Review: Yard House

Yard House
Red Rock Resort, 11011 West Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas
yardhouse.com

Sorry for the HORRIBLE lighting.  It was way dark in there.

So I feel like I may have cheated a little bit on my Las Vegas entry for a review since I went to Yard House, which is actually a chain restaurant with locations in several different states...

But, in my defense, it was a crazy weekend and I had no energy to leave my hotel on Sunday, so when my travel companion suggested somewhere within the hotel to eat, I didn't argue.

This past weekend, I visited Las Vegas for the first time, and rather than go into all the details, I'll simply tell you about my mac and cheese experience.

I had never actually eaten at a Yard House before, so this was a new experience for me.  I'd seen one of their other locations near my parents' house and had wanted to try it sometime, so I was game to give it a shot.

It felt like any other chain-y "sports bar"/restaurant you might wander into (BJ's, Chili's,  etc.), except since this one was in Vegas, I was able to wander in with my casino bar wine glass in hand without anyone taking any notice.  The TVs had different sports playing on them.  One was focused on some baseball documentary, while another was playing some rodeo horse race type of sport (my friend was very familiar with it, since she had lived in areas with the sport and competed).

I ordered the House Favorite Mac & Cheese which included chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese and wild mushrooms.  I will admit I passed on the mushrooms.  I haven't always enjoyed having them in my mac and cheese.  The chicken was great.  Really well cooked and in these nice big pieces with lots of flavor.  The bacon was also good.  Instead of small bacon bits, they opted for fewer, larger pieces, which I think worked just great.  They didn't have any obvious thick sauce.  It was a little more on the lighter side, with just cheddar, but since you had the chicken and bacon flavors already, it worked just fine.  The only thing I was a little disappointed by was that the noodles felt a little undercooked.  But I think that might have also had to do with the type of noodle.  It was oddly shaped, like a little horn with ruffled edges.  I've now learned that noodle is called campanelle, which I'd heard of before, but never had.  I wonder if it's supposed to be cooked that way, or if it should've been a bit softer...

Anyway, I would order it again if I found myself at a Yard House location.  Not my favorite by any means, but not a bad option either.

Hope you all had great weekends!  I'm going to go take another nap.  What happens in Vegas... will leave you sleepy and tired for many days after.