Runway dining may return to Wiley Post Airport, where a restaurant is getting a makeover. Annie Okie's Runway Cafe was a beloved breakfast-and-lunch spot tucked inside the Bethany airport terminal, with a glass-walled view of the runway. Regulars used to watch planes taxi by as they ate.
According to The Oklahoman, runway dining may return to OKC as a Wiley Post restaurant gets a makeover.
Annie Okie's Runway Cafe was a small operation by any measure. A 2008 profile of the business listed just nine employees, with owners Kim and Ron Bryan running the show, per oklahoman.com. The café served breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Sunday, with hours stretching from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. most days and a slightly later 8 a.m. start on Sundays, the same report noted.
A Runway View Unlike Any Other In OKC
What made the café memorable wasn't just the menu, it was the setting. The dining room was described as an all-glass space sitting right next to the runway at Wiley Post Airport, giving diners a front-row seat to small aircraft takeoffs and landings while they ate. The spot was something of a hidden gem, located past the airplane hangars and inside the terminal at the Bethany airport, according to a separate 2008 oklahoman.com piece on airport dining around the metro.
The café sat at 5915 Phillip J. Rhodes Ave. in Bethany, as noted by The Lost Ogle in its 2018 review of the business. That same review highlighted the café's playful, aviation-themed menu, with items like the Annie Okie Omelet and the B-2 Bomber giving the place a personality that matched its unusual location.
Plans were completed for renovation of a 3,956-square-foot, one-story above-grade restaurant. Separately, the Oklahoma City Airport Trust approved a package of construction contracts, amendments, leases and grant applications affecting Wiley Post Airport on Feb. 27, 2025, according to Citizen Portal, with that approval covering leases and concession agreements tied to the airport.
The possibility of runway dining returning to Wiley Post would bring back one of the metro's more unusual dining experiences: a meal with a view of the runway.
