Happy Hangar Cafe

Attention airplane fanatics and lovers of military chow hall style, hearty food — Happy Hangar Café’ awaits your arrival (By airplane or motorized vehicle!). The owner of the café’ has a gorgeous, Blue and Yellow, Stearman Bi-​plane that he regularly exercises from the runway in front of the restaurant. While you chow down inside the café’ or outside, or on the country style front porch there’s always something going on at Happy Hangar.
NOTE: The Stearman PT-​17 is a very reliable, open cockpit, two-​seater biplane which was used as a WW2 military trainer aircraft during the 1930s and 1940s. It’s the rumbling, «Harley Davidson» of the skies over Wesley Chapel /​Lutz Fla. and it’s great fun to watch it start up, take off, and gracefully float over the woodsy surrounding landscape. You can even sign-​up for a ride if you want !
The café’ food is amazing, the coffee is hot, and the wait-​staff is wonderful. I live 20 minutes away and I seem to end up here just about every other Saturday a.m. The portions are so large that you’ll never leave hungry. I have sampled just about every breakfast menu item and ALL have been perfectly cooked to order, every time. The pancakes are as big as automobile hubcaps !!
The Restaurant is tucked behind an, «Airplane Subdivision» (Called, Kings Landing) — -where some folks live right off the runway. It is accessible via several routes: Take Hwy 56 exit off I-​75 (Go West at exit and then immediately turn east on Hwy 54 at Walgreens Traffic light) or take Hwy 54 exit off I-​75 (Go West, then approx. 4-​lights down) and when you see a Marathon gas Station and mini-​mart, turn Eastward into that subdivision. Follow the little «Happy Hangar Café» sign, and go all-​the-​way to the back of the subdivision.
Behind a row of majestic oak trees, you’ll see a bunch of parked airplanes and a Grey, Ranch-​style building with wrap-​around porch – That’s The Happy Hangar.
Make the journey to The Happy Hangar yourself, and discover one of Wesley Chapel’s best kept secrets! I guarantee you’ll be HAPPY that you did !!!

The service was pretty abysmal as we waited long stretches of time to even be acknowledged to ordering to getting our bill. Food was decent, dinerish. I’ll try again.

Awesome little place with great food. We found this place on Unilocal and we were not disappointed. Everything we had was good. Corn beef hash was excellent. Service was friendly and fast enough (basic, wait for your food to be cooked, time). Everything has a homemade taste although I can’t say for sure that it’s all homemade but it’s all tasty. We will definitely be back.

It’s not about the food here.
Mediocre eggs and toast.
Watch the planes take off and ride in an open air cockpit–
Service was good

So this is definitely an atmosphere deal. I had the big breakfast that consisted of 3 over cooked over easy eggs, a freezer slice of ham, a freezer sausage patty, some undercooked and pre frozen home fries BUT some really good home made pancakes. Now the thrill of this place is to see the bi plane take off and land, do fly byes and all this viewed from a nice covered patio. We tried sitting inside but the noise levels off a concrete floor in a very small dining room can be a bit loud, especially when «Dillon» and «Savannah» are allowed to run around screaming while social media mom and flip flop dad ignore their unruly behavior. It’s probably good for one round of entertainment but the food is nothing to return for really.

Great breakfast! Extremely fresh. We came on Thanksgiving morning and he was not officially open but he was there anyways and decided to open for the few folks that were there. Privately run, mom and pop shop. Excellent food, friendly service, great view cause you can watch the planes take off and land. Highly recommend!

Cute and clean atmosphere, friendly service. Love the aviation-​atmosphere and view of the hanger :-)
Pancakes and bacon were awesome! Good eggs, but grits were instant and sausage patties had that «pre-​frozen» taste.
Little bit of a wait for food, but we dined during the breakfast rush.

