Downwind Restaurant & Lounge

I have been coming to Downwind for years. Don’t let the old ambiance fool you. The food is fantastic and view of the runway is even better! I ordered the blackened grouper since it was one of the specials. It was delicious.

It’s a little confusing on the way in, but the last “road” is the slight left that takes you around the building to the parking lot, then the restaurant is upstairs and to the right. The food is good diner food and the menu has something for everyone. My group had Greek gyro, fish and chips, and country fried steak and everyone seemed happy. The main attraction is that the patio is overlooking the central runway of the airport which makes this an excellent location for plane spotting. Overall, had a good experience and will definitely return.

Downwind Restaurant Introduction: This was my first time here. Clean, nice seating areas for watching (small) planes take-off and land. The parking lot a little small (go before the “off-work” crew gets there), and there is a mini playground (off to the side) with benches nearby. There are picnic tables with overhead covering, and restrooms. Experience: It was an all around wonderful experience dining here! Welcome: The warmest welcoming I have had in along time. The host was sweet, friendly, professional, with sprinkles of comedy all with a smile 😊. He walked us to our seats, made sure we watch out for the small step you had to walk on to enter the dining area. Due to the time of day we had several seating options and we chose to sit outside. We were very happy with our choice to sit outside because the weather was beautiful and the view was fantastic. Our waitress Jasmine was the best waitress we have had in a long time. She was friendly, professional, polite, explained the menu items, gave suggestions, refilled drinks, (without us needing to ask) and she kept a genuine smile the entire time. My son liked her comments on our servers. Ambiance: The restaurant was clean and so was the restroom! The outside sitting was a little tighter than inside but doable. The view of the sky was clear and you can see the airplanes take-off and land without obstructions. Food: The food was perfect!! Hats off to the chef! I had the mandarin salmon salad (one of the specials that day) and I was so happy with my entree choice. The salmon was perfectly cooked and the perfect temperature (not too hit that you can’t bite into it and not cold where you need to send it back) to begin eating. The salad and mandarin oranges were fresh and it all blended well. My fiancé had the gyro with a side salad and he too was pleased with his meal. The meat in the gyro was perfect and heated when it came out. Our son had chicken tenders and mash potatoes, which was a welcome change from French fries. He loved everything. I have mentioned in previous reviews that he has autism so food selection and taste is vital. The chicken tenders is a normal selection for him but the mash potatoes were not. To our surprise he loved them! He gave me a taste 😊 and yes they were delicious 😋. He even used the mash potatoes as a spread for his chicken tenders. Last but not least was our shared dessert. I do not normally get dessert if I ate all my food but I made an exception today. We had the strawberry cheesecake with whip cream topped with a cherry and surrounded with vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel and chocolate syrup. We enjoyed every bite!! Price: The food was definitely worth the price. Too be honest after dining here I would have paid more for my food because it was so good. Will return: We most certainly will and we have told family and friends so that they will dine there. We will go in the evening to experience dining outside when the sunsets. Stars: I gave 5 stars because my all around experience was great an I was truly satisfied in all 6 categories. Tip: This is a great restaurant for the family especially the children and it would make for a nice date-night. There maybe a slight smell of diesel (when dining outside) which one may expect since you are at a restaurant where planes are taking off and landing.

I love everything about this place - not because the interior of the restaurant is beautiful (it is not) or because the food is gourmet (it is not). Rather, the atmosphere is relaxed, the staff is great, the food is fine, everything is reasonably priced, and sitting on the flight line is fun. It was a pleasure to see the planes coming and going. The only ‘complaint’ (which is actually my wife’s complaint) is that the waitress was flirting with me, but I did just turn 37, so it was a needed ego boost. Lol! Seriously though, if you have some time to kill and someone you enjoy spending time with, then this is a great place to visit. But I would not recommend the margarita.

Simple menu, simple pleasures. Really tasty grill cheese and good Philly steak. It’s nice to sit outside and watch the planes take off and land. They also have a bar for your drinking pleasure. Staff is super nice. Can get slow depending on how busy it is.