a plate of food on a table

I have to give American Airlines credit for a great dinner on my recent flight from Chicago to Los Angeles. Short ribs and mac n’ cheese may be the comfort food of unsophisticated palates (guilty as charged), but it was a very enjoyable American Airlines meal.

Short Ribs In American Airlines First Class

When booking my flight from ORD-LAX, I was given six preorder choices:

a screenshot of a menu

I chose:

Short rib with Espagnole sauce
served with classic mac n’ cheese

Beef can very difficult to get right on plane, but short ribs are often a safe choice because the longer you cook the meat, the more tender it becomes. Plus, I am limiting my beef consumption at home and never eat mac n’ cheese, so this seemed like a nice meal.

After takeoff, the flight attendant confirmed that my pre-order had been loaded. Those who did not pre-order were offered chicken enchiladas or stuffed red pepper.

The diner tray included a multi-grain bread roll, an appetizer salad with corn and beans sprinkled with cotija cheese, and a green salad.

a plate of food on a table

a plate of food on a table

a plate of food on a plate

I’m not going to pretend there was anything high quality about the meal, but it hit the spot…I ate it all.

a plate with food on it

Dessert was a choice between cake, cheese + fruit, and/or ice cream from Häagen-Dazs (dulce de leche). I enjoyed both the cheese and ice cream…

a plate of food on a table

All in all, a very satisfying domestic meal and better than what United Airlines serves on the same route.


My Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago.

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