Restaurant at Saratoga Airport Cleared for Landing: An Off Track First Look

Ready for takeoff? ✈️

In this episode of Off-Track Saratoga Podcast, we’re bringing you inside one of the Capital Region’s most unique new destinations—Sunset at Saratoga, the brand-new restaurant located inside the Saratoga County Airport.

Hosts Noel McLaren and Zac Denham sit down with owner Mike Speranza, and local creator Pat Fleming (aka the “local diner guy”) to talk about how they're creating a family-friendly dining experience at the airport that's open to everyone.

From scratch-made food and locally sourced ingredients to fresh-brewed Big Black Coffee and unbeatable runway views, this spot is redefining what it means to “go out to eat” in Saratoga. 

This episode dives into:

•  The story behind bringing Sunset at Saratoga to life 
•  Why this restaurant is filling a major gap in the Milton/Saratoga community 
•  The power of supporting local—from coffee to cuisine 
•  And how this space blends nostalgia, family, and a one-of-a-kind aviation experience 

Whether you’re planning a laid-back family outing, a date night with a view, or just want to watch planes take off with a cocktail in hand—this is one destination you don’t want to miss.

Transcript

Noel 0:00

Ooh. I'm Emmy Award-winning journalist Noel McLaren.

Zac 0:03

And I'm local business owner Zac Denham. And this is Off-Track Saratoga Podcast.

Noel 0:08

Sometimes we're on track.

Zac 0:09

Sometimes we go a little off.

Noel 0:12

But it's always worth the listen. Hello, hello, hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Off-Track Saratoga Podcast. We are, I am so beyond selfishly excited for this. We are at Sunset Saratoga, which is the brand new restaurant inside the Saratoga County Airport. If you're not familiar with this place, I don't think a lot of people are yet. This is incredible. This

Private jets, but a restaurant for the public

Noel 0:38

building, the Saratoga County Airport, is approximately $35 million taxpayer dollars to build. And for the longest time, I think people thought it's just for the people flying in and out and private jets and small airplanes. You're making it accessible to everybody.

Mike 0:54

Absolutely. Everybody is allowed to come in here to dine with us or just to, you know, watch the airplanes.

Pat 1:00

It's a it's a private airport, but a public restaurant.

Mike 1:04

It is. It is. It's it's actually actually anybody can actually fly out of here. So so you could be one uh you know part of a club and you can, you know, get on a prop plane, or you can do gliding, or you can take a helicopter ride.

Noel 1:15

Okay, so just so everybody knows, I I was super excited, so I just started running my mouth per usual. But we are joined today by Mike, owner of Sunset Saratoga.

Pat 1:24

And my name's Pat Fleming. I'm probably the local diner guy.

Noel 1:28

Yeah, the local diner guy, Pat Fleming. And this is kind of like a little local diner, so you have a little piece of it too, because they're serving your brand new coffee.

Pat 1:36

They are brewing big black coffee here.

Pat Fleming & Big Black Coffee

Pat 1:38

Mike was gracious enough to support local, you source locally in many, many things that you offer here. And this is definitely a step up from a diner. We had the food this morning. Unbelievable. Oh my god. Super, super good. The planes are flying in and out. We took a helicopter ride, and uh, thanks to you for brewing big black coffee, man. You know, you're you're taking a risk, taking a gamble on me, and uh I appreciate it.

Noel 2:00

It's great coffee. You know that.

Pat 2:01

It is great coffee, and uh, I'm just you know super grateful for you to do that.

Noel 2:05

We have it in our cups right now.

Zac 2:06

I can also endorse the BBC. Let's go.

Noel 2:14

It's delicious.

Zac 2:14

It really is really good. It scratched uh, you know, a part of my nostalgic brain and brought me back to you know late nights uh chilling or sobering up at the Waffle House uh back home. So I it it really is unique and specific and delicious. So yeah.

Pat 2:32

I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, I'm really excited about it.

Creating Sunset at Saratoga

Noel 2:36

So, Mike, tell me where this idea came from. Did the airport approach you? Did you approach the airport? Why here? Why now?

Mike 2:44

This is my community. I live in the town of Milton where we are. So it came back up for bid, basically. And I just got in front of the right people. I I had to have it. I knew that this was missing from this community. And uh it's been a passion of mine. I went to school for it and I just had a I had I had to do it. I had to do it for the community, not for really for me, but for the community.

