The Overhaul
Ontario International Airport (ONT) has completed a sweeping menu refresh across its concession restaurants managed by SSP America, culminating this fall with the debut of new dishes at Tap & Pour in Terminal 2 — part of a coordinated push to elevate the airport's food-and-beverage offering ahead of the facility's 10th anniversary of local control.
The Tap & Pour additions include a Brekki Burger — a premium beef patty layered with American cheese, bacon, a fried egg, lettuce, and sriracha ketchup — and a Steak Frites pairing flank steak with house-made chimichurri and truffle fries. A broader sweep of SSP America's updated menus across the airport also introduces a Hot Honey, Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Bagel; Carne Asada and Blackened Chicken Tacos; a Black Bean Elote Burger; Totchos Tots with queso and pico de gallo; Grilled Chicken & Avocado Sandwich; and Avocado Toast with Egg, among other items. Offerings vary by restaurant.
Kitchen-Forward Approach
Tony Corona, SSP America's director of operations at ONT, said the development process began with input from frontline team members, followed by collaboration with regional culinary specialists and several weeks of staff training before launch. Fresh preparation is a stated cornerstone: the kitchen cuts steaks and makes chimichurri in-house rather than relying on pre-prepared components — a positioning strategy that airports have increasingly used to differentiate concession food from the grab-and-go stereotype that historically defined terminal dining. "We prepare our food right here," Corona said. "There's a lot of care behind what goes on the plate, and we want our guests to taste that."
The investment reflects a broader trend in travel foodservice, where concession operators such as SSP America, HMS Host, and OTG have competed aggressively on culinary quality to capture higher average spend per passenger. Airport food-and-beverage revenue is closely correlated with dwell time, making terminal dining a material contributor to non-aeronautical revenue for airport authorities.
Lounge & Occasion Drinks
Complementing the food program, ONT's two Aspire Lounges — one in each terminal — are pouring three anniversary-themed cocktails through November: the ONTo Bluer Skies (rum, pineapple juice, blue curaçao, lime juice, simple syrup); Decade in Bloom (citrus vodka, peach schnapps, pink lemonade, grenadine); and Purple Reign of Local Control (vodka, blue curaçao, grenadine, lemonade). The limited-time cocktail menu ties to the airport's year-long celebration of a decade under local management, offering beverage operators a time-bounded promotional hook that encourages lounge trial.
Penn Jones, Senior Manager of Tenant Relations for Ontario International Airport, framed the dual initiative as a passenger-experience imperative. "Whether travelers are sitting down for a meal, grabbing something before boarding or unwinding in a lounge, we want that experience to feel like a memorable part of their journey," Jones said. For SSP America and other airport concession partners, menu innovation of this scope also serves a commercial purpose: higher-quality, differentiated items typically carry stronger price points and margin profiles than commodity grab-and-go fare, a dynamic that foodservice operators have leaned into across travel venues as passenger volumes have recovered post-pandemic.
ONT, ranked among the top mid-sized airports in the U.S. by J.D. Power's North America Airport Satisfaction Study, serves more than two dozen nonstop destinations across the U.S., Mexico, Central America, and Taiwan. For the restaurant and beverage industry, the airport's menu overhaul illustrates how regional airports are investing in culinary programming to compete with larger hub facilities for traveler loyalty and dwell-time spend.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
