When Aviator’s Grill opened in 1995, most of its customers were travelers or pilots using the adjacent David Wayne Hooks Airport. Now, years later, the majority of its customers come from the surrounding community, owner Jim Duffy said.
Although Duffy and his wife, co-owner Rory Duffy, had backgrounds in the food industry, he had worked repairing office equipment before seizing an opportunity to open the restaurant in 1995.
“We were just looking for a niche,” Jim said.
The airport has had an on-site restaurant since it opened in the early 1960s, but the diner had been through four owners in about two years before the Duffy family took over, he said.
Teaming up with a brother-in-law who had worked as a chef at the private Petroleum Club of Houston, Jim said they developed recipes for traditional lunch items like hamburgers alongside more unique fare like pecan-crusted chicken and blackened catfish with lemon butter.
“We make everything the way we like it,” Jim said.
For the Duffy family, that includes dishes with more complexity than typical diner cuisine, such as chicken salad with 10 ingredients and tuna salad with “a little kick,” he said.
Many of the sandwiches were given aviation-inspired names by a group of World War II veterans who used to frequent the restaurant, Jim said. The B-52 Burger ($9), the restaurant’s popular half-pound burger, was named for the famous 1950s bomber jet.
“To them, this was their restaurant,” Jim said of the veterans. “They had no problem coming in and telling me what I should do [with the names].”
Hamburgers are a favorite, but salads are not far behind in popularity, he said.
“I have changed my burger 10 times in 20 years, but I think about four years ago we came up with a combination that works,” he said.
Salads include the Wrong Way Corrigan ($9), a chicken and black bean salad with tortilla strips and roasted corn. It was named for a Galveston pilot who notoriously flew to Ireland from New York when he was scheduled to fly to California.
The Cessna salad ($4), is named for the small aircraft that often fly in and out of Hooks Airport.
Breakfast is served Friday through Sunday, and lunch is served daily.
Restaurant decor includes wooden propellers, small model airplanes, airplane-themed mural paintings and a wall of photos of military personnel.
Despite the aviation theme, the owners rarely get in an aircraft.
“Believe it or not, neither one of us likes flying,” Jim said. “The [pilots] that are here would rather get in a plane than drive down Stuebner Airline Road.”
Aviator's Favorites:
- Stealth Salad with diced beef fajita meat, cheese and tortilla strips ($9)
- Seaplane Tuna salad on wheat bread with melted pepper jack cheese ($8)
- Nose Dive Turkey, ham, bacon and Swiss cheese on three slices of toast ($9)
- Bird with the Golden Tail Chicken-fried chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables ($10)
