I think one of the worst airport restaurants was in the Mazatlan, MX airport. There is one restaurant that serves burgers, sandwiches and ribs. Not a 3 star but comparable to Crapplebees. Anyways the wait was a godawful 1hr before we got a menu, the food another hour, wait to pay another 30. Good thing it was a free meal (from airline) and my flight outta there was on a crazy delay or else I would have spent the time wasted going back to Mazatlan to catch a few more rays on the beach with a good meal. What are some of your worsts?

I think most airport restaurants are bad! with a few exceptions

Welcome to FT, Untouchable1, and thanks for what will no doubt be an interesting topic.

I find most airport restaurants to be merely mediocre. They're crowded, noisy, expensive and the servers are overwhelmed. Oh, and the food's average at best. For me, the worst is the generic chinese fast food in the large airport food courts across the US. The food always smells way better than it tastes and they give you way too much (I feel guilty not finishing what is placed before me. If I wasn't in an airport, I'd take half home with me.).

But really, nothing compares to the old days when all you could get at an airport was a giant hot dog for $4 (in $1977 - would that be a $12 hotdog today?).

Roadhouse 66 Bar in PHX. Bad food, bad service, crowded and smokey. Unfortunately, they would be the only restaurant still open on my red-eye connection back to Philly, so I got to eat there a couple times.

I`m not saying it`s the worst, but I tell my customers not to eat at the restaurant here at Stavanger Airport. I have seen cockroaches crawling on the floor and counter. One of my collegues had a cockroach in her salad. Yummy......talk about fresh.
One of the kiosks that sells hotdogs had to stop doing that. I don`t know what they are called in English, but the food control people found the area filthy and things were not as they were supposed to be.
All I can say is I bring sandwiches from home now. Better for my health and better for my wallet.

Go to any airport in Saudi Arabia. Then you will know what disgusting is. It's nasty. No McDonald's or Burger King even....... All local chains with seriously disturbing looking food.

SFO is an exception to that, especially in the international terminal. Most of the restraurants there are pretty good.

That, and any Fox Sports Bars in any airport. In fact, I believe I have never had a meal at an airport that would be above C-

- Everything outside lounges at Doha. Actually the whole terminal reminds of a cheapish shopping mall with trashy fastfood joints included.

- The airside "pub" at LGW. School canteen style interior and queuing for overpriced drinks and greasy food.

- The generic airside "snack bars" at ICN. No decent food available outside the ( excellent ) terminal hotel restaurants.

- And extra mention goes to food and drinks prices at DUS. Double or triple compared to the city proper, the latter being not that cheap either.

Ummm, Chili's in DTW is gross.

I recently flew out of Providence for the first time in over a decade. I had lots of time to kill, so I wanted to sit down for lunch. There was one restaurant outside of security, and with such a small airport, I figured they'd only have fast food inside.

Big mistake! This place was way worse than the typical boring burger joint. A burger and fries took over half an hour (in an AIRPORT), and when I complained to the waitress, she started .....ing to ME about the kitchen! She was openly rude to us several more times before the end of the meal; really some of the worst service I'd ever had. Cold white soggy fries. Plus the place was filthy. Naturally, once we went through security we realized that there were some perfectly nice food choices on the concourse (pleasant burrito place, etc.). I'll check FT before my next trip to an unfamiliar airport!

I agree Chilis at any airport I have tried is the worst!!! Chilis to go is just horrible. I have tried a few menu items and NOT impressed. I will never eat a Chilis again!

THE BEST AIRPORT FOOD IS AT DFW Terminal D - you have Blue Mesa which has excellent tacos!

So, I guess I'm going OT here (opposite thread, that is), but I have to ask whether or not DFW's terminal D can compete with the restaurants at AUS? Small airport, but they have an Amy's Ice Cream (granted, not a restaurant) and a Salt Lick, among other fare.

And, hey, welcome to FT, Untouchable1!

but the Ben and Jerry's in Terminal C of IAD was my worst food experience. Service is awful and the place is dirty. Usually the same person who handles the ice cream handles the money. I got a cone when I first started travelling there was debris on ice cream. I through it away and never went back.

A few weeks later I overheard 2 airport employees when riding the moon buggy. One of the guys was obviously new to the job and the other more experienced. The jist of the conversation was the one guy telling the other that all IAD employees knew to never eat the ice cream there. That what goes on behind the scenes was nothing compared to what the counter looked like.

I haven't been to Dulles since August and when I last saw it that area was under construction. Hopefully whatever comes back is cleaner.

Anything and everything at BWI...except the new restaurants in the Southwest terminal, all of which are decent. The old places in the C and D terminals, and before the secure area, are just awful. Bad food; surly, indifferent service; high prices. I realize all three of those are standard for airport food, but BWI takes it to a level unmatched few other places in the US.