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Old Apr 25, 2018, 1:48 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: SPN Lifer
SFO Polaris Lounge Reopened - 4 January 2022

United Airlines Unveils United Polaris Lounge at San Francisco International Airport
Lounge is first of four United Polaris lounges expected to open this year

SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2018
-- Beginning April 30, customers traveling in United Polaris, the airline's international premium cabin travel experience, will be able to relax and dine prior to their travels or refresh upon arrival in the new United Polaris lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) conveniently located in the International Terminal near Gate G92.
....
United Polaris Lounge at SFO Facts & Highlights
  • Two levels across more than 28,000 square feet
  • 440 seats
  • 19 different types of seating
  • 492 power outlets and 492 USB ports
  • 8 pieces of art by prominent Bay Area artists, all San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SECA) Art Award honorees
  • 5 private daybeds outfitted with Saks Fifth Avenue bedding
  • 8 luxurious shower suites, featuring rainfall showers and Soho House & Co's Cowshed Spa products
  • Personal valet services, including steaming garments
  • "The Dining Room" – a private restaurant style dining area with a menu designed by Chef Tritia Gestuvo, a California native, that blends international comfort foods — such as a traditional Chinese congee breakfast and hand-cut pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragout — with staples like the United Polaris Burger
  • A bistro-like buffet that includes a ramen noodle bar in the afternoon and additional unique-to-San Francisco treats that align with the flight schedule and destinations of United and Star Alliance partners
  • Cocktails inspired by the Bay Area, including the Mai Tai, invented in Oakland in 1944, and the Pisco Punch, featuring pisco which became all the rage during the California Gold Rush of 1849
....
For more photos of the United Polaris lounge at SFO, visit the United Newsroom
Originally Posted by djsflynn
... Also and for those interested, here's a link to download a PDF (10.5MB) copy of the Polaris SFO menus, as provided to media in the press pack: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jjv4i9s97g...0Menu.pdf?dl=0
Access to Polaris lounges (source):


update 29 Sept 2017, effective 1 Oct 2017
Trans-border flights (Canada, Mexico, ..) for UA and partner flights do not qualify

Departure: The airport you are leaving on an international J/F flight* from, i.e. SFO-TPE
Connecting: The airport to or from which you have a short-haul flight to connect to a longer flight, i.e. LAX-SFO-NRT or NRT-SFO-LAX
Arrival: The airport you arrive at after your long-haul flight, i.e. NRT-SFO

Hours - 6:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m. daily
reportedly a la carte dining closes at 9PM

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SFO Polaris Lounge -- Reviews, Experiences, Q&A, ..

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Old Aug 18, 2019, 11:52 am
  #676  
hch
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: INN
Posts: 2,914
Originally Posted by katan
Not being a big breakfast eater, and then being forced to eat it on the airplane, it sure would big nice to at least make it close to home. And that to me is hot sauce - tabasco on eggs, hot sauce generally on everything.
Another breakfast skipper and hot sauce fan here! But if the FAs force feed you breakfast you should really report that to customer service. I've always been left alone and allowed to skip breakfast after a question or two.

Originally Posted by Aussienarelle
So my past couple of trips to the Polaris lounge at SFO the dining room options and the buffet options have had no appeal that I nipped across to the Centurion Club for a meal and then came back to the Polaris lounge to work quietly downstairs. I like the SFO Polaris lounge for the showers and the quiet working area downstairs. Food options are abysmal.
While I think the SFO Polaris food could be better, I usually find something decent at the buffet. The Centurion Club food on the other hand totally disappointed a me. The selection is very small and always screams fancy to the point that I'd much rather go out to the terminal and buy a pizza or japanese soup if I'm actually hungry.
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Last edited by WineCountryUA; Aug 18, 2019 at 12:10 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member
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Old Aug 19, 2019, 10:26 am
  #677  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SFO
Posts: 55
I had a late breakfast in the dining room on Saturday. Bloody Mary, Nutella toast, and an omelette. No wait to be seated. Food seemed perfectly fine to me. But that’s been my experience on every visit. I just don’t get all the complaining.
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Old Aug 19, 2019, 1:58 pm
  #678  
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Winston Salem, NC USA
Posts: 1,074
Originally Posted by Aussienarelle

