The new United Airlines Polaris Lounge at SFO offers a great mix of a la carte dining options and adult beverages. I’ve consolidated all the menus in this post.
First, note that all food and drink are complimentary. Tipping is not expected.
United Polaris Lounge San Francisco Bar Menu
Over half the wines will be sourced from California and the Mai Tai and Pisco Sour cocktails are California-inspired and unique to this lounge.
United Polaris Lounge San Francisco Dining Menu
Note the menu includes local favorites like cioppino as well as menu items that should accodoate a diverse palate of tastes, like Chinese congee for breakfast.
Coffee Menu
While not printed, a full range of coffee drinks are also available.
How Will United Resolve Potential Overcrowding Issue?
The overall lounge itself is unlikely to face crowding issues, but The Dining Room may be a different story. The Dining Room seats about 40 guests at a time. While there is an extensive open dining area nearby, United is still figuring out how to handle an overflow in its a la carte restaurant. I find the a la carte menu appealing and I suspect many will opt for that over the buffet. United must find a way to ensure people don’t face multi-hour waits for a table (like trying to get a massage from British Airways at the Elmis Spa in Heathrow…).
CONCLUSION
You can read my full review of the beautiful new lounge here.
> Review: United Polaris Lounge San Francisco (SFO)
Is tipping not “expected,” or not “allowed?” I feel like saying that it isn’t “expected” at a lounge in California is somewhat futile.
Probably right. I’ll check with United.
I’ve NEVER tipped in an airline airport lounge anywhere in the world, including California and I definitely don’t intend to start now.
I was there yesterday, and the dining room is so small. They will definitely need to overflow to the tables immediately outside during peak hours.
I over heard staff saying “dining was busy today” and it wasn’t even a full load day like it will be next week when they open.
I talked to a number of people with Sodexo management yesterday when I was there, and they’re aware of the issue. I suggested pagers, which they apparently tried in Chicago, and ultimately they wound up not needing them. They said that the soft open sessions had a greater than typical percentage of people who had time to eat a la carte, but that they’re going to need to see how the unique rhythm of SFO’s flight ops work.
They were definitely listening to input from guests yesterday (down to my suggestion that they needed cocktail napkins at the water station near the buffet – they made that change right then and there).
The all day dining menu is very small, especially considering many of those items are on the buffet.
Definitely a pare down compared to the Art Smith menu at ORD.
@Donald – Most of the a la carte items are not on the buffet.
Given this is SFO and national trends overall, I a, surprised that the a la Carte menu did not include a vegan entree.
The nuts and salad bar are at the buffet.
The new(ish) United Club at LAX has a decent menu of specialty cocktails and equally decent staff of bartenders who have no idea how to make them (they need to study instructions), and for which ingredients are not consistently stocked. Not acceptable! Hope Polaris can be better!
This will be our first time to use United Polaris, what kind of cost can I expect in the Polaris Club for meals and drinks? We are headed to Sydney from Houston in a couple of months.
All food and drink in the Polaris Lounges are free. Enjoy!
Do we need reservation for dining room also till what time dinning is open at SFO lounge .
No reservations for dining required.
anyone know what time they stop taking people in?
it was either 9pm or 11pm depends on the days of the week.
I was confused.
After the late SIN and SYD flights depart.