Yard House

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.28/5  rDev +13.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5

The Yard House in Long Beach has 250 Taps and a beer list that tops 200 on draft, but it is more likely that (only?) around 180 will be available at any one time. A solid range of well known and rare beers from microbreweries, as well as some from the big boys, also interspersed with some unusual foreign beers. Fullers ESB (GB) and Pilsner Urquell (Czech) are my favourites. A good range of UK and US Ciders as well. Beers are of course available in the Yard Glasses, but don't break one - they will charge you the earth to replace it. The Patio is a nice place to sit on a night whilst osmotically absorbing the atmosphere and eyeing the plenty of talent on view. Poor Restroom facilities really let this bar down - only 2 ceramic receptacles in the Boys Room - in a bar this size ?? Be prepared to queue (wait in line) for a piss when it is busy, for this I have down-marked the Quality rating from 4.0 to 3.5. Food is very good. Try the Fish & Chips (well I am English) and the Onion Ring Towers - awesome. Service is usually very good. Part of a chain of 3 Yard Houses (at the time I write this anyway). Located in Shoreline Village, it is well served and easily accessible by non-drivers using the Long Beach Passport Bus service, the Purple coloured ones that go to the Aquarium and the Queen Mary drop you off outside, neat !!. Worth a visit, just to see the oval shaped bar and the plethora of beer taps, a sight for sore eyes. But a word of warning - it is not cheap at $5+ a beer.

08-17-2002 08:43:18 | More by TheLongBeachBum

DoubleJ

California

4.13/5  rDev +9.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

This YardHouse is located on the waterfront near downtown Long Beach, and is a short jog from Rock Bottom Brewery. The interior is quite standard for a YardHouse, but the outdoor patio with a view of the downtown skyline and the waterfront is a nice bonus, which is where me and my friend sat. We came for the late night happy hour, and this place was bustling with patrons. I though the service would be slow sitting outside, but our orders came out at a good pace, and our waiter turned out to be a really chill guy.

We ordered Jamaican Wings and Fried Calimari to much on. The Jamiacan Wings tasted great, but a few of them were cold. The Fried Calimari was piping hot.

Oh, and let's talk about the beers. Plenty of drafts just like any other YardHouse, but with a lot of surprises. Staples like Old Rasputin, Dead Guy Ale, Delirium Tremens, Franziskaner, Stone, Czechvar, and Paulaner are available on the list. In addition, there are rare drafts, such as Gulden Draak, Hacker Pschorr, Flying Dog Pale Ale, Moylan's Kilt Lifter, Chambly Noire, Scrimshaw Pilsner, Lindemans Pêche, AleSmith Nautical Nut Brown....there's a lot here. My friend and I split 6 different beers, and they were all in good condition, albeit the Gulden Draak was a bit colder than I'd like.

This turned to be to be a well-spent visit. Probably the best YardHouse I've been to....just take note you'll need to pay to park if you drive here.

06-18-2009 17:18:14 | More by DoubleJ

TurdFurgison

Ohio

4/5  rDev +6.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

I won't waste too many words, as this place is already described well in previous reviews. 300 taps, but I rated the selection only 4 because >250 of them were basically the same (pale lager). That still left at least 30 good selections on tap, including some nice CA beers I can't get at home. Also there were some old favorites I like to try on tap (Delirium Tremens being the best I can remember).

There's a nice choice of atmospheres:
1) At the bar with hundreds of taps to choose from
2) Outside with a beautiful view of the port

Well worth a visit whenever you're in Long Beach.

05-18-2006 01:29:51 | More by TurdFurgison

glid02

Georgia

3.6/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$

Went here during a stay at a nearby hotel.

Atmosphere is good. It's right on the water with a good deal of outside seating. Once inside there's a ton of seating with a pretty large bar in the middle of everything. Nothing else really stood out.

Quality is alright. Everything (at least everything I had) was served in a standard pint glass with a good amount of head. Some beers were a bit on the cold side but the glasses definitely weren't close to being chilled.

Service was alright. I had to wait at the bar for a good while before the person who kept telling me he'd be with me in a moment was finally with me. He was nice enough but his knowledge was a bit lacking (couldn't list off various seasonals, not knowing styles).

Selection is good. They certainly have a ton of beers broken up by style on the menu, however most of this stuff is available at many places around town, just not all in once place. Everyone can certainly find something they're looking for. I had a Hemp Ale and Nautical Nut Brown from AleSmith.

Food was good. I believe I had the fish and chips and it was solid.

Value is good. It was a bit on the pricey side - especially the food - but nothing outrageous.

Overall this is a good place to go have a few if you want a large selection but if you're looking for anything on the rarer side there are better places to go.

09-04-2009 04:04:32 | More by glid02

drewbage

California

3.48/5  rDev -7.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 2.5 | food: 4.5

The Yardhouse?

It's a big beautiful place. You can wave at the ocean and the Queen Mary here in downtown Long Beach. If the metro is running you can make it here in under an hour for a $1.50 (and that's from the freaking valley 30+ miles away)

I know several other BA's have complained about the yuppification, but I'm not too hard on it because it generally means the food is going to be more interesting than another limp american burger or a bad rendition of fish and chips. (This excludes of course the Father's Office burger and Lucky Baldwin's F&C) So the food is a definate thumbs up.

The beer selection? It looks terribly impressive, but when you start working your way through it systematically, you'll notice a small smattering of interesting taps and fewer that you've never had. (if you've been around the beer block a few times or so.) How many different versions of "pilsner" beer can a place have?

Oh and for the price that you pay around here I'd rather go through traffic and deal with the noise at Father's and enjoy better beer and a damn fine burger.

