Some Of America’s Best Airport Food & Drink Is At One Illinois Airport

If you think about it, we do judge an airport's food.

We're getting into the season of travel. Think about what you're paying attention to as you're walking around or waiting in an airport. My mental order is this: find gate, try not to get run over, once gate is found, find bathroom and food. And as we're doing this, we're probably paying attention to how fancy the airport is.

And that includes the food.

For me, eating at the airport is kind of lawless. You want a margarita sitting on the floor at 7:00 a.m.? Go for it. You want to eat 3 spicy appetizers by yourself before sitting down for 10 hours? Do it.

Food & Wine has released their top airport picks for the best food and drink in 2025.

You don't have to go far to find one of their best.

Sliding in at number 2 is Chicago O'Hare.

I'm not that surprised, really, they have so many food options. O'Hare even has a pop-up food festival, JBF@ORD Chef Series. The airport has an extensive list of eateries, running the culinary gamut. Food & Wine specifically mentioned the outlets that have Chicago ties, including Tortas Frontera (known for their guacamole at the airport), Butcher and the Burger (their customizable meat or lentil burgers), The Hampton Social's rosé all day, Bar Siena's Italian street food, and Publican Tavern.

In case you're planning flights with long layovers, number 1 on Food & Wine's list is (the always busy) Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson.