Susan H.
Yelp
Even though Yard House has been around for quite a while, we never did manage to try one. That changed when we decided to try the one at Tysons Galleria. Figuring that since it's been open for a few months, they should have their act together, we headed there to have some dinner. We were here on a Saturday shortly before 5 p.m. which was a good time to go as they weren't very busy at that time.
They have an extensive menu thus we were glad that we took a look at it before going out. When we arrived there, we were immediately greeted and seated in a booth.
Our server arrived in a timely manner to take our drink orders. They listed 2 non-alcoholic beers on the menu and my husband chose one of them. I opted for a mocktail called "Pina Spritz" which consisted of: "seedlip spice, passion fruit puree, pineapple juice, lime juice, club soda, mint".
After putting in our drink orders, our server came back to the table to tell my husband that she "had some very sad news" for him. They were all out of non-alcoholic beers. She made a suggestion that seemed very random to us, which was to encourage him to order a beer called "Daura Damm". So, my husband agreed to this.
My drink arrived in a decent amount of time. It was okay. The pineapple juice seemed to overtake the other ingredients. There was supposed to be a sugar rim but instead of the rim, the sugar was down one side of the glass. As for the beer--- my husband thought it was nothing special. He didn't hate it but he didn't love it either. In fact, he said he doubted that he would ever order it again.
We started with an appetizer and chose "spicy tuna stack" which consists of: "avocado, edamame, cucumbers, nori, wasabi soy sauce". The tuna was fresh and the wasabi soy sauce added good flavor. We thought there was too much cucumber and edamame.
For my main course, I chose "sesame-crusted ahi tuna" which consists of: "seared rare, crispy garlic, sesame seeds, jasmine rice, charred baby broccoli, creamy ponzu sauce". The tuna was served rare and thickly sliced. I tasted no ponzu sauce. The baby broccoli consisted of mostly stems, some of which were so hard as to be inedible. The few florets that were there at least were nicely charred. The rice was properly cooked.
My husband chose "whiskey glazed salmon" which consists of: "whiskey black pepper glazed, parmesan mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, baby
broccoli". a small cup of sauce was also given. The salmon was on the dry side and the sauce helped give it moisture as it had a smoky, sweet, peppery taste to it. The parmesan cheese barely registered in the potatoes. He said that the carrots were barely roasted and some parts were too tough to eat. Also, like me, he got a lot of tough broccoli stems.
As for the ambiance---it has a sports bar feel to it with high ceilings which lend themselves to creating a noisy environment when the place gets busy.
We overheard our server telling the people in the next booth who had ordered their drinks... "I have some very sad news"... so...there were other beers that weren't available. With that in mind, then why not make up a list of what's not available each day? It would save the servers and the customers a lot of time.
Our overall take --- We don't regret giving Yard House a try but we're in no rush to return.