I was pleasantly surprised by this place. I've been aware of Yard House pretty much since it opened a few years ago, and I'm at the BJ's next door on a regular basis. This is the one section of Willowbrook that I can tolerate popping in and out of since it's right on the end and has minimal traffic drama (life pro tip: approach the mall from 46 westbound if you can). Maybe because of the Dave & Buster's nearby, I've always assumed this was sort of a bro offshoot/hangout, but as it turns out, it's basically a very modern/upscale sports bar with high quality food and drink options. Who knew?
I took my noble chum here around noonish on a Saturday for a belated birthday lunch. The first takeaway I had the minute I stepped inside was that this place is VAST. It's a gigantic space, and Yard House has clearly made the decision to keep it very spacious and spartan, which, if you have the ability to, why not? You don't need to squeeze past other tables to get to the restroom, and for me it felt very comfortable, especially compared to basically every other restaurant in this densely populated section of NJ. Since we were there pretty early in the day, we had no issue obtaining a very comfortable booth in the back, which could have easily fit another three or four people at least. Also, apparently Yard House has teleported to the future (or I've been lingering massively in the past) because they have a very impressive ordering setup with these remote kiosky things at the table that the server can just input items into immediately upon verbally receiving them. I imagine that cuts down on human error as well, with the servers not having to remember orders for an extra minute or two, and being able to confirm details and finalize literally a second later. Welcome to 2023.
The booze menu was probably 80% beer (no thanks), but there was a pretty legit cocktail and wine menu. I opted for the strawberry mule ($11.79), which was served in a container that reminded me of those tubes you shoot back at the bank teller from the drive-thru. Wild stuff. They were very tasty, with a nice little nip to them. We also split the Firecracker Shrimp app ($13.99) - perfect portion for two hungrier people, and interesting presentation. There was a rice patty or something underneath the shrimp to give it some added texture goodness. I also went with the Ahi Tuna entrée ($24.99); good but not the best I've had. I think this is the first time I've gotten this particular dish where it didn't come with some type of drizzle (usually a soy sauce or chipotle mayo-type condiment). As a result, it seemed a little dry and flavorless to me.
One other pet peeve - and to be clear, Yard House is by no means the only offender here - was the presentation of the calorie counts next to each menu item. I'm a law-abiding citizen, and I've earned the right not to make direct eye contact with the calorie information. Why can't that just be available on a secondary page, where, if you want to see it, you can, but you don't have to? I just want the option of blissful ignorance. I hope society sees the error of their ways in this regard.
Our server was fantastic. Very personable guy who didn't hesitate to give his recommendations and disclaimers about various sections of the menu. Sometimes having different employees handling the orders, the food, etc. can create delays/chaos, but it ended up working out here - everything arrived in a very timely fashion.
It's a little pricey even without taking the inflationary environment into consideration, but it's definitely a cut above a lot of the mini/local chain options in the area. read more