We enjoyed a hearty breakfast here Sunday morning. Tucked deep in a Northeast Tampa neighborhood, I relied on Google Maps to get us here, and we had no problems… Other than being confused. And that peacock sighting (which wasn’t a problem, other than not getting a photo of it loitering in someone’s front yard).
Heading to Dade City on Sunday, I did my homework in looking for a breakfast spot *kinda* on the way from Town & Country, and when I found Happy Hangar Café at North Tampa Aero Park, a few minutes off I-​275/​I-​75, I knew I’d found our winner. And I was not disappointed. Planes are parked everywhere! Unfortunately, since the weather forecast was dismal, we didn’t see any planes arriving or departing, but since the café windows faced a runway (possibly only runway), I can imagine what a great view is possible!
We both ordered the 2 egg breakfast with bacon or sausage (guess which I chose!), potatoes & bread. I picked home fries & thought they were almost not cooked enough… but they were, & delicious mixed with my over-​easy eggs. H chose hashbrowns, which were quite excellent alone, but I thought a bit too greasy to eat with my eggs. The biscuit was amazing, & I wished I hadn’t saved it for last as I was too full to eat all of it. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our meals… Nothing fancy, but solid, well-​cooked breakfasts!
I want to specifically mention the service… we arrived just a few minutes before 8am on Sunday, and were surprised to see only 2 tables occupied. This was nice because the café was quiet, and I hadn’t had coffee yet. We were also running a few minutes late to our final destination, so I was optimistic service would be quick. AND IT WAS. Even quicker than I’d hoped. We didn’t need to rush our eating because service was SO QUICK. And another server was quick with the coffee pot. We didn’t want for anything because they all anticipated our needs. THAT is why I give Happy Hangar Café five stars!

Fast, friendly and good food. I’ve been passing by this place forever. Decided to try it. My expectations weren’t very high since the restaurant had the appearance of «we have a little unused space and maybe a restaurant is a good idea». The waitress was very friendly and quick to offer suggestions. I ordered the Rueben and fries. They told me the corned beef was made on premise. Very good, just the right amount of everything on the sandwich. The fries, they reminded me of fries I used to have as a boy. I couldn’t have been happier with the meal.

Extremely terrible service. It took a long time for someone to acknowledge me when I arrived and then the lady behind the counter wanted to seat me at a table with no view. The restaurant had 3 other parties at most and there were several window views available! I wanted to sit and check out the planes and what not. I had to tell my waitress I preferred a window seat. She then allowed me to sit at the nearest window seat with a view. I sat for a few minutes until my waitress came back to offer me coffee but no silverware. I asked for milk for my coffee and she told me I could use the creamer on the table. I wasn’t feeling too good about this establishment after that point and decided to just overlook everything that has happened thus far. She returned to take my order and I ordered a simple scrambled eggs, biscuit and bacon. A few minutes go by and I am thinking I am to receive a fresh cooked breakfast but NO. She did not bring silverware and I had to remind her. How am I supposed to eat? She finally brings me silverware and I begin to eat. The eggs were cold and I refused to eat it so I asked another waitress to take it away because of my dissatisfaction. I walked up to the counter where the older lady is instructing the waitresses on what to do. She was having a conversation with someone and acted as if I wasn’t there until I finally said something to get her attention. I told her I was unhappy with the food and just wanted to pay for the coffee I ordered and she was extremely sarcastic to me. Not showing any empathy whatsoever. I was beyond shocked at the treatment I was receiving and couldn’t believe she works in customer service. She didn’t take my money and shoo’d me off. I will NEVER return to this establishment due to the way I was treated. This café was conveniently located minutes away from my home but I’ll drive a few minutes extra to another establishment who will appreciate my business.

Nice hidden jewel in the Wesley Chapel area. Great food, good service and a unique view watching planes take off while you eat breakfast.

We stumbled upon this awesome breakfast joint when we saw how packed Cracker Barrel was on a Sunday. We literally almost had the place to ourselves when we first walked in. Great attentive service. Food was fresh, hot and delicious. I had corned beef hash and hash browns. Huge portion for a great price. If you don’t know where this is find it fast… just head to the airport. It’s a hidden gem! We will be back for the Flights of Fancy Balloon Fest and on Sunday’s when the commercial places are packed!

Wow what a great lunch I had there it was so delish I had a couple of my friends with me we sampled a little bit of everything so we had the delicious Cuban Cuban bread and it was hot and pressed perfectly done and we also had the Reuben which the lady told us that they boiled themselves and then slice it nice and thin and put it on a nice thick of piece of marble rye bread we shared a basket of onion rings and homemade Idaho Potato french fries and as if that wasn’t enough we decided to splurge and had to try their jumbo wings with their mid octane sauce great job happy hanger will be back can’t wait to be at your Festival of flight in September

Great place to take the family for Breakfast. I have been twice in the last two weeks and found the atmosphere really fun and the service excellent. Don’t miss the corned beef hash. Awesome!

