We came here for a brunch after my daughter's christening and everything was perfect! Jeff Keating, the manager, was so accommodating and easy to work with from start to finish. During the brunch, Phil took care of us and made sure we had everything we needed it. He was so attentive and constantly made sure we had enough food and drinks which were both delicious . I will definitely be having more private parties here! read more

Cool place to visit. Outdoor seating with a full wrap around bar. No kids after the kitchen closes. Which is a plus

Great pub grub at an affordable price. When we wandered in here with friends we were surprised at the quality of food, awesome beer selection and fun atmosphere. I will definitely go back for a fun and entertaining evening. read more

Finally got to try their food this afternoon. I had the "morning after burger" and it was great. Cooked perfectly and the add-ons made it really tasty. Our waitress Jen was also great! read more

Whenever I come to visit my daughter at school, we stop here for a bite. The food is great and service just fine. Would like to see more entrees with low calorie options and healthier selections. Will miss it when she graduates and comes home. read more

Go for the beer. Ask to see the long list. Service was excellent. Main reason we chose, as were eating quick between events. Food was good. Loud, which you might expect. Able to eat outside, which was a plus. You might feel a little out of place, if of retirement age, but if still young at heart, go for it. read more

We just had a great evening at the Backyard Ale House in downtown Scranton. Started with the pot roast French fries, yummy! Loved the outside patio right in the heart of downtown. Great service and food, had two of the specials for dinner. Try it out if you come to Scranton. Short walk from the downtown Hilton. read more

Great beer selection. Outdoor seating. Food is delcious. When outdoor seating isn't available the inside can get cramped on busy nights.

They have every beer you've ever wanted and more that you didn't know existed. The service is fantastic and the food is unbelievable. Do yourself a favor and get the fries with the cheddar-ale dipping sauce. read more

Two because the beer list is so good and the place has potential. The missing stars are for the lack of service, detail, and flavor of food. It's a little painful watching how dissatisfied people are. One guy fingered his burger while yelling "Does this look medium rare!?" Note, it was the second burger sent out over-done to same guy who waited 45 minutes. New cook? Our experience: bubbly server left mid-operation and never notified us, or her colleagues. The food was really bland, even the recommendation. Pretzels were good though. Tip to manager, don't do tip share or whatever is going on that is not motivating employees, train your cook, and work on energy/ambiance. read more

This place is great the bartenders and staff are friendly the food is good. The outdoor patio makes the place 100% better

I came here with my parents when they visited. The food is amazing! The beer is even better. I do wish that the bar was open past 9pm and you didn't have to search parking on the street at night. read more

Great food, atmosphere and beer. Love it there, one of the better scranton establishments.

Consistent, with good Service. Glad they added food to the establishment because it compliments the atmosphere well.

This spot was a real gem! The salmon gyro was amazing. My server was excellent, and the beer selection was outstanding. I even took some beer to go. Great job guys! read more

First time visitor here. It was a cold and windy weekday night in NEPA. We were dining before a show and between the weather and Scranton there wasn't much to choose from in the immediate area. For some reason the pub next door looked pretty empty so we opted for TBAH, which we'd often heard of from college friends. It was not a bad choice given our constraints and expectations. We owe them a return visit to better explore what looks to be better stuff. The backyard part (a tented patio?) was closed due to the extreme weather. The bar area was busy but not crowded. It is a pretty large room with a dark pubby look and feel. Adequate TV screens are dispersed around the area, all on the same sports channel this night. No doubt this place must rock on nights when downtown is busier. Greeted as we wandered looking for a spot, we settled into one of the pub style tables with high seating. That was good. The bad was, despite many servers in the room, it took a while for someone to take our drink order and provide menus. A bit of a 'nit' but noticeable to us since we were time constrained. Once we were addressed, things went pretty well but overall service was just OK (well, it IS a collegey bar so what did old guys expect anyway ;-) ). Very good beer selection. Many drafts... including appropriately many local and regional offerings. Prices seemed reasonable for crafty pints and bottles. The bottled beer list provided even has a few exotics. This may be among the best beer selections in NEPA, certainly Scranton. We didn't inquire nor expect much in the wine department here...as it should be? Dining menu is, appropriately , pretty pubby (soups, sandwiches, burgers...) and a bit oblique to follow for a first timer. We were pressed for time so, we settled on burgers as the safest and quickest order in an unfamiliar place. They offer a choice of fries for a buck more or the house made chips...both were good. The burgers were not great but good enough...slightly overdone. I wonder why many places ask cooking burger preference these days, especially with the concern for food borne diseases and such. So no penalty here, just a comment. I plan to return when in the area and expect better the second time around too, after our experience and scanning the menu online. In our haste, we didn't adequately explore the daily nor house specials .... and because of this... the so-so service was more apparent. In other times we wouldn't care as much. All-in-all this downtown Scranton pub is convenient and a good choice for a beer, burger, and probably more...but, a caution too, we were there on a very slow night so it may get a lot livelier then some like at times. read more

Backyard has always been a great bar for beer selection and atmosphere. A few months ago they started serving food and I was really pleased! Try the tin can fries and the wings on Tuesday. They are incredible! I wish the service was a little better (sometimes I feel like the servers are just goofing off and taking their time, which is fine when I'm not in a hurry but not so great for lunch), but all in all a really solid place for drinks, watching sports, and snacks. read more

The banjo pig sandwich has to be the best version of a Cuban that I have ever had in the NE. Chips were great and the beer was cold. Great outdoor atmosphere....smoking allowed, but not overwhelming. Service was timely and friendly. read more

This restaurant has good potential. I liked the creativity of their menu, but not very many options for the healthier diner. I had the salmon gyro, and I could tell the salmon was fresh and the gyro very tasty. Our server was top-notch, and always checked on us. I went with my parents (in their 80s), and they felt a little out of place, especially since we were seated in the front and we didn't see anyone above college age. (That being said, I think there was a restaurant area in back that was closed off). It sort of mixes "college bar" with "gastropub". They need more tables in the bar area and more help with the decor. We felt a little weird eating dinner in the bar area. read more

We decided to go out to eat after our bowling tournament. We picked this place due to the reviews that I saw on yelp. And we were not disappointed the atmosphere was fantastic we ate in the patio area in the back. Our servers name was Kelly and she was very very good. The food was served in a very timely manner and was excellent. I had The Buffalo chicken bites as an appetizer then the ma meatloaf sandwich. I highly recommend this place if you're in Scranton! read more

I had a really bad experience first time in here. Just turned 21 and the bartender( who appeared to also be some kind of manager) wanted to pick a fight with me for no reason. I had barely begun to have a good time when he started being argumentative. I understand it was a busy night overall but it was extremely unprofessional. I am really disappointed because other than that I like this place. Probably won't go here again unless I felt like I could without being verbally abused. read more

I loved it here! This spot totally reminded me of your typical philly bar. Of course it helped a lot that our waiter was a HUGE fan of my alma matter, but I digress. The food and drinks were SOOOO cheap! (Like "is this really our bill?!" cheap) The staff was great and my eggplant parm was delish. Everyone enjoyed their meals, and those that couldn't finish asked for theirs to go (always the sign of a good meal). read more

The BEST sweet potato fries!! Chris the bartender was very attentive, friendly & made a great martini. read more

Had brunch this past weekend at the Backyard Ale House. Wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but there was a small crowd around noon, which I love....I'm not one for a crowded bar scene, especially on a Saturday afternoon, so this was perfect. Sat at the bar and ordered off of the special weekend brunch menu ($8 for a meal and a beer or bloody mary). I had a western omelet with cooper sharp cheese and my fiancee had a belgian waffle with fruit topping. Both were superb, hot, fresh and delicious. I'll certainly be back for more in the coming weeks. If you're going to do the Backyard Ale House and want to avoid the hectic bar crowd, I suggest brunch! read more

Food is great but service is absolutely horrible. I had a bad experience with two waiters but thought I would give the place a second chance. Came back and had a very grumpy waiter who was not pleasant at all. Such a shame because food is great but probably won't be coming back since the service is so bad. read more

By far my favourite bar in Scranton. It is very laid back even when it's busy. Great company and they even have a back patio bar area.

Exceptional craft beer selection. Nice weekend crowd! Only place around I could find Springhouse Brewery's Satan's Bake Sale at!

