Favorite airport restaraunts

MikeD

MikeD

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Staff member
602 got me thinking about this, and I don't know if it's been discussed before, but here goes.

I like to fly to airfields for many reasons, one of which is the food.at their restaurants.

Sedona airport had the best butter-brickle ice cream dessert I've ever had.

When I was getting my Private in 1987, I flew to Payson airport. The airport had a restaurant in the airport office area, and the airport manager was the UNICOM operator, and also the cook. That morning, I call up the UNICOM for airport advisories while inbound, only to have the airport manager come back with "Cessna XXX, stand by one, I've got couple of pancakes to flip here........"

Don't know if Payson is the same now.

Kingman Airport had a good restaurant in the terminal, lots of memoribilia.

Tower Grill at TUS is alright, but always seemed to be closed/changing ownership most everytime I stopped by.

Ryan field restaurant (can't remember the name) has good eats.

And, of course, the Left Seat on the north side of PHX Sky Harbor.
 
DVT's got a great restaurant (pretty cheap too considering it's "classiness").

I also like Glendale's hole-in-the wall and Chandler's restaurant isn't bad either. I hear Gateway is supposed to be ok but never been there.

I'll fly up to Laughlin simply for the buffets - they're not classy but it a nice 3 hr RT and cheap food.

The silliest thing I've ever run into was on our flight back from St. Louis we stopped at six Class C airports and none of 'em had a restaurant on the field!
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Eating granola bars while hand-flying, for 12 hours, around thunderstorms is not something I'll likely repeat anytime soon!
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My favorite for breakfast is Auburn, CA. (AUN). Not only do they have a great breakfast burrito but their waitress are hot! Pretty active airport so sit on the patio and judge the landings.
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Flying Tigers in Buffalo has to be my favorite. You can't taxi right up to it, but you can take a courtesy car from Prior Aviation. The restaurant is right alongside the taxiway/runway, so you can watch airplanes taxi by and take off. Its sort of a fancy place, and not real cheap...but a great place to fly a date to (well...once upon a time, when I could actually get a date that is)!
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Its got lots of WWII aviation memorabilia, and little phones in some of the booths so you can listen to ATC while you wait for your food.
 
The 94th Aero Squadron (I've been to the former St. Louis location - closed now) is like that. I hear there's one somewhere in San Deigo.
 
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DVT's got a great restaurant (pretty cheap too considering it's "classiness").

I also like Glendale's hole-in-the wall and Chandler's restaurant isn't bad either. I hear Gateway is supposed to be ok but never been there.

I'll fly up to Laughlin simply for the buffets - they're not classy but it a nice 3 hr RT and cheap food.



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I still remember the "old" Glendale Airport located on Grand Avenue and Olive Avenue. Dad has his 182 based there. The runway was 17/35, 2400' x '75' and the approach to 17, the pilot had to contend with powerlines, Grand Avenue, and the railroad tracks. 35 had powerlines and Olive Avenue to contend with. I believe the pavement is still there, but is used for swap meets now.

Dad's plane is at a hangar at DVT now. Last time I went into DVTs terminal, the restraunt was closed for remodeling.

Stopped by DVT a week ago to check on dad's plane and visit PanAm's operation. (Doug), Guess what's at Cutter Aviation right next to Pan Am? A C-172 in ERAU colors with "24" on the tail; the same N5124E I wrecked in 1990.

I still remember when DVT had nothing on the north side of the runways.

IWAs little terminal has a small sandwitch place that I thought was OK, but I was there last week and noticed that the student union cafe (off the flightline) was advertising "open to the public." A good food place there is Cosmo's Italian food restaurant located in the plaza on Power and Williams Field. It's been there since the base was Williams AFB, and survived after the base closure (when NO ONE was around that area yet and the surrounding homes had yet to be built).
 
There is the 57th FIghter Squadron at PDK, a WWII themed restaurant.

Personally, I like the Downwind, also at PDK. It's cheaper and has an open terrace where you can eat and watch airplanes land.

CHO has a nice little sandwich shop with great cake.

WDR has a nice little BBQ stand at the end of one of the runways, but it's only open on weekends.

SEB has a decent and fairly cheap restaurant also.

UNV and BGM are much beloved by the crews that I currently fly with for the Subway shops in the terminal.

BTW, if you fly into RIC, be sure to stop by the FBO. Upstairs there is a pool table. It's a cool place to ride out a thunderstorm (or a blizzard, which is what I was caught in). The Virginia Aviation Museum is also on the field.
 
