SuperFlyBoy

The burger also looks very different from pre-pandemic Polaris - not at all appealing...

Joshua

Note that this requires re-entering security.

flyingrohit

Right I live in Orange County so I'd always grub on breakfast before connecting onwards to LAX.

limey1K

I spent three hours in the lounge on Saturday heading to MXP. It was Mrs. Limey1K first time in a Polaris lounge and I may have over sold it. They are definitely struggling to get back to pre shut down levels. Food was decent but nowhere near enough of it with people standing around with empty plates waiting at the buffet. Coffee pots were empty, trash cans in the bathrooms all overflowing, dirty floors, empty TP holders, no hand towels, etc. The restaurant was 1/3 full but had a 30 minute wait which I assumed was driven by staff shortages. Overall, not a great experience.

seanp7

Friend used EWR PL last week on the way to ZRH. He had similar comments to the above - he said 45 min wait for a table and he gave up. Buffet was ok. He said the staff were really trying but the waits were long.

milesmilesmiles

Maybe I’m naive, but when the best meal in the UA’s premium lounge seems to be a
hamburger, the term “premium” has new meaning.

pmarrsouth

There appears to be no staff working here today apart from the ladies at the front door. No one in the showers (bar a note saying that there is a 30-35 minutes wait for cleaning - with no one in there), no bar staff (another couple of have been waiting a lot longer than me), no one in the restaurant and its not staffed at all

I have informed the ladies at the front door, one of which are walking around looking for staff now. Unsure whats going on

milesmilesmiles

it is EWR, where everything is unsure……

pmarrsouth

To be fair, within 5 minutes of me informing the front desk, a rake load (20ish?) of staff appeared and went to their positions. I am still unsure ... went on, but it was quite odd - maybe a shift change and the new shift's staff were in a meeting?

Anyway, pre-staff photos:

Shower:


(all the lights on the shower suites were green, etc)

Bar:


(the couple down the end did tell me that there was a staff member behind the bar but they had disappeared off "a while ago")

Restaurant:


Once all staff arrived, I enjoyed a shower and then went to the restaurant, which was maybe 1/4 full at that stage. No wait-list and was seated right away

I did take one for the team here and compared different* dishes:

Starter:

(*Sorry, these are the same, just delicious. I did ask for a larger portion, waiter said he could not do that, but would happily order me 2 portions - right so, that will be fine)

Mains:

(Burger vs the lamb again - lamb wins. Burger is fine, nothing special. The 3 wedges does amuse me)

Dessert:

(Pear Cobbler vs Skillet Cookie - Cookie just crushes this line up)

Overall, a very quick service. Waiter was fantastic and he got 2 refills of my beer during the meal (proactively asking me if I wanted another)

Just an odd experience at the start, it legit looked like it was a pre-soft opening, where photographers could walk around taking photos without staff being "in the way"

Joshua

That's identical to a 2019 experience I had with an early arrival - the staff responsible for cleaning the showers seemed to be interested in avoiding doing so. The front desk staff assured me there definitely should be shower service at all hours.

I would expect staffing challenges to be much, much worse now.

The Polaris burger looks significantly less appealing than it did circa 2019. The other dishes look great.

DELee

I think that it means DIY bar when they disappear.

David

Joshua

I can't find the original thread from the 1990s, but it was similar to this one: Hamburgers in First Class!!!

Someone posted "hamburgers in first, hot dogs in coach... what's next?" and the next reply was "hot dogs in first" (which actually hasn't happened yet, so United does have further depths to which to descend).

pmarrsouth

Interestingly the only person that could be considered as a staff member that was in anyway close to the bar was an older lady in a full security uniform. Now I presume that she was security, rather than someone flying that day, so maybe she was there to stop the DIY bar practices!

Joshua

Perhaps the PL is now enforcing the "one drink" limit...

narvik

(bolding mine)

She was there to secure you from a hangover!