Yard House-Santana Row

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This past Friday, MODE Bay Area was invited to the VIP and Media night preview party at Santana Row’s newest spot for drinks and eats, Yard House. This sneak peak included samples and tasting of many things that will be on the menu of over 100 food items. I also had to try the drinks out, including a pour or two of the 130 beers on tap.

Right off the bat, Yard House brings to the table what many other San Jose sports bars are missing, good bar food! It’s incredibly hard to find the right combo TVs, atmosphere, drinks and decent food. But now many sports foodies are going to be happy on game night at Santana Row’s very first sports bar. Its hard to call it only a sports bar because the menu is so good. The flavors lean heavily on Asian fusion, with some strong results. This might be the only sports bar where ordering the hardly seared Ahi can be safely encouraged. Don’t get me wrong the all-American cheeseburger was insanely good, another dish where the meat stood out, in this case a patty cooked medium and bursting with flavor. But the crab cakes, eggrolls, and aforementioned tuna were out of control. So East beats West here. Pro Tip: Don’t bother with the pizza… very mediocre, your calories can be put to better use here.

As for the drinks, well hello yard-long glass of beer, perfect combo of celebration and humiliation for a friend’s birthday. I am not much of a beer drinker, but I sipped a few of the Belgium selections and they were very tasty. As for me, well I love a cocktail. I had three… what? Don’t judge. I had the Southern Belle, soo delicious. Tasted like a strawberry and sweet tea concoction I imagine would be whipped up on a humid Sunday afternoon in the south. The second was the Pomegranate Margarita… I’ve had better. Last, the Black Orchid. An awesome name but a wee bit syrupy. Tasted… blue. I know, not really a flavor, but that’s the best I gots for ya. The drink menu goes on and on, but with just two livers between myself and my husband, we erred on the safe side of ambitious.

Dessert! Banana creme brulee, it’s a must. There’s this delicious chocolate ganache at the bottom of the custard that is to die for. I could eat that by the spoonful, it tastes similar to pot de cremes and really takes this brulee to a special place.

As for the ambiance, think drunk classic rock sing-a-long. “Don’t Stop Believin’ “ got some scattered karaoke, while “Sweet Carolina” had the crowd BA BA BA-ing in unison. Lots of seating — booths, bar and stools — surrounded by artwork and slews of flat screens playing what I can only guess was every sports game currently being played on the planet. Definitely fun times for large groups. I will be back for birthday celebrations and Sharks games. Also, it’s nice to have a place to drop your husband and his friends off while you get some shopping done that won’t have them smelling like Dominican Cohibas. Either way a win!