The Yard Cafe

Great happy hour food/​prices, outdoor and indoor seating options and a good place for a tasty margarita! Always have had good service, definitely a repeat customer.

Great bar food, and an excellent selection of good beer. Creative variations on tacos, tortas, etc. Wonderful wood décor and relaxed environment. Great place to be a regular.

I had been to The Yard before to watch a soccer game, and found the food to be decent. That was breakfast. But this Friday night I had some happy hour tacos that were scary bad. In fact, I had come with my friends to eat dinner and drink beers but I stopped them from ordering here, my food was that bad. We went somewhere else instead (Ridge pizza — awesome!) It is kinda nice to sit in the Yard beer garden and watch an early morning EPL game, and the beer list is definitely interesting. But we waited a LONG time for service on a Friday and when our beers arrived the guy practically threw them at us, sloshing the beer all over the table and then not cleaning it up, just running off. We decided we were not going to come back here. When we want to watch a soccer game, we’ll stick to their other bar The Dray which is smaller but much mo betta.

This a great place to watch a game and grab a beer on a lovely patio, but not a great place to eat food. We came for brunch and it took a really long time to be acknowledged in the bar area where you seat yourself. We finally went and hunted down menus on our own. We ordered beverages and chips and salsa to start and were talked into guacamole also. We waited over 20 minutes to get our chips, salsa and guacamole, which is really strange since it wasn’t crazy busy. Typically when you order chips and salsa they come right away, but not here. When the chips finally did arrive, they were dripping with grease, the salsas were watery and blah, and the guac seemed like something you would squeeze out of a tube. I was not pleased when we got our bill at the end and discovered I had paid $ 5 for that tiny, nasty saucer of guac paste. We both had green chilaquiles for our meals, and again were disappointed. I would come back her for a beer or margarita, but will not waste my money on the very bland, over-​priced food ever again.

The food and beer selection is great. Service not so much, but I know to expect shitty service when I sit down so it doesn’t bother me. This place is more about the atmosphere and food and proximity to our house.

Came here for the first time with a friend and his friends. And wasn’t really sure what exactly to expect but I actually really liked it. The food was great. I had the chicken quesadilla from the bites menu … But that thing was huge and I couldn’t finish it so I wouldn’t really consider it just a bite. That’s definitely dinner matériel.
Moving on got a margarita which was yum. The entire place is dimly lighted but that’s all part of the ambiance.
Great place to have a good night and start off your night.

I like this place for the ever changing beer list, and the unique architecture. Great for sunny days in the yard and also great for the inside bar on rainy or dreary days. Check it out.

Stumbled upon this place with my boyfriend when we were craving some food. We really liked the outdoor seating area and the cozy inside area. Service was good. Prices seemed a little high but what can you expect for the Greenwood area. We both got tacos and a drink and they were made excellent. Place looked very clean and everyone seemed friendly. Nice little place to grab a quick bite to eat!

I’m pretty confused about the lower reviews on this one.
The ambiance is killer; during the (very short) summer, their outdoor patio is the place to be. In the winter, they’ve got you covered with cozy wood tables on the inside.
The food is killer. The chips are super crispy and homemade. The adobada torta is a must try – the bread is soft, the adobada sweet and spicy, topped with bean spread and guacamole. Delicious.
Plus, the margaritas are boozy and not too cavity-​inducing; just how I like ‘em!
I’ve never had an issue with service. It’s not over the top, but I always have a full beverage and feel well taken care of.

Great weekend Breakfast! The Carnitas Hash + breakfast potatoes are to die for. Strong good coffee and good service. Five stars for Breakfast at the Yard!

I just had some burnt chicken covered in a crap-​ton Swiss cheese, with one piece of over cooked bacon all in soggy bun drenched with guacamole. But hey– tortilla chips were good and nice beer list.

Solid spot. Food was good, liked the tap list, enjoyed my cocktail, Decent prices.
Not so amazing that I’ll be there all the time or hype it up, but it’s a good place to stop in every so often.

Short version: outstanding food, very nice service, and a damn good beer selection.
I found this place as I was on a hunt to find a new place to grab lunch (Friday afternoon) with a good friend of mine. We wanted to go somewhere new, and we didn’t want to be disappointed (who does?!). Of course located right on Greenwood Ave, parking isn’t the best, but the first impression was great. It’s a stylish little joint that was clearly designed with intention. There’s an outdoor patio with heating lamps, seating for about 15 on the bar, and another 15 – 20 at tables. Looks like this place might be a bit of a mess if it was packed, but I was there when it was pretty slow.
We got chips & the trio of salsa with a side of guac to start, with a beer from Stoup, and a beer from 7 Seas. The chips were clearly made in-​house, and they were fresh. Debatably some of the best chips I’ve ever had. Seemed to be deep fried, but it’s Mexican food, I wasn’t exactly counting calories. All the salsas & guac were clearly made in-​house, and I couldn’t get enough of any of the 3 salsas. I also had the Quesadilla Refritos, and it was incredible, simple, but the flavor was spot-​on. All & all for 3 beers, chips/​salsa/​guac, and 2 happy hour items, we didn’t even spend $ 30.

