Garden State Deli and Bar

This Garden State Deli is located in the US Airways gate area in terminal A at Newark Airport.

The food options at these US Air gates are limited to one full-service restaurant, one stand that sells salads and specialty coffees, and this Deli. My primary reason for only giving it 2 stars is because this place is not the full-service restaurant that it tries hard to appear to be when you walk past it, and it's definitely not a convenient dining option for travellers who stop in expecting restaurant service.   While this Garden State location appears to be a full-service restaurant similar to a "Quaker Steak" with lots of tables/chairs, a seating area at the bar, napkins and condiments on each table, advertisement boards in front of the place which list their specials and a big neon "BAR" sign, looks are deceiving.

I went in, selected a table, sat down and asked for a menu.  I was told that I needed to proceed to the coolers along the wall outside the entrance to this place, purchase my food there and then I could sit at one of the tables inside to eat.   So basically you buy a cold sandwich or salad from the cooler near the entrance, or a small boxed pizza or pre-packaged hot sandwich from the "Garden State Express" cashier out front, then you need to schlep all of that, along with your luggage to your table.  If you want a drink from the bar, you need to repeat the process and hope no one steals your food or anything you left at your table while going to the bar to get a beverage.  

In the end, what looks like a decent restaurant is nothing more than a very scaled down version of a food court concept where you get your food from one cashier, your drinks from the bar cashier and then sit here to consume them, though there is no signage when you enter the place that indicates this.

If I'm in this terminal again in the future, I'll either grab a sandwich or salad at one of the other kiosks and eat it at my seat at the gate, or if looking for a restaurant, I'll opt for the "Dick Clark's American Bandstand", which is the only true full-service restaurant in this area.