I have very unrefined tastes in the culinary department (my idea of a perfect meal more often than not is a #2 spread only from In-N-Our Burger, though a NY Strip or Wagyu Skirt steak and [especially] the buttermilk pimento biscuits from St. Anslem in DC is a close second) but every time I got a Classified invitation I looked at the menu and even ignoring pricing nothing sounded remotely appealing -- then looking at the pricing even the "maybe I could try..." turned into "even in an airport I'm NOT spending that much [of my own, my employer's, or a client's] money on it..."

Though I can't remember the last time I paid for any "food" at EWR

The problem with any of these spaces is they either suck or are prohibitively expensive (so no one uses them) or are a great value and quickly become another overrun venue.

The Classified space was recovered to help ease the overcrowding in the PL (no idea how successful it has been, but that was the idea) -- most airport terminal space is either a huge capital expenditure (creating new space) or a zero-sum game where you have to give up something -- gates, other retail, etc. -- to make something else bigger.