The Yardhouse Restaurant

Just left there. Tuesday 530. Zero service for 20 minutes. Needs to retrain staff. Bartender gave us menus and the. Never came back and server avoided eye contact.

We invited a couple of friends to join us at the Yardhouse on Tuesday night, because their web page promoted ½ price bottle of wines that night. When we checked with the waitress she told us that this promotion was on Thursday night, not Tuesday night. We told her about the web page and all she responded was «oh, we’ll have to fix that».
We stayed never the less and the food was O.K. and her service was adequate.
I then wrote to the owners about the mix up with the web page, but have not received a response. Obviously they do enough business that they don’t need ours. We won’t be going back nor will will we recommend this place to anyone.

Possibly the worst service I’ve ever experienced! It wasn’t very busy when I went which was on a Tuesday night around 7pm and many servers working. I waited (no exaggeration) 20 minutes just to order a drink… Not even to receive a drink that was just to order one! No one even acknowledged us until my friend went up to the bar and asked us for us to be served. Also the servers walked passed us many times and clearly saw us. When our server finally came to our table she was friendly and did her job just would have liked to have seen her more often. After ordering an appetizer it took another 30minutes to receive that! It does not take 30 minutes to cook perogies… Come on people get your shit together TERRIBLE SERVICE I was extremely let down to say that least.

On my own tonight and headed to the yardhouse for a meal. I had one pint and wigs but did not stay for a full meal (headed across the street) due to extremely immature and unprofessional staff. Staff crowded around to loudly converse with each other, complain about tips after their shift, discussed a vulgar drink and made up a game of mini golf. In dire need of strong management.

Do I have to give it a star? There’s better to be had in Kensington. Okay place for a below average beer. Food was a comedy of errors, hot sauce dressing with a salad followed by fish and chips instead of fish tacos. Best comment of the night went to — «should I leave the salt and vinegar». First and last visit on a slower than average night

The service used to be great, but the food is good. Me and a couple of my friends where just enjoying ourselves on a beautiful day at a patio. 1) Half hour before the happy hour was over, the waitress keep claiming happy hour was over, then I showed her the time on my phone to prove that it wasn’t, then she gave us happy hour. 2) After we ordered 100 wings on special, we asked for separate bills and suddenly the made a new policy of not making separate bills on specials. 3) I ask to take the wings to go, and the waitress was rude and abrupt about the fact that they don’t do to go on specials. Like what a joke! we pay for the food, so the customer is entitled to do what they want with the food after they pay for it. All these factors were quite annoying. I ask to speak to a manager. We told the manager we’ve been eating there a few times and we’ve always took the rest to go which is true. There for, the manager told us to they’ll make an exception this time.
I feel like a business like that needs to grow by going out of their way to please the customer, when they’re paying for their services. I work in a customers service industry and I value it very much that I would make sure the customer wants to come back as long as their not hurting anyone.