Noel 3:04

When you say you knew this was missing from the community, what specifically do you mean?

Mike 3:08

A restaurant where people can come in with their families, feel welcome, and just have an attraction built in. And great food, you know, that's that's what this is about. Great food and family, you know? We want people to just feel relaxed and you're like you're at you're at home.

Noel 3:22

With just a few planes flying by.

Mike 3:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Noel 3:24

Um,

Noel's memories at Saratoga County Airport

Noel 3:25

you say with an attraction. And I mean, for me, this is a little bit nostalgic because before this whole facility was built, um, my son, my older son, who's now eight, he was like two, maybe even one at the time, in the middle of COVID. Um, all the playgrounds were closed, you couldn't go anywhere, um, everything was shut down, but the airport was still open. We would come with some snacks and some food, and we would lay out a picnic blanket and we would watch the planes take off and land, watch the gliders, the helicopters. Um, and then I just came back with him, I don't know, a few months ago just to see the facility built, and he was just like, whoa. So now that you can do it and actually have a place to land, if you will, here with your family. Absolutely. It's it's a whole experience. Absolutely. So, how did you guys

How Mike & Pat met & collaborated

Noel 4:18

meet? And how did this come about? How did this uh Yeah, yeah?

Pat 4:21

Well, I was uh I I post a lot online and uh he had reached out on Facebook basically mentioning that he's opening up a restaurant and he was interested in trying out my coffee to brew it because he wanted to support local um and he liked what I was doing for the small businesses. So then I came in, he tried the coffee. Luckily, luckily enough, he liked it. If he didn't like it, probably wouldn't be here, but he liked it. So uh so then we just connected and uh we become you know friends over the last few months or so. And yeah.

Noel 4:46

Pat, you um got your start just reviewing local

How Pat became the diner guy

Noel 4:50

diners. Tell me how that began and why you did that and how it led you to making coffee.

Pat 4:55

You had kind of mentioned the the nostalgia. When I was a kid, I used to go to a diner with my parents or my grandparents. So when I got older, I had moved to Florida, and what I realized was there's not a lot of diners down there. You know, they don't really exist the way they do up in the Northeast. So when I moved back to New York, I I just realized that there was a bit of a void. And um diners are specific to the Northeast, and the next generation isn't being connected to it. So I was like, I wonder if I can get on social media, connect this next generation of diner enthusiasts. I've had to coin them, yeah, and get them to go out and support these local businesses that are kind of a dying breed in the diners. And and luckily I struck a chord and people are out supporting the diners now, which I love.

Noel 5:37

Are you from up here or from I'm from Troy? You're from Troy, okay. So homegrown Troy. Okay, perfect. Yeah, I'm from downstate New York and close to Jersey. So like the Jersey Diner was like the thing. You said you're from Long Island, Mike. Covered in chrome. Oh my comfort and chrome. I've never heard that. Yeah. But like, you know, after school sporting events or anything, it was kind of like a safe space for us as kids to go. Your parents would drop you off. You go on a date there, it's, you know, and get whatever you wanted. Late night. You said you went to school for this,

Mike's background

Noel 6:10

Mike.

Mike 6:10

I I did. I went to school for hotel restaurant management. So but then I moved up here, I left the city in Long Island, and I said, all right, I don't know if it's the right time because I wanted to start a family. And uh, and we did. And you know, we've got three kids later and 18 years of marriage in, and uh now it was time. Well, congratulations. Now it was time. It's on my bucket list. I had it, you know, just something I had to do.

Noel 6:29

How long ago did you move up here?

Mike 6:30

Uh 20 years ago.

Noel 6:31

Okay, so you've been here a while.

Zac 6:32

So this is my first time kind of coming in this way to see what is happening down here, you know, uh now that everything's more or less complete. Sure. There's a lot of buzz around

The Food & Cocktails at Sunset

Zac 6:42

the restaurant here, and you know, it's a unique destination for sure. Absolutely. Um, what can people expect whenever they come here uh by way of like your food program, your beverage program? Sure.