It is worth flying through ORD for the small dining area in the Polaris lounge. The food menu options were wonderful.
YES!! Similar to AA's Flagship Lounge, the ORD location is the best in the system. Chicago understands both cuisine and service.
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Old Aug 19, 2019, 4:07 pm
  #679  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Originally Posted by markedcw
I had a late breakfast in the dining room on Saturday. Bloody Mary, Nutella toast, and an omelette. No wait to be seated. Food seemed perfectly fine to me. But that’s been my experience on every visit. I just don’t get all the complaining.
You'll notice that many of us who have noted the sorry state of the SFO Polaris buffett also credited other lounges, e.g. ORD, which is, by far, the best, with doing a much better job. I find most of SFO's Buffett options unpalatable. If I am paying thousands for a Polaris ticket, I believe that the food should be better than Denny's or Golden Corral. I've had a couple of good things at the restaurant, e.g. the gyoza (they call them potstickers) and the Polaris burger, but I can get a better burger at numerous airport locations. The cioppino used to be a good dish, but it's off the menu now.
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Last edited by zombietooth; Aug 19, 2019 at 4:29 pm
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Old Aug 19, 2019, 10:23 pm
  #680  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA GS, AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Mlife NOIR
Posts: 320
Originally Posted by zombietooth
You'll notice that many of us who have noted the sorry state of the SFO Polaris buffett also credited other lounges, e.g. ORD, which is, by far, the best, with doing a much better job. I find most of SFO's Buffett options unpalatable. If I am paying thousands for a Polaris ticket, I believe that the food should be better than Denny's or Golden Corral. I've had a couple of good things at the restaurant, e.g. the gyoza (they call them potstickers) and the Polaris burger, but I can get a better burger at numerous airport locations. The cioppino used to be a good dish, but it's off the menu now.
The burger is decent, but I found the gyoza inedible on my last couple visits - thick skins and a lot of filler.

Recently, I’ve just been filling up on the seaweed salad and the poke at the buffet. The tuna poke is decent but each ramekin has only 5 or so pieces of fish, so you have to take 5 or 6 and combine them.
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Old Aug 20, 2019, 1:25 am
  #681  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton ♦ , Hyatt Carbonado, Wyndham ♦, Marriott PE, "Stinking Bum" elsewhere.
Posts: 5,001
Originally Posted by UAflyer93


The burger is decent, but I found the gyoza inedible on my last couple visits - thick skins and a lot of filler.

Recently, I’ve just been filling up on the seaweed salad and the poke at the buffet. The tuna poke is decent but each ramekin has only 5 or so pieces of fish, so you have to take 5 or 6 and combine them.
I hate thick-skinned gyoza. Last time I had them, it seemed that they were Japanese style, with thin, non-chewy skins and lots of meat. It seems that there is a lot of variability in quality at this location.
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Old Aug 20, 2019, 1:16 pm
  #682  
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: SFO
Programs: Marriott Ti/LTP
Posts: 1,329
Originally Posted by chemengin
Anyone know what time the restaurant starts serving lunch/dinner options?
Breakfast ends at 11am (as listed on the menu). So I think then?

I got here at 11:30 on Tuesday and the wait was 20-25mins.
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Old Aug 20, 2019, 8:24 pm
  #683  
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,346
Visited the SFO Polaris lounge this morning after a TPAC flight. A few thoughts:

1. This lounge is huge. It doesn't surprise me giving the amount of TPACs and some TATLs out of here.
2. The shower area was nice but the showers in EWR are far superior (rain shower heads, much larger space, etc.). Also, EWR provided a loofah-like sponge and SFO had nothing. Maybe I was supposed to ask for one?
3. As I also commented in the EWR thread, no combs! ...?!
4. The food was fine (I had the eggs benedict) but the service was typical SFO-style. They couldn't care less. No wait for food at 7:30am and it came out fast enough.

-RM
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Old Aug 20, 2019, 10:05 pm
  #684  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,925
I’ve seen the loofah-like sponge in the shower rooms at SFO in previous visits. They were in the shower rooms at LAX today.
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Old Aug 21, 2019, 1:35 am
  #685  
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Join Date: Apr 2013
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Originally Posted by RobOnLI
The food was fine (I had the eggs benedict) but the service was typical SFO-style. They couldn't care less.
I've always found the staff at SFO PL dining room pleasant and helpful.
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Last edited by WineCountryUA; Aug 21, 2019 at 1:44 am Reason: Discuss the issue; not the poster(s)
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 12:45 pm
  #686  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 1,583
Lounge was busyish today 10am-12 but not awful.

Burger ordered medium rare - came out closer to med well but still juicy. Egg was nice and runny as ordered. Very good for lounge food.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 2:17 pm
  #687  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: DYKWIA, But I'm a "Diamond Guest" UA 1K/2MM
Posts: 2,258
Originally Posted by pesos
Burger ordered medium rare - came out closer to med well but still juicy. Egg was nice and runny as ordered. Very good for lounge food.
Is that served with lipitor?
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 2:39 pm
  #688  
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Originally Posted by porciuscato
Is that served with lipitor?
Yes, it's in the ramekin under the mayonnaise.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 3:12 pm
  #689  
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Programs: UA 1K 1MMer & LT UC (when flying UA); Hyatt Credit Cardist; HHonors Diamond; Marriott Gold via UA 1K
Posts: 6,956
Originally Posted by pesos
Lounge was busyish today 10am-12 but not awful.

Burger ordered medium rare - came out closer to med well but still juicy. Egg was nice and runny as ordered. Very good for lounge food.
I think I exceeded my daily allotment of calories just looking at this photo.
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Old Aug 23, 2019, 6:47 pm
  #690  
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Join Date: Jun 2010
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Originally Posted by pesos
Lounge was busyish today 10am-12 but not awful.

Burger ordered medium rare - came out closer to med well but still juicy. Egg was nice and runny as ordered. Very good for lounge food.
Health food!

David
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