Airport food has come a long way from prepackaged sandwiches and sad food courts.
Today, some travelers actually arrive early so they have time to eat before their flight.
For years, most of the food in U.S. airports consisted of things that were specifically made (A) to go and (B) to be eaten quickly and most likely at the gate, with no table required. A pre-wrapped sandwich. Maybe a bag of chips. A bottle of soda. A hot meal, like something from McDonald’s, was a luxury, was a luxury (if you could find a space to sit at the food court).
Sure, there were fancier restaurants too. I mean, LAX’s Theme Building has been host to two sit-down restaurants. First, it had an international buffet from 1961 to 1996. And Encounter, designed by Walt Disney Imagineers and once described as, “The kinda place George Jetson, James Bond and Barbarella could drink together,” was open from 1997 to 2013 (we visited Encounter twice – it was WILD, y’all!). The historic Legal Seafoods has had one or more full-service restaurants at BOS since 1994.
But it wasn’t until the last two decades or so that the likes of higher end restaurants, such as One Flew South at ATL and Cask & Larder at MCO, began to proliferate – and even then, only certain types of travelers would be lured there.
Of course, there are a lot of fast-food and quick-serve restaurants you’ll see over and over in many airports across the country. You’d be hard-pressed not to find a Starbucks or McDonald’s in most of them.
But of all the different chains and airport food brands out there, which ones do travelers seem to love most?
Yelp decided to find out. As Kadecia Ber, Senior Director, Campaign Strategy for National Brands at Yelp, said:
Airports are some of the most crowded, high-stress environments, so the brands that stand out understand the modern traveler’s mindset—prioritizing speed without sacrificing experience, and delivering memorable moments. Whether it’s a glass of wine before boarding or a protein smoothie between connections, these most loved airport brands are redefining what it means to travel well, and Yelp is proud to help travelers discover them.
In 2025, Yelp analyzed millions of data points across airport locations throughout the country. They tracked user reviews, star ratings, pageviews, photo uploads and search volume. By weighting each of these metrics equally, the platform was able to determine which restaurants airport visitors liked best.
Here’s what they found:
1. Vino Volo
Vino Volo (Italian for “wine flight”) is a food and wine bar with a boutique wine shop. Founded by Doug Tomlinson in 2004, the popular boutique wine lounge brand is known for its upscale, relaxed atmosphere.
2. Chick-fil-A
Apparently overcoming the controversy surrounding its donations to anti-LGBTQIA+ groups previous to the mid-2010s, quick serve restaurant Chick-fil-A came in at number two.
3. Shake Shack
From its humble beginnings as a hot dog cart inside NYC’s Madison Square Park in 2001, Shake Shack has exploded, not only in the United States but internationally.
4. Potbelly Sandwich Company
Potbelly was founded in 1977 in Chicago and the fast casual restaurant has since grown to over 400 locations, not only in the U.S. but also franchise locations in Dubai (2011), London (2015), Canada (2016) and India (2017).
5. Starbucks
What can we say about Starbucks…it’s Starbucks. You either love them or you hate them. But in the U.S., it’s a consistent product and even in airports, you know what you’re going to get. 😉
Filling out the top ten
The other restaurants in the top ten are names most of us are very familiar with:
6. Einstein Bros. Bagels
7. Qdoba
8. Dunkin’
9. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
10. McDonald’s
It’s probably not surprising that of the top ten airport restaurants, nine of them are quick or fast serve – the U.S. is very much “on the go” and our preferred eateries definitely reflect that.
You can find the rest of the top twenty-five on this page of Yelp’s website.
Of course, any ranking like this is going to be subjective. Ask ten travelers what the best airport restaurant is and you’ll probably get ten different answers.
Still, Yelp’s results offer an interesting glimpse into what people are actually looking for when they’re traveling. And judging by the list, most passengers aren’t searching for white-tablecloth dining experiences before boarding.
They’re looking for something familiar, reliable, and quick.
Whether that’s a chicken sandwich, a bagel, a burger, a cup of coffee—or a glass of wine before a long flight—that seems to be what wins over airport travelers time and time again.
And honestly? After spending an hour in TSA, who can blame them? 😆
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