With many of us (myself included) spending a lot of time in airports for the holidays, you will most certainly get a little hungry while there.  While wondering what a jetsetter and frequent traveler should do, I discovered The Daily Meal’s ranking of the 31 Best Airport Restaurants Around the World – the culmination of a meticulous six-month-long nomination process. Including Michelin starred fare and celebrity chefs, it’s clear that “airport food” can compare (and surpass) it’s traditional cohorts.  Jamie Oliver, Thomas Byrne, Cat Cora, Carles Gaig, and Gordon Ramsay are just a few of the familiar faces whose tarmac bistros made the cut. Also see this link to the Best Vegan Restaurant in West Hollywood! 

Faced with concourses filled with ubiquitous shrink-wrapped sandwiches, greasy fast-food burgers, and processed pastries, the thought of eating at an airport is rarely appetizing. But that may soon change, as airports around the world are revamping aging terminals and the world’s best chefs, several of them Michelin-starred, are recognizing the value of serving exemplary meals before liftoff. The Daily Meal’s list of the 31 Best Airport Restaurants Around the World is the culmination of a six-month-long nomination process, wherein a preliminary list of more than 100 restaurants was measured against two categories (cuisine and style/décor/service).

31 Best Airport Restaurants Around the World

1.       Porta Gaig (El Prat del Llobregat, Barcelona)

2.       Salt Lick BBQ (Austin-Bergstrom International Airport)

3.       Tortas Frontera (Chicago O’Hare International Airport) 

4.       Bubbles Seafood & Wine Bar (Amsterdam Airport Schiphol)

5.       Obrycki’s (Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport)

6.       Crust (LaGuardia Airport, New York City) 

7.       Five Guys (Dulles International Airport, Washington, DC)

8.       Custom Burgers by Pat LaFrieda (LaGuardia Airport, New York City)

9.       Encounter (Los Angeles International Airport)

10.   Legal Sea Foods (Boston Logan International Airport)

11.   Pink’s Hot Dogs (Los Angeles International Airport)

12.   Brasserie Flo (Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport)

13.   Plane Food (Heathrow Airport, London)

14.   Tagliare (LaGuardia Airport, New York City)

15.   Versailles Restaurant (Miami International Airport)

16.   Piquillo (John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City)

17.   Icebox Café (Miami International Airport)

18.   Union Jacks Bar (Gatwick Airport, London)

19.   Kim Choo’s Nonja Kitchen (Changi Airport Singapore)

20.   Airbräu Brauhaus (Munich Airport)

21.   Globe@YVR (Vancouver International Airport)

22.   La Moraga (Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport, Costa del Sol, Spain) 

23.   Cat Cora’s Kitchen (San Francisco International Airport)

24.   Altitude (Genève Aéroport, Geneva)

25.   Columbia Restaurant Café (Tampa International Airport)

26.   One Flew South (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport)

27.   Anthony’s Fish Bar (Seattle Tacoma International Airport)

28.   Tacañon (Benito Juarez, Mexico City)

29.   Dutch Kitchen Bar & Cocktails (Amsterdam Airport Schiphol)

30.   La Pausa (Ministro Pistarini International Airport, Buenos Aires)

31.   Tadında Anadolu (Istanbul Atatürk Airport)