71 Fortune Dr
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 753-9373
http://www.yardhouse.com
For my friend Jennifer's birthday, our original plan was having dinner at Javier's Cantina. She made reservation for 6:30pm. But knowing how all of our friends have a habit of being fashionably late, she even told everyone the reservation was at 6pm. At 6:30pm, Jennifer, her man Peter, and Peter's nephew who came with them, were the only 3 people at Javier's. 10 of us didn't show on time.... (*bad bad bad*) Javier's refused to seat them. They said that the entire party has to be there to be seated. Not half, 75%, or even 90% of the party. EVERYONE has to be there to get a table. Hmmm.... I didn't like that rule. And they only gave us 10 minutes window to get the table. So to make the story short, we lost our reservation. We got there at 6:45pm. Most people showed up around... 7:30pm. Talking about "fashionably" late....
Right when we lost our reservation at Javier's, Jen decided to go to Yard House instead. She went there right away to put her name on the wait list. Yard House was packed! Also have a large group, so the wait was even longer. We finally got our table around 8pm.
We were seated right in front of the open kitchen. Those chefs were busy and super fast. It was fun watching them cooking and putting the dishes together.
Spanish Peaks Honey Raspberry Beer ($6.00)
Gotta get a glass of beer at Yard House! I looked through their beer menu, and immediately decided I wanted a fruit beer. Dr. P picked Spanish Peaks Honey Raspberry Beer for me. It was yum yum yum yum! The beer tasted like honey and wheat. I like it a lot!
New York Steak Salad ($16.95)
green beans, roasted peppers, avocado, crispy potatoes, red onion and baby lettuce tossed in gorgonzola vinaigrette with beefsteak tomatoes and pickled egg
Half of the party had plan to go to a comedy show at 9pm so we only had 1 hour for dinner. With the time spent on ordering and waiting for the food to arrive, I think we only had about 20 minutes to eat. It was such a rush so I didn't take pictures of everybody's food. Dr. P and I ordered 2 dishes to share. New York Steak Salad had a big piece of tender New York steak. It was cooked medium, so good! The salad was fresh, and the pickled egg was unique. I've never had pickled egg before, but I like it.
Spicy Jambalaya ($16.95)
jumbo shrimp, spicy chicken andouille sausage, red bell pepper and pasilla peppers pan blackened with sweet crawfish and cajun tomato cream sauce. Served with linguine pasta or jasmine rice
Spicy Jambalaya was so good.... a lot more than I expected. The sauce was creamy with just the right amount of spiciness. Lots of delicious chicken andouille sausage and vegetables int eh pasta. Two giant grilled shrimp on top. We took a bite, and didn't want to stop.
New York Steak Sandwich ($16.95)
roasted roma tomatoes, swiss cheese, fried onions and garlic aioli with sweet potato fries and pickle
I did managed to take a picture of my friend Sybil's food, since she was sitting right next to me. She ordered New York Steak Sandwich. It was the same New York steak as my salad. I had a few bites of the sweet potato fries. Seriously, why is sweet potato fries so addicting?
After a quick dinner, the bill came. Some people suggested to just divide the bill by the number of people, not counting the birthday couple of course. But that came out to be $45 per person! So Dr. P and I both ordered dishes that cost $17. Even the birthday couple ordered dishes that are only $17. Some other guests ordered the more expensive entrees... like the $31 steak and shrimp combo + drinks. I really don't think it's fair to do that and suggested we should just pay for what we ordered, then chip in more money for the birthday couple's dinner. Somebody wasn't happy and just threw some money on the table and left.... (of course that person is not my friend... he's Jen's friend's hubby.) I guess we knew who ordered the expensive dishes? Anyway, luckily I was the person stuck with the bill at the end. So we were short, and Dr. P and I ended up paying $80 for our meal. Yeah.... it was expensive.
I've been to Yard House in Pasadena before, but only for drinks. This was the first time I had food there. The food was surprisingly good. I would love to go back for dinner again. Hopefully next time the wait won't be too long, and dinner won't be so rushed.
Happy birthday, Jennifer and Peter! Next time when you make a reservation at 6:30pm, just tell us it's at 5pm. haha.... sowiiiiiii........
i like yardhouse~~nxt time u can try the black velvet beer (1/2 pear cider & 1/2 guiness) very good~~i like their ahi tuna stack~~sweet potato fries~~yum yum~~
ReplyDeleteI usually don't like dark beer, but it sounds tempting with the pear cider added.
I'll try that next time!
I like the food..looks delicious...maybe next time ask for separate bills if that is possible...can't believe some people can be cheap like that
ReplyDeleteYeah, should've asked for separate checks.
But we had a big group, and they might need to prepare like 6 or 7 checks.
I don't want to make the waiter mad though.... >_<
I don't eat in LA because I live in NYC lol but if I would visit, I would definitely go to yardhouse. My friend who lives in Pasadena loves going there for her birthday.
ReplyDeleteI think they should expand Yard House to the east coast!
Ouch, I feel incredibly sorry for your friend Jennifer. I mean, there's late, and then there's just rude. If my friends showed up an hour and a half late to my birthday party with plans to go to a comedy show an hour and a half later, I think I'd consider finding new friends. And I'm so sorry you got stuck with the bill. This happened to me recently where we had an expensive meal and some of my friends didn't bring enough money for the tax and tip. Even though we did pay for our own meals (the only fair way, in my opinion), I got saddled with making up the difference, and it ended up being around $60. I guess that's the only downside to having poor/stingy friends.
ReplyDeleteEvery time there is a big party, there are always people short on money.
Yeah, getting separate bill is really the best way I guess.
I prefer to separate bill when dining in a group.
ReplyDeleteI found some never paid enough tip and tax.
The others had to pay more for tip and tax
or ask money to pay tip, then.
Yup, somebody always have to pay extra money to cover someone else's tip and taxes.
I usually hit the bank before going to a big group gathering just so I have enough cash to cover the cost.
But that also means when somebody don't have enough cash, I have to cover for them sometimes..... >_<
Ya, it sucks that some restaurants don't give you the table unless everyone's there. It makes sense if the restaurant is always really busy though.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, the pics are pretty blurry but it's understandable since it's hard to get a good pic when the lighting is bad.
The picture turned out pretty bad because it was super dark in the restaurant. Sorry...
10 minutes... that's pretty strict. The birthday parties I had at some popular restaurants in LA/Hollywood enforced the "The whole party needs to be there to get seated" rule but 10 minutes? Sorry to hear about the bill. One easier way to get a big group dinner gathering without the billing mess would be with prix fixe menu, like the ones during restaurant week...
ReplyDeletePrix Fixe for big group, or buffet, is great idea for big group dining.
Then everybody just pay up the same amount of money.
I think that's what I'll do for my birthday. ^^
I found this blog when I was looking for a place to eat tomorrow with my friend! And when I read it, it reminded me about a time when I went to eat at Cheesecake Factory with like 10 people, and somehow, for my $10 lunch, I was left paying $60 bucks! I was so mad. Hopefully, next time both of us are lucky and dont get stuck with the bill! ):
ReplyDeleteAwww... $60 for $10 food? That sucks!
The things is... good friends wouldn't do that to each other.
For me, this happened with my friend's friend's husband who we didn't really know.
If a friend does that to me, I don't think I want to be friends with him/her anymore.