I’ve been to Yard House restaurants before. They have a good draft selection and good food. I’ve never been disappointed in my experience…until this trip.As I said in a previous post I was in Long Beach for work. We decided to do a social event Tuesday night at the Yard House for anyone participating in the training I was part of. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your perspective work got in the way and there were only four old friends at the social event instead of the class.
We all sat at the bar and ordered. On the food side I’ve always enjoyed the Yard House’s menu selections. They have a little bit of everything and everything is pretty good. It’s a chain but one I don’t mind patronizing.
We started off with guacamole and chips and an Ahi Poke Bowl. Both were very tasty and a great snack while we decided on dinner. Dinner was a mix of burgers, chicken strips and an item from the Gardein menu. The friend who ordered the Gardein item was very happy to see the vegetarian alternatives on the menu as he is usually stuck with salads and cheese quesadillas.
As for the beer, though they don’t use the distinctive glassware of certain brews they are at least good enough to pour things into something close to appropriate. In this case Belgians and other strong beers are poured into goblets.
I started out with a Lucifer by Brouwerij Het Anker. Previously produced by another brewery Lucifer was brought back to market in 2009 by Het Anker and is a great Belgian beer. Cloludy pour with a good head and a good clean taste.
My second choice was a Chimay Triple. Another one of my go to Belgian choices. The Chimay was tap poured and had a nice, light sweet/spice taste. As good as I remember it always being.
The final beer of the evening as a nice little number with a great name from Rubicon Brewing in Sacramento, CA. Monkey Knife Fight is an IPA hiding in the guise of a pale ale or vice versa. Maybe that’s the fight the name refers to…hmm. Great blend of hops makes this a good drinking beer for the end of a long day.
As for the experience at the Yard House, well lets just say it left something to be desired and left me paranoid about every beer that is not poured in front of my eyes from now on.
After I ordered my Lucifer the bartender came back an asked if I would mind waiting while they changed the keg out. It’s a good beer so of course my answer was “yes, I’ll wait”. Little did I know she had already put beer in my glass.
While she was changing the keg another bartender started a separate pour of a beer nearby and broke the glass he was using. He cleaned it up and walked away. My bartender returned, finished my beer pour, dropped it off and I began to enjoy. I had finished 3/4s of the beer when I noticed something odd about the glass. At first I thought there was ice in the bottom of the goblet but on closer inspection it turned out to be two large shards and many little pieces of the broken glass.
If you look close at the first photo in this post you can see it at the bottom. The natural cloudiness of the beer hid it from a quick glance. I called the bartender over and pointed out the problem. She was horrified that it had happened, took the glass, dumped it, poured me a new beer in a new glass and went to get a manager after conferring with one of the other bartenders.
The manager came over, talked with my bartender, came up to me and asked if I was ok. I told him I didn’t know as I had already drank most of the beer and I may have drank some of the smaller glass pieces. All he kept asking was if I was ok. I said again that I didn’t know but I wasn’t bleeding. I didn’t make as big of a deal out of the situation as I could have and I went back to trying to enjoy the evening with my friends assuming that it would be taken care of by the time we were done with the evening.
The evening came and went too quickly and when it was time to go I
got my bill. I was surprised to see all of my beers on the bill with my
food. Disappointed by how the situation was handled I paid the bill and
asked my bartender for a phone number in case I had to go to a doctor
the next day. She disappeared and the manager returned, handed me his
card and once again asked me if I was ok. I told him I didn’t know but
my throat was really feeling scratchy, like had recently drunk a glass
full of glass, and it hadn’t felt like that when I came in.I went to the doctor the next day because my throat continued to bother me all day. The clinic said it was a little red but it didn’t look cut and if I did swallow glass, unless I suffering from severe pain in my abdomen, it was best to let it pass naturally.
I called Yard House’s corporate office and spoke with their customer service person. She said that she would look into the situation and that they would discuss this issue with the manager in question. She also said she would send me something in the mail in case I wanted to give them a second chance.
I haven’t received what she sent in the mail yet so I can’t report what the resolution to the situation was. Every time I think about this my throat closes up a little and feels like it has something caught in it and I am now checking all of my beer glasses before I drink.
Stay Tuned.
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