Houston Area Pilots...WTH?

Jay Honeck

Jay Honeck

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jun 6, 2008
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Ingleside, TX
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Jay Honeck
Okay, guys, a few months ago y'all were blessed with the opening of a new airport restaurant in Angleton, TX (Gulf Coast Regional Airport -- KLBX). It's called the Runway Cafe, it's owned by an experienced restaurateur, the food and service are excellent, and you can taxi right up to the front door.

When they opened, I begged everyone to support this new airport business. There are hundreds of Houston-area pilots within 30 minutes of this terrific little place, and it should be a slam dunk for them to be successful.

Mary and I flew there this evening, for the first time in a few weeks. It was an absolutely drop dead gorgeous night to fly down here on the Gulf, CAVU with light winds and a full moon. For us, it's a 55 minute flight each way, and it was gorgeous. (See the pic.)

We were there for an hour from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. In that entire hour, precisely ZERO customers came in. We literally had the entire restaurant to ourselves, along with two waitresses and the cook. We felt terrible for them, as they have banked their future on general aviation, and GA is failing them badly.

We saw plenty of planes flying, some even doing touch and goes at KLBX -- and NO ONE stops in for a slice of pie? WTF? What's it gonna take to get you guys to actually support a GA airport business?

Mark my words: In six months, when this wonderful little place has thrown in the towel, I will be hearing how "there's no cool places to fly anymore..." :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:
 
Jay, Rather than judge this place based on the evening crowd, go check them out for weekday lunch.

Their predecessors in this location were typically pretty busy for the lunch crowd with employees from Dow Chemical. Although this site is on-field, like most on-field food establishments they get the bulk of their income comes from non-flying locals.

Its that way at Weiser.. its that way at Brenham... and its that way at Hooks.

Enjoy your quiet evening dinner but dont judge the restaurant or its profit margin simply because you showed up during off-peak times.
 
I told him I would fly over when he makes me some Enchilada's. I can't stand stinky seafood. He is by the coast and I think everyone is tired of seafood, that's all there is to eat around there. I bet a nice Italian grill would have hit it off good????
Brenham is open from 11-2 everyday. They completely stopped opening in the evenings because no one would show up.
 
Even the Perfect Landing at Centennial KAPA had on-again, off-again dinner for many years because of lack of business during that time period. It only began to have success at dinner after the drive-in crowd discovered it.

Lunch is different, there are the local businesses, transient corporate pilots, and $100 hamburger folks.
 
It was Wednesday. And as we all know, all good Texans are in church on Wednesday night! :)
 
Jay Honeck said:
Okay, guys, a few months ago y'all were blessed with the opening of a new airport restaurant in Angleton, TX (Gulf Coast Regional Airport -- KLBX). It's called the Runway Cafe, it's owned by an experienced restaurateur, the food and service are excellent, and you can taxi right up to the front door.

When they opened, I begged everyone to support this new airport business. There are hundreds of Houston-area pilots within 30 minutes of this terrific little place, and it should be a slam dunk for them to be successful.

Mary and I flew there this evening, for the first time in a few weeks. It was an absolutely drop dead gorgeous night to fly down here on the Gulf, CAVU with light winds and a full moon. For us, it's a 55 minute flight each way, and it was gorgeous. (See the pic.)

We were there for an hour from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. In that entire hour, precisely ZERO customers came in. We literally had the entire restaurant to ourselves, along with two waitresses and the cook. We felt terrible for them, as they have banked their future on general aviation, and GA is failing them badly.

We saw plenty of planes flying, some even doing touch and goes at KLBX -- and NO ONE stops in for a slice of pie? WTF? What's it gonna take to get you guys to actually support a GA airport business?

Mark my words: In six months, when this wonderful little place has thrown in the towel, I will be hearing how "there's no cool places to fly anymore..." :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:
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Wish we on airport restaurants within a 55min range.

Hope it turns around for them.


