"Yard House" news and stories

Have you been watching "America's Next Great Restaurant" and thinking it's about time to launch your own dream eatery? Before you quit your day job and take up your toque, you might want to peruse Technomic's annual report on the top 500 restaurant chains in America to see where the restaurant biz is headed.

The good news? Well, the recession seems to pretty much be over, at least if you measure economic recovery in terms of burger and fries. All told, the top 500 restaurant chains in America posted an annual sales increase of 1.8 percent in 2010, a $4 billion gain over 2009. More than half of the chains saw at least some sort of sales growth, a situation that was essentially reversed the year before, reports Nation's Restaurant News.

But if you're thinking that the country is ready for your vision of a vegan-meatball-slash-marinated-tofu emporium, well, it just may behoove you to take a gander at the restaurants that made it into Technomic's top ten fastest-growing chains. The takeaway here? It seems our national appetite is anything but adventurous.

A weekly look at the draft selection at beer-friendly bars across the country.

I'm spending the holidays in Phoenix, Arizona. One thing I immediately noticed is Phoenix has quite an affection for big box retailers and massive restaurant chain locations. Lots of land out here I guess. Fitting then that many of the city's "top beer bars" as determined by sites such as this one are nationwide brewpubs like Rock Bottom or BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse. And though I'm sure a number of great independent beer bars exist in the Phoenix metropolitan area of which I'm guessing savvy and enraged commenters will be happy to enlighten me, I thought this a perfect opportunity to give one chain its due.

Whereas most chains' beer selections tend to lean towards the uninspired, some -- such as Yard House Restaurants -- have managed to excel. Along with locations in California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada and Texas, Yard House has three locations right here in Arizona. Every location boasts between 100 to 250 beers on tap, and yes, though many of them tend to be pedestrian (you'll likely find Michelob Ultra on every list) with such a large selection even the most discerning beer connoisseurs can find something that will pacify them.

After the jump, find some insights into how Yard House selects their beers and a link to their massive draft list.