Mike 6:51

Fully stocked bar number one, which you know, people want to sit here and have a cocktail or have an appetizer. And then uh our food is uh I'm gonna say 95% scratch made. We turned all of our freezers into refrigerators because we don't want frozen food in here. We are keeping it as clean and healthy as possible, down to our homemade syrups for our cocktails are made here in-house. Uh and then we're doing a scratch dough. Um, I've got a local partner, uh, Ryan McFadden. Him and I are launching a pizza dough company in probably the next month. People will start hearing about it. And the dough is gonna be featured here and at his two places. So, and so yeah, we're we're doing everything from scratch, we're keeping everything clean. Our our our food is very, very affordable. You know, you don't have to come out to dinner and break the bank, basically, to feed your family.

Noel 7:39

I have a vision of how I'm going to come here. I am going to sit on the balcony with my husband, and we're gonna have a nice little relaxing meal. My kids are gonna stuff, stuff a little bit of food down their throats, and then they're gonna run around the package. Absolutely. And I can see them.

Mike 7:53

That's what we want. That's what we want, though. Like my kids are are gonna be doing the same. That's I want people to feel that, you know, reconnect, come in here and just feel like you're coming at, you know, sitting at your own dinner table.

Zac 8:04

And so you guys are, I think what I saw advertised, you guys uh the plan is to do a seven-day-a-week service, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Yes. Um, that's quite bold. If you want uh as somebody who also owns a restaurant and knows what goes into it, I know that's good, that's quite bold. Um why do you think here and why do you think now?

Mike 8:24

Because this region right here of Milton,

Why here and now?

Mike 8:26

uh we don't have a uh a restaurant on this side of town anymore. No. And um you've got a couple nice little bars, but you can't really go into it with a with a family. And that's what was the missing link through through through this. So uh I think like being open seven days a week, especially in the beginning, going through track season, let's create maximum exposure. Let's create, like, I want to get in there. So I think that this place is gonna be booming. If I'm shut down for two weeks, then people are gonna be pissed at me. And I'm like, so let's at least see if it works. If it doesn't work, we'll we'll axe a day and then we'll, you know, maybe two. But yeah, we did the same thing.

Zac 8:59

We did the same thing. You can always you can always scale. Absolutely. Are you guys going

The Sunset at Saratoga experience

Zac 9:03

to uh operate primarily on a walk-in basis? Or are you guys going to reservations or no?

Mike 9:08

Right now, I want people to just be able to walk in and sit down, basically. You know, just like a diner, but we're not a diner.

Noel 9:15

Yeah, a little more elevated than a diner.

Pat 9:16

Yeah, I can confirm more elevated than a diner.

Mike 9:19

We give Alfrey helicopter rides around here.

Noel 9:22

But seriously, to me, I think some people, when they hear about the airport and this project, they think to themselves, oh, that's great for like the crowd that's taking a private jet for the track season. And I think anybody who had an issue ever with this project, it was that it was not for the masses, if you will. This is, and this makes it for the masses, which is exciting.

Mike 9:47

This is gonna be special.

Zac 9:48

Outside of uh daily services and things like that, what could the public expect? You know, are there plans for entertainment, events, things like that?

Mike 9:56

Yep. So May 2nd, which is

Sunset at Saratoga's Open House

Mike 9:58

is our open house, is what I'm calling it. We're kicking off Rich Ortiz is gonna be playing here. That's my boy. 11 to 2. Then we're bringing in high noon. You know, Dave flies in here, so why not? We have Josh Sellers coming in, and we also have common roots coming in. So they're going to be staggered, but coming in and uh uh giving out samples and we're supporting them. They're local, so we're we're letting everybody try what what you know what they offer. This is so exciting. And then we're gonna get into helicopter rides all day. As long as the conditions are good and safe, we're gonna be doing helicopter rides throughout the day. So um, it will give people um you know from all over the capital region an opportunity to to come in here and and and experience something different, you know?

Noel 10:39

Zach, I'm sure you could also like

Standing out in Saratoga

Noel 10:41

relate to this, touch on this. I think trying to stand out in Saratoga as a hospitality place, as a restaurant, is part of the battle. You don't want to be like anybody else, you want to provide a new experience.

