Omnivore - Lunch at Yard House: First impressions

• Stephanie Dazey
• Inside Yard House

In a word? OMG. Ok, technically that’s three words, but in the spirit of Yard House’s guiding principle, the more the merrier.

The bound book of a menu at Yard House is unlike anything our small lunch party had ever seen: page after page after page of dishes. So many dishes that the small printed columns began to run together in a blur. Seriously, take every family chain restaurant in America and roll them all into one; the result is Yard House. Pizza Margherita, Roasted Turkey Cobb, Chilled Edamame, Blue Crab Cakes, Onion Ring Tower, Korean BBQ, Spicy Jambalaya, Truffle Fries, Porcini Crusted Halibut, Deviled Eggs, and Mushu Egg Rolls. There are hundreds of choices. Burgers, sliders, sandwiches, soups, 16 different salads, 14 “meatless” meat dishes for vegetarians, and if that weren’t enough, a separate menu insert for their trendy Street Tacos. Oh, and they had a special fish of the day, salmon or something.

Not gonna lie, it took us about 15 minutes, and several check-ins from our spirited server, to figure out what to order. For starters, Deviled Eggs ($2.95) topped with spicy tomato sauce, sweet chili sauce, and minced chives. Living in a city where great Deviled Eggs can be found at some of the best restaurants in town (Bocado, JCT., Holeman & Finch), we had high hopes. Unfortunately, these runny, saucy egg halves did not measure up, the flavor dominated only by a generic sweet chili sauce.

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• Grilled Sweet Korean BBQ Beef

Next up, the Grilled Sweet Korean BBQ Beef ($12.85) appetizer: marinated boneless short ribs over jasmine rice. The dish could pass for an entrée, but other than that, the beef was tender with a touch of Teriyaki-style sweetness. The only things missing were the charred, carbony bits that usually offset the sweet nature of the dish.

More after the jump