There are plenty of airport rating systems out there. Skytrax, World Airport Rewards, Condé Nast Traveler, J.D. Power & Associates, Travel & Leisure and several other entities all rank airports on different features, using a variety of methodologies.
A smaller number of entities rate airport restaurants. Yelp, Thrillist, Washington Post and Food Network have all dabbled in some form of “the best airport restaurants.”
However none have ever rated airports based on their food options. Well, until now.
Food and Wine just ranked, among other things, “The 10 best U.S. airports for food.” And I gotta tell ya – Food & Wine, a monthly food-themed magazine in circulation since 1978, has a fairly good reputation among self-proclaimed foodies. So I was looking forward to what airports they included.
They’re calling it the Global Tastemakers awards. From F&W:
“With farm-to-flight provisions to celebrity-owned restaurants, these American airports get love from our readers in our first annual Global Tastemakers awards.” (and yes, I know there is no such thing as “first annual.” It should be “inaugural.” But hey, they didn’t ask me to be their proofreader LOLOL).
Votes from F&W’s readers were tabulated from a survey that was open from November 21 to December 18, 2023. They voted based on travel completed within the past three years, on categories that included restaurants and bars, cities, hotels, airports, airlines, and cruises. They did note that due to the limitations of pandemic travel, this year’s Global Tastemakers winners reflected a smaller portion of the globe.
From F&W:
We asked travelers around the world about airports — airport food, in particular. There’s a reason locals don’t travel out of their way to make a reservation at the newest opening in Terminal C. But some airports are being applauded for their food and beverage options. More often than not, the biggest crowd-pleasers are outposts of the city’s most popular bars and restaurants.
Isn’t THAT the truth! Just thinking of our own home airport, Orlando Int’l/MCO, there is only one sit-down restaurant that we consider to be good enough that we actually look forward to having flights in the terminal where it’s located (to be fair, we’ve only gone to one restaurant in MCO’s new Terminal C – it’s the same owner LOL!). All the rest are varying levels of mediocre.
Anyway, here are the 10 airports that Food & Wine readers voted for, as they called it, “good eats.”
10. Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Restaurants they specified included Leo’s Coney Island, National Coney Island, Atwater Brewery and Embers Lounge
9. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
Restaurants that were called out include Tacodeli, Amy’s Ice Cream, Salt Lick Barbecue (OMG, we love their full service restaurant!) and Jo’s Coffee.
8. Nashville International Airport
Of special note were Bar-B-Cutie SmokeHaus, Swett’s BBQ, Pig Star by Peg Leg Porker, 400 Degrees Hot Chicken and Tootsies Orchid Lounge.
7. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Shout outs were made to Africa Lounge, Hachi-ko, LouLou Market and Bar, and Tundra Taqueria.
6. Tampa International Airport
Restaurants that were mentioned included Columbia Café (that’s an outpost of Columbia, the oldest restaurant in the state – it’s been open since 1905), Cigar City Brewing and Bavaro’s.
5. Portland International Airport
PDX is apparently known for more than just its carpet ;-). Restaurants they specified included Lardo, Country Cat and Screen Door.
4. Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport
Of course, an airport in NOLA is going to include some nods to the things NOLA is famous for. The restaurants that were called out include Heritage School of Music Stage wine bar, Bar Sazerac and Cure.
My question is, did the therapy gator ever come back?
3. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
Of special note were Smash Shack, Stone Arch, Hi-Lo Diner and Hi-Tops.
2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
ATL is huge, so there’s plenty of room for good eats. Particularly noted included Atlanta Chophouse, Chicken + Beer, and, of course One Flew South, which Joe and I visited a few years back and adored.
1. San Francisco International Airport
F&W gave specific nods to Sankaku, Tomokazu, Bun Mee, Roasting Plant Coffee and Napa Farms Market.
SPECIAL: Editor’s Pick: Denver International Airport
“Given that the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen has been around for 40 years, F&W editors are intimately acquainted with the Denver International Airport. Even when there are delays (and there are delays), the airport’s dining outlets offer everything you could want from a travel day meal, whether you need to cry over a burrito at Cantina Grill, grab some jerky from a stand-alone kiosk, or reward yourself with a treat from Voodoo Doughnut. -FW Editors”
So there you go. You can learn more about these restaurants on this page of Food & Wine’s website.
What airports would you say have the best restaurants?
Feature Image (cropped): cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Julian Paren – geograph.org.uk/p/4209054
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