Why Do These DIA Restaurants Have Such a Weirdly Named Website?

While killing time before a flight out of Denver International Airport, you may stop in at one of the many dining locations. A few are related, and they have a strange website name.

I recently had a flight on Southwest to Las Vegas out of Denver and had time to get a beer at one of the bars/restaurants at DIA. As I enjoyed my Odell IPA, I noticed the menu which had the website URL at the bottom of it and wondered, "What the what?"

Being on Southwest, I sas on the C concourse; I was at Timberline Steaks & Grille. Maybe you've been there, yourself. I like it- great views of the runway and a big bar. Since I wasn't ordering food, the menu sat closed on the table. Right there at the bottom is [their] website MissionYogurt.com.

"Yogurt??" I said out loud. Why would a steak place have a 'yogurt' website?  Were they trying to get me to have some yogurt? Yogurt wasn't on the menu. I decided I would look into it, upon my return from Vegas.

Get our free mobile app

It turns out that the concessions company that runs Timberline Steaks & Grille, as well as a few others you'll find at DIA, is Mission Yogurt.  The founder of Mission Yogurt started out with just one little place, way back when DIA first opened in 1995 - this will take you back - it was a Columbo Yogurt shop.

That's where the "Yogurt" comes in.

WHERE DOES THE "MISSION" COME IN?

• Is it about being in airports and how flights can sometimes be called "missions?"
• Is it about having locations in the San Diego airport and San Diego is known for the "mission" district?
• Is it about the founder having had a personal "mission" to get involved in operating airport concessions?

Any of those could be the answer. I reached out to Mission Yogurt to see if they could tell me, but they have not responded. Whatever the reason for their name, they're doing a find job at Timberline and their other locations, like Einstein's Bagels, across DIA.