The Best Eats at San Francisco International Airport

A goodly percentage of us will be flying through SFO this week.

Very few of us will have the time/wherewithal/foresight to pack a meal.

We decided to make it easy for you — by letting Liz Rudner, a nutritionist and the founder of BellyWell Kitchen, pick out all the meals worth eating at the airport.

“One of the goals of eating when traveling is to have a meal with moderate amounts of lean protein and carbohydrates with fiber,” she says. “The idea behind this is these meals help digest foods in a slow and steady way to fuel and energize your body. As a rule, it’s always better to buy whole foods like bananas, apples, nuts, yogurt and dried fruit for snacking, instead of fast food menu items. Unfortunately, these are not always available — and in the airport, they’re not always fresh.”

If you’d like to take a deeper dive into your personal nutrition, reach out to Liz, whose own food evolution was inspired by her experiences with celiac and Hashimoto’s, an endocrine disorder. Her focus now is on clean, paleo-inflected menus — evidence of which you’ll see in her airport choices, all 50+ of them, from egg whites and spinach for breakfast in Terminal 1 to seafood tacos with a side of black beans in Terminal 3.

Terminal 1

Dogpatch Bakehouse Caffe (Near Gate 68)

Breakfast
Egg whites and spinach

Lunch/Dinner
Market salad

Perry’s (Near Gate 42)

Breakfast
Eggs any way, steel-cut oatmeal, or the fruit Bowl

Lunch/Dinner
The hummus platter with veggies
Spinach salad
Grilled salmon
Pot roast

Terminal 2

Napa Family Farms (second location at International Terminal G)

Breakfast:
Oatmeal, with added fresh seasonal fruit

Lunch/Dinner:
Spinach and goat cheese with seasonal berries, Greek chicken, hand-tossed salad, roti chicken, roti tri-tip, vegetable plate

Drinks:
Health-Ade Kombucha
Rebbl Tonic
Forager drinks
Urban Remedy
Honest Teas

The Plant Café and Pinkberry (Near Gate 51B)

Breakfast
Power Bowl with poached egg, brown rice, kale pesto, pickled watermelon radish, raw red radish, sautéed mushrooms and spinach
Two eggs, any style

Lunch/Dinner
Hummus plate with mixed green olives and sliced levain
Shiitake spring rolls with shiitake mushrooms, marinated tofu, cucumber and cabbage
Dino kale salad with arugula, red quinoa, cherry tomatoes, avocado, carrots, cucumbers, toasted almonds, lemon cumin vinaigrette
Avocado & grapefruit salad with wild arugula, shaved fennel, macadamia nuts and black pepper macadamia nut dressing
Full Belly salad with mixed greens, Dino kale, Napa cabbage, carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, roasted beets, pea shoots, quinoa and avocado
Ayurvedic Spice bowl with curry and turmeric cauliflower, chickpeas, tomato, onion, cilantro, spices, jasmine rice, cucumber, radish and sauteed kale
Miso bowl with sautéed seasonal vegetables, quinoa and ginger miso sauce

Smoothies/fresh-pressed juices
Açaí Berry Protein smoothie with açaí berries, mango, strawberries, banana and a double-shot of hemp protein
Protein smoothie with banana, blueberries, coconut, almond butter, hemp protein and your choice of milk
Clean Green smoothie with avocado, kale, pineapple, lemon, juiced ginger, almond milk and apple/orange blend
Blue Green with banana, blueberries, spirulina, almond milk and coconut milk

Terminal 3:

Fraîche (Near Gate 81)

Breakfast
Veggie-Packed Omelette
SF Chronicle Special with oatmeal, Greek yogurt and fruit
Pressed juices
Fresh Greek Yogurt

Lunch/Dinner
Berkeley Salad
Wickedly Vegan Soup

Yankee Pier (Near Gate 72)

Breakfast
Cage-free eggs (always a bonus when traveling)
Eggs any style
Greek omelette

Lunch/Dinner
Seafood tacos
Yankee salad and grilled salmon

Sides
Black beans
Seasonal vegetables
Sauteed spinach

Klein’s Deli and Coffee Bar (Near Gate 62 and near Gate 83)

Breakfast
Veggie breakfast sandwich with scrambled eggs, roasted red pepper, spinach and cheddar on toasted multigrain

Lunch/Dinner
Mixed greens salad with tomato, cucumber, carrot, mixed greens
Klein’s Cobb with chicken breast, bacon, egg, avocado, tomato, blue cheese and mixed greens
Greek salad with tomato, cucumber, kalamata olive, red onion, feta cheese and romaine lettuce