United Airlines opened an expanded dining room at its Newark Polaris Lounge (EWR) today, adding 60 seats to its longhaul business class lounge in a move that underscores the competitive pressures in the New York City area, especially with its chief rival, Delta Air Lines.

United Airlines Ups Lounge Game With Expanded Dining Room In Newark Polaris Lounge

The renovated dining room, which opened on June 21, 2025, features nearly 60 seats, adding 10% more seats for lounge visitors. From seating that accommodates solo travelers to tables for large groups, there are a variety of options for all travelers to dine and the dining room has views of the New York City skyline.  The entire lounge is now about 30,000 square feet, with the focal point the expanded dining room.

Breakfast (served until 11:00 am) includes items like avocado toast, blueberry crepes, and omelets, while lunch and dinner choices include crab cakes, scallops, eggplant Milanese, and the signature Polaris burger (with an impossible patty option for those who don’t like eating cows).

Aaron McMillan, United’s Managing Director of Hospitality Programs, focused on the dining:

“We’re bringing an elevated dining experience to Newark with the opening of a larger dining room at our Polaris lounge. Newark offers business class travelers ample opportunity to travel across the Atlantic, and we’re excited to offer them more room to dine before or after their long-haul flights. For years, we’ve been investing in our club and lounge portfolio at Newark, and it’s our first hub to fully reflect our new designs and amenities.”

Where did United get the extra space for this lounge expansion? This space is the former United-operated, invite-only “Classified” restaurant, which Kyle reviewed in 2018.

After Chicago O’Hare, this marks the second refresh of a Polaris Lounge, representing more muted colors and a new logo.

This Is United’s Answer To The Delta One Lounge At JFK

I recently reviewed the Delta One Lounge at New York JFK, which sets the standard for a premium lounge in the United States. The food, drinks, service, size, and decor of that lounge was stunning…and is a massive value-add for Delta or SkyTeam passengers traveling through JFK.

With this addition, United now also boasts a premium dining space and unlike Delta, offers a la carte dining the entire day, not just for lunch and dinner. I cannot comment on the quality of the food…I’ll have to do that when I have a chance to revisit both lounges, but I’ve dined in the Newark Polaris Lounge many times over the years and the food has always been excellent.

The Delta One dining room is still twice the size of United’s (with seating for 125) and the Delta One Lounge itself is 39,000 square feet versus United’s 30,000 square feet.

But it matters less who is better than the fact that Delta and United are challenging one another to up their respective games, and consumers benefit from this.

CONCLUSION

United Airlines has expanded its Newark Polaris Lounge with a larger dining area and a refreshed menu. The move represents an answer to the Delta One Lounge at JFK, which features a beautiful dining room itself.

Polaris Lounges are a big reason I choose United over Star Alliance partners like Lufthansa or SWISS when flying through a United hub. While travelers can use the Polaris Lounge when flying out on a partner, only United Polaris passengers can use Polaris Lounges upon arrival. For example, if I was flying United from Lisbon – Newark – Los Angeles I could use the Polaris Lounges in both EWR and LAX while if I flew TAP from Lisbon and connected to United, I would not have Polaris Lounge access in either city.

> Read More: United Polaris Lounge Newark (EWR) Review
> Read More: Delta One Lounge New York (JFK) Review

images: United