Airport Restaurant Openings in 2013

By VGP Guest Blogger Rachel

For those of us that spend a lot of time on the road, as you look back on 2013 you may have memories of many a meal in airport restaurants. Luckily, 2013 was a great year for airport restaurant openings in the US. If you haven’t tried some of the below in 2013, consider hitting them up in the New Year!

Denver International Airport opened Root Down in August that offers fresh locally produced and healthy American staples such as veggie burger sliders, roasted veggies and devils on horseback.

In September, Denver continued to expand their food options with “Final Approach” – a super-sized, 253-space cellphone lot . The lot’s building has four restaurants including a 24-hour Dunkin’ Donuts. For those who do early morning or late night Denver pickups- rejoice.

Also in August, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta opened a new food court on Concourse A as well as the first airport P.F. Chang’s . The P.F. Chang’s surprisingly has 10 gluten free dishes. My standard at P.F.’s is always the lettuce wraps.

If you are in a hurry, the food court options are Chick-fil-A, Piece of Cake, Varasano’s Pizzeria, Boars Head Deli, Abica Coffee, Low Country New Southern Cuisine, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Great Wraps, Boardwalk Burgers and Piano Bar. In October, ATL opened the first airport IHOP before security checkpoints. I would assume that late night or early morning travelers would enjoy the IHOP, so I’m a little unsure of the pre-security location. But then again, 24/7 breakfast seems to hit the spot for some.

JFK’s Delta Terminal 4 opened Shake Shack, Blue Smoke barbecue, Uptown Brasserie and La Brea Bakery. You can’t go wrong with the ShackBurger and fries. I travel quite a bit through DCA and the Five Guys there really does not even compare to the ShackBurger.

I also love the creamy, rich Frozen Custard from the Shack or a milkshake for dessert. For a sit down meal anytime of the day, try Top Chef Masters’ champion and James Beard Foundation award-winning chef, Marcus Samuelsson’s Uptown Brasserie. On a longer layover, you can sit and watch items such as blackened catfish and fried yardbird being made in the open kitchen.

Another new trend in airport food in 2013 was the food-trucks. Airport cellphone waiting areas are the perfect spot for the trucks to camp out. Food truck capital of the country Austin-Bergstrom International airport has a new food trailer, Twist of Spice that serves Italian and Mexican but in eclectic Austin style just works. Other airports that have the trucks include San Francisco, Sacramento, Tucson, Austin and Long Beach.

What’s your favorite airport restaurant?