SSP America has completed a system-wide menu refresh at Ontario International Airport (ONT), rolling out new dishes across its concession portfolio at the Southern California gateway and capping the rollout with an updated card at the Tap & Pour full-service restaurant in Terminal 2.

The update broadens daypart coverage and introduces fresh-prep proteins — house-cut steaks, hand-made chimichurri — positioning SSP's ONT units against a travel-dining segment that increasingly expects fast-casual quality at airport price points.

The Menu Build

Tap & Pour anchors the refresh with two headline items: a Brekki Burger (premium beef, American cheese, bacon, fried egg, sriracha ketchup) targeting the breakfast-crossover daypart, and a Steak Frites pairing flank steak with chimichurri and truffle fries for the lunch and dinner set. Tony Corona, SSP America's director of operations at ONT, said the development process ran from internal team ideation through regional culinary-specialist review and several weeks of on-site training before launch.

"We prepare our food right here, from cutting the steaks to making the chimichurri fresh," Corona said. "There's a lot of care behind what goes on the plate, and we want our guests to taste that."

Broader SSP units at ONT are adding a Hot Honey, Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Bagel; Grilled Chicken & Avocado Sandwich; Carne Asada and Blackened Chicken Tacos; and Totchos Tots with queso, pico de gallo and bacon. Plant-forward options — Black Bean Elote Burger, Spicy Black Bean & Avocado Salad, Avocado Toast with Egg — round out a vegetarian-leaning tier that has become table stakes in premium airport concessions.

Lounge Beverage Angle

Alongside the food push, ONT's two Aspire Lounges — one per terminal — are pouring a limited trio of anniversary cocktails through November to mark the airport's approaching 10th year of local control. The drinks (ONTo Bluer Skies, Decade in Bloom, Purple Reign of Local Control) layer rum, citrus vodka, and blue curaçao bases over tropical and lemonade mixers, designed as shareable, occasion-specific LTOs rather than permanent bar additions.

The beverage program gives Aspire a merchandising hook tied to the airport milestone and a reason for repeat lounge visits during the anniversary window — a low-cost traffic driver common in hotel F&B and increasingly applied in managed airport lounges.

What It Means for Airport F&B

Airport foodservice operators have faced sustained pressure to close the quality gap with street-side fast-casual since passenger volumes rebounded post-pandemic. SSP, one of the largest travel-dining concessionaires globally, has leaned on local culinary input and fresh-prep commitments as differentiation tools across its North American portfolio — a strategy that can support higher average checks even within the constrained footprints typical of terminal concessions.

For ONT specifically, elevating the food-and-beverage profile aligns with the airport's broader positioning as a premium alternative to Los Angeles International for Inland Empire travelers. Penn Jones, Sr. Manager of Tenant Relations for Ontario International Airport, noted that concession quality directly affects passenger satisfaction scores — a metric that carries weight in lease renewals and area development negotiations with concession operators.

Operators tracking non-traditional foodservice venues should watch how managed-airport concessionaires like SSP continue to adopt fast-casual menu development tactics — fresh prep, daypart extension, and LTO cadence — inside captive-audience environments where foot traffic is structurally guaranteed but repeat-visit loyalty still matters. The ONT refresh also illustrates how beverage programming in non-restaurant venues can be tied to property milestones to generate incremental trial without permanent menu commitment.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.