Guide: Sky Harbor's best restaurants, bars and coffee in Terminal 4
Your guide to the airport's best drinks, dining, snacks and kids meals.
Getting to the airport early, as experts advise every holiday season, isn't such a drag at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
There are no big-name stores or soothing rocking chairs as in some other airports, but Sky Harbor has a lineup of restaurants and bars to rival any airport. The Points Guy, a popular website for frequent fliers, cited the high number of restaurants and bars as a key factor in Sky Harbor's ranking as the No. 1 U.S. airport in a November study.
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The airport completed a two-year restaurant makeover of mammoth Terminal 4, its busiest, in 2014 by adding dozens of local eateries and new chains. Visitors get a taste of Arizona chefs talents and locals get to enjoy their favorite foods on the fly.
So forget breakfast at home or a brown-bag lunch this holiday travel season and arrive at Sky Harbor hungry. Here are our recommendations on every concourse and along the large shopping and dining concourse before security.
Before security
Caffeine fix: Lola Coffee.
Breakfast deal: $6-$7 breakfast burritos at America's Taco Shop.
Kids meal deal: It's a tie between Sauce and Joe’s Real BBQ. At Joe's, $5.49 buys a kid’s sandwich meal brimming with your choice of barbecue meat, a side such as cheesy potatoes and a homemade cookie that's big enough to share. At Sauce, $5.50 gets you a choice of spaghetti, macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese and a drink.
Healthy eats: Acai bowls at Yogurtology.
Sip and splurge: Chelsea’s Kitchen. A glass of sauvignon blanc pairs nicely with an appetizer of overstuffed deviled eggs or guacamole. For the main dish, try the kale salad, short rib tacos or rib-eye tacos. Take a few of the Phoenix restaurant's signature free sea-salt chocolate-chip cookie bites for the flight.
Sweet treat: Red velvet cake at Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles.
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A gates 1-14 (American Airlines)
Caffeine fix: Olive & Ivy.
Breakfast deal: Two scrambled eggs for $3.29 at Wildflower Bread Company.
Kids meal deal: Modern Burger's $6.50 meal includes a burger, grilled cheese or hot dog plus fries and a drink.
Healthy eats: Grilled teriyaki chicken bowl with mixed vegetables at Panda Express.
Sip and splurge: Steak and shrimp fajitas and a blood-orange margarita at Blanco Tacos & Tequila.
Sweet treat: Modern Burger shake of the month, such as a gingerbread shake.
A gates 15-30 (American Airlines)
Caffeine fix: Peet’s Coffee & Tea at the entrance to the concourse.
Breakfast deal: Egg and cheese sandwich on brioche for $7.69 at Delux Burger.
Kids meal deal: Pei Wei’s "Kid Wei'' meals, $5.49 for teriyaki chicken or honey-seared chicken with rice.
Healthy eats: Edamame and California roll at Pei Wei.
Sip and splurge: Four Peaks Brewery for a pint or two of hometown beer such as the flagship Kilt Lifter Scottish Style Ale. The Arizona chicken rolls — stuffed with chicken, Anaheim chiles, pepper jack cheese and cream cheese — are among the most popular appetizers, and the blackened salmon BLT is a must.
Sweet treat: A cupcake or candy from Tammie Coe Cakes (great for bribing cranky kids during a layover).
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B gates 1-14 (American and international carriers)
Caffeine fix:The Refuge
Breakfast deal: Cereal-to-go costs $2.96 (milk is extra) at El Bravo.
Kids meal deal: $4.99 pizza bites with ranch dressing, juice and a fruit cup at NYPD Pizza.
Healthy eats: Salad from Cowboy Ciao's grab-and-go stand, hold the buttermilk dressing.
Sip and splurge: Breakfast food is delicious at any hour and Matt's Biggest Breakfast from Matt's Big Breakfast has all the favorites: eggs, thick-cut bacon, sausage patties, home fries and a griddle cake with syrup. Pair that with Matt's impressive Bacon Bloody Mary, a spicy drink generously garnished with hunks of Cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, pickles, olives and bacon.
Sweet treat: Share (or don't) the Pecan Turtle, a sundae with scoops of salted-butter caramel ice cream, hot fudge, toasted pecans and salted-caramel sauce at Sweet Republic ice cream.
B gates 15-28 (American and international carriers)
Caffeine fix: Starbucks at the beginning of the concourse.
