I realize I'm bumping an old thread for a closed restaurant at a United Hub that doesn't exist, but I am going to say: I miss CLASSIFIED. The entire thing may have never made business sense, and expanding the Polaris lounge likely makes more sense still but I had multiple visits there, and I enjoyed all of them.

In 2018 I went through CLASSIFIED with my identical twin. It was shortly after our birthday, and I used CLASSIFIED as the occasion where both of us were traveling (we had a wedding to get to) to celebrate (not the day of at CLASSIFIED, but the time we chose to mark the occasion). The gimmick of the secret door was fun. The view out the window? Beautiful. It was initially plagued by OTG's tablet brigade (resolved after it reopened after COVID). The staff at Saison were taught to recognize guests with reservations who chose to upload a photo. (It offered the option and I figured hell why not - they actually did pay attention and greeted me by name as I walked up!)

When we sat down, because I had specified it was for our mutual birthday, two glasses of sparkling rose were brought out free of charge. We both had allergies at the time (eggs/seafood) and they were able to modify the dry aged burger to use toast instead of brioche without conflicting with the egg allergy. We received a complimentary item from the chef just at seating - I think butternut squash soup?...

CLASSIFIED had a rare spirits cart. (Initially when they launched, they made a big show about actually carting it out to show you). Then I saw the Pappy Van Winkle Grand Reserve 23. For those not in the bourbon game, this is considered an extremely great bourbon. Incredibly hard to get. Incredibly expensive. Secondhand market that bottle minimum is $3K. Often twice that or more. I always considered it a bucket list experience, but I hesitated at the cost - $130 for half an ounce. I fly Y. I don't fly F or J, even on longhaul for work. The server knew it was a special occasion for us and assured me that he could "split it and since it's a small pour, I'll make sure you get your money's worth".The two glasses came out. We each got what had to easily be over a half an ounce (for the price of one half ounce). If they got a good deal on a bottle, that was essentially at cost (and consider the cost of running airport concessions!). We were offered hot towels, newspapers, asked about our trip in a way that was conversational and real, not forced awkward.

Some of the better touches dropped off post-COVID - the servers seemed to be spending time between CLASSIFIED and Saison way more in particular. But the space was immaculately clean, rarely crowded and had a great view, little touches like the hot towel, free chef's sampling (another time I got a strawberry mint gazpacho), and even gold leaf chocolate as a complimentary appetizer remained.

I've never experienced a Polaris lounge, but for a guy going in Y, whether I went for a fancy burger or a beer, I felt CLASSIFIED punched above its weight. You might not be able to afford hundreds or thousands to go domestic F/longhaul J but individually or with someone else you could have a good airport meal at CLASSIFIED and feel relatively VIP. If you were spendier you got a quieter more exclusive space (I had never seen more than 8 customers in all of classified). Hell, if you were cheaper and wanted a beer you got your warm towel, compliment of the chef item, gold leaf chocolate, all free and the beer was comparably priced to Saison or the other terminal amenities, but in a much more pleasant space!

I'll wind down my diatribe by reinforcing that I believe CLASSIFIED is gone for a reason (a lack of business sense - hampered by United's poor marketing at the start, later for more extraneous factors), but I miss it, and I hope that the spirit that caused United to pursue CLASSIFIED in the first place (surprise and delight) remains alive... or comes back.