Airport Grille Ready to Take Flight Under New Owners

As SouthCoast restaurants go, the Airport Grille has been a roller coaster ride. When it first opened about 10 years ago, the Airport Grille was one of the hottest restaurants in New Bedford, if not the entire SouthCoast. Over the years, however, the restaurant's popularity slowly waned, until Friday and Saturday night crowds were sometimes in the single digits.

This led to the inevitable story last week of the Airport Grille closing its doors later this month, on August 17. The story was a whimper. There wasn't much of a splash about the closing because not many people were going there anymore.

Now, the real story.

The owners of the legendary End Zone restaurant in New Bedford, Troy and Ryan Demelo, have finalized a deal to take over the Airport Grille with partners David Slutz and Steve Furtado. Furtado is a local school administrator and Slutz is a director at a local investment firm. The team will make some renovations, revamp the logo and menu, and shoot to re-open the Airport Grille by October 1.

"One major change you'll see will be in the pricing," Troy Demelo told Fun 107. Gone are the days of the Airport Grille being too expensive to enjoy. All of their menu items will be priced between $10 and $24. We got a sneak peek at their menu, which includes Lazy Man Stuffed Lobster, Buffalo Alfredo with chicken or shrimp over penne, and Runway IPA Drunken Mussels.

"The Airport Grille used to be a place you'd go for a special occasion, like a birthday, an anniversary or to celebrate a promotion. Our goal is to make the Airport Grille a place you just go on any random Wednesday or Thursday night," said DeMelo. "It will be much more affordable than what it was."

Customers will have the option of dining at one of their 10 outdoor tables, playing cornhole or lounging by the firepit in one of their Adirondack chairs on the grass. The Airport Grille has also secured approval for an outdoor stage for live music.

The DeMelos will continue to own and operate the End Zone Sports Pub.