The gentleman with silver hair and mirrored sunglasses pulls up in front of the small café, parks and hops out of his vehicle. He walks the 30 or so feet to the front door and steps inside.

What’s so unusual about this? Well, did I mention the “vehicle” in this case is an airplane?

Such a scene is commonplace at Hangar Café, a family-run breakfast and lunch destination located just off the dual runways at Chandler Municipal Airport.

The general aviation airport ranks among the nation’s 50 busiest with more than a quarter-million operations a year, mostly small private and corporate aircraft.

On any given morning at Hangar Cafe, you’re likely to find a mix of pilots, aviation-related workers, neighborhood families, business people and retirees enjoying pancakes, eggs and coffee while watching planes take off and land.

But it wasn’t always that way, says Liliane George (pictured at right), who bought the café 11 years ago because it reminded her of going to breakfast at an airport with her parents as a child in her native Lebanon.

“(Hangar Café) wasn’t popular at that time,” she remembers. “But the first time I came here it had a charm to it. I thought, ‘This place could be an attraction.’”

The original café, which George estimates opened about four years  before she bought it, was little more than a six-person counter and a couple tables, catering mostly to pilots.

In those early days, George spent four days a week working in the kitchen, the other three waiting on customers. Today, she has a staff of 12.

In 2002, the café added a front extension with an additional 10 tables, a small patio and an observation deck atop the Chandler Air Service building that houses the café.

Over the years, an assortment of aviation signs, propellers, flight maps, newspaper clippings and model planes — many donated by customers — established the décor.

With its homey, old-time feel, inexpensive prices and unique scenery, Hangar Café has built a devoted following. There can be a wait on weekends, but diners — many of whom are on a first-name basis with the servers — don’t seem to mind.

As for the menu, it’s old-fashioned café fare, not huge portions but simple and good.

For breakfast, I enjoy the chorizo breakfast burrito with a side of cubed potatoes, onions and green peppers. It doesn’t take much coaxing from the server to get me to add a big fluffy pancake for a touch of sweetness.

And how many places can you get a chicken-fried steak, two eggs, hash browns and toast for less than $7?

The numerous burgers are probably the most popular items on the lunch menu, which starts at 11 a.m. weekdays and 11:30 a.m. weekends, but my predecessor at the Tribune is in love with the Philly cheesesteak.

If I’m looking for something lighter, I’ll order the grilled cheese sandwich with the soup of day (last visit: a delicious beef barley) or one of the huge salads.

Hangar Café’s only “downside,” if you will, is the difficulty first-time visitors have in finding its well-hidden location.

“If no one tells you, you’re not going to find it,” George says.

Hangar Café
Where: Chandler Municipal Airport, 1725 E. Ryan Road
Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily
Prices: Breakfasts $4.95-$7.95, appetizers $5.50-$6.95, salads $3.50-$8.50, sandwiches $6.50-$7.50, burgers $5.95-$8.50, entrees $$7.50-$8.95, desserts $3.95-$4.95.
Info: (480) 899-6965

How to find Hangar Cafe: From Germann Road (from north) or Queen Creek Road (from south), turn onto Airport Boulevard, which runs north-south between McQueen and Cooper roads. Turn east on Ryan Road (it only goes east) and go approximately 1,000 feet until it dead-ends at a chain-link fence. Turn right (south) on Curtis Way for another 200 feet until it dead-ends at a small parking lot next to the Chandler Air Service building. Walk through the gate and follow the white-striped walkway across the blacktop to the café.