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You wouldn't choose an airport location for your first restaurant, but it makes plenty of sense for subsequent ones. That's what convinced Iron Chef Michael Symon to put his Bar Symon concept into the Pittsburgh airport and rapper/actor/restaurant owner Ludacris (real name: Chris Bridges) to open the straightforwardly named Chicken N Beer at the Atlanta airport.
These two join a relative handful of independent operators who have learned how to play the airport game. Restaurant opportunities in airports don't come along very often, so you have to be ready to pounce when they do. That means figuring out beforehand who the concession holders at a particular airport are and what business and political considerations must be addressed before you open up shop.
It's worth doing. Many strong local and regional operators have found success by opening a version of their existing concept at an airport,...