I’ve been to The Yardhouse in Kensington many times, last night’s draw was the Flames Game with some friends. They were very kind to do a reservation for us, no easy task during a Flames Game in Calgary! If you’re at any decent pub, a seat is a hot commodity that someone would be more than happy to take from you, so big plus that we had reserved seats!
The Yardhouse is a pretty solid place for any major sporting event, I’ve been here for a couple big UFC fights as well. What works is there’s TVs in all the right areas, there’s rare a bad seat in the house where you can’t glimpse the game and last night was no exception! I also like that the volume is usually at a good level so you can hear what’s going on.
I’ve seen the menu change here many times, last night was no different as there was a few new options on the menu; nice touch to see a pub actually change up their menu, not something you see with most pubs! Just an FYI, pretty good selection of vegetarian and gluten free dishes here as well (wasn’t applicable to us, but something I observed on the menu). The food here has always been my most critical point, first off the positives: very fair priced and lots of options including a surprising balance of traditional pub food to some higher quality gastropub style options with some real quality ingredients! The con is that something is usually off when it’s all put together, usually in the form of something not being cooked quite right or just not tasting as good as you hoped, and the dish ends up just missing it’s mark. If they want to identity as more gastro vs traditional they could step up presentation a little as well. Last night I went with The Yardhouse Burger, great pretzel bun, choice toppings and the egg was cooked right, I was just lost on the bison patty. The patty being the most important part IMO was a little drier than beef as expected (lower fat content), but just tasted a little bland and was missing that rich bison taste I’m used to. My fiancé got meat pizza and we had a side of sweet potato fries to share. Pizza was awesome! Super cheesy and the good kind of greasy you want in a pub pizza. Sweet potato fries were good but what really made them a winner was the dipping sauce, not sure what it was but tasted great! So even though the burger wasn’t great the pizza and fries were redeeming!
For the drink selection, The Yardhouse has a good selection of draught beers including some seasonal/​rotating taps, also there’s always a decent special going on if you’re looking to save a couple bucks! Also try getting a Yard sometime, it is the Yardhouse after all!
Our server Jordan has awesome, for being at 110% capacity with the game last night I really wasn’t expecting good service. The kitchen was slightly behind but kept up at a reasonable pace, but Jordan compensated by being on the ball. I never had to wait long to grab the next beer and even more surprising is how it seemed my water glass was always refilled before I could even ask. Also the servers did a great job clearing tables in a timely fashion!
Overall solid visit! On a side note I’m a bit disappointed to see the long time Manager leaving to pursue a new opportunity; he’s always been extremely accommodating, respectful and did a solid job turning the place around from what it used to be back in the day. He’s a big reason why we still come here and I don’t see us visiting as often now. I wish him well on his exciting new endeavor! So next time you visit The Yardhouse don’t be surprised if it’s a different experience, I’m sure it will be for me. Cheers!

Beautiful pub/​restaurant from the inside and outside. Service was a little slow which given the lack of people in it on a Saturday night I don’t understand. The food was AWFUL though. We ordered Calamari which tasted of rubber and resembled perfect onion rings. The perogies were grilled to almost perfection on the outside and had all the right toppings amounts, but inside were soggy. Very disappointing for being a Kensington Rd. business. Won’t go back or EVER refer it.

Said they closed at 12. They killed the music. Said they don’t serve food and overall an unpleasant experience. Prolly should of told us you hate your job. And you don’t have twitter.

Yardhouse was okay. I had a veggie flatbread that was amazing (post-​theatre snack) so that has me going back and forth between a 2 or 3 star rating. I thought I remembered there being an awful lot more to the menu (some sort of root vegetable chips??) and that is why we selected Yardhouse as opposed to one of the many other pubs in the area… I guess they’ve changed their menu at some point in the past two or so years — can’t really complain about that.
Grumpy Boyfriend was very unimpressed by the service and I wasn’t thrilled either, to be honest. When we arrived at about 10:45 pm, they weren’t exactly packed, but we had a difficult time finding a table… because there were a TON of tables that needed to be bussed. We finally ended up camping out at a dirty table and waiting about 10 – 15 minutes for a server to notice us. The girl who served us was perfectly cordial and she started clearing off the table right after talking to us… but everything just took sooooo long. Maybe they were short-​staffed?
We just have a ton of options within walking distance in Kensington, so I’m not sure that we want to waste our time on something ‘meh’.

Best place in Kensington for sure! Great place to go for a couple of pints and appys. The atmosphere is very chill which is awesome to escape the snobbyness of a lot of places.
Not 1, but 2 summer patios! The staff are wonderful the girls are super cute and bubbly.

Went here on a Saturday. At first the place had lots of empty tables, but there was still a buzz, mainly thanks to the hockey night fans.
The place slowly got busier… our food arrived. We ordered chicken wings and fish tacos for appetizer. They were very good. The tacos a bit too spicy, but still good.
As for our main, the fish & chips was good, not too oily and fresh. The chicken salad was really delicious.
Will definitely go here again…
Our waitress was really sharp and attentive and polite.

