Stansted airport restaurants: where to eat, before and after security

Stansted has one terminal, and as with the shops, the security search is the line that decides what you can reach. Most of the food is airside, after the search, on the departures concourse with the shops. Landside, before security, the choice is limited: a Costa, a Pret A Manger and an M&S Simply Food in the check-in area, plus a coffee stop or two. That is enough for a sandwich, a coffee or a quick breakfast, but the proper sit-down meals are all on the other side.

One practical point follows from that, and it matters for the budget. Because you cannot come back landside once you are through, and the landside chains are the same ones you would meet on the high street, it is usually cheaper to eat before security if you want a chain price rather than an airside one. If you would rather wait and choose airside, do not rush the food stop, because the queues build at the early-morning peak. None of the airport's restaurants takes a booking, so it is first come, first served throughout.

Airside is where the choice is, spread along the departures concourse near the shops. The current line-up runs across the usual airport mix:

• Pub and sit-down: The Windmill, a full JD Wetherspoon pub with breakfasts and pub mains; The Camden Bar & Kitchen for breakfasts and pub classics; Terracotta Italian Kitchen for pizza and pasta; and Comptoir Libanais for Lebanese mezze and wraps.
• Quick and grab-and-go: Pret A Manger, itsu, Leon and Starbucks and Costa Coffee for coffee and a fast bite.
• Bars: the Bottega prosecco bar and Burnells Bar for a pre-flight drink.

None of them takes a reservation, and the airport's own line is that there are plenty of tables, so you find a seat on the day rather than booking ahead. The exact names move as the terminal is rebuilt under the Transformation Programme, so the airport's restaurants and bars page is the one to check on the day. The food sits on the same concourse as the shops, and the airport map shows where it all is relative to your gate.

Airport food at Stansted is not cheap, and it is worth being plain about why: the outlets pay high rents to trade airside, and the prices carry that. A meal here costs more than the same chain in town. So the value question is real, and there are a few honest answers.

For a sit-down meal, The Windmill, the airside Wetherspoon, is the cheapest option, with the chain's usual breakfasts and pub mains. It costs a little more than a Wetherspoon on the high street, but it undercuts the restaurants around it, which is why it is the one most regular travellers head for. For something quicker, an M&S Simply Food meal deal or a Pret sandwich beats a restaurant bill, and buying it landside before security tends to be cheaper again. The free water-refill points around the terminal mean you do not need to buy bottled water once through security, where the markup is steepest. And if you have airport lounge access, food and soft drinks are included in the entry price, which can be the better deal on a long wait than paying per item.

The food follows the flying day. Most outlets open around 04:00 for the early-morning wave and close with the last departure, roughly 23:00. Leon, for example, runs from 04:00 until the last flight. That early start suits Stansted, where a large share of flights leave before 09:00.

A few places stay open around the clock for the red-eye and pre-dawn crowd. A Starbucks airside and a Costa are among those most often reported as 24 hours, though which outlets run overnight does change, so do not count on a specific one in the small hours. If you arrive very early or land late at night, expect a thinner choice, often just a coffee and a snack, until the main outlets open at 04:00. The early-morning and school-holiday peaks are also when the queues are longest, so on a 06:00 departure, factor the food stop into your time after security rather than assuming a quick grab. For everything else airside, the airport services hub has the wider picture.