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Hours
Sun
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Tue
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Wed
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thu
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Fri
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sat
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Ratings and reviews
4.5
RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere
Details
Someone from this business manages this listing.
Learn More
CUISINES
American, Cafe
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch
features
Does this restaurant offer takeout or food to go?
Details
CUISINES
American, Cafe
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch
FEATURES
Reservations, Seating, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Table Service
Contribute
4.5
53 reviews
Excellent
30
Very good
13
Average
6
Poor
2
Terrible
2
mlsigman
Fort Worth1 contribution
Feb 2020 • none
Messina's Runway Cafe is located in the old, very cool Art Deco terminal at Lakefront Airport. We flew in for the afternoon to have lunch and the food was outstanding, especially the gumbo and etouffee. Everything is made to order. The manager said all food is brought in fresh daily. We had a great time talking to the manager as well as our waitress. We will definitely return!
Written February 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nola Mel
New Orleans3 contributions
May 2022 • family
Enjoyed this little hidden gem at the Lakefront Airport. The mother's day brunch was awesome! Great for families, couples or by yourself. Staff and service was impeccable. Loved the ambiance and watching the planes taxi and takeoff. I now plan to try some of their "blue plate" specials during the week.
Written May 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ronald S
Atlanta115 contributions
Jun 2022 • none
Messina's Runway Cafe should be a destination eatery for any serious foodie or visitor looking for a classic home-cooked meal! Everything on the menu is superb and the friendly down home service is the icing on the cake! The experience was so good that I visited four times during two different trips!
Written January 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stacey M
WOW!!! Thanks so much for the AMAZING 5-Star review!! Please come see us again soon!!
Written January 20, 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Dave Y
Tallahassee64 contributions
Mar 2023 • none
“I gave up a breakfast invite to dine with the Boss at the Ritz Carlton … so I could choke down this glop??”
We flew in to Lakefront airport, and I was hoping to get my fix of always-awesome NOLA food. Dinner with the Boss the night before at the Pelican Club was quite the disappointment. I’m pretty sure my (overcooked) fish was tilapia, not “Sheepshead.” The scallop and artichoke appetizer sounded great, but the scallops were NOT fresh, and overcooked. The boss was paying, so I kept my mouth shut.
So, to compensate for that disappointing meal, I did a lot of homework and found Messinna’s website, and boy, did the food look good! They were open for breakfast, just a hundred yards from where the plane is parked!
Wowwee, the photos of food looked like typical-NOLA crazy-good! When I walked into the Old Terminal, I was “over the moon” with the 1930’s restored art-deco building the restaurant is in…. Insanely great!
Alas, as the first customer in the door I was greeted by the surly waiter who started off with a lackluster greeting and his attitude went downhill from there. Whine, whine, whine. I know it’s very hard to get good help nowadays, but… I can get attitude like this all day long in Paris, Sport! Fire this immature, unprofessional putz!
The food was about what I scrape off my plate to feed the chickens every morning. The potatoes were a simpering mess; not fully cooked, and not high quality to begin with. The cheap-quality English Muffin was effectively raw. The “omelette” was sort of a pathetic egg-pizza, with desultory ingredients glowering on top of a petroleum cheese. Ye Gods!!! I’ve had MUCH better chow at a Waffle House in Chattanooga.
Anyway, my very high hopes were smashed to bits.
I spoke with the (fairly new) manager on the way out, she apologized and asked me back … but I demurred. You can’t disrespect food this bad, folks, and stay in business very long.
It’s such an awesome concept in such a magnificent location….
Moving forward, if you're drawn in by their website, be sure and inquire if they’ve gotten serious about food.
For years I’ve said: it’s difficult to find GOOD food in Orlando, and difficult to find BAD food in NOLA. So sad to see The Big Easy get so tawdry.
Written March 19, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stefano
Stamford966 contributions
Oct 2022 • none
I loved this place. Great service and great food. Scenery of the airport is pretty cool and would come back here for that. I came here for brunch on the weekend.
Written October 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
YoMcTraveler
San Francisco145 contributions
Oct 2019 • none
The food and service here is good, and the portions are more than enough. The location is a bit out of the way and remote for my tastes.
