Best Airport Restaurants

Which is the drearier prospect when you have multiple flights in one day? The meal service you get—or, increasingly, don’t get—aloft, or the hustle and crush of the airport food court during your layover? For most itineraries, those are your only two options, unless you bring your own food to eat. But now some airports have sit-down restaurants where you can spend a calm hour out of the concourse crush, and actually get a decent meal.

You may need to go to a different terminal building, but let the exercise sharpen your hunger and compensate for the hours of sitting. Some of these restaurants are branches of local places, or franchise operations of superstar chefs. None of them is the best eatery in whatever locale you’re biding time. But you aren’t looking for a transporting culinary experience. You’re looking for culinary relief from the experience of being transported.

7 Top Domestic Airport Restaurants

Atlanta—Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

One Flew South. It’s all about Southern regionalism here in Atlanta—surfaces of polished Georgia granite, a sweeping photomural of a pine forest and menu choices like smoked Georgia trout croquettes with a pecan-brittle studded salad, or roasted pork belly with black-eyed pea and arugula salad, parsnip purée and onion marmalade. There’s a sushi menu, too. The intimate space in Concourse E gives a glimpse of the passing throng, while shielding you from it. Tel. 404-816-3464, www.oneflewsouthatl.com.

 

• One Flew South at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport serves up sushi and Southern fare.

Courtesy of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Boston—Logan International Airport (BOS)

Bonfire. Celebrity chef Todd English has expanded his empire in Boston with this South American-accented steak house in Terminal B, which has a window-wall overlooking the activity on the tarmac. Menu items include aged prime sirloin with sweet and sour mushroom sauce and creamy spinach; nachos with lump crabmeat, queso blanco and black beans; and fish tacos with lemon, caper aioli and jalapeño slaw. (There’s a Bonfire outpost at New York’s La Guardia Airport, too.) www.massport.com

Los Angeles—Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Encounter. Think futurism circa 1961, when jet travel promised such glamour: A building like a flying saucer suspended from parabolic stilts above the Los Angeles airport with a 360-degree view, and an interior accented with boomerang shapes and lava lamps. While Encounter’s retro-modern look alone provides a respite from 21st-century airport reality, the menu is contemporary Californian—ahi tuna tartare with seaweed salad, wild mushroom ravioli with goat cheese, roast chicken with pesto-stuffed gnocchi. Tel. 310-215-5151, www.encounterlax.com.

 

• Todd English’s Figs at the LaGuardia airport is a taste of Boston in New York City.

Courtesy of Figs

New York City—John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

AeroNuova. Forget the bustle on the tarmac, let alone the bustle in New York City when you enter the black, white and red environment at this Terminal 5 trattoria. Instead of windows there are big TVs screening vintage Italian movies. The extensive menu, conceived by Mario Batali protégé and chef of Manhattan’s famed Del Posto, Mark Ladner, includes such choices as rapini with green garlic and chili oil, mushroom and pepper salad with fried rosemary, and beef ravioli with gorgonzola fondue and parsley purée. JetBlue Terminal 5.

New York City—LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

Figs. Another Todd English establishment—this time a New York City branch of his popular Boston pizzeria—Figs has a rustic look, comfortable banquettes and a high-energy ambiance. The menu offers pleasers like white bean soup garnished with crispy prosciutto, three-mushroom papardelle in tomato-mascarpone sauce, and a range of flatbread pizzas including one with caramelized onions and mozzarella topped with arugula and tomato salad. It’s in Concourse D of the Central Terminal Building. Tel. 718-446-7600, www.figslga.com.

Newark, N.J.—Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

Gallagher’s Steak House. Like the original Gallagher’s in Manhattan, this classic American steak joint in the New York area’s third airport is all dark wood, red-checked tablecloths, and film and stage memorabilia—plus a mural of the New York skyline. You’ll find the usual chophouse offerings such as shrimp cocktail, porterhouse and ribeye steaks, and ample side dishes like huge baked potatoes, creamed spinach and sautéed onions. There’s a serious wine list, too. It’s in Terminal C, with big windows for that airport view. Tel. 212-956-4328, www.gallaghersnysteakhouse.com.

 

• Get delicious seafood dishes, like the ever-popular lobster roll, at SFO’s Yankee Pier.

John A. Benson

San Francisco—San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

Yankee Pier. With offerings like clam chowder and lobster rolls—not to mention its very name—this restaurant in Terminal 3 is channeling the New England shore fish shack. But San Francsico’s West Coast ingredients are prominent, too, such as fried Washington state oysters and a Dungeness crab-cake sandwich. The menu isn’t limited to seafood—there’s grilled local free-range chicken, several vegetarian pastas—but that’s this kitchen’s expertise.

Next: 7 Top International Airport Restaurants