I enjoy restaurants, but by the end of a trip I've usually had my fill, and I'm loathe to wend my way through the supermarket aisles and wait in yet another line after a challenging day of sardine packed airplanes and chronic flight delays.

This is why, for many years, I've often carried my dinner home from airport eateries. But bringing airport food home has not always been easy. Not long ago, when living in the nation's capital, I often ordered meals to go at Legal Seafoods or the Matsutaki Sushi restaurant at Reagan National Airport. But there was always a long wait while they prepared my order, and few airport restaurants seemed adequately prepared to manage the takeout trade.

With the eradication of in-flight meals, many passengers are carrying their own food aboard airplanes and many airport concessions are now offering prepackaged meals and snacks for just this purpose. But many travelers are also taking those same prepackaged foods home at the conclusion of their trip, according to Elie W. Maalouf, President and Chief Executive Officer of HMS Host, which operates more than 1,000 food and beverage concessions at over 100 airports worldwide.

While most new airport food concessions are being constructed "airside," past security lines and close to gates, HMS Host is also installing kiosks and eateries in airport baggage claim areas specifically catering to travelers leaving the airport. In the United Airlines baggage claim area at O'Hare, HMS Host operates a Starbucks and Ciao Gourmet Market, an upscale American version of Ciao Ristorante, a Milan-based eatery with more than 155 locations primarily in Southern Europe. Ciao offers prepackaged, high-end healthy items including a tempting array of salads, sandwiches, fruits and vegetables, and gluten-free snacks as well as a tempting display of dessert treats.

Gourmet items, like the "Tunarama" shell pasta with tuna, peppers and carrots in a yogurt sauce, the chicken apple walnut ciabatta and the turkey and gouda nine grain sandwich are delivered fresh and replenished twice per day.

During a recent mid-afternoon visit, a steady stream of travelers browsed the shelves and display racks at Ciao in the bustling United Airlines baggage claim area. Most customers purchased snacks at this time of day, but Ryan Black bought a Portobello mushroom wrap, an apple, and an iced tea. The sales representative based in Lake Zurich, Ill., had just stepped off a flight from Boston, a trip he's made half a dozen times in the past three months. Unlike most travelers exiting the airport, Black wasn't bringing his dinner home. He planned to eat his Ciao meal in his car on his drive home.

HMS Host also operates a 24-hour Tim Horton's restaurant in the arrivals area at the Edmonton Airport and recently opened Yan Can, a Chinese cuisine eatery, adjacent to the baggage claim in Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport.

Starbucks are also open or opening soon on the lower levels or baggage claim areas at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Terminal 2 at Los Angeles International Airport, T.F. Green Airport in Providence, and the L.C. Smith Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Starbucks and Cinnabon have locations near the baggage claim at Sacramento International Airport. Vito's Market Kiosk and Chili's Too Grill and Bar are near the baggage claim at Terminal 1 in Fort Lauderdale, and eateries are proliferating in the arrivals area at several terminals at JFK International Airport in New York, among others.

Airport take-home food is not just for passengers returning home. "When I arrive in a city past dinner time, or know that I'm staying in a hotel that's likely to have few dining options (or only expensive ones), I buy a take-out meal (sandwich or salad usually) at the airport," says fellow USATODAY.com columnist Harriet Baskas. Baskas is also the author of Stuck at the Airport and MSNBC's Well Mannered Traveler.

I often follow Baskas' advice in Europe where hotel food is expensive and many airports, like Amsterdam or Geneva, have entire shopping malls easily accessible from the arrivals hall. In Geneva, my first stop is always the supermarket in the mall connected to the airport.

Airline passengers aren't the only ones taking airport food to their hotels. On a recent trip, I shared the Sheraton shuttle bus in San Francisco with an American Airlines flight crew toting their Subway sandwiches from the airport to their hotel rooms. And at Chicago's Midway Airport, Southwest flight crews routinely call ahead on their cellphones to assure their sandwiches are ready to go at the Potbelly Sandwich Works in the airport's food court, according to Scott Zuckerman, Vice President of Marketing for the sandwich chain.

Baskas believes another reason why baggage claim eateries are on the rise is to feed the "meeters and greeters" who congregate in the arrivals area since they can no longer wait at the gate. She also feels that business travelers who don't check luggage may be missing some good eatery options. "It's important to know what's available pre- and post-security", she says.

As one who's constantly evaluating my dinner options, I'm glad to see companies, like HMS Host, recognizing the needs of the hungry but weary traveler at the end of the day. I certainly hope to see more food concessions at the baggage claim.

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Send David your feedback: David Grossman is a veteran business traveler and former airline industry executive. He writes a column every other week on topics of interest and concern to business travelers. E-mail him at travel@usatoday.com.

Readers: Do you ever take food home from the airport? What are your favorites? Sound off below.

Enlarge By David Grossman Ciao at O'Hare: The Italian carry-out chain is located near the baggage claim area to target travelers as they leave the airport.

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