Midway Airport’s Food Upgrade Adds 19 New Restaurants Starting Friday

Midway International Airport’s food options are finally getting its much-needed upgrade. Renovations to its concessions area, a $75 million project that will add 19 new restaurants to the airport, start on Friday. Old favorites including McDonald’s, Potbelly Sandwich Works, and Harry Caray’s will be replaced by the likes of Tabo Sushi, a mini version of the now-shuttered Schaller’s Pump, and a possibly White Sox-themed bar—the team is still not commenting on that project.

Many existing restaurants and bars will close during the nine-day transition period that ends on Friday, May 20, reported the Tribune. Travelers passing through the airport during that time may want to eat before they get to Midway or load up on candy and other snacks from the gift shops. Earlier this year, bar and restaurant liquor license applications revealed the vendors the city’s department of aviation had approved to come to Midway. Home Run Inn Pizza and Decolores Burrito Joint are among other additions.

It’s a major facelift for Midway as only four previous restaurants—Reilly's Daughter Pub, Gold Coast Dogs, Pegasus, and Nuts on Clark—will stay, the Trib noted. According to that, that would mean Manny’s Coffee Shop & Deli will also vanish from Midway. Work will start on Concourse A, then Concourse B, and then the main concessions area.

Midway often finds itself in the shadow of the much-larger O’Hare International Airport. While there’s no Publican spinoff or a Rick Bayless restaurant, the project is still an improvement for weary travelers on the South Side.