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United Airlines opened its invite-only restaurant at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) back in 2017. The concept was that of a speakeasy or meant to be secret from the general public. Elite members and some in premium cabins were sent invites in advance of flights with the ability to make reservations. Now, United is shuttering the eatery to make way for more space in the Polaris® Lounge. The restaurant was not good. It was overpriced and I’m happy to see it close.
The Points Guy first reported that United was planning to close the restaurant on October 30th (tomorrow). Classified was located inside of Saison restaurant in Terminal C. It was always awkward walking in and trying to locate it or get staff to assist. Lucky at One Mile at a Time shared the language sent to potential guests to describe the experience:
We’re pleased to welcome you to dine at CLASSIFIED, an invitation-only, contemporary restaurant at Newark Airport.
The creators of CLASSIFIED have created a bright and airy dining space that’s hidden away for those lucky enough to get an invitation. On the cutting edge of airport dining, CLASSIFIED offers a menu that’s inspired by upscale American cuisine with seasonal ingredients and tableside service. We’re offering reservations to select United customers only, and we want to make sure you’re at the top of the list. Reserve a table today to experience this unique, new restaurant that’s the first of its kind.”
The experience always felt off. United was “inviting” you to purchase mediocre, over-priced food. I don’t think anyone really felt special and if they did, that’s kind of sad that they needed that validation. I’m not alone in my feelings as Eater described the restaurant as “tacky.” While servers were present, orders were placed through tablets (which also felt cheap).
A United spokesperson shared:
United is expanding its Newark Polaris® Lounge into the Classified space, adding a large dining area and making other enhancements to the customer experience.”
The Polaris® Lounge (my review here) will see an additional 60 seats added with the closure of the restaurant. This will bring the total number of seats in the lounge to around 500. It’s definitely needed as the lounge feels incredibly crowded in the evenings before the bank of European flights take off.
Anthony’s Take: An expanded Polaris® Lounge is so much better than this “tacky” restaurant. Goodbye and good riddance, Classified.
(Featured Image Credit: United Airlines.)
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5 comments
To each their own, I liked it. It was quiet, always had two clean individual room restrooms, and the food was fine for airport food. If I didn’t have access to Polaris it was much better than the UC or the crowded concourse. I’d much rather encourage folks to spend $50 at Classified than a UC one time pass. Not sure why the hate here.
I tried it a few times. Service was mediocre to poor. The food was cold one visit. Another we got the wrong items. I found it overpriced for the quality.
Of course it was overpriced for the quality, it’s an airport restaurant. I factor in other benefits, as I mentioned, which makes it more than worth the price. Service as a standard is mediocre almost everywhere in the United States, certainly so at EWR, so I didn’t hold Classified to a different standard. Fair enough that I didn’t have as poor an experience as you did with the food.
You seem to know your food pretty well so I defer to your judgement. I like the Polaris lounges anyway so more is better.
Have you eaten the slop or experienced the ambiance and prices of EWR terminal dining? Classified was a reasonable alternative.