Written October 17, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stew S
New Orleans547 contributions
Sep 2019 • none
Great art deco building houses a great restaurant -- w i d e selection menu - local-style food - super salads - my Cobb was enough for 2 meals - server Cynthia from Cali was outstanding -- comin' back again -- soon.
Written September 7, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
P. Jackson
42 contributions
Mar 2019 • family
Here is what you are in for: a view of private planes on the runway, planes landing, and planes taking off. The food is good. If you go in on the right day, you are in for bottomless mimosas. However, this not close to regular tourist locations.
Written July 31, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Charlene E
Slidell103 contributions
May 2019 • family
We ate a very delicious lunch with family recently at Messina and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The food was amazing, the staff were extremely helpful and friendly and the view was wonderful. We enjoyed watching a couple of planes land and several taking off. Can’t wait to go back.
Written June 4, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
StaceyM2420
Thanks so much for dining with us!! Great to hear that you enjoyed everything and we hope to see you and your family again soon!!
Written June 6, 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Steven K
Metairie125 contributions
Apr 2019 • friends
I went with some friends to Messina’s recently. The food was good and the service was friendly. I had a shrimp and pasta dish, which was good. I plan on eating there again in the very near future.
Written April 13, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Laurene M
389 contributions
Mar 2019 • family
We had a large 35+ person family reunion at this restaurant. The staff was magnificent, the buffet food very good, and the Walnut room perfect for the occasion. Throughout the planning, we worked with their event planner and felt confident that the restaurant was out to please.
Written March 27, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Captmark20
New Orleans211 contributions
Feb 2019 • family
Why can't servers even pretend to like their job?? I believe it's because they get 20% no matter wha they do.
Went to Messina's for a B-day. Made a reservation. All of us showed up about 15 minutes early for our reservation. One hour later, we get a table.
Server just didn't care or had too many other tables or who knows??
Finally we got our food.. My pasta had obviously sat out for a good while because it was dried on top like it did.
Most of the food was ok. the seafood in my pasta tasted fresh.
The grandkids wouldn't eat the mac & cheese and I never saw that ever before. My daughter just said it wasn't too good.
And I guess they don't have dessert because no one offered us any?
The cost was pretty reasonable.
Written February 12, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jean C
New Orleans53 contributions
Jun 2018 • family
Six of us met for lunch Saturday and, having called ahead, expected to have seating in the big "Walnut Room" where I was told lunch was served every Saturday and Sunday. Upon arrival we found tables set up in the lobby; a wedding reception would be held that night in the Walnut Room. Very disappointed, but, lunch would be good, right? Service terribly slow both for drink service and then ordering and service of food. I had a bacon and blue cheese burger and it was delicious. My husband had fried oysters which were perfectly fried but over seasoned with pepper. While we were eating the staff began removing all the other tables and chairs as other lunch guests departed and started setting up for the wedding ceremony for that night which apparently would consume the entire facility. The time was approximately 2:30pm when we were done with our lunch and at that time ours was the only table in the place and we all felt like we were being kicked out although no one had asked us to leave. Messina's is located in a beautifully restored art-deco small airport terminal situated on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain and, if seated in the right area, you can actually watch the airplanes take off and land. While my previous visit there was a delight, I was disappointed this time.
Written June 25, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
B V
1230 contributions
Jun 2018 • friends
Old friends met for lunch in historic Restored ART DECO BUILDING.
TERMINAL OF Lakefront Airport is location of Messina's Runway restaurant.
Welcoming and Friendly.
Speedy drinks and dining service.
Refills yes.
Quality vis a vis price is compelling.
My redfish main was beautifully prepared. It's so easy to over cook. Sides all perfect. Generous portion.
My friends agreed. All their choices were REALLY good.
Room is spacious and comfortable.
Highest marks in all categories.
Written June 2, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
John A
Pinetop-Lakeside23 contributions
May 2018 • family
We had breakfast at Messina's Runway Cafe. The menu was much more limited than the on line menu. Service was very poor. The food on the other hand was excellent. We probably will not return
Written May 2, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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