Guess who’s getting an early Christmas present/right-on-time Hanukkah present? We are. That’s right, if you travel through LAX’s Terminal 4, aka American Airlines’ West Coast hub, then you’re about to have some new dining options very, very soon. In addition to the Homeboy Cafe & Bakery and Sammy’s Wood-Fired Pizza which have already opened, it appears that the second phase of dining expansion in T4 is imminent.

After a flight home from JFK today, I was delighted to see that the plywood is down on the space that used to house Burger King and Starbucks. In its place are new mini-locations of LA favorites (well, mostly former LA favorites) Campanile, 8oz. Burger Bar, Cole’s, Real Food Daily, La Provence, and something called L.A. Gourmet Street Truck.

(Photo: Fly&Dine/Jason Kessler)

While it looks like the new outlets are in prison, they’re just being protected by a security fence for now. On the left you can see Cole’s and on the right is 8oz. Burger Bar. Employees seemed to be going through training as last minute touches were put on.

(Photo: Fly&Dine/Jason Kessler)

Just a few steps away saw the same situation with Campanile To Go and La Provence. From the looks of things, it’s going to be mighty hard to navigate the space if you’re carrying luggage but no matter what, it’ll be great for holiday travelers to have some great new dining options at LAX.

Based purely on observation, I’d guess that the whole new mini-complex will be open by the end of the week.