Posted on: Friday, May 4, 2007
THE NIGHT STUFF
Yard House: Busy with beer and bites
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
A semi-upscale suds-and-grub chain has opened on the new Waikiki Beach Walk, with more beer on tap than a Wilmer Valderrama kegger and serious food for draught. Hops heaven, kids!
YARD HOUSE
Where: Waikiki Beach Walk, 226 Lewers St.
Hours: 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays
Phone/Web site: 923-9273, www.yardhouse.com
Got parking? Valet: $5 with validation. Entry at connecting Embassy Suites on Beach Walk.
The appeal? More than 110 domestic, international and local beers on draft. Lots to nosh.
Playing taps. A viewable keg room stocked with hundreds of kegs and more than a thousand gallons of suds sends brews through five miles of metal-encased beer pipes to Yard House's centralized island bar; 2,000 gallons of circulating coolant keep the beer fresh and chilled every hour. Cost per system? About a half-million dollars each.
Variations on a glass. Beer arrives in pints, goblets, six-pack samplers (sadly, you can't choose your own 5 oz. samplers) or half-yard mega-glasses. Accept that you may never be able to order every Yard House brew, and you'll be fine.
I hate beer. Will I still dig it here? Maybe. Yard House's three-and-a-half dozen-strong menu of house martinis ($9.50 each) and specialty drinks ($8.50 each) seemed generously poured and quite popular. A reliance on bottled puckers and mixes over tastier fresh ingredients takes the cocktail recipes down a few notches, though.
The eats. More than a hundred better-with-beer appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pizzas and entrees, priced between $6 and $30. We most dug the (Mac+Cheese)2 ($16.45) — with a touch of white truffle oil (not the real deal, but OK) and tender sauteed wild mushrooms — and New York steak salad ($16.45) — micro greens, tender grilled beef, fresh-fried potato slices, crisp green beens, house-made gorgonzola vinaigrette and more fresh goodness. Full menu online.
The crowd. The wait. Prepare to chill an hour or more before being seated late-night Fridays and Saturdays, when fashionable young locals with cash for the not-exactly-inexpensive fare fill the place. Weeknight patrons are dressed more casually, and you'll probably get your eight-person-deep booth in about 20 minutes.
The soundtrack. Classic rock birthed long before many Yard House patrons were born. On my two visits, the place was nursing serious Bob Seger, Eagles and Tom Petty fetishes. Hey! Teacher! No Pink Floyd?
Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.
