Tour de Airport Culinary Adventure

I love a good food tour. A friend of mine recently went to New York and did a Pizza Tour, my old bakery here in LA is always one of the favorites on a walking cupcake tour, and of course there’s the ever-popular alcohol-fueled whiskey, brewery or wine tours. And then I went on to the Chopping Block classes listing and saw all these classes that resemble mini food tours of different regions in the world! I think the universe is telling me to go on a food tour!

So, I did. I went on my first-ever Tour de Airport Cuisine! I’m sure with just the mention of this you are already getting ideas with your next day of travel.

It started at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA. I had an early flight, but I skipped dinner the night before, so I was hungry. Also, I’m always hungry. I opted for an adorable little joint titled “Chezzburger.”

I have no idea what prompted them to call their airport restaurant this, but I tried it. It was probably the neon signs and that it was 6 AM. I didn’t have a chezzburger, but I did have a breakfast burrito. It was $10. And it looked like this:

It was, shall I say, appropriate? There were too many large pieces of potatoes for my taste. And by the way, why do restaurants feel like potatoes should be a standard for breakfast burritos? I don’t mind them, but I prefer the crisp of a hash brown-like tater. In an ideal world, every breakfast burrito would come with diced, sautéed veggies, avocado, a little bit of cheese, eggs (duh) and refried black beans. That’s where it’s at, friends. Trust.

On my first flight and next stop on the tour, I had a hot cup of coffee with one cream and one sugar. You can really tell that the Southwest flight attendant used the finest roasted beans and the freshest cream.  It immediately transported me to the rainforests of Central America, the volcanoes of Hawaii and the tropical coasts of Sumatra. Obviously, this cup did not disappoint.

Then, I had a very quick stop at the Phoenix airport, which felt huge and required a bit of walking/running to my next gate. Because of this, I wasn’t able to stop for a bite, but I did notice fantastic customer service by a host of a “Café Barrio.” Next time I’m there Phoenix, I promise to stop in and get some grub!

On my next flight, I partook in a bubbly glass of Coca Cola Classic. I paired this with a pack of Ritz Cracker Sandwiches (with cheese) - what an excellent combo. I was actually offered a plethora of snack options, but I didn’t want to seem greedy. The woman next to me grabbed three (!), and when she finished, said she had a lovely lunch! Hysterical!

My snack and beverage was refreshing, and whetted my appetite until my next and final stop: exotic Tampa, FL! On my way out, I passed the al fresco dining at TGIFridays, the fragrant Carrabba’s Italian Grill, and grabbed a veggie burger from Burger King.

Did you know they have veggie burgers? It’s not the most terrible thing in the world. It’s close, but it’s not the worst. I would say in a ranking of 100 veggie burgers, I would say it’s around the mid-70s - whatever that means to you.

Phew! What a day! I think I really had an excellent day of different tastes and flavors and styles of food. I’m sure I’ve had better meals at airports than today (Potbelly’s at Midway immediately comes to mind), but I think the key with airport food is to find value. What I mean when I say that is – get the free stuff. I have a feeling that gal’s lunch of three bags of complimentary snacks from the Southwest flight might have been slightly more rewarding than my $10 breakfast burrito. I dunno! One must tour to find out!

I imagine I haven’t swayed you to doing an airport food tour, but I hope you check out some of the cooking classes that The Chopping Block has for getting a great taste of regional cuisines. Some of my current faves are Food and Wine of Spain and Culinary Adventure: A Trip to the Middle East.

Tour on, folks!