THE PILOT'S PALATE Dave Touretzky and friends Last updated 6/26/2001 This file contains an amusing list of spots for pilots and their friends to eat and drink within reasonable flying distance of AGC, the Allgheny County Airport in West Mifflin, PA. The places range from basic airport dives to fancy restaurants where a jacket is required. The list is organized by distance from AGC. Allegheny County Airport (AGC). Restaurant closed. The Propeller Lounge, located in the terminal building, was your classic airport dive. It's been closed for years now, but perhaps it will reopen someday. The Prop was a good place to celebrate surviving a difficult flight, like your student's first solo. At night you could find various corporate jet jocks, Part 135 freight carriers, and assorted airport bums hanging out at the bar. Rostraver - Belle Vernon, PA (G08). 7 nm south of AGC. Eagle's Landing is a nice restaurant that opened in early '92. Hours: 8am to 10pm, closed Mondays. Basic American fare: breakfast items, hot and cold sandwiches, various dinner entrees. Prices are reasonable; most dinners are $7-$8. Breakfast is $2. Food and service were both good when we visited. Butler - Butler Country (BPT). 25 nm north of AGC. The Runway Restaurant & Lounge, located on the second floor of the terminal building, offers good food at reasonable prices. Hours: Tues-Thu 11am-9pm, Fri/Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-9pm (brunch buffet 11am-2pm), closed Mondays. Tel. 724-586-6599. We visit often; the food is excellent. Waynesburg - Greene County, PA (WAY). 26 nm on AGC Vortac's 196 radial. This place used to be a combination airport restaurant and truckstop with real character. In the Spring of '93 they tore down the old terminal building and built a nice new one with a generic restaurant/coffee shop (Trickles) on the second floor. The food is cheap and tasty, but the rural atmosphere (and occasional weirdness) that Greene Co. was famous for is gone. Ah, for the good old days. Latrobe - Westmoreland County, PA (LBE). 25 nm east of AGC. Jimmy Monzo's Blue Angel restaurant is the perfect place to take a date for a romantic dinner. It's also a good destination for someone's first airplane ride, since it's only about 20 minutes from AGC. Arnold Palmer is based here. The restaurant is located on the 2nd floor of the terminal building, and has a huge glass wall facing the runway. You can dine at a window seat while watching planes take off and land. The Blue Angel specializes in Italian cuisine. Entree prices run around $10/person. The buffet breakfast/lunch on Sundays is also very popular with pilots. Connellsville, PA (2G3). About 25 nm southeast of AGC. No food on the airport itself, but there is a Burger King and a shopping mall across the highway. Cheap eats, and a nice little walk to work off the calories as you head back to the plane. Not a bad deal. Wheeling, WV (HLG) about 30 nm west of AGC At our last visit on 6/26/2001 the new terminal was hosting a restaurant called Michael's Sweeets and Eats (tel. 304-277-2100). Hours: Tue-Thu 8-3, Fri 8-6, Sat-Sun 10-6. The owner is a Swiss-trained pastry chef who mostly serves breakfast-type stuff, home-made soups, etc. They were closed when we dropped by so we haven't tried the food yet. Also be sure to stop by the old terminal: it's been turned into a quaint little aviation museum. (Museum visited Feb. '96) Nemacolin *Very* nice; wear a jacket if you go for dinner. Prior permission is required to land, but it's easily obtained if you'll be dining there. Just call the resort and ask for Security. The runway is 5-23, and they'll pick you up in a limo and take you to the resort, which is just a few hundred yards away on the other side of the runway. Morgantown, WV (MGW). 40 nm south of AGC. Aunt Patty's Landing is the current (6/26/2001) name of the terminal restaurant. Looks pretty blah; haven't tried it. Much better deal: the Back Bay restaurant isjust a 5 minute walk from the terminal. Simply walk out the accesss road to the highway, and there it is: a gray two-story building with a vaguely "eastern shore" look. Offers great Maryland-style seafood at reasonable prices. Johnstown, PA (JST) 50 nm east of AGC. The Johnstown airport got a new terminal building in 1999, and with it, a new restaurant: Linos At the Airport. A visit in January of 2000 left us unimpressed. The old place, Rizzo's Skyway Lounge, featured home cooking, including veal parmigiana that was huge and delicious. The new place still has this dish on the menu, but it's not just not that good. They're worth another chance, though. Tolson - Carroll County, OH about 60 nm west of AGC This is a small airport in rural Ohio. We're talking elderly farmers in jeans and suspenders here. The airport restaurant, Granny's, serves basic American truckstop food: pork chops, roast beef and gravy, fried chicken, and pies that look and taste home-made. When I was there in '89, a nearby community fair was boasting such attractions as a baton twirling exhibition, a tractor pull, and a gospel sing. Earlier that day there had been a punch and cookies party (everyone welcome) to celebrate the 18th birthday of the airport operator's daughter, who runs the gas pump on weekends. In '97 the food sucked, but the atmosphere was still there. Granny's is more lively than Greene County, but just as weird. Try it; you'll like it. Not a good place to bring jaded sophisticates from "The