airport restaurants

Amenities coming to your airport – maybe.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

A major role of commercial airports is, of course, to provide the facilities where passengers can get on and off the airplanes that zip around the world.

But airports are also increasingly where travelers spend time (sometimes a very long time) eating, shopping, playing, socializing, getting pampered, sleeping, working out and taking care of personal and official business.

Even if you take just a few flights a year, you’ve surely noticed that airports large and small have been seriously upping their game, making terminals prettier and easier to maneuver and filling corridors with a wide range of welcome dining, retail and other conveniences.

The good news is that this push to upgrade continues. Airlines and airports are pouring millions of dollars into terminal improvements, and at a conference hosted by Airport Revenue News earlier this month, the talk was of strategies for making terminals even more customer-friendly. Here are some of the amenities and services spotted in the exhibition hall that may make their way to airports worldwide.

More self-serve shops

Thanks to Zoomsystems and other vending machine-style automated retailers, it’s no longer a novelty to purchase electronics or classy, travel-sized personal items from a kiosk at an airport.

Benefit Cosmetic kiosk_photo Harriet Baskas

In addition to Best Buy Express, Straight Talk Wireless and 3 FLOZ brands, Zoomsystems has been rolling out a fleet of Benefit Cosmetics kiosks for airports designed to look like pink, vintage buses. And an Amazon-branded kiosk now dispenses Kindles and Kindle-accessories at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Houston (IAH), Oakland and San Francisco. A Kindle kiosk should appear at the Atlanta airport by mid-April, said Melissa Jones of Zoomsystems.

And for travelers who wear glasses, Opticwash is hoping airports will install its automated kiosks that use ultraviolet light to wash and clean eyeglasses or sunglasses in about a minute for a suggested price of one dollar.

Opticwash kiosk for cleaning eyeglasses and sunglasses_photo Harriet Baskas

Catering to ‘gate huggers’

Because so many travelers like to get through security and make a beeline for their gates, airport hold rooms are getting makeovers.

With iPads and delivery service, OTG transformed hold rooms at airports in New York, Minneapolis, Toronto and several other cities into marketing zones. Now Paradies, which has shops in dozens of airports, has an “At Your Service” cart stocked with soft drinks, snacks, magazines, neck pillows and other newsstand bestsellers that can be easily rolled into busy hold areas before a flight.

“The cart service lets us serve the ‘gate huggers’ and is made possible by new technology and need,” said Justin Marlett, senior marketing manager for Paradies.

John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., got the first, pushcart-style, version of the Paradies “At Your Service” cart and Florida’s Palm Beach International Airport is home to the first full-sized unit.

Expanding spas

Travel can be stressful no matter how customer friendly an airport appears to be, so spas offering everything from neck and foot massages to manicures, haircuts and facials continue to expand their presence in the nation’s terminals.

XpresSpa now has more than 50 locations, while Paris-based Be Relax, which currently has U.S. branches at Baltimore-Washington, Boston Logan, Detroit Metropolitan and San Diego, will be opening its full-service branch – with barbers and hair styling services – at the end of April at JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at JFK International Airport.

More to eat

Dining options at most airports have definitely been expanding and improving. And while many popular new “concepts” in airports are joint ventures between established concession management companies and local or national restaurateurs, a wide range of companies — from SONIC (known for its drive-ins) to Camille’s Hand-Dipped Ice Cream Bars and Luvo, whose healthy wraps and snacks are currently offered on some Delta Air Lines’ flights — are trying to break into the club.

“Being in an airport would give us a great platform for getting our brand into markets where we currently have little or no penetration,” said Greg Delks, vice president for franchise development for Firehouse Subs, which has almost 750 street-side branches but is hoping to get its first airport location.

Firehouse Subs hoping to move into airports_photo Harriet Baskas

“There’s a ceiling to how much some of these brands can grow on the street side,” said Ramon Lo, editorial director of Airport Revenue News, “so they’re trying to get ahead of the curve, diversify and find different avenues of growth.”

Feedback

Another new amenity to begin looking for in domestic airports is the HappyOrNot customer feedback device already in use in at least 40 airports outside the United States.

HappyOrNotKiosk being tested at Greenville-Spartanburg Int'l Airport t_photo courtesy GSP Airport

The units have four, brightly-colored smiley face-based buttons that make it easy for passengers to give immediate feedback on the service they’ve received at checkpoints, gates, transfer desks and other spots. In some airports, travelers can use a similar device to rate the cleanliness and condition of the restrooms.

The first U.S. airport to install HappyOrNot machines is Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in South Carolina, which currently has a few test units in the baggage claim area.

“We strive to improve the customer experience … and look for ways to measure the effectiveness of all these efforts,” said Rosylin Weston, GSP spokesperson. The HappyOrNot units are not only an effective overall measurement tool, said Weston, “but they can analyze data on a weekly, daily or even hourly basis.”

(My story about fresh airport amenities first appeared on my “At the Airport” column on USAToday.com)

Winning US airport restaurants

I had the honor of nominating twenty restaurants in US airports for a summer “Best of” contest put together by the folks at 10Best for USA Today Travel.

BOS LEGAL SEA FOOD

Putting together a list of just twenty places was a challenge in part because so many airports now have really great snacking and dining options.

But I picked a good assortment and settled on twenty to ask travelers to choose from.

