Yards Grille — Restaurant in Town of Manlius

SERVERS DO NOT appear to be trained in FOOD SAFETY.. PLEASE READ. As someone who works in the food industry and is food safety certified, I would advise you against this place. Went here for dinner on a Sunday evening. We decided to sit outside so as to enjoy the view of the lake. They were kind enough to open the umbrella as it was going to rain - that helped protect us from the rain. What followed after was a disaster. Our server was UNTRAINED AND COMPLETELY UNAWARE. When we ordered our sandwiches, he did not give up options of different sides or different salad dressings until I asked him multiple prompting questions. Started off with abysmal customer service. He came back with the food uncovered, and there was rain all over the food and our plates. The food was COLD. The server PRESSED HIS FINGER onto the center of my sister's plate of food while pointing out her dish to us. That is the first rule of food safety- to ONLY touch customer's plates from the bottom or the side. We had to ask for an extra plate to transfer the food. He got the side dishes wrong for two of our dishes and just asked us to exchange it. My mother is a vegetarian, so I had to pick up the side salad(which was supposed to be with her vegetarian dish but was served with the chicken sandwich), hand it back to him, and break it down for him in simpler terms as to why a vegetarian could not eat food touching poultry. The salad dressing served by him was a vinaigrette and not the ranch we specifically ordered. The fries were cooked in old oil, and it could be distinctly tasted in the fries. Cooks need to change the fryer oil regularly if they are going to justify the prices they charge per entrée. When he came to refill our waters, he picked up the glasses from the rim where we would put our mouths to drink. He then followed to bang the glasses on the table after refilling them. I instructed my family not to touch the water, and we would drink from our bottles in the car. He did not come to check up on us with regards to the food, after he served us our dishes garnished with rain water. Did not ask us if we wanted to order dessert.

NEVER GOING BACK. Staff should be trained properly upon hiring, and constantly reviewed to see if they need to be basics. The errors made by this server today, is food service 101. I AM SO UPSET, ruined the whole evening. Never going back or...

,* Update June 2025. Went back with my wife and another couple, was not a very good experience. Sorry to say, beautiful location. It's a shame they can't get their act together. I ordered chicken Milanese which was overcooked tasteless chicken and very bland dressing on the salad. I along with my guest ordered the same drink, double tanqueray, with a splash of tonic, tall glass, lot of ice and lime. My guest reiterated the same thing because he had the feeling the waiter didn't quite capture what we wanted. He really didn't know what was going on, and boy that was the case. Another waitress came by and gave us two full Pint glasses filled tonic and a little bit of ice and who knows how much Gin was in there, probably only one shot and we said that's not what we ordered , her reply was; " oh well, that's what they gave me..." And then she just walked away after we told her what we ordered, obviously not too concerned. So I went back to the bar and told The bartender we got the wrong drinks and reiterated what I wanted and it was like a deer in a headlight, oh well. The third time of asking we finally got our water. Our waiter never came back while we were eating to check on things. Luckily things weren't that bad, at least not bad enough to send back especially with. As I was about halfway through my dinner, the waiter finally came back. Never came back during dinner and asked if we wanted dessert, really?? I'm still eating my dinner He came back and gave us the check while I was still eating dinner. If I was just there with my Wife, I would have made a bigger deal out of all this but I did not want to ruin it for our guests. If I do happen to go back again, strictly for the atmosphere, I'll just get draft beer and a burger, although it'll probably come cooked wrong, unfortunately. No excuse for this type of stuff. Get your act together. Had Lobster Roll... Maybe a 1/4 Cup of Lobster, not worth the money. Took 20 mins to get a drink from the bar. Wife had Chicken Riggies, they were ok. Friends had salads, they liked good. Great atmosphere! Very...

As you turn into the south entrance to Green Lakes Park, you drive through a beautiful wooded area containing some of the oldest trees found in Onondaga County. This curvy nature drive ends in an open area with the golf course facilities and restaurant straight ahead and a parking area to the left. The hostess table is outside to the right of the restaurant. When we arrived at 1:00 p.m. on a Thursday in August we were seated immediately, but we learned from our hostess that there's often a waiting list for a table at dinner as they only take reservations for parties of 10 or more. Interestingly, they only seat you inside the restaurant if you request it. Otherwise, they assume you'll want a table on the outdoor patio which overlooks Green Lake and the golf course. We were seated in the shade with a beautiful view and a cool breeze. In most cases when I look at a restaurant's menu for the first time, I only find a few items that sound appealing. However, on my first visit here, I had a difficult time choosing from among many items that sounded delicious. I chose the Waldorf chicken salad sandwich on a round-shaped crescent roll. It was excellent and the kettle chips accompanying it were a nice salty, crunchy counterpoint. My wife chose the turkey club. It was huge and quite impressive looking piled up on the plate. Unfortunately, they were out of chocolate cake for dessert. But probably just as well, because our sandwiches were generous and...