More Healthy Eating on the Road: Real Food Company at IAH
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past years, it’s to Ask Ask Ask. When it comes to healthy eating in a full-serve restaurant, I know that if I ask for a meal prepared a special way (without sauce, with extra vegetables, etc.), a restaurant is more than likely able to accommodate me. But when it comes to cafeteria-style restaurants, the food is usually not as healthy and the flexibility has generally been less.
So I was surprised when I was at the Real Food Company last night picking up a salad. They have prepackaged chef salads and Greek salads ($9.99 each). But I wanted protein with the salad so that it would be a filling dinner. Next to the refrigerated case that holds salads, juices, drinks is a made-to-order deli sandwich area. The deli meat looks very lean and fresh. So I asked for a side of shaved turkey. No problem, they said. Wow, I expected push back and to be told “you’ll have to pay for the whole sandwich” but that’s not what I got told at all. They quickly loaded a generous portion of the turkey into a to-go container and voila! I had my protein to go on top of my salad.
I added an ice tea to my order and the total was $16.50 for dinner. Based on this amount, the charge for the side of turkey must’ve been around $3.00.
It’s seat yourself at the Real Food Company, and it’s crowded at 6pm on a busy travel evening. I found a seat at a counter overlooking the terminal hallway and was very happy to see a power outlet at my seat. I enjoyed my salad with turkey while I got a few emails responded to, then went off to board my flight.
The Real Food Company is in Terminal C at Houston’s Intercontinental Airport near gates 30 and higher. It opened late last year and has been crowded on each of my visits through IAH. They offer selections of barbeque, sushi, hamburgers, pizza, made-to-order deli, salads, home-style meals and more. It’s a great place to eat if you’re traveling with a group and everyone wants something different to eat. And it’s fast when you’ve got limited time before your flight.
Next time I’m going to go for a plate of barbeque sans the beans and rice, with just a bit of sauce on the side. The barbeque really looked good and smelled great!
Great to see a healthy option lauded here and at airports.
The last time I checked women were the most influential when it came to what was eaten in households. Hopefully they can bring this influence to bear in the market place for all our sakes and for the cause of healthy flying
Excellent, all I needed to do was keep reading. I’d commented on the post re: Houston’s IAH airport’s ‘Bon Bistro’ and indicated I much prefer ‘Real Food’ based on your article here your experience was similar to my own. I find an added benefit to ‘Real Food’ is the containers (as illustrated in your photograph) seal very nicely. I’ve eaten my ‘Real Food’ meals both in the airport, but also I’ve carried them on the flight as well and enjoyed them at a few thousand feet.