New Restaurants to Land at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport

Aug. 26, 2013
Hungry travelers take heart: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is planning to dish up lots more menu choices.

Aug. 25--Hungry travelers take heart: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is planning to dish up lots more menu choices.

Travelers flying Delta, Frontier, Southwest and United should see a restaurant makeover at the airport, starting later this year.

If the deal is approved, local favorites like Rocco's Tacos, Tarpon Bend Food & Tackle, Sergio's Cuban Cafe, Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, Nick's Tomatoe Pie, and Offerdahl's Cafe Grill will set up shop in the airport's first two terminals. Dunkin Donuts will be replaced by Starbucks.

Travelers will have low-price options as well, with the addition of Burger King. And variety, with Shula's Steak House, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and California Pizza Kitchen.

A "Before You Board" app would allow travelers to pre-order food for pickup, or for delivery at the gate.

"What we're trying to do is rejuvenate the airport for the people coming in and out of here, as we go into the future," Aviation Director Kent George said. "It's exciting. It really is."

Delaware North, the company that's been running the airport's restaurants since 1985, has been increasingly dogged by the county to modernize.

County commissioners, travelers themselves, have harped on the tired food choices and limited hours of operations for years.

The airport also polls its customers. "The food offerings for the most part rate fair to poorly," said airport spokesman Greg Meyer.

And there's money to be made: The Fort Lauderdale airport rates relatively low in how much travelers spend on food and retail, in national surveys.

At the top last year was Miami International, where passengers spent on average $13.44 on food and retail, according to Airport Revenue News. At Fort Lauderdale's FLL, the average spent by each traveler was $7.77.

"You can see there's room for improvement, thus the reason for us needing new blood," Meyer said.

HMS Host, an international company in 112 airports worldwide, is negotiating the deal with airport staff after winning top ranking by internal reviewers.

The company is in all five of the top U.S. airports, in terms of passenger spending on food and retail: Miami, New York (JFK), San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Anchorage.

County commissioners must approve the deal in the coming weeks. A competitor, MERABroward, is protesting, saying its package, which it spent $1 million putting together, was superior.

The first two terminals, where HMS Host will take over, are home to 11 airlines, including Delta, Frontier, Southwest and United.

In terminals 3 and 4 -- home to American, US Airways, JetBlue and Spirit airlines -- the existing restaurant contractor, Delaware North, will remain. That company recently opened three new restaurants in terminal 3.

Representatives from HMS told the airport staff who reviewed the bidders that they'd been in Broward off and on for four years working to win the contract, visiting the airport and area restaurants.

"With us, I think you see strength, I think you see financial stability," CEO Tom Fricke told the selection committee earlier this year, "but more importantly, you should have the certainty that over the long years of this relationship, we will continually make sure our offering is current and fresh and meets the ever-changing demands and interests of our customers, and you as well."

Losing bidder MERABroward plans to address commissioners Tuesday, urging them not to give the deal to HMS. MERA ranked third, after HMS and Hojeij Branded Foods.

Though MERABroward has no operations in the United States, CEO Rafael Aguirre in Cancun, Mexico, said the company spent $1 million on the bid and worked hard to understand what American travelers want to eat.

Among the local restaurants in his offer were icons like The Floridian, Betty's Soul Food, 15th Street Fisheries Bar & Cafe, and Duffy's Grill and Bar.

HMS Host plans to phase in its brands, starting this year and continuing over the three years the terminals will be under renovation.

County commissioners weren't involved in the bid -- and under airport bidding rules, the vendors were not allowed to contact them.

But airport officials said they're comfortable with the bid process and its result.

"I can tell you that in my opinion, even their interim program is really well thought out," said Douglas Wolfe, assistant director of aviation for administration and finance. "They cover the whole spectrum of food offerings. It's going to be a killer program."

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