Symon is partnering with the family who owned the now-closed BanJoe's Cafe at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to launch what they hope will be a series of airport-based Bar Symon restaurants and tap houses.
View full sizeCelebrity chef Michael Symon, seen here at the Fabulous Food Show at the I-X Center in November, has announced plans to open a Bar Symon at Pittsburgh International Airport this spring with the family that operated BanJoe's Cafe at Cleveland Hopkins Airport.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Iron Chef Michael Symon is taking his classic Lola Burger to the Pittsburgh airport.
Symon is partnering with the family who owned the now-closed BanJoe's Cafe at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to launch what they hope will be a series of airport-based Bar Symon restaurants and tap houses.
The Bar Symon, Symon's first airport eatery, has signed a lease agreement to open this May in a high-profile location in the middle of Pittsburgh International Airport, according to Airmall USA. Bar Symon was also the name of his beloved Avon Lake restaurant that closed in October 2010.
"We are thrilled to welcome Chef Symon to the Airmall and look forward to the mouth-watering dishes that will be served there," said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald in a statement.
Symon's latest brainchild will be operated by the Rababy family's United Concessions Group Inc. of Cleveland, with The Paradies Shops of Atlanta.
Symon, whose many Cleveland restaurants include Lola, Lolita and B Spot, could not be reached on Wednesday. Symon is co-host of ABC's show, "The Chew."
"We are confident that Bar Symon will be second-to-none in providing our hurried patrons quality food they can trust and that's responsibly farmed in a sustainable fashion," said Ben Rababy, vice president of United Concessions Group. United Concessions has the exclusive license to operate Michael Symon restaurants in airports.
Symon, the local restaurateur and cookbook author who shot to fame after winning the Food Network's "Iron Chef" competition, got to know the Rababy family because he was a longtime regular at their BanJoe's Caf at the end of Hopkins' Concourse C.
No matter what gate he was flying out of, he would always stop by for his usual five-shot Phoenix Coffee latte and breakfast burrito.
When Symon heard that BanJoe's was being shut on Jan. 3, 2011, he tweeted to his then-18,543 Twitter followers and 32,784 Facebook fans that it was "the only place there to get good food and coffee . . . Cmon city of Cleveland ya gotta keep em!!"
After BanJoe's closed, Rababy and Symon stayed in touch and talked about opening a joint venture, but it took nine months to bring it to fruition.
Bar Symon's menu will feature Symon's well-known twists on comfort foods, including his signature Lola Burger topped with a fried egg and pickled red onions; shoestring Lola Fries with sea salt and rosemary; and baked macaroni and cheese two ways, with blue cheese, bacon and parsley or with cheddar, pulled pork, hot sauce and scallions.
The restaurant, themed "Live. Love. Cook," will serve naturally raised and responsibly farmed food with a full bar in unique setting that will incorporate reclaimed materials from old factories and bowling alleys, Rababy said.
"The design will combine the traditional, relaxed feeling found in the historic cafes and breweries of France with the sensibilities of the quintessential American bar and the hardworking clientele they cater to."
Both Symon and Rababy are interested in someday opening a Bar Symon at Cleveland Hopkins.
"Michael wants something in Cleveland," Rababy said.