The New United Polaris Dining Room At Newark

Intro

Just last week, I had the opportunity to check out the updated “Polaris Dining Room” at the Newark Polaris Lounge. What was once an invite-only restaurant named “Classified” has now become a huge letdown. Considering the dining options at the Delta One Lounge, United is falling behind here…

With regards from a United loyalist, who actively dislikes Delta… 

What Is The New Dining Room? 

Back in the day, United used to offer select passengers the option to dine at a restaurant called “Classified”. It was located next to the Polaris Lounge, but was separate, and you had to pay. However, the food was much better, and it was a much quieter space. 

New Polaris Dining Room at Newark

Well, United decided to close Classified and turn it into the new “Dining Room,” replacing the older dining room that looked like this: 

While the new dining room might look sleek, it is a letdown, and a big one at that. 

What Has Changed?

Let’s start with the physical attributes of the new dining room, as it is extremely beautiful. With a chic design, resembling that of the revamped Polaris Lounge in Chicago, one can find a different array of seating on offer. United has decided to implement solo tables facing the window (poorly designed), booth-like seating for couples, and more booths in the back. 

It's smaller than I anticipated

Looks good, right? That is about where it all ends. Now, I am going to take this one by one, but here are some of my quirks with this new dining room. 

• It is nice to see that the dining room is now bigger, but with United growing out of Newark, they should have kept the previous part open as well. Put it this way, I was there at 2:30 pm on a Wednesday, and I ended up having to wait 30 minutes for a table. I was speaking to some people in the lounge, and they had to wait well over an hour, which is frankly, unacceptable… 

• On a smaller scale, I don’t understand parts of the layout here. The solo tables are nice as they don’t take up much room, but the tables are so small! It’s impossible to eat and put your laptop in front of you. And then there is a gap from the table to the window, so could United perhaps have installed longer (not wider due to space) tables?? 

• Unfortunately, I was on a Zoom call when I was eating, which meant I forgot to take a picture of the menu, but it is extremely lackluster. The options were an Eggplant Milanese, the Polaris Burger (delicious), and a grilled chicken breast. Don’t get me wrong, it is decent compared to lounges worldwide, but considering Delta is serving Hamachi Crudo, Ceviche, and Wagyu Steak, Delta drops the ball here. Both in terms of quality and quantity (DL has 2x as many options on the menu). 

• Lastly, the service. While I have found that Houston and Los Angeles have fantastic service, the service both times I visited was lackluster. I get that it is busy, but I had to chase them up 3 times for dessert since they kept saying “2 minutes”. 20 minutes after my main course was cleared, I just walked out as I had to board… 

The old United Polaris Dining Room

So, Is This An Upgrade?

Honestly speaking, I am extremely disappointed by United Airlines on this upgrade, and that is just becasue when they do something, they usually do it right. Aesthetically, the dining room is beautiful; there is no doubt about it. 

However, I feel like this whole process wasn’t thought through enough/rushed. Just thinking about it, here are a couple of ideas that I had. 

• They could have made it a two-part place to eat, including the old dining room. Now, some people might not like to be in a less “ambient” space, but I know business travelers won’t care where they sit, as long as they get a table. They could offer an option saying, “The wait will be longer in the nicer part, but if you are looking to eat quickly, we can seat you here. 

• Now, another option that I thought of is somehow having the restaurant located outside of the lounge. I know this is tough due to real estate at Newark (and pricey), but with the amount UA has grown, the Polaris Lounge is in dire need of expansion. Say they had turned Cassified into more seating, the lounge would have more space for those looking to visit. And if the restaurant was a 2-minute walk away? This one is hypothetical…

• Lastly, on a small note, I don’t feel like the space was efficiently used, especially having no tables in the center. Most people visiting just want food, not some 5 star dining experience. 

The views were stunning, I'll give UA that...

Final Thoughts 

I recently had the opportunity to visit the new dining room at the Polaris Lounge in Newark. With United rolling out so many excellent upgrades such as the new Dreamliner Suites, new dishware, and ways to use PlusPoints, I was excited going in. However, I left missing the old Dining Room. With a limited menu, extremely slow service, and wait times longer than SFO (that’s saying something) to get a table, this isn’t a place I would seek out. 

I’m curious for those that have visited, what do you think?