Decent selection of breakfast food that gets 3 stars. Giving an extra star for the fun factor of eating while watching small planes take-​off & land. Staff was friendly. Will be back.

What a novel concept! You’ve probably noticed the small airport located off the side of I-​275 near Wesley Chapel, or maybe you live in Wesley Chapel/​Lutz and you’ve seen the planes flying low near your house. But what you might not know is that they’ve put a cute little café right on their runway! The food is delicious, serving breakfast and lunch every day until 2pm. I’ve had a burger and an omelette, and was very pleased with both. The biscuits are delicious and the gravy was a bit salty, but very good.
Besides the food being delicious, the big draw is that you get to watch planes take off and land. If you have children, they will love it! Just make sure to sit outside. On the weekend, you’ll see a lot more, including an adorable biplane that goes up and down constantly. It almost looked like they were giving rides, but I’m not sure how it related to the café. Some other customers there told us that when it’s parked they allow kids to climb on it. I didn’t see that happening on any of our visits.
My only warning to you is that service is NOT fast, and not that great. The girls try, but every time we’ve been it’s been fairly busy and only one or two people there. The last time, even the breakfast cook had left, so we only had the option of lunch (but it was close to closing time). The servers are friendly, just not that prompt and food takes awhile to cook. Keep this in mind and you’ll enjoy your visit!

First, the food — this is a greasy spoon. That’s totally fine, but there are extremely limited healthy choices (they had a salad or two).
The server was extremely nice and prompt. Kids loved climbing in the little plane they have outside.
I think it’s fine if you understand fully what you’re getting — it’s cheap, quick and good for the kiddos.

We found the Happy Hangar on our way to Dade City (read: wasteland for foodies). The food is typical diner food– no real maple syrup (only high fructose corn syrup), mostly tasteless eggs (NOT all natural), frozen commercial potato cubes, and standard fare pork products. The biscuits were passable but not what I’d consider outstanding. In sum, better than starving.
BUT, this place is literally located on the runway of the Tampa North Aero Park. On a beautiful morning like today it’s pretty fantastic to be able to watch the small planes take off– especially for airplane junkies like my husband, and budding airplane junkies like our 3 year old daughter. I’d guess we’ll be back.

Every day I pass the «Happy Hangar Café» signs on State Road 54. Today we decided to investigate and see what the café had to offer. I knew that the North Tampa Aero Park was located off of Birdsong Boulevard but did not know they had a restaurant. This place is not easy to locate. Seems as if you are going in circles but you will eventually find it at the very end of the runway of the flight center. You know you are going in the right direction when you see homes built on the runway with their planes parked in the back of the house (that was a first for me).
The café looks brand new. There were not many people dining — seems to be a hidden treasure. They are open Tuesday through Sunday from 7 am to 2 pm. Serve breakfast all day but also serve appetizers and lunch. Hubby and I were instantly greeted by a very nice server named Kathy. Told her this was our first visit and she explained the menu to us. We made a suggestion that the there needed to be better signage to find the café. She says the owner is working on it and hopefully they have signs up in the near future.
We ordered the Huge Hangar Breakfast (3 eggs any style, 2 strips of bacon, 2 sausage patties, a slice of ham, home fries and/​or grits, and a freshly baked biscuit with sausage gravy). Enough for two people to share. Everything was pipping hot and fresh. I was not too crazy about the sausage gravy — was a little salty for my taste, but overall a very good meal. This area of Wesley Chapel/​Lutz needs some more breakfast options and we found our new «go to» restaurant to satisfy our morning hunger. We will be back — also want to try their lunch menu.

we’ve been meaning to try it, finally gave it a go this morning as we didn’t have out daughters with us. I got the western omelet with grits and a biscuit, my husband got their biscuits & gravy, eggs and bacon.
my omelet… meh, okay with the inside bits being cold, grits were great, and the biscuit was good (def home made). the biscuits & gravy were really good! stole 2 bites from my husband to be sure I liked them ;)
saw another table get a Cuban sandwich while we were waiting for our food and it looked like a great lunch option — looks lie they do them right, pressing them to get a nice crunch :)
we will be back. great little place to bring kids, has a couple of picnic tables up on the porch, right next to the runway and a bunch of parked planes.