Denver International Airport Moves Up in National Ranking for Healthy Dining Options

DENVER — Dec. 4, 2015 — For the third year in a row, Denver International Airport (DEN) has been named one of the top U.S. airports for healthy food options.

DEN ranks No. 5 on the 2015 list of the healthiest airport food options among the country’s busiest airports, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization. According to the study, 80 percent of the airport’s restaurants offer at least one qualifying cholesterol-free, plant-based entrée, such as leafy green salads, veggie wraps or black bean burgers. This year’s ranking moves Denver up two spots from last year’s list.

“Visitors to the Mile High City can take healthful eating to new heights by sampling green salads with grilled portobello mushrooms and toasted pumpkin seeds at Denver Chophouse,” the report reads. “Chef Jimmy’s Bistro dishes out vegetarian sandwiches and a Kung Pao salad served with vegetables and noodles. Pour La France serves a roasted eggplant and red pepper panini and a Provençale salad with sun-dried tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, and garbanzo beans. Those looking for extra West Coast crunch can head to Colorado Sports Bar for a sunflower seed burger or stop by Root Down DIA for a roasted Brussels sprouts and squash salad. Root Down’s Concourse “C”aesar – made with a blend of greens, radishes, scallions, and miso dressing – remains ever popular.”

DEN’s concessions program consists of more than 170,000 square feet of retail space inside the airport that includes more than 140 locations offering an exciting culinary, fashion and retail experience.

“We know that today’s travelers are looking for a variety of high-quality dining options that include a robust selection of delicious, healthful items,” said Bhavesh Patel, DEN’s chief revenue officer. “We are continuing to evolve our concessions program to offer more variety, local flavors and an overall elevated travel experience that will help passengers live life and travel well.”

The committee’s annual Airport Travel Guide to eating healthy on the fly highlights several DEN dining options, including:

Concourse A

• Chef Jimmy’s Bistro dishes out vegetarian sandwiches, mushroom burgers, and a Kung Pao salad: a mix of Asian vegetables, spring mix, and udon noodles, tossed with Thai chili vinaigrette and garnished with fresh cilantro.
• Denver Chophouse provides fresh green salads, with grilled portobello mushrooms, avocado slices, garbanzo beans, toasted pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, and blueberries. Colorful side dishes include Cabernet mushrooms, roasted rainbow carrots and apples, sautéed asparagus and spinach, and sweet potato fries.
• Mesa Verde offers tacos made with black beans, rice, and vegetables and a black bean veggie burrito topped with mushrooms, peppers, corn, and salsa.

Concourse B

• Colorado Sports Bar serves a vegan burger made with sunflower seeds, brown rice, black beans, and vegetables.
• Etai’s Bakery Café offers a vegetable hummus plate to go, pictured to the left.
• Pour La France serves a vegetarian panini with roasted eggplant, red peppers, and zucchini, and a Provençale salad with sun-dried tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, garbanzo beans, and red onions dressed in a champagne vinaigrette.
• Cru Food and Wine Bar provides fava bean bruschetta and fresh hummus, served with pita bread and English cucumbers.

Concourse C

• Root Down DIA offers travelers a vast amount of vegan and/or gluten-free options, including house-made veggie burgers and lush salads, including the House Roasted Beet, and Concourse “C”aesar, made with baby kale, watercress, romaine, radishes, scallions, and a miso dressing.
• Woody Creek Bakery & Café prepares mixed green salads and veggie sandwiches with roasted bell peppers.

Final Approach cell phone waiting lot

• zpizza serves a California salad with mixed greens, avocado, red onions, crisp cucumber, and fresh tomatoes.

About the Study

From April to August 2015, Physicians Committee dietitians collected and reviewed restaurant menus from the top 30 busiest airports in the United States, based on passenger data from the Federal Aviation Administration. Search methods include in-person visits, Internet research, phone calls, and photo exchanges of menu boards with food service teams. An airport restaurant receives a point if its menu includes at least one cholesterol-free, plant-based, high-fiber vegan entrée, which must be clearly labeled on the menu. Side dishes don’t count. Facilities that do not serve entrées, such as snackfood kiosks, newspaper stands, and coffee shops are not included in the review. Inconclusive menu data eliminates an airport from the final rankings. The 2015 survey eliminates breakfast entrées, instead focusing on food available to travelers at all hours. This explains lower percentages at many airports and a 4 percent drop from the national average in 2014. The final percentage for each airport divides the airport’s number of restaurants serving healthful fare by its total number of restaurants.

Denver International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. DEN is the primary economic engine for the state of Colorado, generating more than $36 billion for the region annually. For more information visit www.FlyDenver.com, check us out on YouTube and Instagram, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Sign up for DEN’s monthly newsletter Nonstop News.

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