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United Chicago Polaris Lounge Sit-Down Service and Menus

Zach Honig
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Zach Honig is Editor-at-Large at TPG, with contributions ranging from articles digging deep on loyalty programs and credit cards to delivery flight coverage to drone photography and much more.
Jan. 11, 2017
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3 min read
United Chicago Polaris Lounge Sit-Down Service and Menus
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As part of United's December 1 Polaris launch, the airline opened its very first dedicated airport lounge at Chicago's O'Hare airport (ORD). It's easily the best lounge operated by a US carrier anywhere in the world, and I really enjoyed my four-hour visit. But one of the lounge's most notable amenities hadn't quite rolled out during my visit last month — a sit-down dining service, where guests can order appetizers, entrees and desserts off an a-la-carte menu.

Well, United has shared some good news! Anyone visiting as of today will be able to experience this new dining option. And the airline has shared its breakfast and lunch/dinner menus (note that these menus are subject to minor adjustments — for example, you might receive a slightly different potato with your Magnificent Mile breakfast).

If you're dining between 7:15am and 11:00am, you'll be able to order from this breakfast menu:

ua-polaris-ord-breakfast-menu

Meanwhile, between the hours of 11:00am and 8:30pm, United will be serving lunch/dinner:

ua-polaris-ord-lunch-menu

Of course, part of the new and improved United business experience is the airline's refreshed in-flight dining, so if you have yet to try out the new onboard food and beverage options, I'd recommend saving room for that. However, if you're a frequent business-class traveler or you're about to hop on a short red-eye flight to Europe, eating dinner in the lounge can definitely make more sense.

For example, I took my fifth Polaris flight last week — from Newark (EWR) to Dublin (DUB) — and decided to skip the entire food and beverage service so I could sleep for most of the six-hour flight, making it easier to hit the ground running when I arrived in Ireland. If a Polaris dining option had been available at Newark, this would have been the perfect opportunity to try it out — I had an underwhelming United Club salad, instead.

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Polaris Lounge guests can enjoy their meals at shared tables or in these private pods.
Polaris Lounge guests can enjoy their meals at shared tables or in these private pods.

Fortunately, a Newark Polaris Lounge should be opening by the middle of this year, along with one in San Francisco. United is planning to open a total of nine Polaris Lounges around the world, with Dulles and Los Angeles following later in 2017, and Hong Kong, London and Tokyo expected to open by the end of 2017. Polaris Lounges are only accessible to business and first-class passengers flying United Polaris or business or first class on Star Alliance partners. United Club members, Star Alliance Gold Members, Global Services members, etc., can only get in if they’re flying business or first class.

If you've had a chance to try the new sit-down dining, please share your impressions below!