11-27-2003 18:27:01 | More by drewbage

rowew

Colorado

3.86/5  rDev +2.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4

This is just like the other Yard Houses around with one exception - it has a nice patio with a harbor view. The beer selection is good - large bar with taps on both sides. Lots of seating both inside and out. The staff seemed friendly enough, but didn't know much about the beer. If you want to stop off for a drink somewhere with a nice view, this would be a great choice. Watching the boats in the harbor with a nice beer is a great way to spend the afternoon. I didn't try the food at this location, but at others it is decent, but pricey. The menu here was the same.

03-14-2005 18:58:32 | More by rowew

Rumrunner

California

4.22/5  rDev +11.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

This Yard House is located in the Shoreline Village part of Long Beach. The Aquarium of the Pacific, the Convention Center and the Queen Mary are in this area. Plus many tourist trap style restaurants and shops. I recommend the aquarium. In fact we went to the Yard House after a fun couple of hours at the aquarium.

This Yard House reminds me of the other Yard Houses. A large oval bar with booths and tables and chairs around it. It has that corporate family feel. What this YH has over some of the others is its outdoor patio. This is very nice and overlooks the boats and part of the harbor.

The food is good and the menu has a large variety of food. Typical pub food to salads, steaks and ahi tuna. The service is very good. The bartenders and wait staff are very alert and at the ready should a person need anything. Very helpful for beer drinkers when the glass is low. They also have a full bar and a large selection of wine.

This YH has about 250 taps. They consist of everything from macros, imports, cider, maltermatives and of course craft beers. Plenty of them are repeats. They have a small bottle selection. The only noteworthy one is Chimay Blue. Here is a list of a few of the beers. Craft: Bear Republic, Anderson Valley, Stone, North Coast, Rogue, Pyramid, Mad River, Sierra Nevada, Kona, Sam Adams, Portland Brewery, Firestone, Anchor Steam, Spanish Peaks and many others. The imports: Fuller's, Piraat, Paulaner, Knonenberg, Gulden Draake, Spaten, Beamish, Abbot Ale, Stella, Hoegaarten, Tetley's, Lindeman's, Dos Equis, Guinness and a host of other imports. They also had a few ciders from England and America.

At this time they had a few Oktoberfest and winter beers. They do carry some seasonals. The Anchor Steam Christmas beer was very nice.

Overall this place has a great selection of beers. The food is good and there is generally plenty of space. If you are the type of person who can't look past the ambiance and has to have a certain style in their establishments then keep looking. There is nothing unique, funky, eclectic or creative about the YH style. They just have a lot of beers.

11-16-2003 07:43:13 | More by Rumrunner

OStrungT

California

2.8/5  rDev -25.7%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | food: 4 | $$$$

Let me start off by saying that I havent been to a Yard House in quite some time before I went to this palce.

It was very crowded with tourists, and snooty people. I stopped in before I went to a Strung Out show, a punk rock band, and I felt like people were stairing at us. What really pissed me off it that aparently, they no longer sell yards of beer. I asked, and was told that it is because the glasses are expensive, and break all the time. They need to change their name to the Half Yard House.

The beer selection, while large consisted mostly of macros, and pale ales. To say that their selection is great would be a lie. Extensive, but the same. It was very hard to pick something. In my opinion, most choices were overpriced, and booring.

Being that it was crowded, the service was slow. My waitress was not at all knowledgable in beer. She called the Hefeweizen a "Heffa- Why-Sen" I might aswell order a "fill-it-mig-non" or something with "ja-lop-in-ohs" I cant stand that.

The food was ok, but at the price, it better be.

Overall: Never again.

03-18-2008 23:38:54 | More by OStrungT

PuckLSHS

Iowa

3/5  rDev -20.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $$

The Yard House in Long Beach happens to have the highest tap selection out of all the different locations. I have been there quite a few times to meet up with people, but it is not really my scene. If you end up going on a Friday or Saturday night, they line you up like it's a night club and you have to show your card at the door. This is not really my idea of a good time. Like everyone else has said, this is not really a BA atmosphere. It's more like a meat-head/Britney Spears worshiping girls type of place. If you are into that environment, it is worth the trip. You won't be able to have a conversation without yelling because they crank up the music so loud and you will see people ordering "high-end" beers like Boddington's. Ugh...not my type of place.

It really is too bad, because they do have a pretty decent kitchen that cranks out some good food. I would suggest a trip during the day or on a weekday night. The service is rather good even if they are busy, so there is really nothing to complain about on that end.

They have some decent local selections on tap, so it is not that bad. Hit it up if you are in the area, but I might suggest going to Rock Bottom instead.

04-21-2006 03:53:13 | More by PuckLSHS

Halcyondays

California

3.45/5  rDev -8.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Took a trip up to the Yardhouse today, to check it out, since their Happy Hour prices are real good. Just off Ocean Blvd., on Shoreline Dr. in Downtown Long Beach, the Yardhouse is located in a little parking lot with a Mexican cantina right next to the sea. The bar is to the left as one walks in, with the vast array of taps going around the elliptical bar. Very loud inside. Probably over 200 taps were listed on the menu. I ordered a North Coast Pranqster and later a Murphy's Stout on nitro-tap. Both were good, yet the Pranqster tasted a little off. Service was a little indifferent, but it seemed like they had a lot to do, so I won't fault them that much. The happy hour prices were great, but the fact that I had to pay $3.00 for parking sort of negated that. Didn't have time or the money to try any of the food, they looked good, but very expensive, near Charthouse or Captain Jack's territory. All and all, as a beer bar it is good, a lot of taps, but nothing really rare, a few goodies like DT, and St. Bernardus were there which is good. I might go again, but there are better bars in the area. Had the food, back in November '09, the lamb was very tasty, good stuff.

11-20-2007 02:55:43 | More by Halcyondays