The Upside of Delays and Security Lines: Better Airport Cuisine

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  05.31.07 | 11:59 AM ET

imageRegina Schrambling makes the link in a Los Angeles Times food-section story about the rise of local restaurants and cuisine at airports across the U.S. “Hard as it is to believe, the most dreaded places in the country—thanks to flight delays and security hassles—also happen to be sources of excellent local food,” she writes. “And now that travelers are spending more time waiting, the pickings are improving.”

Some examples from Schrambling:

* Texas hill country wine shop La Bodega in Dallas-Fort Worth airport.

* A stand selling Usinger bratwurst in Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport.

* Big Red microwave popcorn on the cob. It’s “the No. 1 seller at the Omaha airport,” according to Schrambling. (And, yes, if you’re not going to be in Omaha anytime soon, you can buy Big Red online.)

* Local restaurant legends Legal Sea Foods in Boston’s Logan Airport and the Salt Lick in Austin-Bergstrom Airport in Texas.

Food at the Austin airport is so determinedly local, Schrambling writes, that they don’t even have a Starbucks. Instead, it’s Austin Java.

It’s a fine trend, even though I don’t eat meals in airports very often. I’d much rather have Salt Lick barbecue or Usinger bratwurst than the Potbelly sandwich I recently had at Dulles.

However, I don’t think these developments would meet with the approval the patron saint of Airworld, Ryan Bingham.

Thanks for the tip, Eli.

Related on World Hum:
* Adventures in ‘Airworld’
* Trouble in Margaritaville: Is a Tequila Shortage Looming?
* Airport Gift Shops Feel the Sudoku Effect

Photo by psd via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Tags: Airworld, Food, Travel and Security, News and Briefs


1 Comment for The Upside of Delays and Security Lines: Better Airport Cuisine

stuart 06.07.07 | 11:02 AM ET

Ain’t the same over here in Europe: airport operators do not have the same “sevice” concept.
Here, more people mean longer queues at cafeterias, snack-bars and restaurants: consequently service, already poor enough, becomes hasty because serving staff is not reinforced…and the various Autogrill just make a ripoff…lousy over paid food and lousy service by underpaid staff.
Same old s…t
Thanks for hosting me, Stuart

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