Here are the ten airport restaurants that got the most votes.

You can learn more about each of them here.

Harry and Izzy’s – Indianapolis International Airport
Tortas Frontera – Chicago O’Hare
Obrycki’s – Baltimore-Washington Intl
42nd St. Oyster Bar – Raleigh Durham Intl
Lemonade – Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
French Meadow Bakery & Cafe – Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport (MSP)
Salt Lick – Austin-Bergstrom
Vino Volo – Various
Chickie’s and Pete’s – Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
Legal Sea Foods – Boston Logan Airport (BOS)

Does this list skip one of your favorites? Please add it below.

Where to eat when you’re stuck at the airport

There are a plenty of things to do when you’re stuck at the airport: wait, walk, talk, shop, work, nap, get a flu shot, check out other people, see some art, drink and, of course, eat.

But how will you choose where to dine at the airport?

You can line up behind scores of other travelers at McDonald’s or some other chain outlet. But why do that when you can nibble on something truly tasty and local?

Here are a few resources – and resource people – who can help steer you in the right direction.

Over at Portfolio.com, Joe Brancatelli has published his excellent, updated, two part guide offering tips on “Where to Eat Before You Fly.”

Part one lists his picks for places to eat in and near airports in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago/O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit/Metro, Houston/Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York/Kennedy, New York/LaGuardia, New York/Newark, Philadelphia and Seattle.

Part two focuses on dining options in and around smaller airports, including Austin, Boston, Chicago/Midway, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Honolulu, Memphis, Nashville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Portland, Maine, Portland, Oregon, Raleigh/Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Francisco Bay Area (3 airports), St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore (3 airports). See the full list here.

As someone who also spends a lot of time in these same airports and who researches the local options for the airport guides I put together for USATODAY.com, I can tell you that Brancatelli has got the airport dining thing down.

Another resource: Eater.com, a national restaurant and dining blog. Ron Holden, a Seattle-area food writer who blogs at Cornichon.org, sent me a link to Eater.com’s listing for where to eat at my hometown Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and I see that there are also listings for close to two dozen other airports.

And, for dessert, here’s a link to a Food & Wine article posted on msnbc.com’s Ovherhead Bin today describing America’s best new (and some not so new) airport restaurants.

And, if you don’t have time to sit down and enjoy a great airport meal, don’t forget you can always stop into one of the growing number of airport shops selling locally-made, snacks and gourmet treats to go.

Moon Pies at Nashville International Airport. Sold individually and by the box in many flavors.

 

 

Hungry yet? This should get you started.

Have your own tips on where to eat when you’re stuck at the airport? Please share them here.

Moonlighting chefs at Boston’s Logan Airport

It’s not unusual anymore for highly regarded local restaurants or well-known chefs to open eateries in airports.

Boston’s Logan International Airport does this with a twist: at the Dine Boston restaurant, located pre-security in Terminal E, the Dine Boston Visiting Chef Program showcases dishes created by a rotating team of New England chefs. The featured dishes change every three months.

Next up in the “moonlighting chef” series is Richard Garcia, the executive chef at 606 Congress, the restaurant at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, where the menu features modern farm cuisine with regional influences using a lot of ingredients from farms in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.

For the Dine Boston program, Chef Garcia chose a New England Artisan Cheese Plate and main courses of braised Hampshire pork shanks with butter beans, orange gremolata and fennel or Atlantic Hook Line Caught Haddock with white bean & chorizo stew, yogurt cheese and dill. The featured dessert is warm organic chocolate ganache cake with candied beets and vanilla bean ice cream.

Sound tasty? As an added bonus, passengers who choose to eat at Dine Boston before going through security can request a special pass that allows them to use the security-line ‘shortcut’ usually reserved for frequent fliers.

Souvenir Sunday at Boston Logan International Airport

Each Sunday here at Stuck at The Airport is Souvenir Sunday – the day we take a look at some of the fun, inexpensive souvenirs you can find at airports.

Souvenir at Boston Logan Airport

This week’s souvenirs come from the Travel Basics shop in Terminal E at Boston Logan International Airport.  Located pre-security, the store offers exactly that: travel basics such as shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, greeting cards and a good selection of basic office and art supplies.

Travel Basics at Boston Logan

Even better – everything is tagged with incredibly reasonable prices.

For example, I found this 99-cent bottle of shampoo being sold for…. 99 cents!

Shampoo at Boston Logan Airport

The shop is located across the corridor from Dine Boston. The full-service restaurant and bar has a sassy serving team and a menu that gets refreshed every few months with dishes by well-known local chefs.

Worried you won’t have time to sit down and enjoy the meal? Not to worry: your restaurant receipt gets you express service at the security checkpoint.

Want to know more about the services and amenities at Boston Logan International Airport?

See my Boston Logan International Airport Guide.  It’s one of 50 airport guides I created for USATODAY.com. The guides are updated monthly and include tips from travelers, so feel free to share your airport finds.

And don’t forget: Stuck at the Airport wants your souvenirs!

The ideal souvenir for Souvenir Sunday is something you can buy at an airport that’s inexpensive (about $10), “of” the city or region and, ideally, a bit offbeat.

If you spot something that fits the bill, please take a photo of the item and send it along.

If your souvenir is featured on Souvenir Sunday, you’ll receive a special souvenir.