about but slightly better than average IMO...the smoked salmon starter thing was alright even though the grade of smoked salmon wasn't particularly high. The ice cream was almost certainly Ben and Jerry's Caramel Cone but the FAs weren't sure (even asking my wife if she could figure the flavour out because some kind a row behind had a nut allergy) which made me guess it was some kind of clone. No menus on these routes...


AA1785: PHX-CLT: 1.10pm
Lunch
A321
First Class, 2F






Ricotta Rotolo with spinach, Parmigiano-Reggiano , mozzarella, basil and marinara sauce.

Yep, another solid, yet relatively uninteresting pasta option not quite as tasty as the Ravioli, IMO, but reasonably well done (jeez, I'm making AA catering into some Top Chef style judging competition!).The cheesesake wasn't half bad...I'd have preferred ice cream because that's more suited to my infantile style on desserts but this was fine

Last edited by Fraser; Jan 15, 2018 at 9:44 pm
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Old Jan 16, 2018, 2:44 am
  #28  
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Has anyone had either of these? Would love to see pics since they are from the new menu rotation.

Grilled Beef Short Rib Grilled Beef Short Rib with twice-baked potato, chimichurri sauce
Porcini Mushroom Tortelloni Porcini Mushroom Tortelloni cacio e pepe, red sauce
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Old Jan 17, 2018, 9:04 am
  #29  
 
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I have 2 kids travelling on DFW to OGG in Feb. Anyone ever get the child meals. First world problems! Thanks
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Old Jan 17, 2018, 9:43 am
  #30  
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I'd be curious to see what people who ordered special meals on non-premium flights have got. I've got another half dozen shorter flights in the next month, all of which have the Grilled chicken, haricots verts etc. etc. and the Ravioli with burrata...

Considering trying out one of the specials just to keep things interesting.

Thanks!
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