Went here on a Sunday afternoon looking for a quick bite in between errands. Walked in, the bar only had a few customers hanging out but it still took a good 10 minutes before anyone aknowledged we were there, despite the bartender, waitress and cook that all saw us. Finally a girl came from the back to help us out and she was rather nice and very attentitive once we were noticed.
I had the beef and sausage burger with fries. It was pretty good. I used to eat sausage burgers back home a lot and I think I was kinda of expecting that, but it was different and not in a bad way. It had the mild spicyness I had wanted and the bun was nice. Fries weren’t overly seasoned either, which I find happens in a lot of bars. I would eat here again because the quality was there, but I would perhaps put a little more effort in the customer service. (Which was the other locations major, major downfall.)

The staff in this place have never impressed me.
Usually no one comes to the door to welcome you in. You walk in, wait a few seconds and go find your own table and sit down !
I have never seen any of their servers going out of their way to make us feel welcome, or special. However I haven’t been able to find anything majorly wrong with any part of their service either.
The only reason I go there is the giant beer. I’ll upload a picture right now.

I’ve been visiting friends who live in Kensington for years, and have seen this restaurant change hands again and again during that time, but have never gone in. The friends recommended I check it out for their burger («Pricey but damn good») so I went by with my partner in crime to do just that.
Service was a bit shaky to start — it was a Sunday night and hockey had just restarted, and attentions were diverted, I think. After five minutes of waiting to be acknowledged I stomped to the bar to get menus myself. Things picked up after that, thankfully.
We did indeed get burgers — they’re monstrous, and a bit awkward to eat so don’t go here on a date, but they were really really excellent. The pretzel bun is a nice touch that doesn’t get soggy, and the add ins were not sad last minute throw ins — they were fresh onion rings and house pickled beets and done really well. (Although slicing the beets might make it a bit easier to eat…)
The best was the pickle though. When I saw it on the menu as a side option I thought «how good could they be?» My grandparents were Polish and Ukrainian and trust me, I’ve seen a pickle or two in my day. This pickle is unique. It’s a bit spicy, it’s tangy, it’s crisp, it’s all the things a pickle should be on a burger. Fantastic. So good, we insisted on buying some to bring home, and the chef indulged us by selling us a container full of the perfect pickles.
He told us they are moving towards making everything they can in-​house by this summer, which is a reason I think I will finally move this awkward corner location somewhat standard looking bar up on to my eating list when I visit my Calgary friends.
Here’s to hoping they start deep frying those pickles soon…

For a restaurant located in the heart of Kensington, I was extremely disappointed with this restaurant. We went here because a friend had said it was really good. But unfortunately it was quite the opposite. We went around ²⁄₃ pm on a normal week day so the restaurant was pretty dead.
The bar setup itself was pretty typical of any bar. It was modern, spacious and pretty relaxed. It is a good fit for both small and larger groups of people, although I am not sure if they take reservations.
The service was pretty poor for a quiet restaurant. Our waitress was very inattentive and slow. She took a while to get our food and was not very helpful in recommending any food.
Overall, the service was poor and the food was even worse. I would not recommend this to anyone.
Food wise, we ordered pistachio crusted salmon which contains eight ounce roasted salmon filet served with spaghetti squash and baby vegetables. This dish was probably the worst one that we ordered, it had an odd flavour and the presentation was poor. The food just looks disgusting when it was brought out and it tasted just the same. We also ordered mussels with white wine broth with spicy Italian sausage served with a wedge of garlic bread. This dish was mediocre, however the garlic toast that came with it was not very appetizing. The only decent dish that we ordered was the BBQ grilled chicken pizza which had chicken, house BBQ sauce, red onion, mozzarella, and cilantro.

