Eating at Palm Beach International Airport (PBI): What’s Actually Good Now

Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, PBI, is small, calm, and pleasant, but the dining has long been “fine but basic,” as multiple Reddit and Yelp voices put it. The twist is that in 2026 the airport started ripping everything up for a full “dining transformation,” so the ground is literally shifting under your bar stool.

Search for “PBI restaurants” and you mostly get airport maps and vague promises of “pub fare” — useful if you are a terminal map, less useful if you are hungry.

Here is how to eat at PBI without regretting it, sorted by where you are and how much time you actually have.

Big picture: what PBI does and does not have

Regulars are blunt. One Reddit user sums it up as “PBI is super tiny… it’s still not somewhere you’d come hungry on purpose.” The layout is simple: a handful of options pre security, then separate lineups on the Concourse A/B side versus Concourse C. PBI’s own “Restaurants & Shopping” guide splits everything that way, and a Delta flyer who works at the airport reminded everyone that Delta uses the C2,C4 gates. So if you are on Delta, you live in Concourse C land, new concepts, construction walls and all.

Two patterns keep coming up in reviews and local chatter:

• Very early mornings are bleak. A Yelp reviewer who loves PBI otherwise notes that at 4 a.m. you are “basically stuck with coffee and packaged stuff.”
• Sit down food can be decent, but no one is confusing it with dinner in Manhattan.

The good news: waits are usually shorter than you would see at FLL or MIA, and there are a couple of clear “least bad” options.

Pre security: pubs, coffee, and how picky you can be

A worker posting as u/PBIAirportWorker lays out the landside reality: “pre security there are three places for food and drink (plus a snack/market). Both restaurants are sit‑down pub food with bars.” You are not in a sprawling mall. You are deciding between two pubs, a Starbucks, and a market.

Sam Snead’s: the airport‑worker pick

If I had to eat before TSA, I would start with Sam Snead’s. That same airport worker says bluntly, “I prefer Sam Snead’s… Rooney’s always seems more unkempt.” In hospitality, staff tendencies matter. If the people who spend all day in the building choose one venue, that tells you something about consistency and cleanliness.

Facts to know:

• It is a sit down pub with a bar, classic American fare.
• Hours are quirky: the worker reports Sam Snead’s opens at 11:30 a.m. on weekdays, 4 p.m. on Saturdays, and is closed Sundays.

So it can be a solid weekday lunch before TSA, but it is a trap if you roll in on a Sunday or at breakfast expecting eggs and a Bloody Mary. For those slots, have a backup.

Rooney’s Pub: order the greasy things

Rooney’s is the more polarizing sibling. Some locals and Facebook food group members rave about it. One Foodies of South Florida post called a meal there “one of the best meals I have had in an airport in a long time,” specifically praising a Reuben with onion rings. At the same time, the airport worker’s “more unkempt” comment lines up with other remarks that it can feel dingy when busy.

The pattern is clear: Rooney’s works best when you lean into pub clichés. Burgers, Reubens, onion rings. If you try to have a virtuous salad and sparkling water, you will probably resent it. If you want a last vacation‑mode plate and a beer before security, it can surprise you.

You will also find a Starbucks and a market for grab and go. Names shift as the dining overhaul progresses, but think of Flagler Gourmet Market style setups and the PBI MKT Kiosk, not a full food court.

Past security: concourse matters

Inside security, you do not get the big‑hub chaos, which is a blessing, but you also do not get a hundred choices. Regulars describe the strategy this way: you can clear security on either side for food, stroll around, then head to your gate, but you cannot carry an alcoholic drink from one concourse to the other. One Redditor notes people get caught thinking they can wander with a beer. You cannot. Finish it or skip it.

Stinger Ray’s: the safest airside bet

On the airside list, Stinger Ray’s is the name that keeps coming up as the “if you must eat inside, eat here” choice. A March 2024 TripAdvisor review titled “Best dining spot at PBI airport” is unusually positive: “food was hot and fresh, prices normal for an airport, and the staff actually seemed to care.” For an airport pub, that is practically a Michelin star.

Post‑2020, I have learned not to take “hot and fresh” for granted. Plenty of airport bars have let their food and beverage standards slide. Stinger Ray’s at least has current reviews calling it out as the exception, so if you need a cooked meal by your gate, this is the one I would target.

