Denver offers the best dining experience among the 20
largest U.S. airports, followed by Phoenix Sky Harbor and Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta.
Meanwhile, the three New York-area airports fill spots 18
through 20.
That's the conclusion of a report by RewardExpert,
a frequent flyer program advice website.
"Airport infrastructure has been widely discussed this
past year, and dining amenities can play a big factor in a traveler's
experience at an airport," RewardExpert CEO Roman Shteyn said in a
prepared statement. "We set out to find out which major U.S. airports go
above and beyond to offer exceptional culinary options for those in transit."
In assembling its "Airport Dining Scorecard,"
RewardExpert compiled 75,000 restaurant reviews from websites such as Yelp and
Zagat. RewardExpert also gathered menu and pricing options, and then used a
weighted score to determine the best airport in terms of restaurant quality and
variety. Airports were given individual rankings on the criteria of quality,
price and satisfaction as well as an overall 0 to 5 ranking.
Buoyed by low prices, lots of variety and quality
restaurants such as the field-to-fork Root Down, Denver was the lone airport to
score a 5.
The restaurant selection at Phoenix earned RewardExpert's
highest overall quality ranking among the 20 airports. Phoenix was also the
fourth least expensive airport in which to dine. Together, those factors helped
Sky Harbor to a score of 4, good for second place.
Atlanta's 140 restaurants helped that airport garner a score
of 4.0, helped by their variety and by One Flew South, a restaurant that fuses
Japanese and Southern cuisine. The report's authors described the restaurant as
one of the best in all of Atlanta.
Bringing in the bottom three spots in the ranking were the
oft-maligned New York metro airports. LaGuardia took 18th, Kennedy took 19th
and Newark finished in the last spot. Dining in all three airports scored low
for both quality and satisfaction while prices were high.
Newark did the worst, with a 0.5 overall score. The dismal
ranking came even though OTG has partially completed a $120 million revamp of
the eating experience in United's Terminal C at Newark, which will have more
than 55 food and beverage options once the redo is finished.