Posts in the category "Restaurants":

In my msnbc.com column this week –Fresh airport amenities make the wait fly by – I offered a run-down of some of the programs and services air travelers can take advantage of this summer.

One amenity that didn’t make it into the story is self-service ice-cream sundae machine at Boston Logan International Airport.

We all scream for ice-cream at the airport

Using a touchscreen, customers choose a flavor (12 are available) and a mix-in. The machine then prepares and delivers the dessert.  Boston Logan Airport has two  MooBella machines installed: one is at Terminal C at the Back Bay Café (Gates 11-21); the other is at Lean & Green (Gates 40-42).

If you test it out, please send a report – and a photo.

What else is fresh and new at airports this summer?

Mimes among the entertainment at PHL this summer

Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) now has free wireless and a Passenger Chillin’ Zone with sofas, tables, chairs, ottomans and foliage (Gate D-3). Throughout the summer, PHL is also hosting a Just Plane Fun program with live music, appearances by mascots from local sports teams, contests and other activities.

From now through the end of August, Miami International Airport is throwing weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) parties with a different theme each week. This weekend’s theme is Havana Nights, with domino tables, mojito demonstrations, a DJ, rumba dancing and cigar rolling.  August 20-23 you’ll find a flamenco dance show, Latin food sampling and more.

Observation Deck at LAX now open on weekends

At Los Angeles International Airport, the outdoor observation deck on top of the Theme Building in the center of the airport is finally open. Closed since 9/11, and during the building’s $12.3 million renovation and earthquake retrofit, the deck is open weekends, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free telescopes offering great views of arriving and departing aircraft, the airport grounds and the surrounding area. Pink’s, an iconic Hollywood hot dog stand, has also opened a branch in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

At Outagamie County Regional Airport (ATW) in Appleton, Wisconsin, they’re still lining up to get candy from the giant purple machine with flashing lights.

Willy Wonka candy machine dispenses mixed candy treats

Located pre-security, the Willy Wonka candy machine is one of 25 such machines in the country (there’s one at the Mall of America) and is currently the only one at an airport.

Passengers had so much fun during the special events held at Vancouver International Airport during the 2010 Winter Olympics games that the airport decided to host Take-off Fridays festivals all summer, complete with face painting, DJs spinning music, prize drawings, meal specials and frees samples from a variety of airport shops.

And San Francisco International Airport is presenting You are Hear concerts again this summer. Performances take place every Friday through August 28^th between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at three different stages in the airport. This week the line-up includes Quinteto Latino in the International Terminal, Lavay Smith & The Red Hot Skillet Lickers in the United hub and, in Terminal 1, Threeocracy. See the SFO website for the full season schedule.

Enjoy!

Categories: Air Travel, Airports, Entertainment, Events, Food, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Kids, Kids travel, Layover, Lounges, Music, Observation Decks, Restaurants, Wi-Fi, family travel, free Wi-Fi
1 Comment »

Airport employee Timothy Ihle's recipe was chosen for the LAX International Dog

(Photo credit: Jay Berkowitz/LAWA photographer)

Hot dog fans rejoice. There’s now a branch of Pink’s Hot Dogs in the pre-security food court at the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at Los Angeles International Airport. On the menu: the LAX International Dog, based on a “recipe” suggested by an airport employee.

And in Oregon, there’s now a branch of The Barbers at Portland International Airport.

Look for the lighted barber pole

(Photo courtesy szlea, via Flickr Creative Commons.)

Like the company’s 16 other Pacific Northwest locations, the pre-security airport shop has an old fashioned barbershop appearance and offers haircuts, hot lather neck shaves and shoe shines.  (Still checking to see if the free popcorn served at other branches will be offered here.)  To celebrate the grand opening, haircuts are only $5 through August 15th. Another reason you – and your hair – should head to the airport early.

Categories: Air Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Food, Restaurants, Shopping
No Comments »

We’re having a heat wave.

Well, a lot of the country is having a heat wave. The kind of tropical heat wave Ella Fitzgerald, Marilyn Monroe and Gale Storm sang about.

And when there’s a heat wave there’s only one thing to do: eat ice-cream and lots of it.

Back in the 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice-Cream Month and set aside the third Sunday of the month as National Ice-Cream Day.  And, as this photo proves, President Barack Obama is a big fan of ice-cream too.

(Photo courtesy Wells’ Dairy, Le Mars, Iowa)

So as you’re traveling around this month, be sure to stop and eat some ice-cream.  If you’re stuck at the airport, it’s a good chance you’ll find a branch of Ben & Jerry’s, Haagen-Dazs or some other well-known ice-cream or frozen yogurt chain in the food court.

Better yet, here’s hoping you land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where there’s a branch of Amy’s Ice-Cream, a local favorite, or at Little Rock International Airport, where you can find Arkansas-made Yarnell’s Ice Cream.

Know of some other airports where you can get great ice-cream? Please share your find in the comments section below.

And while you’re out on the road, why not learn something about this sweet treat?  For a recent msnbc.com article, Ice-cream fans celebrate sweet treat – I found a few factory tours that not only offer an ice-cream education but, in the three cases below, a free sample.