Breakfast deal: Shell out a mere $1.69 for a sausage burrito or a sausage McMuffin at McDonald's.
Kids meal deal: On Wednesdays, get two-for-one McDonald's Happy Meals when you download the McDonald's mobile app.
Healthy eats: La Madeleine's spinach salad.
Sip and splurge: Cowboy Ciao, with its large bar and extensive wine list. Order the Scottsdale restaurant's locally famous Stetson Chopped Salad (salmon or chicken), the quesadilla del dia or macaroni and cheese. Oh, and you can get breakfast, too. Chocolate-chip pancakes or a breakfast quesadilla, anyone? That's something you can't get at the original Cowboy Ciao.
Sweet treat: Peanut-butter lovers must try the Oh, Canada, Peanut Butter Bar at Cowboy Ciao. It's a graham cracker crust with notes of peanut butter and coconut filled with peanut butter and house-made mascarpone-vanilla custard and coconut ganache. It's served with chocolate-covered banana ice cream.
C gates 1-9 (Southwest Airlines)
Caffeine fix: Starbucks just past the security checkpoint. Be patient; there is always a snaking line.
Breakfast deal: Los Taquitos' breakfast burrito, $4.99, has eggs, cheese, pico de gallo and potatoes wrapped in a flour tortilla.
Kids meal deal: The CB&J sandwich at Nocawich, $6, is a modern take on a classic, made with cashew butter and blackberry jam.
Healthy eats: Tuscan kale salad from Nocawich is a vitamin-packed meal of kale, sultanas, caperberries, pickled red onions, shaved fennel, apple, Parmesan and breadcrumbs with lemon vinaigrette.
Sip and splurge: Humble Pie. Order the SOP Pizza, the Arizona pizza maker's signature pizza with sausage, caramelized onions, red peppers and mozzarella and ricotta cheese. If you're a devotee of sangria, try the house-made drink in red and white varieties.
Sweet treat: Satisfy your sweet tooth with the Mile High Chocolate Cake at Humble Pie.
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C gates 11-19 (Southwest Airlines)
Caffeine fix: Locally owned Cartel Coffee Lab.
Breakfast deal: Two breakfast sliders with egg, cheese and sausage or tomato and potatoes for $9.95 at Sir Veza's Taco Garage.
Kids meal deal: The Backseat burrito at Sir Veza's Taco Garage, a bean-and-cheese burrito with fries and a fruit roll. Parents will love Sir Veza's signature Sirnoran Dog with applewood bacon and fries.
Healthy eats: Cartel Coffee Lab sells Phoenix Public Market's Eat the Rainbow salad, featuring steamed and raw farmers market vegetables with three dipping sauces: curry aioli, spicy aioli and green goddess.
Sip and splurge: Zinc Brasserie, at the beginning of the concourse, has a large bar with TVs and a view of the PHX Sky Train. Grab a seat and order creme brulee french toast or crepes for breakfast, French ham and gruyere baguette for lunch or decadent flatiron steak frites for dinner. There are drinks for every meal, too: espresso in the morning, mimosas at lunch and cabernet sauvignon for dinner.
Sweet treat: You can't go wrong with cookies from Paradise Bakery.
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D gates (Southwest Airlines)
Caffeine fix: Peet's Coffee and Tea at the beginning of the concourse.
Breakfast deal: Commuter sandwich at La Grande Orange. For $9, you get scrambled eggs, tomato, mayo and the choice of bacon, ham or turkey (add avocado for .50) stuffed into a homemade English Muffin. It's a signature item at the popular Arcadia neighborhood eatery. On a budget? The English muffin with butter is just $2.15.
Kids meal deal: Get a grilled-cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwich for $5 at La Grande Orange.
Healthy eats: Shredded kale and quinoa salad at La Grande Orange.
Sip and splurge: Barrio Cafe's spacious bar is always packed. Try the mango margarita. To eat, start with the Phoenix restaurant's trademark guacamole (studded with pomegranate arils when they're in season and dried cranberries at other times). Then, opt for the house-specialty cochinita pibil, slow-roasted pork.
Sweet treats: Barrio's churros are so much more than fried dough. They're stuffed with goat's milk caramel and tossed with cinnamon and sugar and then served with vanilla-bean ice cream, strawberries, candied pecans and even more caramel sauce.