Fly-in Eateries:

Flightline Café
Hondo, Texas

THE FLIGHTLINE CAFE BURNED IN APRIL 2004...  IT IS NOW CLOSED

By David Gabler
Photo by Taylor Wicker

Few Texas pilots have not heard of the Flightline Café in Hondo, Texas (HDO), a small town 40 miles west of San Antonio that once was home to thousands of Army personnel and pilots during both World War II and the Korean War.  Today, the Hondo airport is a lonely expanse of concrete, where pilots land their planes looking for good food.  During the aviation heyday of 40s and 50s, the Hondo Army Air Field included 690 buildings and nearly 4,000 acres.

Located in a refurbished flight operations building constructed in 1942, during the term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Flightline Café serves consistently good food.  “It’s fun to fly to Hondo, meet new and old friends and enjoy the great food,” said Ron Dietes, a pilot who volunteers with the Confederate Air Force’s Yellow Rose B-25 Squadron in San Marcos, Texas.

Established in 1989, the Flightline Café is now owned and managed by Evelyn Herrmann (pictured at right).  “My daughter started the restaurant and asked me if I wanted to take it over.  But I said, ‘I like my retired life just the way it is.’  Famous last words, since I’ve been running the place ever since then,” Evelyn laughed.  “And I love it.  I’m not a pilot but I love to fly, and I like spending time around pilots.”

Under an assortment of ceiling tiles painted to commemorate special events in both aviation and the restaurant’s history, diners pack the place regularly for menu items including an extensive array of Tex-Mex dishes and southern favorites including chicken fried steak.  The restaurant’s walls are lined with old photos of aircrafts and pilots, including the two first female test pilots in the U.S. Army who happened to have been stationed at Hondo.

“Our $100 hamburger is the most-requested menu item,” said Evelyn with a big smile.  Fortunately, the $100 hamburger only costs $2.50, not including cheese, fuel and other flying expenses.  “But the club sandwich is a favorite, too,” she added.  “Pilots are notoriously not big spenders.”  Diners do not need to be big spenders at the Flightline Café, where Sunday’s breakfast buffet ($4.95) could feed an army and a recent Sunday lunch buffet ($7.95/$6.96 over 60) included turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato French fries, a selection of steamed vegetables, salad bar and dessert bar.

For diners wanting a lighter plate, the menu includes the “Pin-up Girl Chicken,” a grilled chicken breast with low-fat dressing, a baked potato, assorted fruit and a trip to the salad bar.  Other items on the menu include fried catfish, “Lettuce Entertain You” (a selection of main course salads) and the “Full Bird Burger,” a grilled chicken sandwich.

Evelyn dutifully oversees every aspect of the café’s operation.  She even bakes all the breads and desserts, which are served on a 1940s Army Jeep, turned into a dessert table.  At the other end of the Jeep, diners are invited to help themselves to “house frijoles,” a special pinto bean recipe served free with any meal.  The restaurant is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday through Friday.

Note: The Flightline Café opened 13 years ago on Mother’s Day. To celebrate 13 years in business, they will host a “Fly-in Anniversary Party” on Saturday, May 4.  For more information, call 830-426-4020.