United Airlines Upgrades Wine, Coffee, Economy Class Meals
United Airlines continues to invest in its onboard product with several upgrades to the food and beverage menu this month including new wines in Polaris business class, better coffee, and more meals in economy class.
United Airlines Improves Coffee, Polaris Wine, Coffee, Economy Class Meals
An internal memo shared with all United employees counts up the onboard food and beverage changes in April 2025.
Starting Earth Day, April 22 through May 20, illy Arabica Selection Braille Cerrado Mineiro (produced using regenerative agriculture methods) will be served.
As part of a 3 year partnership, Polaris will start to see new wines from Heitz Cellar, which is a family-owned Napa Valley winery that uses 100% organically farmed fruit. Their cabernet sauvignon, which has flavors of violets, redcurrants, spices and oranges with hints of mint and dark chocolate, is now available in Polaris
New Bloody Mary mix and tomato juice from The Pickle House. Their beverages are served at various Soho House locations but are exclusive to United Airlines in the air.
Passengers in the economy cabin will now have a 3rd option for meals on flights from the U.S. to Europe (chicken, beef or vegetarian), along with a side salad.
New food for purchase options on the Bistro on Board menu for flights of 1,190 miles or more. There’s a new Chicago Bagel Breakfast Melt made in collaboration with Jeff Mauro. Along with that are chorizo breakfast tacos, a chicken parmesan sandwich and a Tuscan caprese burger.
New preorder exclusive signature entrees for domestic first class. New entrees in April include shrimp Creole at IAH, Korean BBQ short rib at LAX and pastrami spiced chicken at EWR.
Those in domestic first will see red velvet as a new flavor of the Magnolia Bakery banana pudding dessert.
A few thoughts on this.
- The illy Arabica Selection Braille Cerrado Mineiro coffee sounds good – maybe one day we’ll even see single-origin blends from Sumatra in premium cabins, which is my personal favorite illy blend. It’s a nice thing when airlines invest in coffee.
- I’m told (by someone who knows!) that Heitz Cellar is an excellent wine beyond the higher $69/bottle retail value…as View From The Wing notes, “United has raised its business class wine standard significantly for 2025, really leaving Delta (and, chortle, American) behind.”
- I find the Bloody Mary cocktails disgusting and a fancy brand won’t change it, but I know that many love it…
- Not mentioned in the memo is that United is shifting back from a grain salad to a green salad with the economy class meal, which I think is a crowd-pleaser. Those of who have endured the grain salads for years on United are quite happy to see mixed greens with a light oil and vinegar dressing return
- The Maryland blue crabcakes are out of the rotation…I hope they return. I’d love to see United try out a BBQ plate as the “Houston Signature Dish” (who wouldn’t love a little brisket and pulled pork and sausage?).
- I like red velvet, but not banana pudding…it’s a hard pass for me on the Magnolia Bakery desserts (my waistline thanks me), but I’m sure some will like it. A suggestion, though: how how just a bowl of fruit as a dessert option?
- The economy buy-on-board options sound intriguing, particularly the Chicago Bagel Breakfast Melt from Jeff Mauro. I did not get to try his signature burger in economy class last month, but I hope that returns as well.
This is all good news and I applaud United for the investment, especially in the face of economic headwinds (though I’m certain all of this had to be arranged months in advance). That said, I hope United continues to improve the quality of food in its premium cabins. We’re talking quality, not quantity. Higher-quality proteins and salads with a selection of high-quality dressing. Crusty dark bread. Fresh fruit as a dessert alternative on all flights.
What do you think about the latest investments in the United onboard dining experience?
image: United Airlines