DINING: Puck Express offers herb-seasoned fries at airport

For our final airport dining excursion—the fourth in this month’s series—we step into Concourse B, home to
American,
Southwest, United, USAir and more. (As noted last week, a post-security corridor allows passage
between Concourses A and B.)

A co-worker and I first thought we’d have a nice, filling sit-down lunch at Shapiro’s Delicatessen. But, as it turns out,
the new airport location of the venerable Indy institution is pretty much a take-out spot. This doesn’t mean we were disappointed.

The roast turkey sandwich ($8.99), while seemingly less well-stacked than its downtown or north-side brethren, still satisfied.
Credit that not only to its fresh-sliced taste, but also to the world-class seeded rye bread. A bit of mustard is all you
need on this one. Get your veggies elsewhere.

While there wasn’t a matzo ball option, the hearty Chicken Noodle Soup ($3.99)
proved a worthy sandwich partner — although I wouldn’t suggest taking it for in-flight dining. For that, just pocket
— after paying
for them, of course — a few of Shapiro’s Cookies ($1.29).

Nearby, King David Dogs also serves food familiar to the center-city lunch crowd. We noticed no difference between the Build-Your-Own
($3.95) or the Chili Dog
($4.99) served here and those we’ve
devoured on Pennsylvania And, yes, you can get Tater Tots ($1.49) here as well. Thank the dining gods that the crucial bun
steamer made it through security.

No, it isn’t local, but for sit-down we couldn’t resist Wolfgang PuckExpress. Here we
happily devoured the BBQ Chicken Pizza ($9.49) — featuring red onion, plum tomato, cilantro, chili oil and sweet and
tangy sauce — and the Spicy Chicken Pizza ($8.99) which lacked the promised kick but still
managed to stay on the right side of that fine line between creatively yummy and interesting experimental.

It was no surprise that Wolfgang Puck’s pizzas made for a worthwhile meal. The surprise, though, was in finding here what
is to be the best in
Indianapolis International Airport dining. I’m talking about the $2.49 plate of herb-seasoned french fries. Nicely accented
with thyme, oregano and salt, this is more than a side dish. It’s a reason to hope your flight experiences a (slight) delay.