Bar Symon's menu features Symon's signature burgers, sandwiches and comfort food, as well as Greek and Italian entrees inspired by his heritage.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Symon has opened his second airport Bar Symon Kitchen & Taphouse at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Opened in partnership with family-owned Concessions International LLC of Atlanta, Bar Symon is an offshoot of the eateries by the same name at Quicken Loans Arena and at Pittsburgh International Airport. The menu features Symon's signature burgers, sandwiches and comfort food, as well as Greek and Italian entrees inspired by his heritage.
View full sizeCelebrity Chef Michael Symon, one of the hosts of the daytime talk show, "The Chew," is opening his second airport Bar Symon at Washington Dulles International Airport.Michael Symon will be at Dulles Airport for the grand opening starting at 1 p.m. Friday, March 13. Bar Symon is located in Terminal D, near Gate D-14.
Symon and Cleveland-based United Concessions Group collaborated to create Bar Symon as a "true respite from the hustle and bustle of a busy airport," with locally sourced "farm-to-terminal" cuisine, naturally raised and responsibly farmed food, and menu options that echo his other popular restaurants, including Lola, Lolita, and B-Spot Burgers. UCG, founded in 1982, holds the exclusive rights to airport-based Bar Symon restaurants.
"Bar Symon was created specifically for airports by combining Chef Symon's experience operating award-winning restaurants and his frustrations with [finding] quality food options while traveling," United Concessions Group said in a written announcement.
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 as a longtime regular at their BanJoe's Cafe at the end of Cleveland Hopkins Airport's Concourse C.
No matter what gate he was flying out of, he would always swing by for his usual five-shot Phoenix Coffee latte and a breakfast burrito.
When Symon heard that BanJoe's was being shut down 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, Ben Rababy and Michael Symon stayed in touch and talked about opening a joint venture. The first airport Bar Symon opened at Pittsburgh Airport in May 2012.
United Concessions Group just opened a Chick-fil-A restaurant at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on Jan. 20.