Impressive views, great eats at restaurant and bar at Scottsdale Airport
Volanti hosting a holiday movie night on the runway this Saturday.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ (AZFamily)—It’s finally patio weather in Arizona, and there’s one place where you can get great food and impressive views like no other.
Volanti is a restaurant and bar that overlooks the runway at Scottsdale Airport. In addition to watching planes touch down and take off, you can dine with a clear view of the McDowell Mountains, and you don’t need a boarding pass to enjoy.
Volanti, which means “flying” in Latin, replaced the old restaurant at the airport when it was rebuilt from the ground up into two stories five years ago.
It’s just up the stairs, past the Thunderbird Field II Veterans Memorial, which features a suspended Stearman PT-17.
Volanti is a family-run restaurant offering family-favorite dishes and handcrafted cocktails.
“We’re kind of summer all year round here in Arizona, but specifically here on the runway just because it’s so sunny. So, a lot of our most popular cocktails are going to be more of like refreshing drinks,” events director Alec Maza said.
The airport also inspires the drinks. For example, the restaurant’s beer glasses feature the Stearman hanging out front.
It also has themed drinks like the “Paper Plane” made with Woodinville bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon. It’s served with a Woodinville bourbon paper plane on the glass.
The “See You in Mexico” is also made with Astral tequila, pineapple, lime, jalapeño, ginger beer, and Tajín. It’s served in a handmade clay cup crafted by a local teacher.
Volanti also offers three different food menus depending on the time of day.
“Our lunch is going to be more for like the nine to five crowd: some quick salads, sandwiches, some seasonal items on there and then our dinner is going to be more elevated with seafood, steaks, pork chops, different things like that,” Maza said.
The restaurant also offers brunch on the weekends.
Maza says, “Our brunch is going to be a combination of a classic breakfast as well as some seasonal fun items, so we do a couple different hashes and tamales and kind of a little bit of everything. A couple of them are going to be my nana’s favorite items and we just kind of stuck with those family traditions.”
Happy Hour deals are offered every day. A selection of drinks is discounted daily from open until 6 p.m. and all day Sunday. Some small bites are discounted from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
This coming weekend, Volanti will continue its tradition in partnership with the city of Scottsdale, inviting the public to watch a free movie on the runway. After 1,800 people showed up for their initial movie night in April, the restaurant returns with a holiday theme.
Kelli Kuester, aviation planning and outreach coordinator for Scottsdale Airport, says, “with the weather being as beautiful as it is, and we’re hoping to have a lot of people in town with the holidays coming around, we thought this was going to be a great time to invite the community back out for our second annual movie night.”
It will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23, just below Volanti.
Maza says, “We’re going to watch Elf, do some seasonal treats and hot chocolate, and things like that, and then Elf will start right at sunset.”
There will also be food trucks for purchase, a few aircraft on display, including a Stearman, and likely a visit from Santa for the kids.
You can also have a say on what movie the airport and restaurant show next. Just look for a QR code near the screen you can scan with your phone to vote.
The airport and restaurant ask everyone attending the free event to bring their lawn chairs to set up on the runway and look for airport staff to direct them to parking.
Volanti
Location: 15000 N Airport Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Hours:
- Tuesday-Thursday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Saturday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sunday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Closed Mondays
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