Yard House — Restaurant in Tampa

"I’ve been a Yard House fan for over 20 years, and today’s visit to the Channelside location with my son started off strong but ended with a bit of a plot twist. First, let me shout out the true MVP of the day, Danny Sammon, the General Manager, who came in like a superhero at the end. Seriously, this guy is a legend! He swooped in, listened to our concerns like a champ, and genuinely made us feel like he’s on top of it. If Danny ran the whole world, I’m pretty sure things would just work better. Can we clone him?

Now, let’s talk about our server, Cayla. She started out great, like a rom-com where everything’s going well. But halfway through, it turned into a drama. At one point, she spent 10 minutes at another table, laughing and looking at pictures like they were long-lost besties, while we were over here on a DIY mission to grab our own ketchup and spoon for the tortilla soup. I’m all for a good photo album, but maybe not when my soup is getting cold.

Also, Yard House has these new ordering machines at the tables. It’s cool and all—you punch in your order, and the food magically appears. But I think the machine might be making the servers forget we exist. If they’re expecting us to use the app for everything, servers might start becoming like unicorns—rare and mystical. Not exactly what I signed up for when paying restaurant prices!

Then, when it was time to pay, we hit the big red ‘Help Us’ button on the machine because we were paying cash (which, surprise, the app doesn’t handle). That button was lit up like a Christmas tree for over 10 minutes before Cayla finally noticed. At that point, we were starting to feel like we were in a survival show waiting for rescue.

But let’s end on a high note—the food was great (as always), and the Pineapple Express cocktail? Chef’s kiss. Highly recommend! And thanks to Danny, I’m confident the service issues will get ironed out. Yard House is still one of my favorites, and I can’t wait to see it rise to the top under Danny’s superstar...

My wife and I were attending a concert and got into town real early so we wanted to try somewhere new! This place had great reviews and seemed really good so we figured we would try it.

To start the atmosphere was appealing. Behind the hostess counter was the rows of kegs. It was a very modern establishment with tons of beer on tap along with a beautiful combo of elegance and home feeling. That very warm pub feel you want! The menus were clearly well thought out as far as selection and material (not cheap) I also loved how our booth was “raised” on a platform where other booths were along the wall. Just enough to again keep that pub vibe. 5/5 so far so good!

Our waitress was Marcie. She was an absolute sweetheart who made us feel welcome and was very well knowledged on the menus, specials, and local favorites. We started with the tower of onion rings and the chips with guacamole. She was regularly coming by the table during our meal to top off water, spark a chat about the food check on things then leave. 10/10 on track!

Now the food. To start the appetizers were AMAZING. The chips were fresh warm and not over salted! The guacamole was perfect smooth not too crisp not to crunchy from too much involved. Next was the onion rings. Golden crispy and hot. Served with ranch and a chipotle ranch that was KILLER! They weren’t over done they were JUST rite. My wife ordered the Korean steak sandwich which came out looking, smelling, and tasting incredible! I ordered the fish and chips. Now I’m from New England and worked in a seafood resturaunt. I know good fish and chips. This place did NOT skimp anywhere! The batter was light the fish was thick and meaty! You get 3 large pieces of fish. Slaw that is a house special that legit is the best slaw I’ve ever had! The fries were double fried amazingly and the jalapeño tarter was the perfect balance of sweet spicy and creamy. 10/10

I beyond highly reccomend this place for an...

I dined in 2 weeks ago with a friend of mine. I ordered a cheeseburger with no bun, and our server Adrienne ask me if I wanted it in a lettuce wrap, and I told her no, just the burger. She said it was not a problem. I got my burger and it was wrapped in a lettuce wrap. I simply took the top lettuce off, and cut into my burger. It wasn't until a few bites in that I got part of the bottom of the burger. It was completely burnt. Adrienne was perfectly accommodating, and reordered it for me while sending over the manager Jose. He apologized sincerely, and assured me they would make it right. When she brought out the reordered Burger, it was once again wrapped in a lettuce wrap, despite her specifically documenting and telling them no lettuce wrap. The manager Jose was more than a little upset and comped my meal. On top of that, he gave me a gift card. I told him he didn't need to do that, but he said he wanted to assure that I gave them another chance to make it right. Long story short, I went back last night and ordered the Maui chicken which I had been eyeballing at the last visit. The dish came with Jasmine rice and broccolini, and it was absolutely fantastic! I will definitely be ordering that again. I also had a cup of the tomato bisque which I had tasted once before, and that is truly divine. I almost forgot to mention the parmesan truffle fries that came with the burger on the initial visit. I got them without the truffle oil because I don't like truffles, but they were so delicious. I'll be having those again too. I appreciate that the manager Jose is invested in the experience that his customers have, especially with all of the competition in the downtown Tampa restaurant scene. I will always ask for Adrienne to be my server because she's just terrific. I highly...