Aviation Restaurants

[Warbirdnerd]

Bob Pond's son Harry has a couple of aviation themed restaurants here in Minnesota-
https://www.eatatharrys.com/
https://b52burgersandbrew.com/

[Scott Rose]

There is a restaurant near the Connecticut Air & Space Museum in Stratford, CT called the Windsock Inn. Maybe Warbird Kid has a picture of it that he can post.

[Warbird Kid]

There is a restaurant near the Connecticut Air & Space Museum in Stratford, CT called the Windsock Inn. Maybe Warbird Kid has a picture of it that he can post.

I'll see if I can grab some pictures today and match them up with existing older photos. It's been in continuous operation as a bar / restaurant since the 1950s!

[Tulio]

When I was working up the hours for mi PPL, we pilot-students used to hang at two places at La Aurora International in Guatemala.

One, was called " The Cessna Cafeteria" for lack of a better name, good for a hamburger, a hot-dog, a soft drink. It was decorated with posters, calendars, etc., all aviation related.

The other location was the "Circulo Aéreo" and besides the regular food fare, they also had beer and other beverages, for the "after hours" hangar flying, solo celebrations and so on.

There was this little place too, on the Pacific Ocean coast, where we landed to have a Pepsi, or a Squirt or a 7Up, and a locally baked muffin. The runway was short, sandy, and parallel to the surf. The owner was the grandmother of a ground school classmate.

Through the years, I have seen airport restaurants /cafes, that cater to the locals. Nothing fancy, good food and a place to hang.

I am guessing that most airports have such a place, with local, sometimes historical airplane photos, shirt-tails cut off after a solo...


If you have photos or stories of such places, share them!!!


Saludos,


Tulio

[Warbird Kid]

Okay, nothing too crazy as far as some quick shots of the interior of the Windsock when I was there a few weeks ago. A great little dive that has all the character you could want! And it's a 10 sec walk to the entrance of the Connecticut Air & Space Center's new museum located in a portion of the Curtiss Hangar!

[Scott Rose]

Thanks Chris!

[Avnut]

Some news regarding 2 Ohio themed aviation restaurants. The news is old, but passing it along.

In Cleveland, the 100th Bomb Group closed in late 2020 due to COVID-19. It reopened, with some remodeling, under new management in spring 2022 as "The Aviator". The 100th Bomb Group had been open for 37 years.

In Columbus, the 94th Aero Squadron closed in June 2023 after the lease ended and the owners wanted to pursue other opportunities. The building was demolished around January 2024. The 94th Aero Sq. had been open for 40 years.

[Chris Brame]

I know there was a restaurant with an old airliner along I-75 in southern Georgia. I was just a kid when we'd drive by it on trips to visit family in Tennessee. This says it was near Warner Robbins but has no details: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/342

Three years later, I decided to do some digging through the Newspapers site and found the following:



From the "700" on the nose gear door I looked up DC-7Bs with that as the "last three" of the registration; the second DC-7B built N51700, ex-Pan American Grace Airways, looks like the one:
https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDo ... ial=116952
RZjets.net lists it as going to Atlanta Skylarks Travel Club for spares, presumably for their DC-7B N4889C (which is now dying a slow death at Chandler, AZ).





By 1980:


1984-1985:




All I could find for now. Anyone know c/n 44700/N51700's history after Pan Am? From the markings it looks like it might have been with another travel club before it was retired.

[JohnH]

More pics of the DC7 restaurant :

http://www.atlantatimemachine.com/misc/steakhouse.htm

[bdk]

Would be cool to see an aerial view but it's hard to pinpoint the location.