Locals find food and hapiness at the Yardhouse

June 27, 2:37 PMLas Vegas Restaurant ExaminerMiah Daughtery

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Sweet Tart martinis make good girls go bad

Located almost centrally in the middle of the action in Town Center, Yardhouse makes it impossible not to see or be seen.  With Blue Martini upstairs, the Grape next door and the theatre across the walkway, a steady walk of patrons streams back and forth nightly.

And inside Yardhouse, during Happy Hour, it becomes quickly apparent that this is where the action really is. Not only does the Happy Hour menu boast a strong selection of half-priced appetizers (many of which constitute a full meal), it also offers a full selection of reduced-priced alcoholic beverages: domestic pints are $3.50, craft/imported pints are $4.00, goblets are $4.25, well drinks are $4.25 and house martinis are $5.75.  Take a friend (or a crew), as Happy Hour at Yardhouse is neither the time nor the place to be alone:  you won't be able to appreciate fully the food and drink.

We started with rounds of the candy-store version of adult martinis: Georgia Peach, Strawberry Fields, Sweet Tart, Ruby Red and Mangolicious.    My favorite is easily the Sweet Tart, an electric ice-blue martini that tastes exactly like the Sweet Tart candies I had a fondness for as a child.  A combination of sweet-and-tart flavors is artfully crafted by sweet-and-sour mix, wild berries vodka, dekuyper apple pucker, dekuyper island blue,and topped with Sprite. Regularly priced at $10.00 each, Happy Hour is the prime place to experiment with a variety of specialty martinis without breaking the bank.  

As the martinis started disappearing, the food started appearing.  Five people ordered a variety of half-priced appetizers and still had food to take home.  An eclectic mix of clam chowder, chicken lettuce wraps, chilled edamame, chicken nachos, firecracker wings, and BBQ chicken pizza found its way to the table.  

Off-white clam chowder, a buttery soup bursting with thick chunks of clam, potatoes and vegetables is thick enough to be eaten with a spoon. (I know.  I did.)  Heavy cream is overwhelming present and gives the soup a buttery richness that is lost in a lot of watery chowders.  

Ground chicken, smoked tofu, pine nuts, and green onions intermingle in a fried won-ton shell and served with leaves of crisp, green lettuce in the chicken lettuce wraps. The addition of smoked tofu and pine nuts give the lettuce wraps a slightly smoky-nutty, almost wild, flavor that is unique to Yardhouse.  And, the won-ton shell is fun to eat.

Chilled edamame is uneventful.  Really. It's edamame.  Steamed pea-pods with sea salt.  This is a nice filler dish between the really tasty food.

A cheesy-chickeny-pinto beany-guacamole concoction better known as chicken nachos dominated the table, at least visually.  Really--it was hard to look over or around the plate.  Purple and yellow corn chips are stacked in a quasi pyramid atop pinto beans and topped with melted cheddar and jack cheese, fresh, firm tomatoes, onions, grilled chicken, guacamole and dusted with cilantro.  Impossible to get all the flavors  on one chip at one time, patrons will have to sample several chips loaded with a variety of vegetables each time a bite is taken.

Firecracker wings, fried chicken wings  glazed with a spicy plum sauce then topped with sesame seeds, are presented atop a bed of shredded purple cabbage. The wings are spicy, but not as overwhelming as a buffalo wing, because the glaze tempers the fury with a detectable but not overbearing sweetness.  

We sampled much (but not all) of the Happy Hour menu and were satisfied.  But, having eaten at Yardhouse many times before, I realized that price is the only reason I make a mad-dash, braving Vegas I-15 rush hour traffic to Yardhouse during Happy Hour.  The regular food is good.  Really good. And, I know that if I miss the Happy Hour price, I will pay the regular price because the food is that darn tasty.  Unlike some restaurants with a Happy Hour menu where the food is only worth Happy Hour prices, Yardhouse offers great food no matter the time or the selection.