Perhaps host and post some flyins on meetup, face books groups, POA, red board, etc.
 
Doggtyred said:
Its that way at Weiser.. its that way at Brenham... and its that way at Hooks.
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Weiser? Whats at Weiser? I flew down there a few weeks go to pick up my granddaughter for a birthday flight and flew her to Lone Star Exec. Weiser looked like a lonely outpost with high grass and not much going on. Did I miss some gem there??
 
Wieser has Carl's BBQ which is accessible from the airport side or from the 290 feeder road. Nothing special but is always busy.
 
We're always looking for new places to go. Looks like it's 135 miles from Austin... I'll head that way soon!
 
Carl's BBQ. Pretty good, not the best I've ever had but plenty good for a reason to fly there and eat.

Also, the Runway Cafe is in fact quite busy during lunch, been there several times. Excellent food, great burgers, and I like seafood, fried, good and crispy. They've got it. Since the OP is concerned about its future prospects the most promising thing I noticed was very few of the customers were pilots. Most were locals, that bodes well for it I think.
 
JCranford said:
Weiser? Whats at Weiser? I flew down there a few weeks go to pick up my granddaughter for a birthday flight and flew her to Lone Star Exec. Weiser looked like a lonely outpost with high grass and not much going on. Did I miss some gem there??
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And 10 points to Gryffindor for successful use of social networking to expose pilots to new places to eat!..

As others have said, its not rock star BBQ.. but its tried and true and theres ALWAYS A line... If you land at Weiser, and can find a tiedown on the far west end grass just west of the hangars, the pedestrian gate through the fence is due south from that row of tie downs.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Okay, guys, a few months ago y'all were blessed with the opening of a new airport restaurant in Angleton, TX (Gulf Coast Regional Airport -- KLBX). It's called the Runway Cafe, it's owned by an experienced restaurateur, the food and service are excellent, and you can taxi right up to the front door.

When they opened, I begged everyone to support this new airport business. There are hundreds of Houston-area pilots within 30 minutes of this terrific little place, and it should be a slam dunk for them to be successful.

Mary and I flew there this evening, for the first time in a few weeks. It was an absolutely drop dead gorgeous night to fly down here on the Gulf, CAVU with light winds and a full moon. For us, it's a 55 minute flight each way, and it was gorgeous. (See the pic.)

We were there for an hour from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. In that entire hour, precisely ZERO customers came in. We literally had the entire restaurant to ourselves, along with two waitresses and the cook. We felt terrible for them, as they have banked their future on general aviation, and GA is failing them badly.

We saw plenty of planes flying, some even doing touch and goes at KLBX -- and NO ONE stops in for a slice of pie? WTF? What's it gonna take to get you guys to actually support a GA airport business?

Mark my words: In six months, when this wonderful little place has thrown in the towel, I will be hearing how "there's no cool places to fly anymore..." :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:
Click to expand...

I don't think there's a single airport restaurant that could survive on GA pilots alone. I hope the owners are investing time and money to attract non-pilots out to the airport to eat. That's the best situation; the restaurant stays in business, and more people are out at the airport. Heck, maybe one of them might actually take up flying.
 
Blatham489 said:
Carl's BBQ. Pretty good, not the best I've ever had but plenty good for a reason to fly there and eat.

Also, the Runway Cafe is in fact quite busy during lunch, been there several times. Excellent food, great burgers, and I like seafood, fried, good and crispy. They've got it. Since the OP is concerned about its future prospects the most promising thing I noticed was very few of the customers were pilots. Most were locals, that bodes well for it I think.
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Thanks for the input, guys.

Mary and I have flown there about a dozen times since they opened, sometimes for lunch, sometimes for dinner. The place has never been more than half full, and it's not very big. The most planes we've ever seen parked out front is 4, including ours.

I've spoken with the owner, Mr. Wu, and he's in it for the long haul. He has another very successful restaurant nearby, so he can survive unprofitability at LBX basically until he gets sick of it -- but I am REALLY hoping it doesn't come to that.

