Eatery - Yard House (CA)

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Irvine Spectrum, 71 Fortune Dr, Irvine, CA 92618
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American | Reservations - Available
www.yardhouse.com

A chain restaurant, yes; however, it's mostly in Southern California for the locations in this state. Other locations are in AZ, CO, FL, HI, IL, KS, MA, NV, and TX. Of all the times I've been to Yard House, I think I've only had their regular fare once. I basically just go for their Happy Hour specials where you get half off select appetizers and certain drinks are cheaply priced. What's impressive about Yard House is the 100+ beers they have on tap and the large variety you can get of their blends. When you walk into their place, you can see all the kegs and taps; it's quite amazing.


I chose to go with the Youngberry Chocolate which was their unique blend of Lindeman's Framboise & Young's Double Chocolate Stout. It tasted like a liquid raspberry truffle to me. I love raspberry truffles! The stout was smooth and quite tasty. When I got to the bottom of my glass though, I realized that I should've mixed them a little bit as I got closer to the end because when I was left with the Framboise at the bottom, my jaw was clenching from how tart it was (even thinking about it now made me salivate). Great drink though. I'm interested in trying out more. I took my younger brother, Edison, with me when we went and as a growing teenage boy would, he made hefty choices that made us feel quite full at the end. We opted to go with the spinach cheese dip, chicken nachos, and Chinese garlic noodles.


The spinach cheese dip has been one of our favorites. I believe we get it every time we go. It has Feta, Jack, and Parmesan cheeses melted into it. The flatbread used to get the dip is quite crispy and has Parmesan sprinkled on it. It's a little salty but gets balanced out with how savory the spinach dip is. While the bowl is shallow, it certainly is enough dip considering how rich and cheesy it is.


When we were reading the menu, the Chinese garlic noodles jumped out at us. We decided to give it a shot, and it was a good choice save for the saltiness. Butter and garlic tossed with Shiitake mushrooms and sprinkled with grated Parmesan, this dish was flavorful but a bit small. It had a bit more salt than I would have liked but the noodles' texture was good. Though good, I probably wouldn't order again because it wasn't superbly out of the ordinary or anything. It was merely just good for then.


What made us bloated was having ordered the enormous chicken nachos with their spicy pinto beans, Cheddar and Jack, red and green sauce, tomato, cilantro, onions, guacamole and sour cream on tortilla chips. It was quite the sizable portion. However, the amount of chicken on the nachos was sparse and nothing stood out for me on this dish.


Here are two fabulous pictures that my fellow diner and friend took of the food that was ordered. The first picture is of the Hawaiian Poke Stack my friends got (which was delicious!), and the second is of my brother's and my order. Thanks for taking such awesome pictures Justin Misa! I'm considering trying a hand at food photography because pictures like these make me oh-so-happy. Food is a wonderful thing!

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