Posts in the category "Restaurants":

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
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Today, Thursday, February 25th, 2010, Ivar’s Seafood outlets in Washington and California are celebrating National Clam Chowder Day by offering a 2-for-1 deal on cups of chowder.   Happily, the deal extends to the Ivar’s Seafood Bar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).  “The airport Ivar’s is open way longer than the Ivar’s in town,” an enthusiastic employee at the airport Ivar’s told me on the telephone on Wednesday, “So you can get that deal starting at 4:30 in the morning.”

You’d think they’d also be celebrating National Clam Chowder Day over in Boston, where the Legal Sea Foods chain is well represented at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).  But no.  Via Twitter, the folks at Logan Airport told me,that there was “nothing planned. But we can tell you clam chowder is an airport favorite…and available in every terminal at BOS!”

Categories: Food, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Restaurants
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Great news for travelers heading to or from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) this holiday season:  The Airport Station of Sound Transit’s Link light rail system  between downtown and the airport will open at 10 a.m. on December 19, 2009.

That means that instead of getting shuttled by bus between the airport and a light rail stop a mile or so away, passengers can now hop on and off the light rail right at the airport.

Well…not right at the airport: the airport station is in the airport garage and passengers must walk about a quarter mile to the terminal.  But at $2.75 from downtown vs. a $25 or $30 cab ride, it’s a great deal.  So travelers will probably be skipping along that walkway and not even notice the distance.

Also, just in time for holiday travel, there are two new food offerings in the Lindbergh Terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). There’s now an Arby’s in the main food court and, more impressive, on Concourse F there’s a spinoff of Ike’s Food & Cocktails, a downtown Minneapolis favorite that’s already a hit in airport with a white-tablecloth branch in the airport mall.

Even better: MSP’s Jingle, Jingle Savings Days Coupon Book has discounts for these new spots and dozens of other shops and restaurants throughout the airport. Get a copy here.

Categories: Air Travel, Airport shops, Food, Holidays, Openings, Restaurants, Shopping, Transportation
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Next Wednesday, October 7, during the first Customer Appreciation Day at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), passengers will be treated to free candy, newspapers, coffee samples and more.

Some airport stores will be giving away free Arizona Republic newspapers. Others will hand out candy, snacks and post cards. Many airport restaurants will offer food specials and discounts. Starbucks will have beverage and pastry samples. And Travel Ex currency exchange will be waiving fees on all currency transactions.

Sky Harbor’s mascot, Amelia the Airplane, will be flying around (and posing for pictures) and there will surely be a crowd out at the Rental Car Center when the folks at Fresh Gourmet to Go bring out the performing chicken.

Now that’s appreciation!!

Categories: Entertainment, Events, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Restaurants
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When you’re stuck at the airport, you can read, sleep, watch other passengers try to read or sleep, do some shopping and, of course, eat.  And for hungry travelers at the Houston airports there are two new options:

In Terminal C south at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), the Real Food Company has 11 serving stations “offering everything from a well seasoned steak, to jambalaya with jumbo shrimp, Chinese chicken salad and delicate pastries.”

And William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)  is now home to the first airport branch of Buffalo Wild Wings, a popular sports bar known for its New York-style wings and its sauces.

And, just as I’m getting ready to spend a whole day touring JFK airport, comes  this glowing article from the New York Daily News about all the great dining options there are now at this airport – including the Seafood Bar in Terminal 4, Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in the American Airlines Terminal 8, and the nine full-service restaurants at JetBlue’s Terminal 5.

Good thing I’ll be at the airport long enough to have several meals!

Have you eaten a meal – or three – at JFK lately? Please share your tips.

Categories: Food, Restaurants
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