Old guard vs new names on Concourse C

Concourse C is where the transformation gets interesting. According to a January 22, 2026 Palm Beach Post piece, the airport is bringing in:

• Rocco’s Tacos
• Havana (Cuban)
• Dunkin’
• Coastal Cask by Bulleit Bourbon
• Pistache French Bistro
• Vino Volo
• Pumphouse Coffee

That article is very clear that this is a swap of “older, generic pub concepts” for specific brands. Coastal Cask is pitched as a bourbon‑forward bar with shared plates. Havana is explicitly about Cuban sandwiches and cafecito to go, with proper Cuban plates rather than mystery wraps. Dunkin’ and Pumphouse cover the coffee and pastry side for early departures.

I was wrong about this for years at other airports, assuming anything with a lifestyle‑bar name would be all branding and no substance. Here, at least, the intent is to move away from anonymous beige grill concepts. To be fair, it is a multi year build, so you should expect some construction walls and menu shuffling between 2025 and 2027, not a magical overnight upgrade.

If your boarding pass says C2,C4 (hello, Delta), mentally plan to eat on the C side so you are not sprinting back and forth across the split for food.

What about pizza and grab and go?

Historically, airports this size lean on quick Italian, salads, and kiosks. You will see concepts like Nick’s Tomatoe Pie in line with that, plus the usual packaged‑snack markets like Flagler Gourmet Market. Locals on Reddit and Yelp keep describing the overall selection as “not a ton” or “fine but basic,” which is code for: it will feed you, but you are not writing home.

For short hops, regulars say they often just grab coffee and snacks and eat properly at the destination. I have done the same at plenty of smaller fields. Not every airport warrants a full sit down meal.

The lounge wildcard: Escape Lounge / Centurion Studio

Now, the one exception to the “PBI food is fine, not memorable” rule is the Escape Lounges, The Centurion Studio Partner, tucked airside. Their published menu for PBI includes avocado toast, seasonal salads, and made‑to‑order sandwiches, plus an open bar with wine, beer, and spirits. They also proudly pour Pumphouse Coffee Roasters.

Because I live in Boston and have an Amex Platinum, I have become that person who mentally compares a lounge menu to the terminal restaurants. Here, the math is straightforward. Instead of paying for a sit down meal that can get pricey once you add a drink and tip, lounge entry buys you unlimited small plates and proper pours in a quieter space. When I was still at Travel + Leisure around 2018, that was exactly the kind of “swap restaurant for lounge” calculus we encouraged readers to make at secondary airports.

Given PBI’s limited restaurant lineup and the ongoing construction, the lounge is not an indulgence, it is a strategy, especially if you hold a card that gets you in.

When you should leave the airport entirely

There is one thing the locals agree on: if you have time and a car (or do not mind a quick rideshare), the best “PBI restaurant” is not at PBI at all.

Grandview Public Market keeps popping up in Reddit threads. One poster calls it “super close to the airport and has a lot of lunch options.” Another says, “If you’ve got more than an hour, just Uber to Grandview Public Market, it’s like 5-10 minutes away and miles better than anything in the terminal. Check in, drop bags, go eat, then come back and clear security.”

I have seen that pattern in plenty of small airports. In the year I was commuting regularly through upstate New York, people constantly slipped out to the nearest food hall instead of settling for a tired gate bar. At PBI, the geography makes that advice sensible, not reckless. If you have at least a couple of hours as a buffer, the math works. Check in, clear any baggage drama, go eat real food, then return and deal with TSA.

It will feel decadent compared to choking down a heat lamp burger.

Tactical takeaways: how not to regret eating at PBI

If you want the short, tactical version:

• Early flights: eat before you arrive. At 4-6 a.m. reviewers report “not a lot of food options open,” mostly coffee and packaged snacks.
• Pre security lunch on a weekday: pick Sam Snead’s if it is open. Staff prefer it over Rooney’s Pub.
• Pub food with zero ambitions: Rooney’s is acceptable, especially if you order Reubens, burgers, onion rings, not a kale fantasy.
• Airside sit down: head for Stinger Ray’s. TripAdvisor travellers call it the best bet in the terminal, with hot, fresh plates and unusually engaged staff.
• Coffee and quick bites: rely on Starbucks, Pumphouse Coffee, Flagler Gourmet Market, and the PBI MKT Kiosk. Do not expect an NYC‑style food hall.
• If you have the right card: strongly consider the Escape Lounge instead of a terminal restaurant for a proper meal and drinks.
• Spare time plus a rideshare: follow the locals to Grandview Public Market. That is where the “real” PBI dining scene lives.

PBI is getting a food glow up over the next two years, as one @thepalmbeaches Instagram reel put it, and it is overdue. Until that future Bourbon‑and‑Cuban‑sandwich utopia fully arrives, a bit of planning will keep you on the right side of “for airport food.”