Blue Sky Dining

Hagerstown landmark, Nick’s Airport Inn soars into 6th decade 

By April Bartel

People love watching airplanes, even if they don’t like riding in them. There’s a magic to it. For millennia, man stood on the ground and dreamed of soaring into blue skies, unbound by gravity, as graceful and free as a bird. It’s human nature to reach for more. That’s probably why the concept of flight still captivates the imagination more than a century after the Wright brothers broke that barrier. 

Today, approximately 20,000 passengers take flight from the Hagerstown Regional Airport each year. The sweeping vista from the road around the airport feels like a high plateau. Curving from Showalter Road onto Route 11 leads to another Hagerstown landmark, Nick’s Airport Inn. Like the airport, Nick’s has grown beyond its humble beginnings, evolving as each generation pushes toward the future.

Tess Tiches is the restaurant’s general manager and daughter of founders, Nick and Tina Giannaris. Tiches has spent a lifetime within its walls where her parents took over a small, established eatery in 1961. It was a one-room luncheonette serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with a single waitress and a bar that sometimes functioned as a dance hall. The family moved into the second floor and began making the place their own.

“We lived over the restaurant until I was 12,’ she says. “My parents rented rooms to the pilots for a dollar a day for extra money. Rooms didn’t have private bathrooms. My mom would have to wash the sheets and towels by hand because we didn’t have a washing machine. So, they started from rock bottom.”

The revelation gives new insight to the establishment’s reputation as a gracious and elegant dining experience. In Nick’s own words, "Having people eat here is like inviting them into my home. That's why we named it Nick's Airport Inn. This is our home."

Nick Giannaris died almost a decade ago, but his exacting standards and spirit of hospitality remain. Matriarch Tina, now in her 80s, is still the primary owner and shows up every day, even though she has since handed off her demanding kitchen and custodial duties. Tiches, herself a mother of three, laughs softly at a memory. “My mom had playpens in the kitchen.”

Nick was always cooking, too. “He trained at the old A&P market in Hagerstown’s south-end shopping center when he bought the restaurant.” Tiches says with pride, “He went back in that butcher shop and literally learned how to butcher his own steaks. We have done that ever since. We clean and cut our own fish and filet them, too.” Nick’s gets seafood delivered about four times per week from Jessup. “We have such a high consumption of seafood here. Nothing is frozen. Nothing is canned. Everything is made in-house.” 

It’s no surprise then that hand cut steaks and fresh seafood, especially Nick’s house–made crab cakes, are among their most popular dishes. Steaks are dry rubbed with a blend of seasonings then grilled/broiled to sizzling and dolloped with herb-spiked maître d’ butter. The result is a flavorful cut with a hint of smoky char, served with a scatter of peppery, organic micro greens grown specifically for the restaurant.

“We are firm believers in buying local and working with local farmers,” says Tiches. “Back in the early 80s, my dad even had his own farm so that he could have the freshest ingredients, fresh herbs and fresh corn, fresh tomatoes and peppers. He did farm-to-table before it was popular. He was way ahead of his time.” 

This June marks the family’s 59th year in business. A cadre of returning fans have watched the place grow throughout the decades, along with the neighboring airport. No longer an “inn” per se, the former upstairs living quarters are now private dining space. Downstairs, newer wings spring to the right and left of the main entrance. Each nook is meticulous, decorated with vintage family photos, glowing restaurant reviews, community affiliation plaques and business awards. To the left is a more formal dining area, swathed in rosy pink and decorative molding. Private dining is available for 6 to 100 people. To the right is a lively piano bar and lounge. The vibe here is casual, with old-school panache. Both sections are wrapped with a gently curving solarium, so diners can get the best view of any action in the skies above.

Many of their enduringly popular recipes are those perfected by the Giannaris’ years ago. Nick’s classic jumbo lump crab cakes are paired with scratch made tartar sauce. Decadent crab Imperial shows up baked in casseroles, mounded onto shrimp or stuffed between flounder filets. Thick-cut lamb chops, spiced with oregano and lemon over orzo, vie for diners’ attention among other tempting selections such as tender filet mignon with buttery béarnaise sauce and slow roasted prime rib of beef au jus.

The menu includes contemporary preparations, too. There’s sushi-quality ahi tuna crusted with sesame seeds and served with wakame (seaweed) salad or Cajun chicken and shrimp over Roman-style bucatini pasta in a blackened butter sauce. The “Millionaire” burger is a half-pound of wagyu beef dressed with creamy black truffle aioli and caramelized onions on a toasted brioche bun. There’s even a veg–friendly quinoa bowl with roasted seasonal vegetables.

French-born Francis Verdier is the current executive chef at Nick’s Airport Inn, so many of the restaurant’s sauces and specials have a French flair. He started working alongside Nick decades ago. The family’s own Greek heritage is also evident in dishes like their phyllo-wrapped chicken or spanakopita appetizer. Of course, Greek pastries, including baklava, are always on the dessert menu. There is tiramisu, French fruit tarts and a seasonal take on crème brûlée to cap off a meal, but the two most requested desserts are Nick’s towering coconut cream pie and the nostalgic yet unassuming treat, tapioca pudding. All are made from scratch in-house.

January is typically a slow month for restaurants, but reservations are a must for Valentine’s Day at Nick’s. Plans for a special menu are already well underway in the kitchen. Tiches hints, “We always have something with lobster. We usually have a really nice baked dish and something chocolate.” Chocolate covered strawberries are a perennial hit. The sweetheart celebration spills over from Friday to Saturday, including live music and creative seasonal cocktails. Over the recent holidays, the bar staff poured out a variety of martinis ranging from caramel cider to chocolate pecan and eggnog alongside flutes of pink “poinsettia” champagne.

Fans don’t have to wait for a special occasion to visit, though. There is a limited menu between lunch and dinner, but plenty of room around the cozy fireplace and happy hour specials at the bar from 4-6 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Thursday through Saturday is live music featuring the likes of pianist Denny Jackson of SlamDunk, jazz by Shawn Dennison and eclectic country, blues and oldies tunes from The Jill Fulton Band.

“I think the key to our success is consistency,” notes Tiches. “The majority of our employees have been here for 30-plus years. It’s the same recipe and the same people making them, the same family running it.” It’s a combination fans seem to appreciate as Nick’s Airport Inn approaches its sixth decade in business, still riding high.