Tailwind Concessions, the Wilmington-based company that operates airport concessions at 15 regional airports nationwide, has opened its first stand-alone restaurant on the grounds of Wilmington International Airport.
 
Scratch on 23rd offers a wide variety of scratch-made pastries and sweets, specialty coffees, all-natural smoothies and gourmet sandwiches, soups and salads.
 
One of the main goals of the restaurant, according to Mitchel Provens, corporate operations assistant – marketing for Tailwind, is to offer a gourmet food experience at a competitive price point to those who live and work nearby.
 
Provens said that in preparation for opening, employees of Scratch visited many of the surrounding business parks, talking with employees about the lack of freshly prepared, quick-service food in the area.
 
“This is a void that we are hoping to fill with Scratch on 23rd,” Provens said. “We provide high quality food to people on the go, whether they’re commuting to work, on their lunch break, or heading to or from the airport.”
 
Breakfast offerings include breakfast sandwiches, burritos and tacos, as well as a veggie quinoa breakfast bowl topped with a sunny-side-up egg.
 
Sandwich highlights include the pickled pepper pork with slow roasted pork loin, provolone cheese, pickled sweet and hot peppers and garlic pesto aioli on a French baguette; and the brisket melt with slow roasted brisket, smoked Gouda, BBQ sauce and house pickles on grilled sourdough.
 
Customers can choose the build-your-own sandwich option with a choice of bread, one meat, one cheese, one sauce and any number of veggies for $7.95. Sides of potato salad, pasta salad, cole slaw and chips are also available.
 
Tailwinds online ordering will be available in the future, but for now, customers can always call ahead for faster service.
 
Scratch on 23rd serves breakfast and lunch all day from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is located at the ILM Business Park in Suite 160 at 1724 Gardner Drive.
 
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