London Luton Airport restaurant nominated for two prestigious awards
Sanfords, the exciting American diner style restaurant that opened its doors at London Luton Airport (LLA) earlier this year, has been shortlisted for two prestigious industry awards.
With 480 covers set across two floors, Sanfords holds the distinction of being the largest restaurant within any UK airport and has proved an instant hit with passengers flying from LLA.
The restaurant’s success has now led to nominations for Restaurant Design of the Year and Opening of the Year at the 2025 Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Awards. Winners will be announced at a gala ceremony taking place in Barcelona on 26 June.
Chairman and Founder of the FAB Awards Martin Moodie said: “Our finalists line-up is drawn from a huge array of submissions that reflected a great deal of innovation in airport food and beverage. From fantastically themed and authentic pubs and restaurants to the embracing of cutting-edge technology and gamified experiences; from high-end hybrid concepts to world-class, chef-led gastronomical journeys; from authentic street food and just about everything in between, these finalists offer up a truly fabulous fusion of ambience, culinary excellence and design.”
Sanfords ground floor, family-friendly diner offers a menu that delivers American classics, and American twists on British classics. Breakfast highlights include cinnamon swirl pancakes and an American spin on a classic fry up, with the afternoon menu featuring choices such as the Sanfords loaded dog, a cheeseburger pizza and Philly cheesesteak po’ boy.
The mezzanine Loft Bar provides the perfect space for passengers to enjoy drinks from an impressive bar and a mouthwatering menu of handheld food, while entertaining themselves on the ever-popular shuffleboard table ahead of their flight.
Commenting at the Sanfords launch event in February, Jonathan Rayner, Chief Commercial Officer of London Luton Airport, said: “Even in the context of so many other exciting shop and restaurant openings seen at London Luton Airport over the past 12 months, to open the doors to a landmark establishment of this size and scale underlines LLA’s scale of ambition. As the largest restaurant in any UK airport, Sanfords truly delivers the wow factor, providing passengers with a wonderful space to dine, relax and unwind, along with a mouthwatering menu to ensure their travels get off to the perfect start. Sanfords is a truly exciting addition to the LLA departure lounge that cements our focus on offering even greater choice and delivering a simple and friendly passenger experience.”
Last year's FAB Awards saw LLA voted as the standout European airport for food and beverage choice, based on investment, ambition, quality, service, transformation and performance across an extensive range of dining options.
With a relationship spanning two decades, LLA and TRGC worked closely to design and develop the perfect brand for the restaurant, on their third and biggest joint project to date.