Mr. Sven Lepschy, CEO of Waco Aircraft Corporation sat down to chat with us about “Waco Kitchen” who excitedly shared the positive feedback he received from people here in the local community about the prospect of a good restaurant at/near the airport. Mr. Lepschy sees it as a blessing to be able to add value to local communities but recognizes the challenges must be overcome. The initial plan was to open on 1st April 2022 in time for Sun n Fun, but due to vendor issues, they’re now looking at summertime so probably in 2 to 2.5 months they expect to open for business.
Mr. Lepschy anticipates a strong demand that needs filling, and word on the ramp is that visitors want to have some “real good food.” While it will be a copy and paste of what Waco currently does in Battle Creek (KBTL), Michigan, with 60% or so of the menu pretty much the same, and the remainder sourced from the local area. Waco’s trademark is taken from the local community. Knowing where their product comes from is important, and Waco wants to provide good quality healthy food...at an airport...something that is hard to find, and this is what Mr. Lepschy believes it will make the Waco Kitchen at Lakeland International Airport unique.
When asked what will make Waco Kitchen unique, Mr. Lepschy stated that it’s a totally different restaurant you won’t find anywhere else. This one will have seating capacity for 151, sporting a "very clean modern European American fusion kitchen.” AeroNews asked what might the aviation community expect to find that’s unique and interesting while looking for the $100 hamburger? Something that’s worthy of the complexity and expense of an airplane trip? Mr. Lepschy responded that they've accepted the challenge, “you can get average everywhere, and I was born and raised in Germany and in Europe so my standard is way above average. It shows in Battle Creek, how our team is serving the community there, and it shows with the feedback.” Mr. Lepschy further added that the quality of food is very important, and that the $100 hamburger is actually a $290,000 Waco burger! If you buy this [our] Taco then you can actually get the Great Lakes with
it.”
Mr. Lepschy concluded by saying that “it’s not a product that we sell, we sell the experience, and that’s what people love about our product, and it’s the same for the restaurant too. It's not just the food you can eat anywhere, you can't get a good experience everywhere, and that's why people will love the airport restaurant. People will love Waco Kitchen, I’m excited to open it in a few months.”
Aero-TV is a production of the Internationally syndicated Aero-News Network. Seen worldwide by hundreds of thousands of aviators and aviation adherents, ANN's Aero-TV has produced over 5000 aviation and feature programs, including nearly 2000 episodes of our daily aviation news program, AIRBORNE UNLIMITED, currently hosted by Holland Lee. Now in its third decade of operation, parent company Aero-News Network, has the most aggressive and intensive editorial profile of any aviation news organization and has published nearly a half-million news and feature stories since its inception -- having pioneered the online 24/7 aviation new-media model that so many have emulated.
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