It just aggravates me the way pilots act. Everyone laments the "olden days" when there were more fly-in destinations that catered to pilots -- I know I sure do -- but when someone actually puts their money on the table and opens their doors to them, pilots turn their backs. It's a weird phenomenon, but I've seen it happen in WI, IA, and now TX.

Let's support this guy. The food and service are great! :)
 
pigpenracing said:
I told him I would fly over when he makes me some Enchilada's. I can't stand stinky seafood. He is by the coast and I think everyone is tired of seafood, that's all there is to eat around there. I bet a nice Italian grill would have hit it off good????
Brenham is open from 11-2 everyday. They completely stopped opening in the evenings because no one would show up.
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Enchiladas are a dime a dozen in Texas. Great shrimp and redfish are harder to come by -- and that was their "special" last night. Yum! :)

It was terrific.

As for their hours, that's what makes Runway Cafe so great. They are actually open to pilots for something other than just breakfast and/or lunch! It is incredibly rare to find a place that caters to pilots for dinner -- so let's support him!
 
Looks like I forgot the pic from the flight, so here ya go.
a5d38dcc0028c648755cb4aa4d700938.jpg
About half the flight was after dark, and it was beautiful!
 
Jay Honeck said:
Enchiladas are a dime a dozen in Texas. Great shrimp and redfish are harder to come by -- and that was their "special" last night. Yum! :)

It was terrific.

As for their hours, that's what makes Runway Cafe so great. They are actually open to pilots for something other than just breakfast and/or lunch! It is incredibly rare to find a place that caters to pilots for dinner -- so let's support him!
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I think the proportion of pilots who fly somewhere for dinner is pretty small compared with those which fly somewhere for lunch. This will be especially true now since it's getting dark earlier. The restaurant owner is going to need to cultivate a local clientele.
 
I agree with many on here. At most of the airport restaurants that I have flown to most of the customers were locals who drove there. Many airports have industrial or business parks close by and those are a great source for the lunch crowd. I still enjoy flying to one for lunch though.
 
I was up flying on the west side of Houston that evening, but have only ever made it to LBX for lunch on weekends.
 
I flew in and ate there on a Sunday, about a year and a half ago. Was about half full, only saw two other tables that arrived by aircraft. Food was just OK, service was poor, at least that day. Manager comped desert because I complained.

For South-Central TX flyin eats, I much prefer Fredericksburg, Brenham, or Llano.

Steve

PS: Nice photo, Jay.
 
NavAir said:
I flew in and ate there on a Sunday, about a year and a half ago. Was about half full, only saw two other tables that arrived by aircraft. Food was just OK, service was poor, at least that day. Manager comped desert because I complained.

For South-Central TX flyin eats, I much prefer Fredericksburg, Brenham, or Llano.

Steve

PS: Nice photo, Jay.
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This is a new owner, new name, new menu, new everything.
 
I liked Carl's BBQ at Wieser. Oh an the Aviator Grill at Hooks, I would always get the B-52 or the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, yum! Cant forget to raid the cookie stand in the FBO on the way out too!
 
Hey now... I've been there at least twice now! One of the days there were quite a few people there when I arrived and even had to park a decent way down the ramp.

Maybe I'm out of the norm... but I've been flying long enough that I like to have a destination instead of just boring random holes in the sky. I definitely appreciate places like this!
 
jonathanv said:
Hey now... I've been there at least twice now! One of the days there were quite a few people there when I arrived and even had to park a decent way down the ramp.

Maybe I'm out of the norm... but I've been flying long enough that I like to have a destination instead of just boring random holes in the sky. I definitely appreciate places like this!
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'Zactly! Heck, I live in the prettiest place on Earth to fly, and even I get bored with just buzzing over the island. Having an aviation themed restaurant, museum, or (ahem) hotel as a goal gives purpose to our flying.

