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| - Stopped in here on a moderately busy Monday evening. My friend and I stood around for about two or three minutes, awkwardly close to the table closest to the front door, waiting to be seated. Finally, a guy in shorts and an Under Armour shirt seated us in the dining area.
Priding itself on its beer selection, The Yard has a sizable list to choose from. However, the format looks like an Excel spreadsheet transposed onto a menu. If The Yard is going to stake its name as beer-loving gastropub, and it certainly seems that way, I want to know more about the beers they offer. The Monday night special was 16oz. local crafts for $4. I went with Full Pint's "Night of the Living Stout." I'm a malty, dark beer guy and was immediately turned off by the rather intense hops flavor not present in most porters and stouts. Had I known this is how the beer tasted ahead of time, I wouldn't have ordered it. I'll take some blame for not sampling it, though. It could be the beer itself, or the way it was poured/drafted, but there was no head on it by time it came to the table and it tasted somewhat flat. I returned the beer, something I hardly ever do.
I had the roasted turkey sandwich, described on their menu as thus: fresh thyme baked turkey breast/thick carved/lettuce/tomato/onion/lemon aioli/artisan roll. Pros included the bread and the amount of meat. However, the turkey breast, admittedly a tough protein to keep from drying out, was just that, causing a dryness in each bite. The lemon aioli hardly showed up, and when it dripped onto my wax paper-covered cutting board below, it was watery. The red onion was the strongest flavor to come through, which, I don't think was the intention of whomever created this dish. The fries, many of which resembled the shape of an apostrophe, were slightly crispy on the outside, soft in the center and slightly on the greasy side for my taste. My dish, ultimately, was forgettable, rather than memorably bad. My friend, who ordered the seafood mac'n'cheese, said it was "alright" and that she wished the crab throughout wasn't so finely divvied up throughout the dish.
The service was subpar in my opinion. The servers seemed to be hard at work and always on the go, but perhaps too much so. Maybe they were understaffed. Awkwardly standing around to be greeted and seated didn't make a great first impression on me and the meals were served without silverware. When our server stopped to ask us if everything was satisfactory around mid-meal, I got a "yeah..." out before he was onto the next table. When check time came, he failed to ask if my friend and I were splitting the bill, which we were. Fortunately, I had cash to pay her.
I'm normally not so critical of restaurants. I'm not a food snob and having worked for a time in the industry, know that working in a restaurant isn't the easiest job out there. I'd much rather write positive reviews and don't go out of my way to write negative ones. The dining room, hardly separated from the pub area, was a bit loud for carrying on a conversation and catching up with my friend. Bottom line: the food and service needs to improve. I would come here again to drink, but until it's evident the food gets better, I wouldn't eat here. I think this place has potential, but with a lot of options in Shadyside, The Yard needs to improve quickly.
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