Compared to the crap around it, ahem hardware bar, this place is great. Easily the best bar in downtown scranton, of course that isn't saying much, but at least it's relatively clean and scummer free. read more

This place used to be a 4/5 now it should be less than one. Before Covid Backyard was a great place to go for food and drinks and I have been there many time. When Covid hit there was a small dip with service food etc but then it quickly rebounded. Yet as many other establishment opened the quality quickly declined. At first I thought it was due to shortages with workers staff etc but to be honest I am unsure of what it is. After multiple errors with wrong orders, cold food I was let down by the service. Usually when these issues would happen they would be quickly resolved but recently they have been compounded with constant inconstant service. However I recently went back and was pleasantly surprised with how much smoother things were operating. The food seemed better the bar service was easier and smoother. Yet a comment made by the owner on my previous review has left me with an extremely negative opinion about the restaurant. I stated my initial experience and while the owner initially appeared to own up to some of the issues, he quickly wanted to turn it into a "teachable moment because there is a child like naiveness to your review". The owner then compares the establishment's experience to those of the tragic hurricane katrina and the struggles that the establishment faced. This to me shows the disconnect between reality and their own view. Many businesses have struggled, and failed during these hard times but stating "I hope you develop some context to avoid living such a shallow life" in reply to 1 bad review is just disheartening to see. I gave backyard another chance recently and planned to check it out one more time but seeing how the owners reply to not only my negative review but others has left me disheartened. My main issues with backyard was the decrease in overall service, quality of food and inconsistent drink price/ service since they reopened AFTER the initial Covid restrictions. During and before Covid ,minus a small dip, the service was great and the food which is typical bar was decent. I had planned to update my review with some of the positive changes but after the comments by the alleged owner I cannot recommend this establishment. Nevertheless after my recent experience with food and drinks i cannot let who ever commented be the only deciding factor in my review. From my recent experience they have made improvements and are back on their way to a 4/5 out of 5 with their service and food quality, yet based on my experience with a condescending reply to my previous review and some bad experience I've decided to update my review to a 2 read more

One of the best omelettes I've had. Good draft and bottle selection.

Great burgers that are properly cooked to order, medium is medium. The chips with blue cheese carmalized onion dip was great. Then there is the beer. The beer menu is vast and reasonably priced. Delicious. read more

Been there a bunch of times. Its a nice central Scranton location right across from city hall. Theres a front section and a back section. Sometimes they play classic movies in the back area. They played Spaceballs there one nice and I almost cried that I missed it. Tuesdays is beer tasting. My brother in law goes to inhale their wings, which are apparently delicious since its all he gets. I like their burgers and their pretzel app. Tons of TVs too if you want to watch Syracuse basketball like the rest of Scranton. read more

Pretty decent food selection for a beer place like Backyard Ale House. Beer is always great, atmosphere and people are warm and just crazy! One of my favorite places in downtown. read more

Awesome food and amazing year! Their selection of beer supersedes any other bar in the area. I am also so excited that they started serving food a few years ago. Not the typical barfood you would expect but instead, you will see a thoughtful and delicious menu! Their brunch is top notch also! read more

Amazing and FRIENDLY service. Even though they were setting up fir the band the servers were super attentive. Three different servers asked if they could get us drinks! Excellent menu options. Try the Thai salmon sandwich. read more

I ordered a chicken sandwich and fries. The fries came out likes nubs. I told my server and someone came out to speak with me. He told me the fries are freshly cut. He apologized and walked away. He didn't even offer to make a fresh batch. Don't get the fries. They're $3.50 and not worth $.50. read more

Loads of beer options, friendly bartenders and a great outside bar that's closed in kinda thing that i believe opens when it's nice out. You'll prolly hear some clown playin acoustic guitar and playin covers his voice will prolly sound like an irish Eddie Vedder, but that's pretty much every bar in Scranton except The Bog. Overall a good time though. Gem place! read more

Great selection with a great staff. Live music is a plus. Smoking out back is a bummer. Great selection of beer. The best burger I ever had in Scranton. read more

Stopped in for a late lunch. The beer selection was amazing but not too many people willing to talk about it. Food was mediocre...not really that great. Great atmosphere and might guess it's more of a college nightlife scene. read more

My favorite place in town to get a beer. Their draft lust is awesome, and their bottle shop is impressive. I also really enjoy their boneless wing bites, which go great with a cold beer on tap. read more