shabalife

The Yard House

On any given night, the Yard House has enough customers to keep the staff busy and the tables, booths and stools at the bar full. Dimly let with catchy pop music playing overhead through the stereo system controlled by the bartenders, people gather here for Happy Hour, dinner and meetings.

This bar and restaurant is attached to the Colorado Mills mall which makes it a convenient location for shoppers who need to refuel from their spending spree either at the Mills or across the street at Denver West. It’s also centrally located to many businesses and hotels in the area, including Stevinson Toyota, Best Buy, The Days Inn and Holiday Inn. It’s easily accessible from I-70 and 6th Avenue, which are major highways that run through the area.

The American Fusion menu has plenty of items to satisfy any customer, ranging from Lettuce Wraps and Grilled Korean BBQ appetizers to steak and pasta entrees and enough dessert options to cure any sweet tooth. There are 130 operating beer tap handles at the bar where customers can order their favorite beer in a pint, half yard or yard size around the oval bar. Strategically placed TVs display sports games, the news or an adventure sports channel featuring outrageous, daredevil stunts performed in kayaks, mountain bikes, dirt bikes or any other alternative sport where the participants are gutsy enough to endanger their lives. The owner of the company residing in Long Beach, CA who has over 10,000 personally selected songs on his computer for the bar picks the music.

Sitting next to me at the bar is what you could consider a “regular”. He’s talking to the bartender as if they’re old friends-discussing work issues, the baseball game on TV and weekend plans. The regular is by himself with his beer, catching the scores on the sports channel while eyeing the girls that walk and find their place on a stool nearby. One the other side of me sits a couple chatting over glasses of wine. They don’t seem comfortable enough with each other to qualify as a long-term couple. First date? Possibly. A group of middle-aged men who could be car salesman at the car dealership down the street, sit at the end of the oval bar overpowering the place with their laughter and loud conversation.

Quincy Donaldson, a server trainer, tells me that middle-aged men are the Yard House’s typical clients. Because of the large selection of beer on tap-115 labels, the sports-like atmosphere and the stainless steel and wood décor are the reasons for the highly charged testosterone crowd. And on Wednesday night, I am feeling like the minority, which I didn’t expect. This could be the reason the bartender is all smiles and putting out the welcome mat for my friend Jill and me. Donaldson says the busiest nights for the Yard House are Fridays when people swarm in after work for Happy Hour, “It’s crazy all night long until 2 a.m.”

“We have great music and we want it to be upbeat and fun,” Donaldson says. “We want to make our customers as happy as possible and make sure they get what they want when they come here.”

posted by erin @ 12:42 PM