What a waste! My girlfriend and I were bombing around killing time on Sunday morning and really wanted brunch. Our first pick was OJ’s, but they weren’t open until 11. We walked past and noticed the Brunch sign and thought we would check it out.
The only think I can drink there for alcohol is strongbow, which at 10:45am is a little much. I ordered the granola, which I’m pretty sure had gluten in it, or definitely had cross contaminated.
Service was atrocious. Other than us there was one table. We barely saw our server, the guy behind the bar was nice and helpful, but still.
It will be a long time before I go back, if ever, seeing as there is OJ’s, Sam’s and Molly Malones.

Hmmm… not a fan.
My girlfriend & I were in Kensington for brunch and decided on OJ’s, as they deliver a pretty solid meal and I enjoy a good breakfast caesar. Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 11, and with 15 minutes to kill we decided to take a little walk. We came up to Yardhouse and noticed they were open and served brunch, so we headed inside.
I ordered the breakfast burrito and Missy D. ordered the granola. They both looked really yummy, but she didn’t get a spoon for her granola, mine didn’t come with the sour cream as advertised, and I didn’t get the water I asked for when I got my food until I was almost finished eating (and the place was DEAD).
The food was decent, although I was disappointed that we chose Yardhouse over OJ’s because apparently OJ’s caters to gluten free (which I didn’t know). The bartender was a sweetheart, but our server was almost nonexistent and not all that friendly, either.
One more thing — they don’t take debit. What kind of restaurant doesn’t take debit these days? For someone who doesn’t usually carry cash (and refuses to pay the outrageous fee at their ATM), this was highly annoying. There are so many great restaurants in Calgary, I doubt I will be back to The Yardhouse (for a meal, anyway).

Not bad. Could have been better though.
I went here with 2 coworkers on a Friday for a late lunch — it was also Stampede Parade day so we kind of expected it to be busier with extra people being in downtown and Kensington but it was pretty empty. I was kind of happy about this as I thought the service would be better than my one or two visits years ago.
Initially it was. She was friendly and attentive, and brought drink refills fast, without asking. She took our food orders quickly too. I found however once we had our food, we stopped existing for her for a good half hour. Not a huge deal except we needed another set of cutlery and more napkins (one of my coworkers didn’t even have a napkin to start with. When the server finally did turn up, she brought us what had to be half a package of napkins. Maybe so she didn’t need to come back? Or to make up for her absence?
The food was fairly good. My friend had the portabello mushroom and pepperoni pizza which was big and looked tasty. My napkinless coworker had well proportioned nachos… it was huge for one person but with a little help he made it through. I had the bacon cheeseburger with fries and gravy. The fries and gravy were really good. The burger claimed to have some kind of maple mayo on it but I didn’t taste it. The meat was pretty dry but it had a decent taste to it.
There were a few things I’d think they’d have on the menu given their pub style which they didn’t…fish and chips, yam fries, more burger choices. It just seemed like there were choices missing?
After our meals the server seemed to become much more attentive again, offering water refills etc. She was quick to circle back for payment too which was appreciated.
I wavered between and 3 and 4 on this one. My experience was okay but given how quiet it was, it could have been better from both a food and server perspective. Hence my settling on a three

Great food, great service, great ambiance for conversation
If I actually meant the words said above, I would be the worst liar on this planet.
It took me 10 minutes to get a drink from the bartender. And it took the waitress infinity to attend to us. If that doesn’t make sense, it meant that she NEVER CAME.
FYI don’t sit by the door, theres too many people coming in and proclaiming their arrival with a boisterous «WHOOOOOOO! PARTY! WHOOOOO!!» followed by the chaos of high-​fives, man-​hugs, and butt-​grabs
I doubt any conversation that has taken place in the Yardhouse has been actually 100% recieved and understood. I have to confess that a few times I deployed my «pretend to listen» bluff, where I politely nodded and smiled, and repeated the last words spoken that the narrow net of my mind managed to catch: S…which FYI, is a GREAT technique to use for those long drawn out meetings