I almost never pay for anything to eat at airports for a couple of reasons. First, if I went to Starbucks and Wolfgang Puck every layover, I’d probably be broke. Second, and more importantly, I do my best to eat as healthy as possible while on the road (which isn’t saying much, given that I spend most of my time at airports), and the high price of airport food is one nice incentive to not visit too many airport eateries (if you can even call them that). So usually I’ll just eat on my flights, and since I get a meal on almost every flight, that’s way more than enough.
I know a lot of people have their favorite airport eateries, but given how much I travel, I’m surprised I don’t have all that many. The airports I transit most — the five United hubs — don’t exactly have too many exciting options. And when they’re the least bit interesting, they’re way overpriced and typically a watered down airport version of the original.
But there’s one place I’ll almost always grab a salad. And that’s California Tortilla at Dulles Airport in the United terminal (C concourse). It’s decent Mexican food, but more importantly, they’re always friendly and their prices are insanely reasonable. I always get a southwestern chicken salad for $6.99, which is comparable in quality and quantity to a salad you’d get at Chili’s for $10. I’d actually argue it’s better. Yes, I realize it’s not exactly healthy, but it’s better than a lot of the other options out there. Since when is something at an airport cheaper than in a restaurant, though?
And yes, in this weekend’s case I was the annoying douchebag that brought the good looking meal aboard the plane. And yes, in this case it was a regional jet. And yes, I’m pretty sure I tortured the lazy flight attendant that sat in the jumpseat right across from me (I was in 1C) salivating over my salad for about 42 minutes, because the flight was “too short” for her to serve drinks.
Other than that, I’ll occasionally get an Auntie Anne’s pretzel if my connecting flight doesn’t have a meal, but that’s about it.
Anyone else have any favorites? Anyone else love California Tortilla (and the insanely awesome prices they have)?
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