One Flight Up is the one and only sit-down restaurant at the Burlington International Airport.  (There are 2 snack stands.) A couple of Saturdays ago, I decided to spend the morning at the airport testing out a Nikon D70 DSLR camera I am borrowing from a friend.  While there, I decided to grab breakfast at the restaurant so I could give solo travelers to my fair state an idea of what they can expect if they want to eat here.  Here’s what I thought:

The Good

• If there were an award for best view from an airport restaurant, this place would win it.  The restaurant has huge windows looking out over the airstrip, where you can watch planes board, take off, and land.  Beyond the airstrip is a gorgeous view of our local mountains.
• The portion sizes were large. I did not walk away hungry.
• The coffee was not bad.  (That’s a compliment coming from me.)
• This restaurant was very, very clean. Except for one exception (see The Bad).
• The restaurant is on the second floor, away from foot traffic to and from the gates, making it more peaceful and quiet than most airport restaurants.  It only had a handful of customers at 9am on a Saturday morning.
• It is bright, airy and generally much more pleasant than most airport restaurants I’ve been in.
• Attached to the restaurant is a cocktail lounge with ample bar seating for solo travelers as well as two-top tables by the windows.  I’ll have to check out the quality of their cocktails at some future date.  (The things I do for this blog.)

The Bad

• The price was too high.  I dropped $20 (including tip) on a breakfast that consisted of a veggie omelette (home fries and English muffin included), bacon, and coffee.  That’s about $5 more than it should have been, especially since…..
• They used canned spinach in their veggie omelette.  The horror!  I’m by no means a gourmet cook, but even I wouldn’t do that.
• The bacon was terribly salty; I couldn’t finish it, which was a first for me.
• There was no fork in my place setting; I had to swipe one from another table.
• The chair at my table that I most wanted to sit in (for the view) had food on it from a previous diner.
• They close at 6pm-6:30pm.  If you are at the airport after that, you are SOL.

Summary

While it has its flaws, this is still one of the better airport restaurants I’ve experienced. (Sad, right?) If you need to grab a bite to eat (or a drink) before boarding your flight, it’ll do in a pinch.  Mostly, I recommend it for the view.