SACRAMENTO, Calif. — New food options are on the horizon for both terminals at Sacramento International Airport.
Lindsay Myers, a spokesperson for the airport, says they're excited about the new options and the concessions team did a lot of work to make it happen. She says the top things people want are affordability, a sense of place and fresh options.
The airport says it surveyed travelers last year, setting new goals for small business and Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) representation — 38% of the new vendors are ACDBE and 44% are small businesses.
Myers says businesses have three ways they could contract with the airport:
- Licensing the name: This is when another company works with a brand to create a menu to be served in the airport.
- Joint venture: This is where a local brand has a more extensive partnership with the host organization.
- Direct contract: This is when a local brand runs its restaurant.
She says the current leases will expire within a year and a half to two years and the changes will happen between June 2024 and January 2026.
Here's the airport's current timeline for implementing the changes, broken up into four phases.
Phase 1: June – August 2024
- Starbucks + Golden Grove Market
- Wendy’s (Terminal A)
- Bawk!
- Nixtaco
- Temple Coffee
- Bambuza Kitchen + Bar (Terminal A)
- Sidewalk Juice (Terminal A + B)
Phase 2: October 2024 – March 2025
- Starbucks + Sycamore Market (Terminal A, pre-security)
- Wendy’s (Terminal B)
- Café Bernardo
- West Coast Sourdough (Terminal A)
Phase 3: April – August 2025
- West Coast Sourdough (Terminal B)
- Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen + Bar (Terminal B)
- Magpie / Centro Cocina Mexicana / New Helvetia
- Onespeed Pizza
Phase 4: September 2025 - January 2026
- Starbucks
- Midtown Spirits
Jason Poole is a co-founder of Midtown Spirits, which is set to land in the B terminal at the airport in late 2025.
Poole says he heard about one of the outreach events and decided to go. Since then, he says he’s been at all of their events and outreach.
"I really have to give all the credit to the concessions team out of the airport, they did a huge outreach effort to make sure all local businesses had an opportunity to bid on this and to have the chance at the great opportunity that is having a location at the airport," said Poole.
He says the airport location will be a similar experience to what they have at their Midtown location. Poole says they'll serve brunch all day. They will also have a full menu including appetizers, entrees and desserts. He says bottled products and merch will be available, too.
"A company like ours, we are the first distillery in the city of Sacramento. We create a product that distributes outside of Sacramento, so this is going to be the greatest tool we have to get the awareness out to not just people in California, but nationwide about our brand and what we’re doing here," said Poole.
Poole says it's a luxury to be close to their Midtown location because they can potentially expand the menu instead of operating from far away.
Daniel Yambor, General Manager of New Helvetia Brewing Company, says being in the airport is great exposure.
"You see some of these brands in the airport and you’re like, 'We’re not one of those people, we’re not as big as that.' So when they came and reached out to us, we were like, 'Wow, this could be a big opportunity.' Not only to share our brand with new customers but to have another outlet to sell our beer through and increase revenue here," said Yambor.
Myers says the absolute soonest things could start to open is in July. She says this is not part of the SMF Forward project but meshes well with it.
Here's a full list of the new places set to arrive at the airport.
WATCH MORE ON ABC10: Inside Sacramento International Airport's $1.3B expansion project
