Airport Dining Options Have Gotten so Much Better — Here’s Why

Airports used to be a dismal experience when it came to dining. The food was overpriced and unhealthy. You’re eating in a rush, saddled with luggage. And essentially, it was considered a last resort in the event you didn’t bring your own snacks. 

But all that’s quickly changing. 

For the past several years, big concessions companies have been courting celebrity chefs and well-regarded hospitality brands to open outposts aimed at getting travelers to spare some time for a decent meal before boarding their planes. 

Examples abound across the United States: Tortas Frontera at Chicago O’Hare Airport, created by chef Rick Bayless, has been named the country’s best airport restaurant. Michael Mina operates Bourbon Pub at San Francisco International Airport’s Terminal 1. And Cat Cora counts airport operations in Detroit, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco among her 15 restaurants. Earlier this year, in March, Karen Akunowicz opened Fox & Flight, a northern Italian restaurant in Boston’s Logan Airport. 

For restaurateurs and chefs who decide to opt in, operating out of an airport is a whole lot more complex — and certainly infinitely more expensive — than serving customers in a conventional restaurant or cafe. Security restrictions and background checks alone add a layer of cost.

Meanwhile, nobody will cut an airport restaurant slack if it doesn’t measure up to the quality found in its main locations. In fact, a bad airport experience could damage a finely honed reputation earned throughout the years. That means chefs and brands must stay on top of what’s being served in those locations. 

“We’re down there all the time, checking, making sure the coffee’s being served well, making sure our brand standards are being met,” says Steve Mangigian, the managing partner for the coffee and candy businesses at Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, Mich., which operates in two locations at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, selling pastries and coffee in conjunction with Plum Market — a gourmet grocery store with locations in Michigan and Florida that offer sandwiches through a food stand called Detroit Street Lunchbox, named for its Ann Arbor address.

Changing the airport diningscape

Landing in an airport is a multi-step process that involves the airport, the concessions company, in addition to the chef, restaurant, or hospitality brand. “We need to identify which concepts the airport is looking for,” says Claude Guillaume, senior vice president of the dining division at Paradies Lagardère, the North American arm of French-owned Lagardère Travel Retail, which operates 170 restaurants and bars in more than 100 airports worldwide, including 40 in the U.S.

“It could be a burger, a carryout market, a regional chef, a full-service restaurant and bar” or something unique to the airport, Guillaume tells Food & Wine.

Contracts are usually a 10-year commitment, which can pose a sticky problem. Small Business Administration data shows that nine out of 10 new establishments close within a decade of opening. Chefs receive royalties for the use of their name and their level of involvement. But considering the substantial operational obstacles, not every big city chef, focused on running their main operations, wants to put in the time. 

“The chefs can be difficult to work with, especially star chefs, so we have to make sure the partnership is healthy. Attitude and professionalism are important,” Claude Guillaume says. Though he’s quick to mention that Mina and Akunowicz, whose ventures are under Paradies Lagardère’s wing, are “big names with great reputations. It’s a pleasure to work with them.” 

Beyond the partnerships, another challenge is to make guests feel comfortable. “It’s a fight,” Guillaume says. “Finding a place that is more peaceful and comfortable is very important. It’s almost like, ‘I went through this trauma, and I want to enjoy food and a good glass of wine.’”

And it’s not just chefs and restaurateurs upping the ante. Airlines and even credit card companies are getting into the game of offering even more upscale experiences to their valued customers. United Airlines, for instance, has Classified — its invitation-only restaurant at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. And the newly opened 39,000-square-foot, Missoni-designed Delta One Lounge at New York’s JFK Airport features a brasserie with a beverage cart service. American Express has long had its Centurion Lounge, which is open in many international airports all over the world.

A whole new set of challenges

But chefs face a dual challenge: duplicating recipes served in their home restaurants and developing dishes that can be cooked quickly in the tight spaces that airport kitchens provide. However, for those who get the recipe right, airport concessions can be lucrative. 

Consider this: Southern National Market at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport operates in a 1,200-square-foot space from which it serves sandwiches, wraps, charcuterie, and pizza. It runs as a joint venture and it gets paid for the use of its name. Restaurateur Reginald “Reggie” Washington and chef Duane Nutter expect to do approximately $3 million in revenue this year, similar to what they’d earn in a 4,800-square-foot restaurant in Atlanta. “They run the day-to-day operation,” said Washington. “Our contribution is creativity, quality control, and some staffing.”

Their airport contract allows them to set menu prices 15% higher than they would in a traditional setting. (The higher prices cover the complexity of operating at an airport, where deliveries and personnel have to meet security standards, and airport rules restrict the type of material they can use in their kitchen.) Beyond that, they also operate a branch of Vino Volo, an airport-focused franchise that serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, small plates, and wine. 

Washington and Nutter, both of whom are veterans of the airport restaurant scene, started their partnership in 2008 with One Flew South, which was nominated twice for Outstanding Service at the James Beard Awards. One Flew South — popular for its “elegant inspired Southern food” such as the BLT & E, a breakfast dish featuring Benton’s Bacon, pickled green tomatoes and curry mayonnaise —  became so well-known that airport executives worldwide flew to Atlanta simply to watch them in action.

The experience taught Washington and Nutter the pitfalls of airport concessions — one being the difficulties of deliveries. Drivers couldn’t simply drive up to a delivery dock; they had to have security clearances that could be time-consuming and expensive to arrange.Since only a single delivery truck was allowed to pull up to their loading dock, the chefs had to coordinate loading it with ingredients. They made baked goods elsewhere and put them in with vegetables and seafood. “I could have worked for UPS in logistics to get stuff in there,” Washington says. “I was buying cheese and bringing it through security.” 

On the premises itself, they found that airports required certain types of construction materials to avoid kitchen accidents that could shut down flights. Plumbing had to be copper “because we can’t have any cracks and leaks,” Washington says.

But Nutter says the effort is worth it to be able to feed a variety of diners, many of whom would never find their city-based restaurants. “We realized after trial and error that 90% would never eat in an airport restaurant,” he says. Once they opened guests began arriving early so they could have a meal before their flights. 

Meanwhile, the Zingerman’s ventures are “a small way that we have elevated food at the airport,” Mangigian says. “people are so happy that we’re down there, happy that they can get our pastry and coffee drinks and things like that.” 

Beyond its association with Plum Market, it sells its coffee beans to several other airport businesses, and Mangigian says its mail-order business has benefitted from airport customers too. “The exposure we get from 30 million passengers a year, it can’t be negative, right?” he says.