Thunderbird Inn an Air Force model of efficiency

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Kirtland's military dining facility, the Thunderbird Inn, is a familiar haunt for many Airmen. But behind the serving lines, salad bar and seating area is an industry-leading commitment to efficiency.

The eatery primarily serves Kirtland's enlisted personnel, especially those in base dormitories. It has been a fixture at Kirtland since the 1940s.

Restaurateur Robert Vick has managed it for the past 15 years. He is also the owner and executive chef for Vick's Vittles Country Kitchen, 8810 Central Ave. SE, Albuquerque. The Thunderbird serves 600 or more meals a day. While the food is certainly a draw, the large volume of food served there may be, in part, due to the appeal of the dining area.

It is far from a stereotypical, institutional dining hall atmosphere. There are televisions showing sports and news around the dining area and portable speakers can be brought to the tables for customers to listen to a specific TV. A conference room enlisted Airmen can use for meeting space, non-military computers in the dining area or Wi-Fi.

The staff does everything it can to serve high-quality food and to be efficient, Vick said. That efficiency, in part, is because the Air Force mandates the restaurant to have 3 percent waste or less in food waste, well below what any private restaurant could probably achieve, Vick said.

The mandate has resulted in many innovations.

A computer system constantly monitors the majority of the refrigerators in the kitchen. If the temperature in a refrigerator goes outside a pre-determined ranges, an alarm sounds and can also alert Vick by phone.

That system helps avoid having the food spoil, but it also means employees don't have to check and log refrigerator temperatures every hour.

"Safety is always a priority and more efficient equipment makes for better food," Vick said.

The facility also uses something called a clamshell grill, which allows cooks to take a hamburger from frozen to cooked in less than two minutes. Burgers are cooked to order, not pre-cooked, sitting under a heat lamp only to be thrown away if they go unsold.

Resident enlisted Airmen and authorized enlisted military personnel -- such as Navy, Marine Corps and National Guard members who work on base -- can at the Thunderbird Inn. Members of military-sponsored activities, such as Civil Air Patrol, JROTC and visiting foreign military students are also authorized to eat there.

Lynn said military retirees are also allowed to dine there. Retirees represent a good number of the Thunderbird's customers, he said.

The Thunderbird has received many awards, which are featured in a large trophy case at the entrance.

Among the awards are the Air Force's Gold Plate Award, which the eatery won eight times between 1998 and 2011, and the Hennessy Award, which it won four times between 1999 and 2011.

"The great thing about the awards is that it gives us all motivation to produce the best service possible," Vick said. "We've been fortunate in the last 15 years to set a lot of benchmarks for ourselves."

The Thunderbird Inn is located on 1st Street between G and J Avenues. Breakfast is served from 6 to 8 a.m., lunch from 11 to 1 p.m. and from dinner 4 to 7. On Saturday and Sunday brunch is served from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner is 5 to 7 p.m. There is also a grab-and-go menu available 10 p.m. to midnight seven days a week.