Travelers passing through John Wayne Airport are getting another taste of Orange County as longtime local favorite Sgt. Pepperoni’s Pizza Store joins the airport’s expanding lineup of restaurants and concessions.
The move is particularly fitting for the Newport Beach institution. Sgt. Pepperoni’s flagship restaurant at 2300 SE Bristol Street has been part of the local community since 1976 and sits just minutes from John Wayne Airport. The restaurant has grown from its Newport Beach roots to additional Orange County locations while maintaining its focus on New York-inspired pizza and a scratch-kitchen approach.
A Local Favorite Lands at John Wayne Airport
Sgt. Pepperoni’s is part of a much larger transformation of the dining experience at John Wayne Airport.
Orange County approved a major concession redevelopment that includes more than a dozen restaurant concepts across the airport. Official county documents identify Sgt. Pepperoni’s alongside other Orange County and national concepts including Wahoo’s Fish Taco, Five Vines, Chaupain Bakery, Left Coast Brewing, Tacos La Piña Dorada, The Habit Burger Grill and others.
The airport’s food-and-beverage redevelopment is being handled under a long-term agreement with Host International. County documents projected an overall capital investment of nearly $50 million across the concession packages, with an emphasis on bringing more local concepts into the terminals.
That local component could make the changes particularly interesting for Orange County travelers. Rather than relying entirely on restaurants visitors can find at airports around the country, John Wayne Airport is incorporating businesses with recognizable ties to the surrounding community.
Nearly 50 Years of Newport Beach History
For longtime Newport Beach residents, Sgt. Pepperoni’s arrival at the airport represents something more than another place to grab a slice.
The restaurant traces its Newport Beach history to 1976. Its flagship location remains on SE Bristol Street, where the business serves pizza by the slice and whole pies along with salads, sandwiches, pasta and other items. The company emphasizes fresh dough and pizza sauce prepared in-house as part of its scratch-kitchen approach.
The restaurant’s connection to the airport area actually stretches back decades. Archived editions of the Daily Pilot from the late 1970s show Sgt. Pepperoni’s advertising employment opportunities at its Bristol Street restaurant as a location near Orange County Airport, as John Wayne Airport was then commonly known.
That makes the airport expansion something of a homecoming: a pizza shop that has spent decades serving customers just outside the airport will now have a presence inside it.
John Wayne Airport Adds More Orange County Flavor
The addition is part of a broader effort to give John Wayne Airport’s dining program more of an Orange County identity.
When county supervisors approved the concession program, officials highlighted the number of local businesses represented in the new restaurant lineup. The redevelopment encompasses food and beverage space throughout Terminals A, B and C.
For Sgt. Pepperoni’s, the airport presence also introduces the nearly 50-year-old Newport Beach brand to travelers who may never have visited its original restaurant.
For locals, meanwhile, there’s something distinctly Orange County about heading out of town and finding a familiar Newport Beach pizza shop waiting on the other side of airport security.
More Information
Readers can learn more about the restaurant at Sgt. Pepperoni’s Pizza Store and follow concession and terminal updates through John Wayne Airport.
