Published March 2005

Taildraggers:
Diners at Arlington Airport restaurant
enjoy hearty meals, aviation views

Snohomish County Business Journal/ JOHN WOLCOTT It’s an easy meal stop for pilots at the newly remodeled Taildraggers restaurant at Arlington Airport, an aviation-themed diner right at the edge of the taxiway.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Pilots — and the general public — have a new place to dine: Arlington Airport’s Taildraggers restaurant.

“We’re already getting a lot of pilots in here, but we’re hoping the public will come in, too. There’s a great view of the runway, aircraft activity and a lot of different types of planes here, plus we’ve added a lot of aviation photos and historic items that people enjoy,” said John Nelson, who bought the restaurant late last year with partner Randahl Bueing.

Previously the “lunch only” Gateway cafe, the two partners remodeled the building into a restaurant and lounge with an expanded lunch-and-dinner menu, then added breakfast hours on Saturday and Sunday, opening at 7 a.m.

Meals include steaks, hamburgers, fettuccini and a popular seafood menu, including crab cakes.

“We’ve got Belgium waffles, sausage and eggs, biscuits and gravy, spring rolls and some of the best omelets around,” Nelson said. “There’s sesame chicken, large bowls of soup and Penn Cove mussels.”

Food reviews already have been good for the restaurant, and the decor, views of aircraft activity and aviation theme are finding appeal with the new customers. In warmer weather, there will be meals served at picnic tables on the restaurant deck, which will no doubt be a prime viewing site for the air shows held each year at July’s Arlington Fly-In.

The pilots of the Arlington-based Black Jack Squadron, a cadre of air show formation flyers, eat there, along with employees from the adjacent airport office, people working on their planes in the airport’s array of hangars and visiting fliers passing through the area.

Nelson said local residents, too, bring their families to enjoy a meal as they watch for helicopters, gliders and a variety of single-engine and experimental aircraft, activities that young children in the family particularly enjoy.

“The pilots who fly in and out of here, and the ones based here, have been really supportive and made us feel welcome,” said Nelson, a former Boeing aircraft worker for 25 years. His partner, Bueing, still works at Boeing during the week but cooks at the restaurant on weekends.

“It just feels like home here. People love the place,” said Tara Mitchell, Nelson’s daughter, whose “hospitality and customer relations” role is one reason guests feel so welcome.

The aviation theme works well in the airport environment. A lighted bi-plane on the roof attracts attention to the name, “Taildraggers.” Inside, the blue ceiling is painted with fluffy white clouds. An old propeller stands upright in one corner. Walls are filled with framed aviation photos, including one showing a P-51 pilot with his plane during World War II. It was a gift to the restaurant’s collection from the pilot himself.

Other displays include framed photos, clippings, stamps and signatures of famous fliers, including pioneer test pilot Chuck Yeager beside the Bell X-1 and astronaut John Glenn.

“We looked at a lot of restaurants, but this one had just the right setting for us, an airport,” Nelson said.

Back to the top/March 2005 Main Menu