Image via Complex Original
We don't ever want you to have eat at a Sbarro again.
There's just no need for it now. The airport food game has changed considerably in the last decade; it's possible to eat quality food while delayed, while killing time after an unusually short TSA frisking session, hell, just because you want a burger from Pat LaFrieda.
Not all airports offer excellent cuisine, which means if you're searching out the best you might have to get creative with your connections. Think of it as the ultimate foodie challenge: You have to get past security ordained by the American government to get to most of these places.
Lucky for you, this list will act as your guide. These are the 10 Best Airport Restaurants in the U.S.
10. Corky's BBQ
Airport: Memphis International Airport
Location: Terminal A
Website: corkysbbq.com
Yes, Corky's is a chain bbq joint. And, yes, there sure as hell aren't any smokers at Memphis International. Still, the pulled pork sandwiches here will more than satisfy a last minute need for the taste of the city. (Or, if you're super greedy, whet the appetite immediately after arrival).
9. Usinger's Deli
Airport: General Mitchell International Airport (Milwaukee)
Location: Concourse D
Website: usinger.com
The casings on the sausages Usinger's slings are always crunchy, so you know it's real. The best sausage out of Milwaukee (actually, the Midwest), is available for anyone passing through. Forget the condiments here; all you need is meat and bun. Maybe a bag of mints, too. Your breath might belch a little garlicky, and it's going to be close quarters in coach.
8. Matsutake Sushi
Airport: Dulles International Airport (Washington, D.C.) & Reagan National Airport (Arlington, Va.)
Locations: Gate A18 (Dulles); National Hall (Pre-security) (Reagan)
Website: n/a
It's a tough call to make, braving an airport sushi joint, but at Dulles and Reagan, you can do so without fear. Matsutake whips up a satisfying meal, something that won't crush your guts before boarding. The fish is always fresh, there's a good selection of Asian beers, and the garnishes are legit—pickled vegetables, quality ginger, and even shiso leaves. Sit at the bar and the chef always offers up a few freebies to try out.
7. Ivar's Seafood Bar
Airport: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Location: Concourse B
Website: ivars.com
This Seattle staple has serving seafood and chowder to Northwesterners since 1938. Thankfully, for the rest of us, they made the jump to the airplane game, providing air commuters with moist and flaky golden-battered fish. The clam chowder will put you in a New England state of mind, whether or not you're planning any trips to WASP-central. There are few better complements to a few pints of beer than fish and chips—you will be drinking before your flight, right?
6. Eli's Cheesecake
Airport: O'Hare International Airport (Chicago)
Location: Terminal B
Website: elicheesecake.com
It's real sweet of Eli's to let patrons send their signature cheesecakes to friends and relatives via their on-the-go location at O'Hare, but you aren't there for that. You have a flight ahead of you and dammit if you aren't going to eat the shit out of some chocolate-crusted raspberry cheesecake on the plane as you sit next to the poor son-of-a-bitch that didn't know about this gem. Cheesecake on-the-go. You're drifting off to sleep, satisfied, while he cries into the thin, flight-attendant-provided blanket that won't hide his sobs. You win.
5. Custom Burgers by Pat LaFrieda
Airport: LaGuardia Airport (New York)
Location: Terminal D
Website: lafrieda.com
Pat LaFrieda, the purveyor of a rightly famous beef empire that's provided hamburger to joints like Shake Shack, brings his eye for quality meat to LaGuardia. If you felt like it was a godsend when Five Guys started showing up in airports, you probably dropped dead when Custom Burgers opened a little while back. The prices are reasonable (a single with cheese for less than a five-spot), but they offer they chance to go stupid if you want—the Gordito assembles three patties, three slices of American cheese, lettuce, onion, bacon, and Russian dressing for $13. Anything bearing LaFrieda's name is a carnivore's dream.
4. Chickie's and Pete's
Airport: Philadelphia International Airport
Location: Terminal A-West, Terminal C, and Terminal E
Website: chickiesandpetes.com/locations/airport
Chickie & Pete's is famous for Crab fries. However, the airport outpost also serves the best cheesesteak within terminal walls—anywhere in the world. The roll is correct, the meat chopped, and the cheese either wiz or provelone. Added bonus: cold Yuengling. Minor negative: indigestion on flight.
3. The Salt Lick
Airports: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (Austin, Texas) & Will Rogers World Airport (Oklahoma City)
Locations: West Concourse (Austin); Upper Level, Near Gate 18 (Will Rogers)
Website: saltlickbbq.com/locations_airport
Because the Salt Lick's homebase is such a massive place, because it attracts the tourists like a meat-filled Disneyland, people sometimes peg it as being less than the real deal. Wrong again, haters. The sauce at the Salt Lick is criminal, sweet and tangy, the perfect compliment to the most tender ribs you've ever consumed, which Salt Lick also just happens to serve. They ship everything into the airport location from the HQ, meaning it's not quite the same as digging in next to the pit, but you're about to get on a plane that will take you far, far away from Texas bar-b-que. Get it while you can.
2. Gustav's Pub & Grill
Airport: Portland International Airport
Location: Concourse C
Website: gustavs.net/store/airport
One of the downsides of great airport food is that you'll be getting on a flight right after a super rich meal. Your mobility will be screwed. But for those blissful moments when you tear through the Sausage Platter at Gustav's, none of that will matter. Crush each link, smash the sauerkraut, finish by raking everything through the mashed potatoes. Nothing else matters right now. Just get to the plane before the food coma sets in. The clock starts ticking with the first bite.
1. Tortas Frontera
Airport: O'Hare International Airport (Chicago)
Location: Terminal 1
Website: rickbayless.com/restaurants/tortas
Rick Bayless' peerless addition to Chicago's airport throws out the rulebook. How many airport eateries list the farms their ingredients come from? How many airport eateries are committed to upholding the traditions of any ethnic cuisine—in this case, Mexican—like Bayless is? How many airport eateries make a perfectly balanced margarita? Or fresh guacamole? Nowhere else in America is this the case. Tortas Frontera may not be the fastest place (that would be the soul-killing McDonald's right next door), but you're getting authentic Mexican griddle-baked sandwiches full of ingredients like beer-braised beef short ribs and smokey chipotle chicken, all from the mind and hands of the dude who was under serious consideration to be the White House Executive Chef for the Obamas. We plan our trips around connections at O'Hare just to eat here. You will too.
