After years of delays, a long-awaited new food court has opened at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport’s Concourse C with a Krispy Kreme, Saladworks and Great Wraps.
In coming weeks, a Leeann Chin and Bantam + Biddy are set to open at the food court operated by Global Concessions.
It took nearly five years for the food court to open after the city of Atlanta started the contracting process in January 2015 under former Mayor Kasim Reed's administration.
The city threw out the first batch of company proposals and restarted the contracting process, then selected Global Concessions in late 2016.
But the city put contracting on hold amid scrutiny of airport contracts during an ongoing federal corruption investigation into Atlanta City Hall.
In a controversial move that prompted legal turmoil, Reed had fired airport manager Miguel Southwell in 2016. The city's former chief procurement officer was sentenced to prison last year for taking at least $44,000 in bribes. In September the city's former contract compliance officer pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and tax evasion for failing to report income from companies seeking to obtain government contracts.
Meanwhile, the airport's Concourse C food court was still pending. In late 2017, near the end of Reed's administration, the airport's then-general manager Roosevelt Council said the contracting process has been canceled and would be rebid yet again.
But under Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who took office in 2018, the Global Concessions contract eventually moved forward.
While the Bantam + Biddy airport location was originally expected to open earlier in October, it is now expected to open in a couple of weeks.
Contracting for dozens of other airport restaurants and shops remains delayed since 2017, including for new restaurants and retail spots throughout the airport.
The food court also allows people to order at a kiosk, then pick up their food at the counter.