Mary and I will continue to support the Runway Cafe as best we can, but I'm afraid it's gonna be a long row to hoe for Mr. Wu. Heck, even the wildly successful Southern Flyer restaurant in Brenham didn't turn a nickel's profit for the first 5 years, according to the owner.
 
jonathanv said:
Never fear. Your hotel has been on my destination list for a while now! I'll definitely be in.
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Not to make this personal, but we went weeks this past summer without a single fly in guest. Weeks.

Much of this is attributable to the fact that we sell out in advance much of the summer, making it difficult for pilots -- who are naturally "last minute" creatures -- to get a room. But that doesn't explain it all, and it depresses me to no end. We have built a pilot's paradise, and -- although we've been financially very successful -- we have been overrun by ground-pounders instead of aviators.

That's NOT why we are here. I got into the hotel biz 13 years ago so that I would have a plausible excuse to hang out with pilots every day, not to mingle with folks who don't know who Charles Lindbergh was...

But I digress. With fewer and fewer active GA pilots, we need to be sure to support those few crazy romantics who still dream of building businesses that cater to pilots. The Houston area is still a hot-bed of GA activity. Let's give the Runway Cafe owner our best support!
 
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Jay Honeck said:
Not to make this personal, but we went weeks this past summer without a single fly in guest. Weeks.

Much of this attributable to the fact that we sell out in advance much of the summer, making it difficult for pilots -- who are naturally "last minute" creatures -- to get a room. But that doesn't explain it all, and it depresses me to no end. We have built a pilot's paradise, and -- although we've been financially very successful -- we have been overrun by ground-pounders instead of aviators.

That's NOT why we are here. I got into the hotel biz 13 years ago so that I would have a plausible excuse to hang out with pilots every day, not to mingle with folks who don't know who Charles Lindbergh was...

But I digress. With fewer and fewer active GA pilots, we need to be sure to support those few crazy romantics who still dream of building businesses that cater to pilots. The Houston area is still a hot-bed of GA activity. Let's give the Runway Cafe owner our best support!
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If the weather had cooperated I would have been there recently. I'll look for some future date where the weather, availability and cancellation policies all magically align. I really can't book in advance with a 72hr or 1WK cancellation clause when my only reason to go there is the flying part.
 
I'll check it out one of these days. I've got to tell you though... That close to Houston? I'll fly into one of the other airports and grab an Uber and have a much better meal. I get to fly AND get better food. The problem with some of these airport places is that it is no longer good enough for them JUST to have food on the field. If it is crappy, I will go there exactly once and then never go back again. I'm all for supporting GA businesses but sometimes they don't deserve to be supported. Most of these places that die out deserved to die out I'm sorry to say. The fact that it is not crowded by your own admission is telling. I'm not optimistic... But I will give it a try.
 
Jay Honeck said:
'Zactly! Heck, I live in the prettiest place on Earth to fly, and even I get bored with just buzzing over the island. Having an aviation themed restaurant, museum, or (ahem) hotel as a goal gives purpose to our flying.

Mary and I will continue to support the Runway Cafe as best we can, but I'm afraid it's gonna be a long row to hoe for Mr. Wu. Heck, even the wildly successful Southern Flyer restaurant in Brenham didn't turn a nickel's profit for the first 5 years, according to the owner.
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I've known Jack going on ten years or more.

He wouldn't tell you he makes a dime if money were pouring out of his ears. :nonod:
 
rolivi said:
If the weather had cooperated I would have been there recently. I'll look for some future date where the weather, availability and cancellation policies all magically align. I really can't book in advance with a 72hr or 1WK cancellation clause when my only reason to go there is the flying part.
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We offer an "IFR cancellation policy" at Amelia's Landing to pilot guests during the week (in summer) and all of the time (except special events and group reservations) during the off-season.

