The 10 Best Things to Eat at Sea-Tac

1. Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese at Beecher’s

The Beecher’s airport outpost is the undisputed king of Sea-Tac dining—well versed in delivering melty, cheese-laden samplings of Seattle to a long line of people. Yes, the mac and cheese is great, but the lineup of crisp-off-the-press grilled cheese options and cup of tomato soup (also probably 50 percent melted cheese) feels like a proper meal. C Gates

2. Crab Breakfast Sandwich at Ivar’s 

This is the only Ivar’s location making a breakfast sandwich, wherein a respectable amount of crabmeat is layered within your basic egg-cheese-muffin triad. There are salmon and shrimp versions too, but delicate crabmeat pairs disturbingly well with salty artificial cheese slices. Central Terminal

3. Broccoli salad at Dish D’Lish 

Healthy airport food usually means a sad packet of celery sticks, not the crunch of broccoli, onion, and sunflower seeds with smoky bacon, sweet golden raisins, and peppers for kick. The grab-and-go case contains the best non-gut-busting food in all of Sea-Tac, like salads of the quinoa variety. The chocolate­toffee s’mores cookie is decidedly less healthy, but equally essential. Central Terminal

4. Fresh Catch at Anthony’s

Few airport dining experiences compare to eating a carefully sourced, properly cooked piece of fish, drinking a Silver City IPA, and watching planes gently take off against a mountain backdrop. This won’t be a fast meal, or a cheap one, but show me another airport where you can order Puget Sound oysters on the half shell. Central Terminal

5. Chicken Pesto Pizza at Pallino

An actual pizza oven with actual flames turns out thin, crisped pies well worth the 10 minute-ish wait. True, flames are fueled by gas, not wood, but airport pizza is no time to be a purist—single-serve pies have a bright scatter of vegetables, subtle pesto, and a parting shot of fresh chopped basil. Central Terminal

6. Spam Musubi and Sushi at Waji’s

The rolls—California, salmon, eel, etc.—are a more careful version of your typical grocery store sushi, as you’d expect at a counter operated by Uwajimaya. But if you’re throwing sodium content to the wind, the spam musubi is portable, savory, and pretty filling given its small size. The staff will even warm it up for you. C Gates

7. Ellenos Yogurt 

It’s a grab-and-go option at Beecher’s. An Ellenos stand at the airport would be life changing. C Gates

8. Wine and Salmon Rolls at Vino Volo

The airport wine bar chain is usually full of people tapping on keyboards, drinking Walla Walla Valley syrah, and eating toasted baguette slices topped with smoked salmon and a smear of crab dip—the world’s most civilized airport snack. Central Terminal

9. Spicy Chicken Sandwich at Wendy’s 

Airports remain the last socially acceptable bastion of eating crappy fast food. And are you really going to blow your dietary hall pass on McDonald’s or Burger King? No, it’s going to be a breast of crispy, pepper-flecked fried chicken in a bun whose many preservatives help it shake the airport food curse of bad bread. Central Terminal

10. Ephemere Mocha at Dilettante 

You’re on the road. Might as well drink a mocha that tastes like caffeinated brownie batter. Central Terminal, N Gates

Published in the Secrets of Sea-Tac issue of Seattle Met.