Last week I was returning from a vacation in Panama. At the airport, I wanted to buy some food for the plane ride, as I wasn’t sure they would serve any food on the flight. In the entire section of the terminal, I spotted exactly two places that sold food. One was a coffee shop that sold nothing but slices of cake and crap like that. The other place was some sort of combination of Domino’s pizza and something else. I thought that a pizza would be nice, but since it was 8 AM, of course they didn’t have any. The only hot food I spotted in the entire terminal was those hot dogs that spin around on that carousel for hours and hours. The only other options at this booth were total garbage like potato chips and Nature Valley granola bars.
What really pissed me off about all this was the number of duty-free shops and luxury item stores (Gucci, etc.) I don’t need a fucking handbag when I’m waiting to catch my flight, I just want a halfway decent meal!
I flew through some terminal, maybe A, at SFO that has nothing but two branches of a sandwich/pizza place that seemed to be run by teenagers posturing for each other, not practicing good food-handling techniques, etc.; plus one other sandwich-y place. I didn’t have time to break security and get to the terminal with really good food choices. Both of these places were so dirty and smelled so bad that I elected not to eat, knowing it would be 5 hours before I had another option.
Also, the airports need decent food choices before the security checkpoint. A few years ago, my brother and his kids were dropping me off at the airport, and I wanted to eat something with them before I entered the secure zone.
I had that same experience at the Panama City airport earlier this year. That place is way bigger than I thought it would be and much busier but it is severely lacking in food and drink. I don’t know who is buying all that stuff at an airport but it is set up like a high-end mall without a food court. I did appreciate all the model quality ladies they had stationed outside the stores that flirt with you to get you to come in but I had other business to attend to. I eventually found something to eat because I am not that picky but it was expensive.
I go to lots of airports at off-hours that don’t have much of anything available except for basic airport services. Providence, RI and Colorado Springs are two common ones. They are both good airports in general for travelling but don’t expect much of anything if you arrive off hours.
My favorite though is the Nosara airport on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. It has a single very small runway with a tiny building that isn’t even fully enclosed at the end of it manned by a lone attendant only when they are expecting an arrival. I was one of two people that got dropped off there on a Sunday morning awaiting a hotel shuttle van that never showed so I just hung out with the attendant for about an hour trying to figure out what to do. The attendant used his cell phone to call a nearby friend that freelances as a taxi driver to come pick me up. His friend showed up in a mid-90’s Toyota Camry with the worst blown shocks and suspension that I had ever seen but we set off down a series of rutty, dirt roads and successfully made a small river crossing in it to get me to the hotel about 25 minutes later. Total Cost: $15 cash. It may sound shitty to some but that is probably my favorite airport in the world now.
Detroit doesn’t have a lot of things. Still, I am always impressed that their airport is reasonably attractive and presentable even more-so than some other much more successful cities. I fly through there fairly frequently and I do like White Castle. I will pull an airport manager aside the next time I am there to get an explanation and (hopefully) a remediation on this issue.
I flew through the Philadelphia airport about ten years ago and had a long layover. I asked one of the volunteers if there was a good place in the airport for a cheesesteak sandwich but was told there was not. I think all cities should have their signature foods featured in the airport.
I suspect you must have been in the newest wing of the airport, which irritatingly enough has the worst food choices. It has a couple of places where you can get cold wrapped sandwiches, and one where you can get pizza and chicken, but no place where you can get a decent breakfast or other kinds of hot food. Last week when I had a morning flight, after finding my gate I had to go back to the main part of the terminal to get something for breakfast. I agree this is an extremely stupid design.
The airport actually does have a fair food court, located on a mezzanine level above the central gates. This may not be immediately obvious to someone unfamiliar with the airport. It has standard fast food choices like Carl’s Jr., Chester’s Chicken, and Domino’s, but also a Japanese place that offers sushi and noodle dishes.
Admittedly the food choices aren’t great but they are better than a lot of airports outside the US. Panama City airport has upgraded enormously in the past five years and I expect that it will continue to improve.
The airport on Truk (Chuuk) didn’t have air conditioning when I was there in…2005, I think. The country is really poor, and has trouble buying fuel for generators.
On the bright side, there is a comfy little tiki hut next to the runway with a good breeze. A few of us walked out of the gate, onto the runway, and into the tiki hut to wait for our flight. When the plane was getting close, an airport official came out and told us to get inside to prepare to board.
A few months ago, I was flying out of Dallas-Forth Worth. I was burned out from a conference, so I just wanted a mindless magazine to read. The only newsstand near my gate was awful. It had girly magazines, hunting magazines, business magazines and puzzle magazines. No Vogue, Vanity Fair, Real Simple, Rolling Stone, not even InStyle or InTouch. I know it was Dallas, but people other than Dallas bussinessmen fly through there!
I fail to see the issue. If you can’t take an interest on at least one of those then you shouldn’t be flying in the first place. Plus, that isn’t completely true. I can guarantee you that someone had Texas Monthly magazine for sale to round out the lifestyle options. I love Texas airports because they skip the bullshit and provide what real people need when it comes to magazines.
Try to find a water fountain in any German airport or train station. On our trip, when I finally found one I was so excited that I took a picture of it. Rare as it was. My Wife then reminded me we where in Austria.
The Lisbon airport has no food or shopping after passport control! You have to go all the way back through security when you realize this with two hours before your flight (down to baggage claim, I think, or some bullshit like that.) You can’t just go back past the passport desk, either. They get REALLY MAD if you try.