Zac 10:54

How do you cut through the noise? And I think what what you guys have that's an advantage is you know, you have the built-in element of the, you know, the location, which will be a draw, but to kind of see and hear the the the fuller picture of being a place where nah you can come in and hang out or you can you know make it a destination, it can it can be whatever you want. And I can say for for sure, like the space is super like comfortable, um, really tastefully done. I I can definitely see myself hanging out here. You know, if people are visiting from out of town and you want to try something different, right? Uh-huh. You know, coming out here, uh it's a it's a really unique experience for sure.

Noel 11:30

Do you think that having this at the airport? I mean, is there any kind of hope or have you spoken with the reps at the airport of like, oh maybe there'll be more, I mean, probably not commercial flights, but flights for your everyday person instead of just, you know.

Mike 11:44

It depends because it can only handle the uh uh a certain size plane. Right. Those planes are, you know, when they're right there, I mean they're big, they're pretty thick, you know. And I I don't know, maybe they'll bring on, you know, some private flights and I don't know. I don't know what their plans are, but um this is a it's just a it is a big airport, you know, for little Saratoga County.

Noel 12:03

Bustling airport, especially as we get closer to track season. Sure. You have a lot of people coming from horse country all over the country. They're already coming in. Kentucky. I was gonna say, have you met anybody cool yet?

Celebrity Sightings at the Airport?

Noel 12:15

Can't say. Yeah, I don't wanna.

Mike 12:20

Yeah, there's some good people that are coming through here. Yeah, you know.

Noel 12:22

So if you come and sit at the bar, you know, you might just see somebody. It's kind of like Star Watching. I mean. Okay, I have to tell you about one of our amazing sponsors, Saratoga Tea and Honey. Have you guys been there yet? Because if you hadn't, you should go. They have over 80 loose leaf teas, like actually curated and blended, not just your typical options. Then there's a honey tasting room, which is exactly what it sounds like. You can sample 20 different raw honeys and figure out which one you are obsessed with. My four-year-old is obsessed with all of them and has to try every one every time we go. It's one of those places where you could pop in quick and grab a matcha, or sit down, stay, and relax for a while while you sip on some tea. And if you go, make sure you mention Off-Track Saratoga Podcast because you'll get $3 off any jar of honey, which trust us, you're definitely going to want to take one home. Be sure to mention us. All right, back to the episode.

Mike 13:16

It's kind of like Star Watching. I mean, remember, SPAC is two and a half miles down the road. Yeah. So they're not always on the tour bus, I'll put it that way. Okay. Right? So, you know, depending on yeah, absolutely. They are, you know, artists, musicians are flying in. You have a lot of people associated with the track, but you know, even, you know, celebrities and actors and actresses, they come in too.

Noel 13:38

Drinking big black coffee.

Mike 13:39

Drinking big black coffee. Absolutely.

Noel 13:42

Pat, you have tasted a lot of this type of food, family-friendly diner, you know, related food. The food here.

Pat's take on Sunset at Saratoga's food

Noel 13:50

What do you have to say about it?

Pat 13:51

We had a lot of different things this morning. We had the chicken and waffles, we had the sunrise burrito that I'll eat till sunset. It was that good. I mean, there's so many different things that we had today. Definitely as far as quality, you're talking elevated from like your go. This isn't a diner. Okay. It's very, very important to mention that. Food is is outstanding, super fresh. Home fries, too, by the way. I don't know if I told her home fries are fire. Fire. Still, still thinking about them. Yeah, the home fry. Yeah, I told the chef, I was like, those are gas. Um, but yeah, food's outstanding. The sun sets right there. Well, that's why it's called sunset at Saratoga. I mean, the sun literally sets right there. So super cool place, and it's a great first place for me to have my coffee actually brewed. Yeah. Because this is gonna be a very popular spot, obviously, for good reason. I'll be hanging out here for sure, probably at the bar.

Noel 14:38

I mean, probably Sam.

Zac 14:39

So you've launched your coffee brand, which is great. Congrats. Thank you. What's the plan?

Roll out Plan for Big Black Coffee

Zac 14:44

What's the rollout plan outside of you know other partnerships, things like that?

Pat 14:47

I want to keep it local for now. I'm a capital region guy, and I want to continue to get big black coffee, not only in in restaurants, but also in grocery stores, convenience stores, where it's just kind of like a local coffee that you see next to the Folgers, next to the Maxwell houses. Um, it's locally roasted, locally brewed, locally sourced. Everything's local, um, which I'm really proud of. And I partnered up with another company to get uh this is ground coffee, this is 12 ounces that we have. So, yeah, we'll kind of see where it goes. Like I'm on my toes, I'm ready to pivot and move and uh take opportunities like this and whatever else.

