Say what you want about the City by the Bay—San Francisco knows food.

No matter the type of cuisine, the level of service, the price or the ambiance, the Golden Gate City has it covered…healthy food included.

We like to hit up Blue Barn, Wildseed, Kitava, and Nourish Café. But once we head south in San Mateo County toward San Francisco International Airport (SFO), things get rough.

Let us be clear— SFO might be our favorite airport in the country. Aside from the six-hour walk to the rideshare pickup area, it’s a progressive, user-friendly haven. Right on brand with the technology-forward city it calls home, SFO has everything from ubiquitous water bottle filling stations, all-electric bathrooms, oodles of power outlets for all the techbros, lactation stations, interactive kid zones, and even some unique outdoor spaces.

On the flip side, the healthy food options are…underwhelming.

That’s where airfare has your back. We’ve scoured the SFO terminals to determine the best options, emergency fallbacks, coffee secrets, and more. Whether arriving to or departing from the 4-1-5, this guide will ensure you’re well-nourished and ready to take on the day.

Let’s get to it.

Terminal 1

The go-to

Proper Food

This spot has plenty of options that lean “healthier” but are not #actuallyhealthy by our definition. The seasonal salad, for example, is loaded with cheese, candied pecans and oily, sweet dressing. With your trusty Survival Guide in hand, though, there are ways to keep it clean.
What to order: Get the Vegan Wrap, which is citrus-marinated organic tofu, roasted sweet potatoes, house-made hummus, roasted tomatoes, kale, and spicy lemon vinaigrette in a wheat tortilla. Leave out the wrap (not whole grain) and the dressing (added sweetener and oil) if you’re a stickler like we are. For just a snack, get the house-made hummus with raw veggies. As any Survival Guide regular will know, Mediterranean is one of the two airport “M&M” saviors, the other being Mexican.

Soup secret

Amy’s Drive Thru

This is a healthier take on diner food, offering organic veggie burgers and smoothies rather than shakes. Again, it’s not #actuallyhealthy, but there’s one delicious exception…
What to order: Get the Lentil Veggie Soup. Tasty, filling, and we’re generally bullish on most drinkable foods.

Cool café

Café X

This robot barista will prepare a latte or iced tea. It’s a unique concept, very San Fran, and the coffee is better than expected.

Terminal 2

The go-to

The Plant Café

Everyone will be able to find something at this all-organic stop, even when choosing the less-healthy options.
What to order: Make a salad with mixed greens, dinosaur kale, Napa cabbage, carrots, cucumber cherry tomatoes, roasted beets, sunflower sprouts, quinoa, avocado, hummus, pickled onions, sunflower seeds, and ginger miso dressing. If in a smoothie mood, get the Green Banana Almond, which is fairly clean and has no added sweetener.

The backup

Napa Farms Market

This is a basic market primarily stocked with to-go items, and it also offers some made-to-order options.
What to order: M&M is back again. At an in-between hour of the day, get the hummus and veggies. For breakfast, there’s always the steel cut oats with seasonal fruit.

Bonus: The Sky Terrace

SFO is one of the only airports in the world with a specific outdoor area passengers can enjoy after checking in but before security. It’s located on top of Terminal 2, so look for signs and go up. It’s a pleasure.

Terminal 3

The go-to

Ladle and Leaf

The salad offerings are solid here, though we suggest the super soups and bangin’ bowls, which really hit the spot.
What to order: For a bowl, grab the Pico Kale, leave off the tortilla chips, and get dressing on the side. If it’s a soup day, get the Moroccan Carrot and Lentil, which has a nice spicy kick. The Split Pea Sweet Potato Curry (though high in saturated fat) and Black Bean Chili are also great options.

The backup

Amoura

The theme of SFO backups is Mediterranean. This place isn’t spectacular, but it has enough of the good to avoid the bad.
What to order: We get the Horiatiki Salad, no cheese, hummus on the side.

International Terminal

The go-to

Joe and the Juice

The best bet flying international is this always-steady juice chain, where you can grab a smoothie or acai bowl and call it a day.
What to order: The acai bowl is our move, or in a hurry we’ll snag the Re-Build 2.0 (avocado, banana, chocolate almond drink, date, ice, protein, raw cacao). We’re not wild about added protein, so we ask nicely to leave that out.

Bonus: Observation Deck

Another nice outdoor area is after security in Terminal G. Smell the fog rolling in from the Pacific.

Fun Facts about SFO

• In 2019, SFO was the seventh-busiest airport in the country, serving some 56 million passengers, just behind John F. Kennedy International Airport.
• The city of San Francisco purchased the airport in 1930, and United Airlines started operating as SFO’s key commercial carrier in 1934.
• In 1980, SFO became the first international airport to house a museum inside.
• Terminal 1—which had been under a $2.4B renovation in 2019—was renamed the Harvey Milk Terminal 1 after the deceased gay rights activist on which the film “Milk” was based. This made SFO home to the first terminal in the world named after a leader in the LGBTQ community.