Ahh, Los Angeles—beaches, mountains, Hollywood, Silicon Beach, and, of course, acai bowls. One of the easiest things to do in Los Angeles, whether you’re in the Hollywood Hills or down by Muscle Beach, is to find healthy food. It’s nearly impossible to walk a block in this city without stumbling into a juice bar or pilates studio. LA doesn’t just do health well—it throws wellness in your face.  

Unfortunately, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) does not follow suit. Despite being the fifth-busiest airport in the country in terms of passenger volume, and located in a town who's mascot should be an oat milk matcha smoothie bowl, #actuallyhealthy options are tough to find. That is, unless you know where to look.

Luckily, we’ve done the work for you. Below are the top five healthiest places to eat at LAX. 

Our go-tos
The A-List

#1: BEAMING (Terminal 1)

This place is just a joy to have in the Southwest Terminal. You're walking past the various stock Hudson News-type stores and chain coffee shops, and just when you've lost hope, there it is, glittering and all white, like OZ. Beaming has been our favorite spot at LAX for several years. The only hiccup is that it may have been recently purchased by Earthbar (#3 on our list below). But while messaging is unclear, this might become a "special" Earthbar location offering new smoothies. Either way, pretty darn good.

WHAT TO ORDER: The Buff Beatnik, no protein (house-made almond mylk, blueberries, bananas, spinach, almond butter, dates, vanilla protein, hemp seeds, cinnamon). If you're hungrier, grab the Almond Butter Acai Bowl (pure unsweetened acai, house-made almond mylk, almond butter, blueberries, bananas). Why no protein? (a) we stick with whole-foods if we can and (b) you never know what is added to the protein mix itself. 

#2: REAL FOOD DAILY (Terminal 4)

Any restaurant that is Las Vegas magic man Penn Jillette’s favorite in LA deserves a high spot on any best-of list.  And if you've been, you likely understand where Penn is coming from. The restaurant is 100% plant-based, and the food is top notch. While this airport location is more limited than the West Hollywood or Pasadena locations, it’s still legit.  

WHAT TO ORDER: The Real Food Salad ( romaine hearts, kale, roasted sweet potatoes, garbanzo beans, avocado, macadamia parmesan, quinoa, and creamy almond shallot vinaigrette), dressing on the side).

Our other favorites
Pretty, pretty good

#3: EARTHBAR (Terminals 3 and 6)

Not to be confused with Urth Café (mentioned below), Earth Bar is a standard and solid smoothie joint. What makes it different, is doing it a long time, since 1971. That means making cacao mint chip smoothies and dragon fruit bowls before it was cool—even in LA.  There are a ton of EB locations all over California, and thank goodness two of them are at LAX. 

WHAT TO ORDER: Lean & Green, no coconut water (limited value, and its glycemic load is controversial), no protein (see note in #1). It’s hard to argue with fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, and no-sugar-added almond milk. So why would we? We just sip and enjoy. 

#4: BREEZE (Terminal 2)

No, we’re not talking about the new airline JetBlue founder David Neilman lauanched this year, the fourth airline he’s started(!). This Breeze is a quick-stop kiosk that started in 2019 for everyone's benefit. “After years of flying with Celiac’s disease, founder Annabel Lawee turned a personal struggle into a mission: to provide all airport travelers convenient access to real, wholesome food,” the company says. We think they did a pretty good job. Many of the snacks and meals are as good as anything in any airport, and they accommodate most dietary restrictions. 

WHAT TO ORDER: Lean & Green, no coconut water (limited value, and its glycemic load is controversial), no protein (see note in #1). It’s hard to argue with fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, and no-sugar-added almond milk. So why would we? We just sip and enjoy. 

#5: LEMONADE (Terminal 5)

This cafeteria-style, fast-casual restaurant chain tries to focus on seasonal, Californian cuisine. It was founded in 2008 by a chef in LA and now has a few dozen locations throughout the city, including this airport spot. Most of the menu is focused on vegetarian options, and we really like  the veggie-heavy Market Sides. The only downside is the dressings and sauces some of the food is made in. But there's still plenty of good stuff. 

WHAT TO ORDER: Two Market Vegetable option with the Curried Cauliflower and Avocado and Cherry Tomato Market Salads. With these scoop-sized portions, it's is usually enough.

Honorable mention: Urth Caffé (Terminal 2)

Urth Caffé is a Los Angeles staple, which is why it earns an honorable mention. It doesn’t make the real Survival Guide list because the LAX location is not quite the same healthy Urth menu of Santa Monica or Beverly Hills. Still, there are healthy options available. 

WHAT TO ORDER: Urth Salad, and pick out the cheese. There’s usually also a veggie sandwich of some kind, but it’s less ideal.

Fun facts about LAX

1. First is the worst, third is the best. LAX was actually the third airport to hit the scene in LA. Grand Central Airport (GCA) began the Los Angeles aviation industry when it opened in 1923 in the town of Glendale, northeast of the Hollywood hills. Some years later, Boeing and United joined forces to open their own airport in Burbank, less than 10 miles down the road. Glendale and Burbank were duking it out until the city of Los Angeles flexed its political muscles and started another airport to the south in a town called Westchester. Unfortunately, while Burbank (now Bob Hope Airport) and LAX still stand strong, first-mover GCA closed profitless in 1958. On the bright side, the Walt Disney Co. purchased the terminal in 1997, and it exists today as one of the company's cool campuses...the the ones airfare will have soon enough.
2. "X" marks the airport? The "X" in LAX stands for...nothing. Yep, nothing. The airport's abbreviation code was simply LA until all airport were required to have three-letter codes, so the decision makes went with...X. That's the whole story. Frustrated? Confused? We're just the messengers. 
3. LAX is actually #1. Although LAX is technically only the fifth busiest airport in the country, that's only due to connections. It does boast the "world's busiest origin and destination airport" because it has more flyers that start or end there, versus just stopping on a connection. In other words, when people come to LA, they're there to stay.