"The Flight Deck" at New Orleans Lakefront Airport(KNEW) is great. Like a lot of other place you can sit and judge landings. They have a bufftet with New Orleans style food or you can get a burger or some great breakfast. Its really cool during superbowl, Mardi Gras, or Final 4 because a lot of Millionares come in with their fancy jets. During this year's final4 they ran out of room to put the jets so they parked them all the way down the runway 200 or so.
 
The Runway Cafe at avalon airport on catalina island is great. the food is pretty darn good and the resturaunt is on top of a hill on an island with a great view.
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The Runway Cafe at avalon airport on catalina island is great. the food is pretty darn good and the resturaunt is on top of a hill on an island with a great view.
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They still serve buffalo burgers?
 
Absolutely, I usually end up getting a buffalo burger when I go there.
last time I was out there i had to do a go-around because a future buffalo burger was walking across the runway!!
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Anzio's Restaurant at Falcon Field is the very best.
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I do enjoy Sedona's restaurant as well, especially since it's a nice getaway from life in Prescott. :P

Oh, and the 94th Aero Squadron is at Montgomery Field here in San Diego.
 
Are there no Florida pilots around here? We certainly boast the widest variety of "Hundred Dollar Hamburger Joints" in the US!

LAL - Tony's - awesome food
TIX - The Outer Marker - Cheap but a nice breezy porch
FPR - The Airport Tiki - you can pay with your multi-service card!
PBI - 305th Bomb Squadron - the beer cheese soup is legendary
SRQ - 10th Fighter Wing - same as 305th Bomb Squadron - excellent!
ORL - 4th Fighter Group - a tank in the front yard!
DED - Not sure the name - but the Molly Gibson hamburger is Cholesterol Heaven
and let us not forget the legendary CDK - Cedar Key Wharf - not one, not two, but SIX 4-star restaurants!
 
Some good spots...

Montgomery Field, CA has a few good restraunts.
French Valley, CA is always a classic; taxi right up the restraunt.
Camarillo, CA is great to have a meal outdoors.
Santa Barbara, CA is awesome if you like beautiful college girls
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Palomar, CA is fun at night if you like haunted houses (no one's there; it's an old building made of wood... and the stairs creak).

...but above all it's not what or where you eat; it's how you got there that makes it taste great!
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There's another place at FPR across the field from the Airport Tiki. They have good food and discounts for students and CFIs, but I can't remember the name.
 
OK got another one.

Just about a half-mile down the road from ALN (Alton Regional, in the St. Louis sprawl) is a little mexican restaurant called Tequilla's.

Best damn food around. All the CFIs from Langa would eat there. Oh and in town (Bethalto - where the airport is actually located) there's a dive called Gino's. Great food.

Oh AVQ (Marana Northwest) has a decent restauraunt but I think MikeD mentioned it already.
 
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Oh AVQ (Marana Northwest) has a decent restauraunt but I think MikeD mentioned it already.

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Nah, I was mentioning Ryan. However, I still need to try the cafe at Marana since I've heard the same as you....that it's pretty decent.
 
Haven't had too much of a chance to check out airport food yet - once I'm through with my IR and on to building hours for my Commercial, though, that will change. In the Kansas City area, there's a little hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint at K81 (Miami County/Paola, KS) in the old terminal building. GOOD BBQ and very cheap, overlooks the ramp and runway which is usually not very busy unless it's lunch or dinner time! The breakfast at TOP (Topeka/Billard) is decent, too.

Most of my other jaunts have unfortunately resulted in grabbing Sonic or Taco Bell and eating at the FBO because we had to have the courtesy car back. I'm headed to try Lamberts at SIK (Sikeston, MO) at the end of June, though.
 
Just yesterday had the pleasure of flying into KETB - West Bend, WI. It is like 30 miles north of Milwaukee. If you fly in there, grab the crew car (or rent, which is what we did), and drive into Cedarburg. Some excellent restaurants around there. Particularly the ice cream shops, coffee shops, candy stores, and so on. It is really a great little town... where traffic stops WITHOUT stop or yield signs for pedestrians.

It is a GREAT time. I highly suggest if you have the means, to head that direction! Just don't get a Vac Pump failure on the way home into KMDW like I did...
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I'm headed to try Lamberts at SIK (Sikeston, MO) at the end of June, though.

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Is that the home of "the thrown rolls?" If it is make sure to mention you're a pilot as I've heard the standing order is to get you in regardless of the wait time (typically through the back door).

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