The airport is becoming one of the best places to eat in Philly

There will soon be two more reasons to arrive early at the airport, as new local vendors join the ranks of Bud & Marilyn’s, Sabrina’s, La Colombe, Elixr Coffee, and Jim’s South St. Famous Cheesesteaks at PHL: the legendary Oyster House and the rapidly expanding Federal Donuts & Chicken. With their arrival in spring 2025, the B/C connector will look even more like the streets of Center City.

Less than a decade ago, your pre-flight options at PHL were probably a cheese plate at Vino Volo or a chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. If you had the privilege of holding an American Express Platinum card, you could have had access to the admittedly good salad and buffet bar in Terminal A’s Centurion Lounge, which opened in 2017. But over the past several years, MarketPlace PHL (the developer and landlord for shops and restaurants at the airport) has built out a sizable roster of local fare.

Both Federal Donuts and Oyster House will exist under the airport’s “Founded in Philly” umbrella, which was established this past year and, more than ever before, follows through on the goal that PHL should mimic travelers’ experiences in the city itself. The restaurants are working with Atlanta-based Jackmont Hospitality, the food service company that brought Elixr Coffee into PHL earlier this year, replacing a Starbucks. “We want the customer to come in and say, ‘I recognize these restaurants,’” said Simon Lorady, the vice president of business development at Jackmont, who is originally from Philly. “In an airport, people are on the go and unfocused. We find in studies that they are very anxious. They don’t want to take risks in an airport and default to safer menus.”

If you follow airport news, you might recognize Jackmont Hospitality as the same company that operates One Flew South, Atlanta International Airport’s fine dining restaurant, which has twice been nominated for the James Beard Foundation Awards in 2014 and 2015, and is the only airport restaurant to have achieved this.

Demolition has begun for both restaurants.

Federal Donuts’ first airport location will be its 12th overall — one of many locations in the works for the private equity-backed fried chicken and doughnut chain. It will take the place of PHL Flavors, which had supplanted Pinkberry after its pandemic closure. The menu is being finalized, but it will feature most of its current offerings, including, of course, doughnuts and fried chicken. “This new location will allow us to serve our local fans as they head out of town and to introduce travelers to FD&C as they arrive in our birthplace,” Federal Donuts CEO Jeff Benjamin said.

Oyster House will occupy the former location of Legal Sea Foods, which closed in 2020, and take over a small adjacent flower shop. The airport location will have a similar menu to Center City’s Oyster House, with a glass-encased raw bar along the concourse and a craft cocktail program. As part of the licensing agreement, Oyster House chefs will train cooks hired by Jackmont.

Sam Mink, who took over in 2009 as the third-generation owner and operator of Oyster House, had once vowed never to open another one. “A company had approached me about this possibility 10 years ago but I wasn’t ready at the time,” he said. “We’re excited to be a strong local brand at the airport, to greet visitors as they come into the city, and for our locals to have a martini and plate of oysters before they leave on vacation.”

“Sam was a tough nut to crack,” Lorady said. “But I think this relationship is going to go well.”

One Oyster House signature that won’t make the jump are the oyster plates that adorn the walls of the decades-old Sansom St. restaurant. Instead, the PHL location will feature photographs of previous incarnations of the Oyster House, owned by Mink’s father and grandfather.

Lorady declined to specify the length of the agreements, “The leases are going to be long,” he said. “These will be strong relationships, not flashes in the pan. And there are other things coming down the horizon. They will be part of the local program.”

Marketplace PHL is gearing up for an influx of millions of visitors to Philadelphia, in anticipation of the Semiquincentennial (Philadelphia250), the FIFA World Cup, the MLB All-Star Game, NCAA March Madness, and the PGA Championship.

“Even more ‘Founded in Philly’ announcements are coming soon,” hinted Mel Hannah, Vice President and General Manager of MarketPlace PHL. “With a huge 2026 on the way, we are excited to announce the addition of these two locations, with more to come.”

The projected openings at PHL are in line with national trends — airport dining has been upgraded across the country, as airport concessionaires bring cities’ best-known brands portside while airlines and credit card companies fiercely compete for customer loyalty with ever more extravagant dining experiences.