Are there any restaurants around the Sacramento airport that would be suitable to hold interviews at?

Question

Not like a Denny's... something a little bit better, but need to start mid morning. Nicer restaurants not open until 11 ish...

Answer 1

I actually do have my interviews in Denny's.  It hurt my feelings when you said Not Denny's.  The waiters know me.  I give them $5 and tell them that i won't be ordering much food and to tell me if they need the table (they don't because i don't meet clients at lunch or dinner -- only midafternoon.   I think of it as my private office.  /

Answer 2

Restaurants that are actually in hotels will probably meet your needs.  By mid-morning, they are finished with their breakfast rush, so they might not mind your using the space.  You could also go to a place like the Holiday Inn Express near the airport, whose restaurant is only open for breakfast (I think).  If that's true, that would really work for you.

But otherwise I see two potential problems with your plan.  First of all, if you sit at a restaurant table, they will expect you to order food, and to keep ordering it for as long as you are there.  A cup of coffee is not enough to justify a couple of hours in the place.

The second problem is that there is no privacy.  During meal times, there is enough hustle and bustle that you won't be heard or noticed.  But if you want to go off-peak, there may only be a few people in the room.  I wouldn't want to be interviewed in a setting like that.  Cleaners or waiters will be walking by, other people might be sitting just a table or two away, and the whole thing is likely to be uncomfortable.

Anyway, since you will have to spend some money on food and will have no real privacy in return, you might want to consider renting a room at a hotel for your interviews.  If you can get a small conference room, that would be the best, of course.  But if not, see if the hotel has a regular room that they could set up with chairs.  I did that once.  They actually moved the beds out, put chairs in  and I got a "day rate" to boot.  They charged me about 1/3 the cost of taking the room for the night.  

Bottom line:  Look into a hotel restaurant or an actual hotel room.

Good luck!!