What this means is that you can cancel right up to 6 PM without penalty on the day of your reservation if conditions drop below 1000' and 3 miles along your route of flight.
:)

Mary and I have been burned by hotel cancellation charges when the weather has gone to pot, so we try to grease the skids for our pilot guests. (Regular, "normal" guests don't receive such sweetness...) ;)
 
Gubbins said:
I'll check it out one of these days. I've got to tell you though... That close to Houston? I'll fly into one of the other airports and grab an Uber and have a much better meal. I get to fly AND get better food. The problem with some of these airport places is that it is no longer good enough for them JUST to have food on the field. If it is crappy, I will go there exactly once and then never go back again. I'm all for supporting GA businesses but sometimes they don't deserve to be supported. Most of these places that die out deserved to die out I'm sorry to say. The fact that it is not crowded by your own admission is telling. I'm not optimistic... But I will give it a try.
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Airport restaurants are such an insane business, I often wonder why anyone ever opens one. Your attitude (which is not uncommon) illustrates exactly why I would never risk it.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Not to make this personal, but we went weeks this past summer without a single fly in guest. Weeks.

Much of this is attributable to the fact that we sell out in advance much of the summer, making it difficult for pilots -- who are naturally "last minute" creatures -- to get a room. But that doesn't explain it all, and it depresses me to no end. We have built a pilot's paradise, and -- although we've been financially very successful -- we have been overrun by ground-pounders instead of aviators.

That's NOT why we are here. I got into the hotel biz 13 years ago so that I would have a plausible excuse to hang out with pilots every day, not to mingle with folks who don't know who Charles Lindbergh was...

But I digress. With fewer and fewer active GA pilots, we need to be sure to support those few crazy romantics who still dream of building businesses that cater to pilots. The Houston area is still a hot-bed of GA activity. Let's give the Runway Cafe owner our best support!
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I kind of view this like I view things in churches I've been a part of. I was looking for a church in the Dallas area and was told to go visit this place. It was small, people weren't very inviting or friendly, but there was this one guy that wanted to talk. I thought maybe they were going to invite us over for dinner and just chat and talk about stuff, but - didn't happen. What did happen? Well, the next week I got a phone call asking me to sign up under him for Stream Energy, or some other group. Told me how it was actually comparable with my current electric provider and it was going to be opening a cell phone service. Then proceeded to tell me how signing up under him was going to help him with his business ideas to serve God better. Honestly, I wanted to throw up. I'll support people who have a GOOD business, that does well, and occasionally I try out new places and new things and sometimes end up liking them. I don't want to be begged to support something "for the cause" even if it's a cause I support. I didn't end up going back to that church a second time, either.

My point is that if the place is good, the locals will keep it in business, and pilots will have access to it. If it depends solely on our support - it will probably not survive. I know some pilots that fly out once a week to get lunch. I had a standing invitation to join them and I did several times. It was great, I loved it, and as a CFI I would often have students plan cross-countries to those places, too, but it was NEVER enough to support a restaurant.
 
RyanShort1 said:
My point is that if the place is good, the locals will keep it in business, and pilots will have access to it. If it depends solely on our support - it will probably not survive. I know some pilots that fly out once a week to get lunch. I had a standing invitation to join them and I did several times. It was great, I loved it, and as a CFI I would often have students plan cross-countries to those places, too, but it was NEVER enough to support a restaurant.
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This. There are not enough pilots flying around for $100 hamburgers to support any restaurant. It needs to depend on the locals, defined as people who work on or near the airport, or live in the community. Dinner is even harder...
 
Jay Honeck said:
Not to make this personal, but we went weeks this past summer without a single fly in guest. Weeks.

Much of this is attributable to the fact that we sell out in advance much of the summer, making it difficult for pilots -- who are naturally "last minute" creatures -- to get a room.
Click to expand...

Jay, don't take it personally. And do not underestimate the temperature inland. While you might be seeing 80's on the island, us inlanders suffer 115's and I can't sell an airplane trip to the wife in the middle of the summer.

