Yardbird Table & Bar — Restaurant in Miami Beach

We ate here for lunch on a Thursday with no reservation. It wasn’t too crowded so we were seated quickly. The short version is, everything from the ambiance, the service, the food, (even the bathroom), was exceptional. Our server was Annella R. She was amazing. She refilled our water and kept checking on us and was just so pleasant! Our food came out quick and it was good and hot. We ordered an app of the biscuits. They came out warm with a side of butter and jam. They were DELICIOUS. There were 4 and I could have eaten them all, but I wanted to save room for my lunch. I can’t stress enough how delicious they were. I also ordered a side of the cheese grits. They were not listed as a side on the menu at lunch, but I asked and Annella said they are served at lunch. I’ve only eaten instant grits and when these came out, they were nice and hot and there was enough to share. They were beyond delicious (a far cry from the instant I make). I highly recommend. My friend had been dreaming of the shrimp and grits. The presentation was beautiful and she thoroughly enjoyed them. She indicated they were a little spicy, but she loved them – practically licked the plate! I had the Country Cobb Protein Bowl. It comes with a lot of goodies in it and is served cold. It comes with avocado and chicken, but I left those 2 items out. (I’m vegetarian so no chicken, and don’t’ like avocado.) My request was perfectly accommodated. The bowl was very good with a kind of vinegarette dressing. Both entrees were plentiful. By the time we were done eating, we were about to explode so we didn’t have any dessert. Everything was so good and I’m happy we went here. Despite living in Miami, I never go to Miami Beach, until today. I don’t have anything negative to say about Yardbird; however, I want to point out a couple things. It is pricey for my terms. Again, I don’t go to the Beach and the prices are probably the going rate for this tourist-rich area. Also, when the bill came, I didn’t understand it, exactly. It had in larger print, “Gratuity (18.00%).” Being ignorant, I didn’t understand if this meant a suggested tip or the tip was already included, so I asked. It meant the gratuity was already included in the total. That was fine with me, but I would have left 20%, because as I said, the service was exceptional. I just didn’t know how to correct that. It is now my understanding that places on the Beach sometimes add in the gratuity. Again, I had no objection to that. Last, but not least, I wish there had been some vegetarian options on the menu. There were a couple veg sides, but no meal that wasn’t served with chicken, beef, or seafood. None of those things stopped us from enjoying a fabulous meal here. I highly recommend it. There are plenty of restaurants on Lincoln Road, and this one is just 2 blocks off Lincoln Road - I am so glad...

Yardbird was on my radar but not high on the list. As we walked the Lincoln Road Mall and found nothing enticing, I suggested to my spouse we try them. Yardbird is a Miami start-up with locations now in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Singapore.

ATMOSPHERE: High ceilings, big windows, modern decor with retro Edison lighting makes for a fun and trendy vibe.

MENU: Southern-inspired dishes and a huge wine, bourbon and whiskey list.

BEVERAGE: Crowded House We enjoyed this fruity, refreshing 2016 New Zealand Sauvignon blanc with our lunch.

FOOD: Warm Farmer's Cheese & Watermelon Three small squares of watermelon were topped with compressed feta cheese triangles. Not a fan of the feta's crumbly texture but the subtle flavors made for a light, refreshing app.

Iceberg Wedge This is a big portion good for two as you get an entire head of iceberg chopped in half. It was heavily topped with crispy pork belly, corn, avocado and tomatoes. We asked for more homemade dressing at it wasn't nearly enough moisture for us.

Fried Green Tomato BLT Oh my, this was delish! Three slices of breaded & fried green tomatoes were topped with a pimento cheese melt and the most meaty pork belly I've ever had. There was almost zero fat on them which I loved. A small pinch of greens made the "L" in BLT. Highly recommended!

Shrimp N' Grits Unfortunately the medium-weight shrimp weren't seared at all which is my only gripe. The creamy grits had a smoky flavor to them, but the savory brown gravy that pooled the plate was amazing!

Blue Plate Special Oh boy, what happened to the flavor in the bird? Our food deliverer stated the chicken was brined for 36 hours and seasoned with secret spices but it sure didn't taste like it. Even the crispy skin had no salt or seasoning on it. Better late than never, I dipped each forkful of chicken in the brown gravy from the Shrimp N' Grits bowl which made it a lot better. To be fair, the wing and breast pieces were moist and cooked perfectly. The buttermilk biscuit was a bit hard on the outside, fairly moist inside. My slice of watermelon wasn't spicy but my spouse's one was.

Key Lime Pie I swear this was a key lime cheesecake but our server denied it. Regardless, it was delish. Not tart, very creamy, smooth with a moist crust. The scoop of coconut ice cream married well. Highly recommended!

SERVICE: We were immediately greeted and seated by our server, Rose (2018). She was terrific! Professional, friendly, knowledgeable and checked on us often.

OVERALL: I'm glad we made it here. Very nice menu, a tad pricey, high quality...

I'm rating this in the category of a nice high-end casual place. It's a nice Miami beach corner pub and kitchen. Great liquor selection, plenty of specialty cocktails and a decent wine list. The aesthetic is very trendy with exposed ceilings, nice height, and whitewashed brick walls. Great glass window lines on the front. Spacious and well kept up. I would bring a date here, but only good for a casual business meeting (if you don't need to hear each other). Rather loud trendy music. Hard to have a conversation. Has booth, table, high table (bar height chairs at a table), bar, and outside. The booths are comfortable. The food is expensive but reasonable for the quality and flavor profiles, i did expect more mashed potato and biscuits. For a party of 4, with 2 orders of fried chicken, 1 wedge salad with chicken (shared by 2), and ice tea, lemon aid, and 4 biscuits, the tab came to almost $170. For that, ice tea is not refilled, water costs $9 a bottle and they presume an 18% gratuity. You can add extra gratuity, but tomato pay less, you have to call over the manager and make a scene. This was for a party of 4, not 10. A forced gratuity makes me angry. Especially if the service is not doing cartwheels to justify it. And they aren't and don't. I would have usually tipped 20% anyway, but the presumption, in my opinion, puts the onus on staff to earn it. Where we sat had a sports game projected onto the white brick wall, and out of focus enough to bother me. Ice tea was good, not bitter, good value at $5...but non refillable, so...hmm. don't drink the tap water. Mineral water $9. $36 for a 1/2 chicken fried. I really liked the fried chicken. Batter was a tad sweet, not spicy and the chicken was cooked perfectly. With that came an ice cream scoop of mashed potato (very tasty but felt like a kids meal). It came with about 5 fork-fulls of quite tasty spinach salad and...that's it. $36. Okay. 4 biscuits is $14. The biscuits are good, not amazing. The butter and apple butter was great. Sure, quality costs, and Miami Beach is not cheap. So I'm glad we went, it was worth it. But the price is off-putting, and the service needs to be better for a forced gratuity to be justified. I will add that for the price I expected more food, but even though I came very hungry, I was full enough not to order dessert and...