City". Franklin, PA (FKL) about 60 nm north of AGC A new terminal and restaurant opened here in the spring of '94. The restaurant has excellent food, mainly Italian dishes. The stuffed potato bread makes an interesting and delicious appetizer. The atmosphere is more upscale than Johnstown but less than Latrobe. Moderate prices; good service. Clarksburg, WV (CKB) about 60 nm south of AGC The Aero Club at Clarksburg is a nice little restaurant/bar on the second floor of the terminal building. We tried the nachos and found them delicious. It also has sandwiches for about $4 and entrees for $8-$13. Hours (as of 9/91) were M-F 11-9 and Sat. 12-11; closed Sundays. [ May '94: This place seems to have closed, but a new restaurant is said to be opening soon in the same location. ] Miller (formerly Berlin), OH (4G3) about 65 nm northwest of AGC Dave Moneypenny and his wife run this little operation. The restaurant has a fish fry on Friday night, and a rib special on Saturday. We had the Cajun cod filet (April '93) and found it delicious. Dave's wife is Indian, and on occasion you can get curry dishes at the restaurant. The airport is northeast of Alliance, Ohio; in the summer there is skydiving activity -- tandem harness instruction is available. Fuel is cheap: $1.65/gallon, cash or credit. New Philadelphia, OH (PHD) about 70 nm west of AGC. New Philly used to have a comfortable but dowdy Perkins pancake house. (Ah, those kitschy plastic-cow milk dispensers!) The place has been converted into The Hangar, a real restaurant specializing in steaks and seafood. The atmosphere is quiet and upscale; prices are moderate: comparable to Latrobe. A good place to go for a serious dinner. Due to the distance from AGC, it's not a good spot to take fearful first time flyers. Akron-Fulton airport, Akron, OH (AKR) about 75 miles west/northwest of AGC This is the airport where the Goodyear blimps were built. (Don't confuse it with nearby CAK, the Akron-Canton airport.) You can still see humongous blimp hangars at one end of the field, but the blimps are gone. One is now operated from Wingfoot Lake, a little to the southeast of Akron. There's also a stadium right next to the field, called "The Rubber Bowl". The main dining attraction at AKR is Piscitelli's, a wonderful Italian restaurant in the renovated terminal building. Excellent food, beautiful atmosphere, not cheap but well worth the price. Great place to take a date. While you're there, you might also want to sample the "famous" Strickland's frozen custard stand; it's the little white building just across the street from the main terminal building. They have really good ice cream. If you want something more substantial but cheap, there's a pizzeria and a takeout place called Dilly's located 2-3 blocks up the street (heading TOWARDS the stadium.) Parkersburg, WV (PKB) about 85 nm southwest of AGC There is a little restaurant (and a separate coffee shop) in the terminal building: Helen's Airport Snack Bar. Mostly sandwiches and diner-type food, but the atmosphere is a lot nicer than Waynesburg. A big cheesburger with everything was $1.75 (5/20/90), and tasted great. Erie, PA (ERI) about 100 nm north of AGC The main attraction of this destination is its location on the shores of the big lake. It's fun to fly out over the lake and buzz around a while before heading in for some chow. Just make sure to give Erie Approach a call, and stay west of the Erie VOR so you're out of the ERI approach path. The Erie Cafe offers basic American fare, with average service and prices. Breakfast is served starting at 6am; the dining room closes at 8pm and the snack bar at 11pm. Unfortunately, GA pilots aren't allowed to park in front of the main terminal anymore. You have to park on the other side of the airport. Erie Airways, the local FBO, will gladly give you a ride over to the terminal in their van, or you can walk around the outside perimeter of the field if the weather is nice. But it's clearly less convenient than in the old days when you could park your plane right outside the restaurant. If you take the line service van you'll probably feel obligated to buy gas there, which would be an expensive mistake. Hagerstown, MD (HGR) about 120(?) nm southeast of AGC Nick's Airport Inn is the nicest airport restaurant we've ever been in. Park your plane in front of the terminal and you can walk to Nick's; it's just a few yards beyond the fence. Seafood is their specialty, but there are plenty of beef, veal, and poultry dishes too. Service and atmosphere are first rate. It's pricey, but a great place to take someone for their birthday or anniversary. Buffalo, NY (BUF) about 160 nm northeast of AGC Food trivia freaks know the Anchor Bar in Buffalo as the place where Buffalo chicken wings originated. This is also announced by a huge sign on top of the building. Cabs downtown to the Anchor Bar cost about $17 one way (it's 11-12 miles.) Food is served until 2:15am. The FBO at BUF, Prior Aviation, is open 24 hours, and will be happy to call a cab for you. A single order of wings contains 10 large ones; a double order has 20. They come with mild, medium, hot, or "suicide" sauce. The bar offers barbecued beef and pork ribs too, and lots of Italian dishes. Our cabbie recommended Bocci's as another place with great chicken wings (they're served all over Buffalo now), and Como's in nearby Niagra Falls for really good Italian food. We'd say this merits a return trip.