US Airport food secrets/suggestions

[SField]

Off the top of my head, these are a few suggestions for better than totally revolting. Some are "healthier" than common airport food or just better.

O'Hare: Tortas Fronteras. The only restaurant of Bayless that I really like.

Vegas: Burke in a Box, has some stuff that is better than average.

Newark: There's a whole food court with better than average options, a Mediterranean place and another right next to it with all sorts of kebabs and stuff. Really the best selection of fresh food I've seen in a US airport that I can think of.

Let me know what I'm missing. Is there something even remotely palatable in LAX? I still haven't found it.

 

[mgm9128]

The secret is to simply not eat.

 

[tullytra]

Certainly not healthy but Garrett Popcorn at O'Hare.

 

[Rambo]

There are about 500 restaurants in MIA. You can get a decent Cuban sandwich and a cafe cubano for around $8 in a few places. Versailles and La Carreta are my two top choices. Loads of chain places and a few Miami chains. Its really a smorgasbord.

 

[erictheobscure]



Is there something even remotely palatable in LAX? I still haven't found it.

Well, not really. But when I'm at Terminal 1 (which is common for me now that I live in Philly and fly godawful US Airways), I often find myself at that cantina-themed bar. You can order barely passable Mexican food. But I'm mostly there because the regular bartender is amusing. Also, there's Pinkberry--if you're into that sort of thing.

My girlfriend swears by Surdyk's in the Minneapolis airport, and I believe foodguy has also endorsed it. The wine bar (forget what it was called) @ the Denver airport served me some ****** food, but the wine list was surprisingly okay given the circumstances.

 

[impolyt_one]

I always end up in the Tom Bradley terminal and it's got nothing, I think a Chili's, and they had an On the Border but it closed I think (and it's like a Chili's II from what I gather). I'd expect those kinds of facilities in say, Dayton, but LAX? It is truly pathetic. Laguardia is not much better. I have had the Tortas at O'Hare and they were pretty good, the agua frescas are good, it's a good quality fast food place.

The food at the Asian airports is passable at least, and sometimes even good, it's such a different world. I often save my stomach for a last-minute meal at Narita or Haneda, and if flying from Incheon I go and get like, a $15 bibimbap from the nicer Westin restaurant. I ate a good kurobuta tonkatsu teishoku at Haneda the other day for like $17, and I had a Samgyetang at the food court in Gimpo airport yesterday, for like $4. All of that food is the same anyway, so as long as it's made cleanly and right, it's good.

 

[globetrotter]

La Careta is my favorite airport food, after frontera grill

 

[fwiffo]

Newark Terminal A where I end up with Air Canada has some "Mexican" place. And since it's the only sit down place and there are always the delays, the queue can get quite lengthy for something that is complete rubbish. Maybe I have no appreciation for a queasedilla.

I go to Atlanta a lot and have been more partial to One Flew South although service can be quite slow and it's overpriced.

O'Hare - I don't remember anything there being worthwhile. I was at an Italian place once. Big space, but the food wasn't that great.

I think most of the better places I went to are out of country (Hong Kong, Heathrow, etc.)

 

[Rambo]



La Careta is my favorite airport food, after frontera grill

We gotta get a cuban/cuban next time you're in Miami

 

[foodguy]

fg does indeed endorse surdyks. very cool place. there's also an oyster bar in seattle that's pretty good. lax is due for a major overhaul of restaurant tenants and there should be some very interesting opportunities. i know mark peel has something in the works. i believe nancy silverton does, too. other names i've heard: ludo lefevbre, josie le balch, jimmy shaw, kings oyster house ... who knows what will actually get through the permitting and bidding process, but there are signs of life.

 

[mordecai]

This place is unbelievably cheesy, as is its suggestively sexual name, but it's a fun view. I always expect to see 80s Kevin Bacon there.

Aside from that Burbank airport has a decent little pastry/coffee shop. I fly out of Burbank whenever I can.

 

[JayJay]



The secret is to simply not eat.

This. Other than a breakfast sandwich, I can't recall the last time I had a meal at an airport restaurant.

 

[erictheobscure]



fg does indeed endorse surdyks. very cool place. there's also an oyster bar in seattle that's pretty good. lax is due for a major overhaul of restaurant tenants and there should be some very interesting opportunities. i know mark peel has something in the works. i believe nancy silverton does, too. other names i've heard: ludo lefevbre, josie le balch, jimmy shaw, kings oyster house ... who knows what will actually get through the permitting and bidding process, but there are signs of life.

Wow, really? That's pretty amazing. Minus the Ludo Lefevbre, whom I hold in low esteem after I had a lousy meal at his pop-up restaurant at Bread Bar.

This place is unbelievably cheesy, as is its suggestively sexual name, but it's a fun view. I always expect to see 80s Kevin Bacon there.

But you can't actually get to that place via a terminal, right? If I'm scheduling extra time in my airport trip to eat, it's probably gonna be In 'N Out down the street rather than Exxxotic Encounters or whatever that Jetsons place is called.

 

[impolyt_one]

That In N Out near LAX would be a hump of a walk. It's close, but there's just so much infrastructure in your way, it'd take an hour to get to unless you were in Terminal 1

 

[Despos]

Most meals at an airport is DFW for me. Dickey's BBQ in terminal A. Terminal D has better fare, Reata Grill and Cool River Cafe. Two outposts of local restaurants. The 2 BBQ places at terminal D aren't so good.

ORD, except for Bayless, and LGA are pretty bad.