This place is okay. It has a very small indoor dining area, a covered deck, and open air picnic tables. The service was spotty and could have been more attentive. I had a carne asada tostada that was topped with lettuce, a lot of pico de gallo, crema and cotija. It was nothing to get excited about. The side of pickled veggies was tasty and the raspberry beer hit the spot. I’d imagine that this place would appeal to some people, but I didn’t see anything that would make me want to return.

I came here on Wednesday night around 10 and surprisingly there was a pretty good size crowd here. We ordered the tostados which were average but the bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers were pretty tasty, especially if you like hot peppers.
Pros: Bean Dip– The best I’ve ever had!
Cons: Waiter seemed flustered, irritable, & impatient. I continued to smile to cheer him up & eventually his mood did a total 360.
It’s a local restaurant so I will definitely be back to try some other foods with hopes my server isn’t a cranky one.

Won’t becoming here again. I felt so bad for the servers. I should have seen it in their eyes to duck and run and find somewhere else for dinner. There wasn’t an ounce of happiness, or excitement for their job. When I came in and stood near the entrance for a while and had a couple people walk around me (that later I was able to determine that they worked there). Until I finally figured out who worked there and asked if it was open seating. They just replied with «Yes» and walked away. I found my way to a seat, waited for a friend and observed.
The fact that my Chicken Sandwich was dry and cold when I got it was just the beginning. Everything was so over priced. My friend got tacos and at $ 3.50 EACH she got dry pork and pico and the tortillas were not even cooked. Almost straight out of the bag.
When I asked why I didn’t get any salsa with my tortilla chips, the server gave me a selection and based on their impression I knew I had to ask if it cost extra. Turns out for generic salso it cost $ 1 for an ounce. When I asked why it cost he said there was nothing he could do. It sounds like this place is a tight ship at the expense of the people working. I felt so bad for the servers having to serve horrible food on an over priced menu.
There’s better patios, better food, better drinks, better everything just down the road. So many great places in Greenwood and the Yard won’t be able to compete if it drowns their employees and treats their customers like the experience I got.

Came here with my roommate for dinner on a weeknight. Such a great spot! We sat outside and the atmosphere was amazing. She ordered the steak salad and it was a really good amount of food and tasted great. I ordered a fish taco and a carnitas tacos. The tacos were beyond good. We each got the house margarita and really liked them.
Overall, the atmosphere, food and drinks were great and I cannot wait to go back!
Tip: they have happy hour from 4 – 7 and 9 – 12 :)

Came here for dinner last night to celebrate a friend’s bday, she wanted to keep it low-​key, especially since it fell on a Monday this year. It was another beautiful sparkling sunny day and our party (of 10, by the end of the meal including my 5yo little one) were able to take over an entire «yard» picnic table after some maneuvering. The bday girl lives ½ block away, down 84^th and so this is a well-​beloved neighborhood to the group!
Food: Very good. Chips and salsa were really excellent! I got the daily ceviche (rockfish and camarones) served with tortilla chips, which though listed under small plates (bites) was plenty big enough for my dinner plus some to hubby. Hubby got a couple of tacos– carne asada and pollo rojo. We each got a couple of house margaritas. I also tried a bite of someone else’s beans & rice (be warned that this is a HUGE dish!)
Service: Very spotty. While deciding where to sit and maneuvering around, we interacted with quite a number of the waitstaff. They were all friendly and helpful, with the exception of the person who became our primary server once we made it out to sit in the «yard». She was totally spacey. She never got one of my friends drink order, and once he finally asked, it took a really, really long time to arrive (it came at the same time as the food) without any status or check-​in. We joked that it was possible she was taking advantage of the new WA state rules around legalized marijuana as she was sooo mellow. Expressionless, more like. We get that it was a busy day and you are slammed, but providing a little more warmth would’ve gone a long way.
And I agree with all the other Unilocal’ers– a little more training around a proper greeting is in order here. Same zombie server gave me a blank stare when I was standing around upon restaurant arrival trying to figure out the system. And there is no host station to help guide or clear up the confusion. A little initial friendliness would smooth things out quite a bit.
Food might’ve saved the service though, especially if they give zombie waitress a little extra hospitality training or suggest to her a different career path.

First things first – bless the poor waitress that had to spend 2 hours serving 40 plus customers on her own because her employer doesn’t know how to staff properly during a lunch rush. I’m sure she loves that she’s making as much in tips serving 40 people poorly as she would if she served 10 people extremely well with a full staff of servers on-​hand to take care of everyone else. Please please please consider adding another server during lunch, especially when it’s beautiful outside. There is no reason for a customer to wait 15 minutes to receive a greeting and a menu. Service will always take precedence over anything else, especially good food.

I take myself out once a month. I spend the morning down the street at lady well’s vitality spa then saunter over to the yard for my post soak lunch/​margarita. I love the open air seating (overhead heaters if it is chilly), the service is always on point and the food is fantastic. I always get the same thing for lunch– the ensalada quesadilla. Yum!
Late nights, the bf and I come for drink specials and their $ 5 food menu (after 10). He is hard to impress but he loves the taco selection ;)
I also bring my friends and especially people from out of town. Great neighborhood spot.