Noel 15:21

It's exciting.

Pat 15:21

Very cool. Thank you.

Noel 15:22

So if we want to get our hands on this now, other than coming to the restaurants that you're in, which is sunset at Saratoga.

Pat 15:30

That's right.

Noel 15:30

Where else can we get our hands on this?

Pat 15:33

Another day inother diner.com is where I sell it. And then it's also at the Old World Gourmet, which is uh a really like high-end grocery store in Saratoga. Super cool place, very clean grocery store. They have it there, as well as a few other places, some gas stations, some Sinocos, even a golf course coming up. Um, so a few other places, but Another Day andotherDiner.com and brewed Sunset of Saratoga at the Saratoga County Airport. So cool.

Mike 15:56

I like it.

Pat 15:57

Awesome. Yeah, thank you.

Mike 15:58

I do. She's making cold brew for our espresso martini with it, and it's unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Pat 16:04

Let's go. I got it. I haven't even tried one yet. I'll have to try one. Nice.

Noel 16:07

All right, so the experience is you show up, you come as you are, you bring your family, you bring your kids, you bring whoever you want, you sit, you relax, you watch the planes take off and land.

Mike 16:20

Looking at the Adirondack Mountains, the photos of the Adirondack Mountains and the sunset is just incredible.

The Best Sunset in the Saratoga Area?

Mike 16:26

Yeah. There's no other way to describe it. It's it's it's the best sunset in Saratoga. It really is.

Noel 16:31

I mean, did you have any other name ideas for this place, or was it just like it hit you right in the face?

Mike 16:37

I've been saying this because we lived in this area, my wife and I and our family for uh 17 years in this area. And my mother-in-law always said, Oh my gosh, if somebody had a restaurant near the Saratoga airport, like you could, it's the best sunsets around. Like so, uh like sunset at Saratoga. I don't know. It just came naturally.

Noel 16:55

Yeah, I love it so much. I am so excited to take my family here. This is fantastic. Your coffee is out of this world.

Zac 17:02

I'm reading for you guys. I think I think this is a really cool, unique opportunity. What a great partnership. We'll keep our eyes on this for sure.

Pat 17:09

I think as a

Support Local

Pat 17:10

lot of people are in the capital region and they're wondering where to go out to eat, where to spend their money, support local, whether it's a diner, a restaurant, your grocery store, local gas station, whatever it is. Local podcasts, local podcasts. So yeah. I think it's just important to support local. And and I think this community that's been built in the Capitol region is really local heavy. And I love that. And hopefully we can continue to harness the support of local businesses. Absolutely.

Noel 17:36

And I think something that we all like have in common. I've meet so many people that come from a bigger city and then move here to this Saratoga area because it feels like within arm's reach. It's kind of got the culture, the energy, the life of that big city feel. You know, but it's accessible.

Mike 17:56

We are so full of life. Like you can't, there's no other way to describe it. What you just said. It's we're full of life. We are so unique. Like the people, there's the culture around here is just something that you really don't find anywhere across this entire country. No. It's crazy. Me and him doing this together, like that was the start of me saying, like, okay, I want to do more. Like, I have a local artist. She she does all of that. Old World Gourmet Market, him and I are partnered to bring in all of our bread from Brooklyn. So, like, the amount of work that just like it's a lot of work, but we want to do it because one, you can experience other good foods from downstate. You bring them upstate, but they also exist here. So, like at Kathy's uh cupcakery is at a greenfield. She is like an artist, uh, you know, with food. It's incredible, you know. And it's just I those are those are the people I want to support.

Noel 18:46

Uh well, this really feels very homey. I can't think of a better word for it, but I feel very comfortable here. And I'm very excited to bring the rest of the family. I'm very excited for your future and the possibilities. So thank you so much for sharing it first with us. And uh, yeah, we'll see you next time.

Zac 19:02

Thanks for tuning in. We'll catch you next week.

Pat 19:05

Thank you. Bye! Shout out off track Saratoga Podcast. Stay tuned.