Ben & Jerry’s, Waterbury, VT

(Courtesy Jeff Pecor, Yapta)

If you’re in New England and your travels take you anywhere near Vermont, make your way to Waterbury for a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream factory. The adventure includes an entertaining “moo-vie” about ice-cream production and a visit to the “Flavoroom” to taste the flavor of the day. Details at Ben & Jerry’s.

Blue Bell, Brenham, TX (Broken Arrow, OK; Sylacauga, AL)

Named for the Lone Star State’s native bluebell wildflower, the Brenham, Texas-based Blue Bell Company offers tours of its ice-cream plants in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama. Each tour ends with a complimentary scoop of ice-cream and the opportunity to purchase additional scoops for $1 or less.  Details at the Blue Bell website.

Velvet Ice Cream, Utica OH

(Blue icing getting mixed into a special birthday cake ice cream)

The Velvet Ice Cream factory in Utica, OH makes more than five million gallons of ice-cream a year in “small” (for the industry) 800-gallon batches at the Ye Olde’ Mill, a 20-acre site that houses an ice-cream museum, a historic grist mill with water wheel, a fishing pond and other attractions.  Factory tours don’t usually include a complimentary taste of ice-cream, but for National Ice-Cream Month visitors who show up weekdays between 1 and 3 p.m. will get to taste the flavor of the day as it comes off the line. For details see the Velvet Ice-Cream Company website.

If your travels don’t take you near these shops, consider stopping by one of the Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants participating in the company’s “Scoop for Success” program.  During National Ice Cream Month part of the proceeds of a specially-designed ice-cream dessert at each restaurant will be donated to Dress for Success, an organization devoted to helping women re-enter the workforce.

And we’re not just talking chocolate sundaes. At Firefly in Washington, DC, the designated dessert is peanut butter ice cream sandwich with chocolate decadence, banana’s foster sauce and praline crumb.

NIOS, in New York City, is serving vanilla bean gelato with caramelized popcorn and caramel sauce. And at the Red Star Tavern & Roast House in Portland, Oregon, the decadent dessert is red velvet doughnuts with bourbon-pecan cheesecake ice cream.

On July 15th, 2010 Kimpton Hotels will also be hosting a National Ice Cream Social.  All proceeds from special desserts sold in the hotels’ “living rooms” will be donated to charity.

Do you need any more reasons to go eat ice-cream?  Go!

Categories: Airport shops, Airports, Events, Food, Holidays, Kids, Layover, Restaurants
No Comments »

If you’re going to be at Miami International Airport on Cinco de Mayo (May 5^th), be sure to stop by the Corona Beach House Miami.  The new Corona-themed restaurant in the American Airlines Terminal, between Gates D23 & D24, will be having a kick-off party between 3 and 5 pm with a live mariachi band providing the music.

The restaurant offers a “mock vacation scene” with petrified palm trees and mosaic glass tile ceiling, and a menu that includes Corona beer cheese soup, braised pork shank carnitas and other authentic Mexican dishes.

And while you’re at MIA, be sure to look around at the airport’s temporary and permanent artwork, including Teresa Camozzi’s Temporary Altars, which are mobiles made of chiffon panels in the tradition of Tibetan Thankga paintings – portable references for meditation.

Look for these in the South Terminal J, East Elevator Lobby, near Club America.

The South Terminal is also now home to two giant murals Brazilian artist Carbyé created in 1960 for the American Airlines terminal at JFK.  The murals were set to be demolished along with that JFK terminal, but were rescued, repaired and relocated at MIA.

Categories: Art, Lounges, Restaurants
No Comments »

I love hanging around airports, of course, but I also find bliss when let loose in small museums filled with odd and unusual artifacts or if there’s a wacky roadside distraction somewhere and I’ve got the keys to the car.

So I’m fortunate to be able to produce radio features and write books about my discoveries. More than two hundred of my favorite offbeat attractions in Oregon are in the newly updated Oregon Curiosities book you see pictured in the craftily-titled Buy My Books section here on this site. There are an equal number of unusual people, places and things in the Washington Curiosities book I’m starting to update right now.

One of the aviation-related places in the Oregon Curiosities book is The Bomber Restaurant complex in Milwaukie, about six miles south of Portland.

From 1947 until 1991 this vintage World War II B-17G four-engine bomber served as shelter for a forty-pump independent gas station that was one of the top performers in the country. When the gas station closed, the bomber fell on hard times and for years the plane was just a sad-looking roadside attraction suffering from bird poop, vandalism, and Oregon’s rainy climate.

Now restoration of the bomber is under way. Her nose is all shiny and new and on display inside the on-site WWII-themed Wings of Freedom Showcase. And while the gas station is long gone, you can fill up your stomach at the memorabilia-packed Bomber Restaurant, where the menu includes Bomblettes (omelettes) and Bombarded Hash Browns for breakfast, and Tokyo Rose BLTs and Bomberburgers for lunch and dinner.

If you want to see The Bomber for yourself, be sure to enter the Oregon Mt. Hood Territory’s Secret Sweet Spots contest. Each week you’ll be asked to answer a (very easy) question about a “hidden gem” in the region. You’ll find the answers in the short videos on the Mt. Hood Territory website.

Of course, one of those Secret Sweet Spots is The Bomber.

Categories: Architecture, Aviation history, Contests, Exhibits, Museums, Restaurants, aviation
No Comments »