But we'll be back! :yes:

Back on topic: we like flying for food. But weekdays are not easy. And weekends are busy. On the way back from your place two weeks ago (thanks again for the awesome P-51 Mustang room!!), we were planning on stopping for dinner in Victoria but guess what? They are closed for dinner on Sundays. So don't blame just pilots! :)
 
BigBadLou said:
Jay, don't take it personally. And do not underestimate the temperature inland. While you might be seeing 80's on the island, us inlanders suffer 115's and I can't sell an airplane trip to the wife in the middle of the summer.

But we'll be back! :yes:

Back on topic: we like flying for food. But weekdays are not easy. And weekends are busy. On the way back from your place two weeks ago (thanks again for the awesome P-51 Mustang room!!), we were planning on stopping for dinner in Victoria but guess what? They are closed for dinner on Sundays. So don't blame just pilots! :)
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Yeah, that place in Victoria ("Sky") makes me crazy. To be an on-airport restaurant that is closed on Sundays is the height of stupidity.

We found another place just like it, in Ponca City, OK. We arrived on Sunday, on our way home from OSH, after having heard such great things about the place from pilots going all the way back to my Cherokee Pilots Association days -- only to find them "closed Sundays".

Any airport business that is closed 50% of the weekend -- the only time when 95% of pilots can fly -- deserves to have their lease terminated by the airport authority.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Airport restaurants are such an insane business, I often wonder why anyone ever opens one. Your attitude (which is not uncommon) illustrates exactly why I would never risk it.
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My "attitude" is that there is more to an airport restaurant than simply being at a restaurant. If it is to survive it has to be good enough for the non-flying public to want to go to it. The picture you paint is not a good one where the locals are not supporting it.
 
Gubbins said:
My "attitude" is that there is more to an airport restaurant than simply being at a restaurant. If it is to survive it has to be good enough for the non-flying public to want to go to it. The picture you paint is not a good one where the locals are not supporting it.
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I didn't say I disagreed with the attitude. I hold regular restaurants to that same high (or even higher) standard. One false move, one crappy waitress, one cold entree, and I may never return.

But airport businesses are different, IMHO. Anyone crazy to enough to cater to us pilots deserves second, third, even fourth chances.

What sucks about the situation at LBX is that he doesn't need "second chances" -- everything I've eaten there has been fantastic. They've got all the makings of a becoming a great restaurant, but the location may not be good enough (nor the fly-in crowd large enough) to attract the ground pounding townfolk.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Yeah, that place in Victoria ("Sky") makes me crazy. To be an on-airport restaurant that is closed on Sundays is the height of stupidity.

We found another place just like it, in Ponca City, OK. We arrived on Sunday, on our way home from OSH, after having heard such great things about the place from pilots going all the way back to my Cherokee Pilots Association days -- only to find them "closed Sundays".

Any airport business that is closed 50% of the weekend -- the only time when 95% of pilots can fly -- deserves to have their lease terminated by the airport authority.
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You might run into religious objections over that.. this is the bible belt....

I see where you are coming from... but some mom and pop places insist on having time off... and thats the day they took.

Regarding Amelia's Landing being a pilots paradise... the artwork was a nice touch, but my one visit there left my fiancee so overly unimpressed at the small rooms we wont be back... I guess thats my fault by spoiling her on Marriott chain hotels the rest of the time...

It was on a Sunday... I'd have said Hi.. but you weren't there.. I'm guessing you needed a day off.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Yeah, that place in Victoria ("Sky") makes me crazy. To be an on-airport restaurant that is closed on Sundays is the height of stupidity.
Click to expand...

The restaurant at my home base, KCGI, is closed on Saturdays. Open on Sunday with a big brunch buffet.

I've always been amazed at that, but, this restaurant is indeed one that the locals support and it's busy every day of the week...especially on Wednesday when they do BBQ pork steaks and on Friday with their all you can eat catfish special.

Sandy needs a day off and she chooses Saturday. :dunno:
 
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