Yard House — Restaurant in Meridian

It's mother's day. It's busy but we arrived at 4:30pm just to try to avoid the big rush. I put us on the waitlist at 3:45pm, when we were on our way. When we got there, we only had to wait a few min for our table. That's when the pros end. We're a family of 4, one of which is only a year old. They asked us if we wanted to sit indoors or out, we asked to be seated indoors. Then my husband told the host we were on the waitlist and got a text that our table was ready. They told my husband a table was reserved for us. So they ended up seating us outside. It was loud in the restaurant so my husband didn't hear why they chose to seat us outside, rather than indoors. It was very sunny and 85 degrees. We'd been outside all day so the heat zapped the kids right away and they started melting down, something that wouldn't have happened if they'd just seat us indoors, as requested.

The food: we've been going to this establishment for 5 years. They recently took the Beyond burger off the menu, which is what we usually get. The veggie burger they offer is akin to a pan fried falafel, which is fine. Years ago, one of the servers asked if I'd like sauteed mushrooms on the burger and it was awesome so now, every time we come, I ask for that. Most of the time they don't put the mushrooms on the burger so I have to ask again. This happened again today. My husband got the two pepper burger and always asks for no cheese and sub in the veggie burger. But they almost always put the cheese on the burger and he has to try to pull it off, which doesn't really work.

I know we have complex orders but we always tip 30%. My husband was in food service as a teen so he likes to tip big. But today he only tipped 23%, the lowest he's actually ever tipped. They'll probably think they got a good tip but I'm just really disappointed that the past handful of times our order came out wrong. I'm really upset that they didn't honor our request to sit indoors because they reserved a seat outdoors for us, didn't even apologize or ask if that was okay. I'm even more upset that there were a handful of tables around where we were seated, many of which were out of the sun, but they seated us at a table blinded by the sun. I have an infant. She needed to be out of the sun. Please think of who you're seating and if there's options, then seat us out of the sun.

We tried to hang. We tried to feed the kids, but they were melting down quick so we packed up the food and left 5 min after it was brought to the table. The last thing we wanted was our upset kids to ruin anyone else's experience. Five years coming to this establishment and I think you just lost our business. Enough is enough. There's lots of other restaurants that get our order correctly every time. Lots of other places that deserve our business.

Edit: I forgot to mention the seats were so hot that my 4 year old son was unable to sit on half the chair. My husband couldn't touch the side of his chair either. As soon as I heard that, we got the attention of our server and had our meals placed in to-go containers so we could leave.

Also, because there was a shift change during our meal, we had a different server bring our meals to the table. When I explained that I asked for mushrooms on my burger, he came back with onion rings. When I explained again that I asked for sauteed mushrooms on my burger, he showed me the receipt where the first server put onion rings on the order (which we didn't order). The first server was still around (which was also weird) so he asked her about it and she straightened it out with him. She then told my husband she put the order in correctly, there was just a miscommunication. But I saw the receipt. She put onion rings on the order when I asked for sauteed mushrooms on the burger. She did that because she says mushrooms were extra, but no other server has ever charged us. So I ended up paying for onion rings I didn't eat and didn't order, all because I asked for mushrooms (worth no more than 20 cents) to be placed...

First time there and not sure If it is a place I would return to. Went there on a saturday night with my gf (she craving steak). Prior checking in and there was still a wait, would have been nice to check in and come in without waiting in a packed entryway, Like it was bad. We get in and then are brought to the side area with the smallest table in the restaurant (yes I did confirm this, it was the smallest table). The table could barely fit two plates on it. I had to ask the wonderful server to take the payment kiosk and their little light just to have room for plates and a drink cup. Where the table was is terrible, was right next to the door and the button to open to the door, if anyone taller had sat there, they would have had to lean forward for a server to push the button to open the door. This is a bad location and honestly the table just needs to be removed. It makes a guest feel very unwelcome and disparaged. Just get rid of it, it is not worth a safety hazard and making someone feel like a bum to be placed at this table.

Service was great, the waitress was attentive and understanding, and saw that we had a problem with the table, but sadly We would have had to return to the queue and wait more for another table, which after an hour, I did not have the patience for and would have just left at that point.. The waitress did talk with manager and gave us a free appetizer on the house for it, which was nice, but again, just remove the table.

The food, well . . . the food was lackluster. The menu is way over bloated with 2/3 of it being alcohol. took us a bit just to find the non alcohol drinks. For coming up as a steak place as well, and only offering 3 steak options, you get korean style, a huge ass ribeye or a 8oz steak that costs the same as the ribeye, it was a big let down. She ordered the ribeye (it could have at least come with some rolls or something for the price), I ordered a bbq bacon cheese burger. The burger was supposed to be medium well, but it was medium rare at best. I get it happens some time, but a simp[le push on the burger would have told the broiler man, that it still needed time. Also it had no flavor, like I was severely dissapointed. The bacon was the only thing that had flavor, that and bbq sauce, the meat was bland and boring, no spice. The steak wasnt really flavored as well, the steak sauce was bland.

I can accept a lot of things but the terrible lack of flavor of the food is darn near unforgivable, especially at the price point offered. Expand the steak sizes and section on that, separate your booze list from the main menu, and for the love of all that is holy, season your food.. and GET RID OF THAT...

Update: So, second time here in two months, and the first visits since we moved from SoCal in June. We came on the Tuesday after a Friday Valentine's Day to celebrate our first Idaho Valentine's Day a little later to avoid the crowds.

Arriving about 5 pm, we were told that we could have a table right away or wait 20 minutes for a booth. We chose to wait. In fact, we waited about 5 minutes and scored a really nice booth, away from other people, perfect for conversation.

Our server was Ariana, and she did a wonderful job of taking care of us. She was pleasant, attentive, and efficient. Of course, we had our usual: Lobster Noodles for my wife and Jambalaya for me. I had my usual House IPA and my wife had a yummy cocktail. The drinks arrived promptly and the food in a very timely way. For dessert, we shared the Brookie.

It was another really nice Yark House experience, we great atmosphere, delicious food, and excellent service. We will be back!!!

First review: We are fairly recent CA transplants. In CA, we really enjoyed our local Yard House. My wife, particularly, loves the Lobster Garlic Noodles. I enjoy the Jambalaya.

So, when it came time to celebrate my wife's birthday, she wanted to come to the Yard House to enjoy one of her favoritate dishes.

We came a little after 5:00 on a Wednesday evening. We were seated right away at a nice booth. The ambiance is the same as in CA. It can get a little loud. Still, we had nice conversation without hindrance, and I wear hearing aids.

Adam was our server, and he did a fantastic job. He was friendly and helpful, informing us that it was still happy hour and we could get some deals on drinks. He guided my wife to the perfect margarita for her. He was very attentive and, once we told him it was my wife's birthday, wished her a happy birthday. He made us feel like us having a good experience was most important to him.

We had the boneless Buffalo chicken wings, and of course, the Lobster Garlic Noodles and the Jambalaya. Delicious. Adam also brought out a complimentary brownie with ice cream, also very good. Just a great time all around, and my wife was so happy, which makes me happy. Thank you Yard House, and thank you, Adam!...