Wing It Café, the tiny airport diner out at Hicks Airfield that built a loyal following on big burgers and front row views of small planes, has called it quits. The closure, announced Monday on the restaurant’s social channels, came with a public thank you to a moving company that helped clear out the space on short notice, catching pilots and neighborhood regulars off guard. The abrupt shutdown leaves the flightside building dark and its once‑steady crowd without their go‑to spot.
Owners Eric and Kathryn Faulkner opened Wing It Café in 2022 in the hangar‑adjacent space at 171 Aviator Drive, a spot that had hosted a breakfast and burger operation for roughly twenty years before they took over. In their note, the Faulkners described the closure as sudden and again credited movers for stepping in quickly, details first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The café’s website highlights the address, its short but crowd‑pleasing menu, and the flightside seating that made it a favored stop for pilots who liked to fly in for a meal as much as for locals who drove over for breakfast. Aviation resources list Wing It as a fly in friendly café and include its posted hours, underscoring its double life as both neighborhood diner and novelty destination. Those details appear on Wing It Café and on AirNav.
Runway Conflicts And A Spinning Door Of Tenants
Hicks Airfield is no stranger to restaurant turnover. A previous tenant, the Beacon Cafe, reportedly lost its lease and planned to relocate to a Business U.S. 287 address by the end of January, and earlier coverage detailed runway conflicts that included customers wandering uncomfortably close to taxiing aircraft. Those persistent frictions between diners and active aviation have complicated life for restaurateurs in the tiny airport’s prime viewing spot and have helped fuel the rotation of tenants over the years. For background and reporting on lease issues and safety concerns, see the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
For now, there is no public timeline for what comes next in the vacated space, and pilots, airport staff, and nearby residents will be waiting to see whether another operator signs on for the flightside gamble. The Faulkners’ social posts did not hint at reopening plans, and it remains unclear whether the building will be re‑tenanted by another restaurant. This story will be updated if the owners or airfield management release more details.
