Bars

Miss the airport bar? Now you can belly up to SEA’s Shot Bar

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The Shot Bar at SEA

Here’s a fun, new airport amenity that goes right on the list for Airport Amenity of the Week.

At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) – as in a lot of other airports right now – there’s limited seating in bars and restaurants due to social distancing requirements.

That means you may not feel comfortable ordering a cocktail at an airport bar and hanging around nursing that drink a while at a table or on a barstool before your next flight.

Seattle’s celebrity chef Kathy Casey thought about that travel challenge and came up with a creative solution. She’s opened a pop-up concept at SEA airport called the Shot Bar in her existing Rel’Lish Burger Lounge on Concourse B.

The bar is a quick-serve counter with ‘grab ‘n go’ shots of alcohol served in the tiny two-ounce version of the familiar red Solo cup. That makes it easy to “Just order, shoot your shot and go,” according to an announcement declaring the Shot Bar the first concept like this to open in a U.S. airport.

Shots are $7 for a single. $10 for a double.

Here’s the menu. Let us know if you think this will – or should – catch on.

Louisville International Airport on Kentucky Urban Bourbon Trail

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Louisville International Airport now has a spot on the Kentucky Urban Bourbon Trail.

 

Book & Bourbon Southern Kitchen, located in the pre-security of Lousiville International Airport, is now an official stop on Kentucky’s Urban Bourbon Trail.

The trail consists of more than 40 bars and restaurants that embrace the state’s Bourbon culture.

To get a spot on the trail a venue has to offer at least 50 different bourbons. A trail ‘member’ also has to  celebrate and honor the role bourbon plays in the the city’s history and modern-day culture.

Louisville airport’s Book & Bourbon Southern Kitchen fits the bill because it offers more than 85 world-class bourbons (including several rare labels) and has a staff eager to teach guests about everything bourbon, including tasting notes and distilling history.

Traveling along the Urban Bourbon Trail isn’t just about drinking bourbon. It’s also about winning t-shirts. Participating restaurants and bars on the Urban Bourbon Trail hand out passports that guests can get stamped when they make a purchase at venues along the trail.

Anyone who collects six stamps can redeem their passport for a t-shirt. And you can get a stamp for any purchase – it doesn’t have to be a something made with bourbon.

And now that Book & Bourbon Southern Kitchen at Louisville International is officially on the Kentucky Urban Bourbon Trail, passengers can pick up their trail passsport as soon as they land at the airport and get started on collecting those stamps right away.

Before you head out on the road in search of Kentucky bourbons, keep in mind that in addition to the Urban Bourbon Trail of bourbon-centric bars and restaurants, Kentucky also has a ‘Urban Bourbon Experience‘ that includes bars, restaurants and borboun experiences and events.

There’s also the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which highlights distilleries statewide that are part of the Kentucky Distiller’s Association.

That seems like a like of bourbon, but there are many places where those trails cross and intersect.

Which airport boasts one of world’s largest tequila bars?

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Today – July 24 – is National Tequila Day and if you happen to be passing through Newark Liberty International Airport today you can celebrate in United Terminal C at the bar appropriately named Tacquila – which claims to be one of the largest and most exclusive tequila bars in the world.

Operated by OTG – the folks who brought tablet-ordering to airports – Tacquila features over 150 tequila bottles, including rare and ultra-luxury brands such as Clase Azul Ultra Anejo and Casa Dragones Joven.

Several other airports, including Charlotte Douglas International (which has a Tequileria in the artrium), have tequila-themed bars, but you’ll find tequila on the shelf at most every airport bar.

So drink up – but be responsible about it.

 

Tidbits for travelers at ORD, AUS and on the train

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A few fresh amenities you can enjoy at some airports – and on some Amtrak trains.

At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, celebrity chef Rick Bayless has opened Tortas Frontera, in Terminal 1.  The menu includes Mexican sandwiches, tortas, a guacamole bar and a wide variety of other tasty dishes.  (Another branch will open soon in Terminal 3).

Today Amtrak announced that there’s now free Wi-Fi on the Cascades route between Eugene, OR and Vancouver, B.C.

And with the opening of a branch of the Saxon Pub (an iconic music venue in Austin), there are now five venues that offer live music at Austin Bergstrom International Airport for a total of 13 shows each week.

Saxon Pub ribbon cutting ceremony, photo by Carlton Wade

Stuck at DFW? Visit the observation park; learn something

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DFW International Airport

DFW International Airport is big.

Within its 30 square miles are five terminals, two full-service hotels, a multi-million dollar collection of art and a golf course. There’s also Founders’ Plaza: DFW’s public observation park.

DFW Founders plaza

The park has the airport’s original beacon, along with shaded picnic tables, viewing stations and a live audio feed of the radio conversations from the air traffic control tower.

And now it has six, black-granite sidewalk medallions, each four-feet in diameter.

DFW Founder Plaza_ medallion

Laser-etched into the surface of each medallion is information about the history of the airport and of commercial aviation in north Texas. A different piece of the story is told on each medallion.

Want to see them for yourself? Founders’ Plaza is located at North Airfield Drive and Texan Trail, just south of State Highway 114 in Grapevine.

No time to leave the terminals? No problem. DFW has some nifty stuff inside as well. My favorites: the Cereality breakfast bar where you choose cereal and toppings and pajama-clad Cereologists fill up the bowl; the two La Bodega Winery locations and all the great artwork in Terminal D.

DFW ART in Terminal D

Photos courtesy DFW Airport.