Visiting Seattle (Spring 2015 Update)

Probably visitors. A lot of business travelers have probably been to a Yard House in other cities, and it's a "safe" place for them to visit. The fact that there is another one over Bellevue, near a certain large software company, is a likely indicator. Seattle is the 14th largest city in the U.S., and gets a fair amount of both tourist and business visitors, so being successful near all the hotels isn't that challenging.

 

I have never been to the yard house, nor have I ever even considered it. I assume it's at least 50% tourists

 

God forbid that anyone would take tourists or business travelers into consideration in a thread entitled "Visiting Seattle."

 

Don't know, can't afford to shop at Nordy's, and certainly have no children to drag anywhere. Plus, actually dragging one's child would probably get you several looks of disapproval from passive-aggresive Seattle mommies, as they drive past in their Volvaru's.

 

I think we would rather lead them to an actual "Seattle" place, where you can be a visitor, as opposed just a tourist. I've never been to a Yard House, but I suspect that once in the door, one would be hard pressed to tell if one were in Seattle, San Antonio, or Schenectady.

 

Uh, it sounds as if most of us haven't been there. We can't rightly recommend a place we haven't visited.

That's not to mention the fact that I think someone wanting to experience this city is better served visiting our truly local establishments. That is, of course, just me.

 

I rarely if ever go to downtown, and if I do I'm going to Collins Pub or I'll walk up to the Pine Box.

 

As it is, we have our own local chain called the Taphouse Grill with 160 taps that's also downtown and in Bellevue. I imagine if any megabeer bar was added to the list, it would be that place rather than the Yardhouse. Or maybe Henry's.

That said, I don't know why anyone would need to read a thread on BA to figure out that the Yardhouse in Seattle (or Taphouse Grill, or Henry's) carries a lot of beer. It's probably listed in those tourist maps they give out at every hotel downtown. If you're on BA to begin with, I'd assume (probably incorrectly) that you're looking for a more curated beer experience when you travel than the average person. Some random tourist asks me where to drink downtown, I might say Taphouse Grill. Someone who reads this site? Not so much.

Sorting reviews on yelp by date, only 7 of the first 40 reviews for the Taphouse Grill are from Seattle residents. Yardhouse does a little better with 14 of the first 40 being from locals. Either way, I get the impression that tourists really aren't having a hard time figuring out these places exist.

 

I went to the yardhouse in Portland last weekend, and I wont make it an appoint to go back. I mean the server was nice - but honestly the list is super overwhelming. I put it this way.

At Yard house there are 100 taps. I would venture that people in Seattle or Portland would recommend maybe 20 of those to drink. A person who doesn't know the area has a 20% chance of getting a beer that locals would reccommend. At a tap house that we recommend, I would venture that the taps are 90% things we would drink or seek out. As a person visiting, those are much better odds of getting a great beer.

Another reason to go somewhere besides the Yardhouse (as alluded to above): Do you want a local experience? I mean if you don't care, then by all means go to the Yardhouse. The Hop Venom tastes the same as at other places I assume. But if you want to experience a city's culture, I wouldn't go to Yardhouse. I don't think I would go visit New York and go to Ruth's Chris Steak House.

Last point - and this might be only for the Portland Yardhouse:

Yardhouse Hop Venom Pint: $6.50
Baileys Hop Venom Pint: $4:50

 

**alert, alert, thread drift in progress**

I like a good steak. In Seattle , I have had one at the Met, Brooklyn, and The Gaucho

In Portland, Ringside and El Acropolis

I have 'heard' of this chain called Ruth's Chris but for some reason have never dined there.

You folks have any other good steak places that you want to to share??? Because Meat Matters.

 

Having worked in downtown Seattle for about 20 years now, I can say pretty confidently that most of the downtown establishments are not for the locals. They are for visitors and tourists. To really experience Seattle, whether it's dining or beer or whatever, you need to get out into the neighborhoods.

EDIT: I see now, reading some other recent posts, that this is not an original statement. Still true though.

 

we should just add a section to the guide "here's a bunch of places with shitty ambiance and overpriced beers and 150 taps if you want to forget you're in seattle. also please don't ask us questions about them because we wouldn't be caught dead there."

 

Seeing how most hotels are downtown, most tourists ask for places downtown. Too bad we don't care and tell them to get into the neighborhoods to see the real* Seattle.

*Apologies to those who actually live downtown.

 

True. But, again, we are on a website dedicated to a minority of a niche audience. Anyone looking here for advice, is probably wanting a "better" experience, and is likely to put some effort into having that experience.

 

Totally agree.

 

Personally, when I visit a town on business I usually only go to places I can walk to. That's my personal quirk, I admit. So yea, I'm very interested in finding good beer close to where I'm staying, and if the place doesn't fit someone's idea of "the real Seattle," I really don't care.

On this trip I've had some great beers (largely thanks to this thread) all within walking distance at Safeco, Bambinos, Pine Box, Collins, Millers Guild, Brave Horse, and yes, Yard House. Of these, the best selection of beers, Northwest and otherwise, has been at Yard House. It really hasn't even been close.

We're all friends here (I think!) but let me say this. A lot of people start their response by saying they've never been to Yard House and then proceed to opine about its tap list, dirty tap lines, ambience, and clientele. When I've never been to a place, I usually take that as a cue to keep my mouth shut about it.

This is a great thread because it attempts to provide a fairly comprehensive one-stop jumping off place for finding great beers in Seattle. And as the intended end user of the thread (i.e. an out of town visitor) I think it largely succeeds in doing just that. But as a visitor looking for, yes, some convenience, I think the thread could be stronger by including a few more great downtown beer spots, Yard House being one.