Anybody who spends a good period of time in airports is aware of how difficult it may be to discover a good bar during which to spend a layover. What’s the factors for a standout stop-over earlier than (or after) takeoff? We tapped some frequent fliers from the drinks world (together with Imbibe staffers) to seek out out which airport bars across the U.S. they sit up for visiting for dependable drinks and hospitality.
Bar Sazerac at Louis Armstrong New Orleans Worldwide Airport (MSY)
The New Orleans Worldwide Airport showcases the Crescent Metropolis’s iconic meals and drinks, reminiscent of Cafe du Monde and Treatment. However in Concourse B, one can correctly finish or begin their trip with the cocktail that put New Orleans on the map, and at a bar by the corporate who put it there: The Sazerac Firm. “The place else are you able to get a well-made Sazerac, Ojen, or Vieux Carré together with a beignet?” asks Andre Darlington, creator of Bar Menu: 100+ Ingesting Meals Recipes for Cocktail Hours at House. “For many who are already lacking the mashup on Bourbon Avenue the bar additionally affords one final probability at a Hurricane.”
Guide & Bourbon Southern Kitchen at Louisville Muhammad Ali Worldwide Airport (SDF)
Fortuitously, one doesn’t want a boarding cross to partake of this award-winning bar’s 85-bourbon checklist because it’s positioned within the pre-security space of SDF’s principal terminal Right here, one can luxuriate with a whiskey flight and a view of the runway upstairs within the Bourbon Loft. “Every time I’ve been touring in Bourbon Nation, I find time for one final style of the native stuff at Guide & Bourbon in Louisville Muhammad Ali Worldwide Airport,” says Imbibe government editor Paul Clarke. “Given the variety of neighboring distilleries, the bar’s bourbon checklist goes surprisingly deep for an airport bar. You possibly can take one for a spin in an Previous Long-established or a Manhattan, however I normally simply park on the bar with a neat glass of whiskey and a Kentucky-brewed beer. There are worse methods to spend the time whereas ready in your flight to board.”
One Flew South at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL)
Since 2008, the restaurant and bar, elegantly outfitted in native Georgian pink marble and coronary heart pine, has been serving “Southernational” delicacies and among the greatest cocktails to be present in an airport concourse. “One Flew South is what each airport bar ought to aspire to be,” says Charlotte Voisey, director of name advocacy, William Grant & Sons. “As soon as by means of the doorways you overlook you’re in Terminal E—it feels such as you’re having fun with the service, drinks, and spirits of a world-class cocktail bar.”
Level the Approach Café at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX)
Los Angeles brewery Golden Highway Brewing‘s airport gastropub, which opened in 2016, affords 12 rotating beers on faucet. A majority of the brews are its personal, reminiscent of its Golden Highway blonde ale and Wolf Among the many Weeds double IPA. “For me, airport bars are usually one thing I keep away from earlier than a flight, largely as a result of I really feel like my choices are restricted and certain overpriced,” says Imbibe affiliate editor Katrina Yentch. “LAX’s Golden Highway Brewery provides me the calm vibes of a metropolis brewery with a pub menu that has extra considerate touches, plus all kinds of beers from an LA staple.”
Root Down at Denver Worldwide Airport (DEN)
Root Down, whose flagship location is in Denver’s Highland neighborhood, extends its ethos of native, seasonal, and sustainable meals to its beverage program. A handful of colourful cocktails accompany biodynamic wines and a stellar lineup of Colorado beers. “They’ve an unimaginable checklist of native beers, a wine checklist that focuses on natural producers, and a very, actually incredible cocktail menu,” says Erin Hayes, longtime bartender and co-founder of the Black Lagoon pop-up bar. “Airports is usually a desolate wasteland for good meals and beverage. It’s generally troublesome to even get a well-executed easy, traditional cocktail at an airport, however Root Down won’t ever disappoint. They provide such numerous choices for drinks that anybody who stops by will discover one thing they love.”
The Sunken Lounge at John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK)
Step again into the golden age of flying at this attractive mid-century cocktail lounge, positioned within the historic TWA Terminal at JFK, with its floor-to-curved-ceiling home windows overlooking the jetway. “It’s a retro stunner channeling a glamorous vibe from the Nineteen Sixties,” says Mark Sansom, director of content material, The World’s 50 Greatest Bars. “The bar affords floor-to-ceiling views of a classic Lockheed Constellation ‘Connie’ airplane parked outdoors the place the Beatles first arrived within the U.S. Cocktails by the Gerber Group of The Campbell preserve the throwback really feel with Mad Males-era favorites, just like the Previous Long-established, and are served with nostalgic TWA swizzle sticks.”
Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge at Nashville Worldwide Airport (BNA)
After in depth renovations in 2020, the newly expanded 3,116-square-foot Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge reopened as one of many largest airport bars in BNA. Seize a neighborhood beer on faucet and luxuriate in a stay efficiency. “The one which stole my coronary heart is Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge in Nashville as a result of, like the unique on Broadway, they’ve nice stay music, which is a complete escape (particularly whenever you really feel trapped by a delay or cancellation),” says Mary Wright, proprietor of Denver’s Yacht Membership Bar. “I’m additionally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, initially, so discovering a honky tonk is a dream anyplace, not to mention on the airport!”
