Major kudos to Roni, a waiter in the United Airlines Polaris Lounge in San Francisco (SFO), for his gracious service that left me with a huge smile on my face.
The Amazing Roni In United SFO Polaris Lounge
Before my United flight to Manila, I spent a couple hours in the Polaris Lounge at SFO. It had been eight hours since I had eaten and I was feeling quite peckish, so I headed over to the restaurant section of the lounge for dinner.
(as an aside, with United’s Manilla (UA191) flight leaving at 11:50 pm, Christchurch (UA730) leaving at 11:30 pm, and Taipei (UA853) leaving at 11:25 pm the Polaris Lounge is now open until 11:00 pm and the restaurant open until 9:30 pm)
I began with a bowl of creamy celery root soup (with Roasted Fiji apple and cinnamon), which was the highlight of the meal, and a baby gem salad with marinated hearts of palm, tomato, and citrus vinegarette. To drink I ordered a Negroni.
The last time I was in the Polaris Lounge, the service was painfully slow and the server forgot to put in my order, then blamed me for not allowing more time (as if 45 minutes was not enough…).
But Roni was very different. Moments after sitting down he came over and introduced himself. He was extremely attentive, and also extremely quick. Even though the restaurant was crowded, he brought out my appetizers in six minutes.
For my main course, I ordered both the pan-seared chicken (in a white bean puree with Brussels sprouts and fig-balsamic sauce) and a pan-seared Pacific rock cod (with clam, potato chowder, and samphire).
No exaggeration: the food was perfect. It was succulent, flavorful, and had the perfect texture. It also came out moments after I finished my soup and salad.
Roni could see I was hungry and while I was eating brought me over a Polaris cheeseburger, telling me that he thought I would like it. What a kind touch.
Then, before I could even order it, he brought me over a chocolate chip skillet cookie (topped in vanilla ice cream) for dessert. It was like he read my mind…
Throughout this time he constantly checked on me.
I don’t believe in tipping as a matter of course in airline lounges, but I tipped him…he went above and beyond in a way that left me thinking that I will route through SFO on future trips for the superior dining experience in the SFO Polaris Lounge. Kudos to the kitchen staff as well for the delicious meals and speedy preparation.
CONCLUSION
Like Tahesha in the Newark Polaris Lounge, Roni was a treasure in San Francisco. United should have him teaching all new hires what it means to be hospitable. This got my trip off to a great start.
> Read More: Introduction – The Long Way To Germany On United, Thai, SAS, Lufthansa
> Read More: United Polaris Lounge San Francisco Review (SFO)
“It was like he read my mind…”
“The gluttony is strong in this one…” lol
On a more serious note, have they been cutting back on the Light Bites breakfast options? I remember there being more substantial choices than pastries and juices.
Guilty as charged!
Don’t worry, if you keep eating like this, Southwest will gladly provide you extra seats at no charge,
I had also ran six miles earlier in the day…lifestyle is a thoughtful balance of exercise and diet. Plus, reviewing these sorts of meals is my job.
I’ll stick to binging and purging…..and spanx!
I am glad you tipped him!He is a keeper.
I agree that the service is getting better at the Polaris lounges and is very well intentioned and genuine, it remains unrefined. This is ultimately a training problem. Ultimately, the experience at the lounges lags behind almost all nice and trendy restaurants in any major city which I think is the expectation of it’s consumers flying Polaris.
I would say that the hosts did not match the servers and were borderline rude.
Your food looks much better than my experiences there. The portions were exceedingly small and presentation wasn’t nearly as nice as yours. Consistently is lacking. The wine selection is very good and certainly shows how they are investing. There is still work to do.
Nice to see a highlight of someone going above and beyond. Maybe because I am in CLT and captive to AA a lot and see lots of employee animosity and strike symbolism (or as my seatmate on AA Saturday morning said “Did all the flight attendants join Starfleet or something?” referencing the logo), but I’ve found anecdotally UA folks one notch above the rest lately. There’s always outliers (and I’ve had some really outstanding crew on American, like on same flight Saturday on a 737 where the lead referenced everyone by name, and spent the whole 90 minute flight providing constant service and was so well versed on the new snacks I thought she worked in product management) but on average and especially in IROPs United’s folks have been great, at least for me.
I flew through CLT the other day and not a single AA employee raised their voice, spoke down to me, or shouted at me. Maybe it’s just the Christmas spirit, but there’s hope!
I’ve seen that guy in there. He always seems friendly. Too bad the quality of the food in that place has taken a major nosedive in the last few years.
So at the same day there is an article shaming fat ppl for being fat—-I agree with you btw—there is an article about how you ate three entrees and desert in one meal?
Just an odd coincidence I suppose
His hotel reviews also almost always make mention in detail of the fitness center or activities available as well (which many bloggers/reviewers do not) so I’d say that’s a healthy balance.
LOL … Great observation/juxtaposition ! Matthew is just genetically blessed with uber-efficient metabolism ! No extra seat needed here !
Nice preview for my CHC flight next March. Thanks
The portions are nice sized. So I’d try at least 5 of your 6 with the kitchen closing two hours before departure. I want to be full when I board a United long haul flight 😉
I’ve found that the service in the Polaris lounges at SFO, LAX, and IAH are excellent. I’ll be in the LAX and SFO lounges on my outbound next week and the SFO lounge again upon my return to the US a couple weeks later. I will definitely look for Roni.
Now poor Roni will be a victim of his own success & the demand for his service/attentiveness will be overwhelming !
Now THIS is the type of service that deserves tipping! I’d probably leave a $20 for him. Kudos to Roni.
Yes, we had Roni in thr past and he was amazing. While you’d think they try to limit your food and their cost, he kept offering and recommending additional things. I did the same, left a tip. Terrific guy.
So glad to hear Matthew! My experiences with Polaris lounge dining have not been good due to bad service. What a contrast from Virgin Clubhouses (especially London).
To clarify, this was at Newark (twice)
Just a minor point, could the “Fiji” apple be a menu typo, as opposed to “Fuji” ? Although maybe ‘Fiji’ apples are frequently air freighted via NAN on FJ expressly for UA ! Not sure how hospitable that SoPac climate is for apples though ,,..
Roni clearly reads the blog, loool. Serving an unordered cheeseburger would be extremely weird for most customers, but Roni knew who he was dealing with.