My spouse and I dined at CBGB LAB (Lounge and Bar) at the
Newark Airport on a Friday evening in early July 2016. CBGB is located in
Terminal C (in the concourse for gates 120 through 139) in the space previously
occupied by a wine bar and across from the food court area.
The CBGB venue offers three different spaces. One area
features a record album and souvenir shop, where you can purchase vinyl LPs and
CBGB swag. The tiny store
boasts a miniature replica of CBGB's iconic awning; the real canopy resides at
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The main dining space
features a grand piano/stage, a sort of “al fresco” dining area, a faux-brick
façade, stained glass windows, and a support beam covered in graffiti-print wallpaper. Small
speakers play New Wave and punk rock music. Never having visited the original 20th-century
rock venue on the Bowery in NYC, CBGB LAB is a clever homage, in our opinion.
The third portion of the CBGB space is an enclosed bar area that contains a
large bar and comfortable furniture groupings that include sofas and coffee
tables.
Every restaurant
seat in Newark’s revamped Terminal C is equipped with an iPad to order food and
drinks. You locate the menu app at the bottom of the screen, and then choose
from different categories (appetizers, main dishes, cocktails, and so on),
scrolling through photos and descriptions, and clicking on your final choices. You
swipe your credit card after you order, and you can choose to either close out
your bill or run a tab, so if you are in a hurry at the end of your meal, you
can leave without finding a server to pay your bill. (This format also means
that you indicate the percentage of your gratuity early in the process.) If you
are a United frequent flyer, you can remit frequent flyer miles to pay for your
food and drink. On the iPad, you can
also scan your boarding pass for updates on your flight, play video games, and
order products from the terminal’s shops to your table.
CBGB LAB offers upscale
international cuisine, including disco fries (with cheese and gravy), a Kobe
chicken hot dog, crispy chicken paillard, meatball parmigian sandwich, and
matzo ball soup. We did not order anything from the food menu, having eaten
elsewhere in the airport, but we enjoyed a few rounds of drinks at CBGB while
waiting for our delayed flight.
We liked the unique theming at CBGB LAB, and we will return
to try the food the next time that we fly from Terminal C.
