The Yard — Restaurant in Owen Sound

The ONLY reason why I’m giving it a 3 star is because of my last experience, I have gone before and it was an amazing experience, especially with the wait staff.

The atmosphere is extremely lively and has an overall amazing vibe. The walls plastered with different symbols and quotes add to the experience and are entertaining to look at.

The food: with all my prior experiences with The Yard, the food was served at amazing temperatures with awesome flavour, however this time I had gone, the potatoes were undercooked and soggy, the macaroni and cheese lacks flavour and just tastes like wet noodles somewhat covered in cheese. The burger I had was absolutely fantastic properly cooked, decently portioned, but if I’m going to pay $22 for a meal, I’d expect fully cooked potatoes and seasoned macaroni and cheese.

The service: definitely the most disappointing category of tonight. I totally understand busy nights and being overwhelmed, I also understand it’s difficult to maintain composure at the night continues to get longer and more hectic. I can’t excuse rudeness or a snappy attitude while me and my partner were being respectful, letting our waiter know that we were in no rush and that we understand the stress one could be under. Our waiter got upset by the way we ripped our receipt, I have the same machines at work and understand that the customer receipt will print automatically if given no input by either the customer or merchant, making it a minor inconvenience, but although a customer ripping a receipt off a machine may not happen daily, groaning and grunting at that situation is uncalled for. It’s not hard to reprint a receipt if the last four digits on a card end up being illegible, and talking in a condescending tone towards my partner was not necessary. Earlier in the night when we were deciding on a pitcher for our table, my partner asked the waiter about what was on tap, we get if you only have locals on tap but acting like we’re a nuisance for asking if there is also domestic and getting snappy with my partner over it is absolutely disgusting behaviour. Going back to my point about telling him we were in no rush, I find it unnecessary to respond with unneeded attitude.

I will be returning, and hopefully have a much different experience with the food and service. If this was my first time at The Yard. I definitely wouldn’t...

I would like to preface this with the fact that I was unable to give the restaurant a chance to fix this situation. Due to being to far away to want to take the food back and it already being 7:20pm by the time we figured out the mess up. (They closed at 8pm the night we went).

We had ordered; Pullpork sandwich, Ceasar salad on the side. -A brisket sandwich, with coleslaw on the side. -A regular poutine. I was super excited to try this as they have stellar reviews online. So after paying $65 plus tip, we headed back to where we were staying. However, what we recieved was drastically different. Very clearly someone else's order and not an order I ate much of. We recieved; -Grilled Cheese sandwich, pasta salad on the side. -Montreal Smoked meat sandwich, pasta salad on the side. -Their Pretzel, with the sauce. -A separate side of the same pasta salad.

Not only do I believe I over paid for this meal but I didn't eat much of it either.

The grilled cheese had both feta and cream cheese on it, along with some other kinds of cheese, it was way to rich.

The Montreal Smoked sandwich was the only thing I ate much of and even that IMO was not worth $18. The meat itself was good but as a whole sandwich there wasn't much else to it.

The pasta salad was the ultimate let down. It was a casual pasta salad that you'd get at a BBQ potluck with your friends. Eatable but not something I'd want to order from a restaurant.

The pretzel, my partner absolutely loved actually so that was something he was fine to eat, the sauce it came with though was not great.

Unfortunately we don't live in the area and aren't really able to go back to give it another try, as I would have loved to have actually tried what we originally wanted and paid for but if we are ever around the area again, I would do dine in... To make sure we get...

A Tasty Surprise in Owen Sound 🗓️ Date of Visit: Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Even though we’re frequent visitors to Owen Sound, The Yard was a brand-new discovery for us—and what a great find! Tucked away with a cozy, casual vibe, this spot serves up seriously satisfying comfort food with a side of charm.

We grabbed a seat inside the cozy restaurant that was decorated beautifully like a down south Juke Joint or BBQ shack for dinner and enjoyed the Smash Burger and the Smoked Beef Brisket Sandwich, both packed with flavour and paired with classic sides like mac & cheese, potato salad, and coleslaw. Everything was fresh, hearty, and hit the spot. Everything is made in house, including the hot sauce and iced tea.

A big shoutout to our server Eva, who was incredibly friendly, fun, and made us feel right at home. The service was top-notch from start to finish. She was full of personality and joy for her job.

While they’re still waiting on their liquor license, the house-made iced tea was a refreshing and delicious stand-in.

Final Verdict: Great food, warm service, and a relaxed atmosphere. Prices are quite reasonable, and the quality and experience make it the spot to be. Definitely a hidden gem we’re glad we finally uncovered!

There is plenty of onsite parking.

They have a patio, but the sun was too prominent and the weather that day was too much to sit on a...