The Yard Milkshake Bar — Restaurant in Phoenix

Providing a good ice cream experience is pretty difficult when it comes to me. Firstly, because I am not the biggest fan of ice cream unless it is soft serve. Many ice cream locations tend to be typical and provide the expected flavors with only a couple odd balls thrown in there that feel more of a gimmick because of their out of pocket flavor. My go to is a milkshake. The more flavors I can toss in without going off the rails on taste, the better. It is always appreciated when you can add some style and present a spacious place to get such a dessert. It is pretty common to enter smaller establishments and make yourself rush through to hurry on out and avoid feeling cramped anymore than you were being in there. I have never been to The Yard, and never heard of it until I went. Was not sure what to expect but was already pleased with it not being too crowded, having an organized line, and tables that were well spaced apart. This milkshake bar does not just offer milkshakes as you may think. There is ice cream if you want that; bowls if you want to throw some more onto your treat; sundaes if you want to get a little crazy with the sweetness; and shakes that include different toppings for the typical cavity aficionado. The two working there were polite, calm, and seemed quite patient with everyone's order. The floor and tables appeared clean and everything behind the counter seemed in order. The two serving us seemed to be well in sync with one another. Anyway, the aesthetic was cool, and gave a modern feel. Nothing that really stands out, but you can chill there for a bit. I am a milkshake first and foremost, and when going to a new place I usually go with something I'm familiar with and maybe add something a little different. My go to was a mix of cookie dough AND cookies and cream. Why not. No extra toppings, no whip cream or fruit. Just that. Simple. I got it within about five minutes. It was cold, it was the right amount of thickness, and boy did it taste delicious. It was that thickness that makes it feel like a shake, but not too thick to where you end up just sucking your straw close and passing out from lack of oxygen as you continue to inhale nothing. Oh, that's just me? Anyway, I was happy with my treat. My cousin and her two daughters were just as pleased. My cousin's two daughters got ice cream on a cone, and considering how young they are, I'll take their taste buds with a grain of salt when it comes to sugar. They loved it though, so there is that if you have any kids looking for something cold to snack on. One of them dropped their ice cream actually, and the staff were nice enough to give us another cone free of charge. That's service right there. This is a place I look forward to visiting again. Maybe not the same The Yard spot, but the chain itself...

So.. my first time in this place was pretty excited to try it out. Huge fan of ice cream, but who isn't. So, the first thing I'd like to start with is that location is right on the main strip, which is so easy to find.. The only thing hard is finding parking spots.. we did go during a suns game event, forgetting there was one.. so all the parking spots were blocked and / or.. event paid parking.. so that sucked I ended up telling my husband to just drop me off and make a loop to pick me back up.. so.. first thing, don't come during any game events.. haha

2nd thing upon going in pretty small, I'd say almost cold stone size.. I'm from tucson, so they aren't too big, maybe 20 people max.. or less.. the art and decor weren't too crazy to notice.. also didn't really get a greeting nor a hi..

Ice cream choices were good.. blue bell selections, which is something I love one of the best ice creams in my opinion, haha, so I ordered a caramel brownie shake, and my husband got the black cherry shake.. cup sizes are all the same. Please look at photos to see.. they did have some crazy specialty shakes that looked intriguing, but I wanted to do something more basic. You can add whip cream or not to it, we decided against it.

It was a little busy when I went there was another person in the back who did come up to help the first also no greeting no nothing of acknowledgment to the customers. Nice thing towards the end. The first person did personally bring the order to me and was nice about it.. thanked him, of course..

All in all, I'd say work on customer service for me, which is super huge.. 👌🏼 and there were also weird warnings again. See pictures for details.. I understand the reason, but.. kinda almost like.. hey, you're allergic, we cross contamination, so.. kinda at your own risk.. but we will do what we can.. haha.. idk.. a little weird.. I'd say.. but.. aye, If you never been here. Try it out.. the ice cream tasted good, of course... maybe I'll try again another time... maybe it will be better... hopefully. Prices were a bit high in my opinion as well.. but to...

Very busy.. not a bad thing (right?). Maybe to many people inside the shop waiting for paid for ice cream and then the line. Only so many tables so people were standing every where they could while waiting, it was extremely crowded. We got up to the front in about 15 min from the door. There is a sign that tells how long your order is going to take. Ours said 45 min after we paid. Not a big deal we figured we'd walk to the corner and back and be in fresh air. We came back after approx 18-20 min to see what number was being called. Imagine our surprise that they were like 7 numbers past ours! We left with more than 14 ahead of us. Then to be scolded about not being there when called was insulting. Not sure why there is a sign of wait time thats beyond misleading is beyond me. No offer to fix the whipped cream that was dripping off the small plate its served on. Explains why everyone stood inside. Didn't want to get faked out and miss being called. We bought the mason jar versions so its not like we went the frugal route. It was our first time too.

My boys had a cake pop with theirs and my 9 yr old said it tasted like play dough and couldn't eat it. Shocked a child would turn down sugar but he said it was gross.

Prob would have been better without the fake time and scolding by an employee. Might return when I want to take out of town guests but the experience wasn't good enough to justify dropping almost $50 on two jars of ice cream for a regular schmegular weeknight and mediocre ice cream. Presentation does make it...