Taking Flight: Small Airports With Off-The-Radar Restaurants

The $300 Dollar Burger at Holman's Table restaurant, an eatery in a restored air terminal near the tarmac at the St. Paul, Minnesota, downtown airport, is one of the most popular items on the menu.

The burger is a riff on the proverbial $100 hamburger known in the inner circles of the private pilot community. Basically, it means flying a short distance (less than two hours), eating at a restaurant near the terminal and then flying home, with the $100 price tag referring to the approximate cost of renting and operating the plane (think fuel). "The price of the $300 burger reflects the price of things nowadays," says co-owner Troy Reding.

Actually, the burger is priced $28 on the menu. It is built with Wagyu beef, Gruyere cheese, Madeira truffles and foie gras butter and served with a side of wedged potatoes.

Holman's Table menu has a farm-to-table approach through collaboration with local farmers' markets and Keller's Ranch in Southern Minnesota as a local meat source. In addition to that whimsically named burger, there are the "originals that will be there forever," Reding says, like mushroom toast, an original menu item and by far the most popular dish, he says. It features roasted wild mushrooms, walnut aioli, Montamore cheese, toasted herb ciabatta bread, red onion marmalade, olive oil, a balsamic reduction and smoked sea salt. There's also a popular chef's fresh walleye fish feature on the weekends.

The airport scene is a side dish. "It is an ever-changing landscape of what you might see, some days you may witness nothing and others you might seek three planes flying into park and stop in to have lunch," Reding says. He notes that about 10% of the clientele is fly-in customers with the majority, locals and visitors from around the state and country visiting for the experience. The restaurant also partners with the Air Force Museum for tours and offers helicopter rides over the Mississippi River and St. Paul.

Here's a look at some other aviation-themed restaurants at smaller airports across the United States worth a visit for the food and plane-watching.

Hangar B opened more than a decade ago at tiny Chatham Municipal Airport on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Today, 300 people eat there daily in the busy summer season.

For years, when I was a child and we would visit the Cape, we would always have breakfast at least once at the small, no-frills restaurant that was Hangar B's predecessor. The toy-like private planes that flew in and out were so fun to watch, and the pancakes tasted better than anywhere else, even if they weren't. It was the experience that mattered.

I continued the tradition with my son when he was a little boy, and we would visit the Cape.

Fast forward to 2010 when Hangar B restaurant opened in this same spot and is still thrilling for kids and families to build vacation memories. "Our philosophy was to bring the same intentionality and attention to detail as we would if it was going to be a fine-dining dinner house and crafted a breakfast and lunch menu accordingly," says owner Tracy Shields. "Once people adjusted to the change from a greasy spoon to the updated food-forward approach, it kind of took off."

It's also a favorite of locals who have become loyal regulars, and a destination for private pilots, too. "We do get some pilots flying in just to eat as an excuse to take the plane out," Shields says, "but they don't always want to wait for a table, which can sometimes be an hour-and-a-half during the summer."

The kids don't mind waiting, not with those little airplanes they can practically touch right there."It is pretty awesome," Shields says. "I have gotten to see people's kids grow up and it is special to be a tradition for them. Kids love to be at the airport, of course, and it is the best built-in distraction for them while waiting for their table."

The most ordered classics are the lemon ricotta pancakes with local Massachusetts maple syrup, huevos rancheros and artichoke and fingerling potato hash, Shields says. "And our Benedicts are killer, too."

Cape Cod is a seasonal summer destination though, so things change in the off-season when the restaurant becomes more community-focused rather than touristy. "In the winter, Hangar B offers a community meal program for folks in need to pick up prepared dinners," she says.

It's all about the sugar buns at Sugar Buns Airport Café located at the small Easton Airport in Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Private pilots fly in and locals drive in for classic breakfast and lunch dishes like the eggs Benedict specials and crab dishes including cream of crab soup and the Maryland-style crab cake sandwich. It's those "all butter" sugar buns that are on the radar for many visitors, whichever way they land, by plane or car. Private pilots also fly in just for a meal, especially the Porterhouse steak, three eggs and home fries, as well as those sugar buns.

There are painted murals that feature airplanes and the airfield. "You can also watch the runway from inside the restaurant, so the real décor is the action outside," says a spokeswoman for the restaurant.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary next year, the Spirit of San Luis restaurant at the San Luis Obispo Airport has all the feels of tiny airport dining. Overlooking the busy SLO airport runways, the family-owned restaurant greets customers like family and is a favorite local scene for food, warm hospitality and plane-spotting opportunities.  

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch dinner and weekend brunch — and there's an outdoor patio for optimal airplane buzz. The specialty is the streusel-topped coffee cake that's baked in-house daily. And expect aviation named dishes, too, like Amelia's Egg Sandwich (a nod to Amelia Earhart who disappeared while attempting to be the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world) and the Wright Cheeseburger (a shout-out to aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright). And, yes, here you will find (chicken) wings on the menu. As a bonus, there's an expansive lawn area that gives children a place to safely play and watch the planes just a few feet away.

New England's oldest airfield is Plum Island Airport, located in Newbury, Massachusetts, about 35 miles north of Boston. There is a pocket-sized tiny airstrip, not even a terminal. It is managed by Plum Island Aerodrome, a non-profit with a mission to preserve the history of the airport and educate the public about its remarkable aviation legacy. Picnic tables are scattered about and are used often by locals and visitors who bike from Newburyport to the beaches of Plum Island. The airport is the halfway point.

Pop-up food trucks are often here in the summer months (Metzy's Taqueria truck is a favorite). Aviation history buffs appreciate its history, the original runway over the sand marshes and dunes made of wood. And The Burgess Company (known for the Wright Brothers aircraft) built 100-plus types of planes at this airport. Flying instructions are also offered, as well as scenic flights. And there's a little museum that highlights the history of the airport.

Laurie Bain Wilson's work has appeared in Real Simple, Working Mother, OpenTable, Travel Channel, CNNTravel, Eat This, Chowhound, Parents, Salon, Wine Enthusiast, VinePair, New York Times and longtime correspondent at The Boston Globe. https://muckrack.com/laurieheather Read More