Restaurant/Bar Just What MDR, Playa Vista And Venice Residents Need In L.A.
My suspicions are confirmed.
After going to the Yard House in Marina del Rey, I can now report, without fail, that it’s setting the bar for the bars in this Los Angeles coastal community.
Not that MDR was exactly Mykonos (that’s the wild party place in the Greek Islands in case you are not familiar with the name) to begin with, nor it be now, either.
But with the young, vibrant community of Playa Vista just yards to the south and Venice just to the north (with Santa Moncia not that much further) and a concentration of condos and apartments within its own confines, Marina del Rey was a town in bad need of an everyday, “go to” bar/restaurant.
It now has it in the Yard House.
Marina del Rey needs the Yard House the way sailboats need wind, LA needs a functional public transportation system, USC needs a new football coach.
As proof, as if you need any, I took a MDR resident with me on one of its first nights. Her response was overwhelmingly positive.
“Before this, we had no place to come to really,” she said, looking around while marveling at the spacious interior. “Now we have a spot we can go to that’s lively and fun, and great for all the young people in the area. It’s going to be great!”
We all know the Yard House, of course. We are comfortable with it. There are 140 beers on tap, it has a solid wine selection and my friend and I can personally vouch for the mango and pomegranate mojitos. I can also vouch for the coldness and tastiness of the Longboard Lager and Goose Island beers, by the way.
The food is good bordering on great, especially the Korean BBQ steak and the cheeseburgers. And folks, I am damned picky about my cheeseburgers!
The atmosphere is one that puts you at ease, whether you are sitting at a table, at the bar or on either of the two patios that surely makes those jealous driving by in their cars along Maxella Ave. To help amp up the mood, gentle rock music plays; gentle in that it’s awesome but hardly loud enough to drown out conversations.
Like sports? No problem; there’s clear views of plasma TVs from every seat. I’m actually interested to know which alumni from colleges and transplanted NFL fans will wind up calling it home for their football games in the fall.
The Yard House is on Maxella Ave., a block up from Lincoln. It’s where a couple of clothing stores used to be located, including Victoria’s Secret. There’s no left-over lingerie on the premises; I’ve already checked.
There’s a Happy Hour Monday-Friday from 3-5 p.m., and a reverse Happy Hour Sunday-Wednesday from 10 p.m.-close. Happy Hour beers range in price from $3.50-$7.25 (for price comparison’s sake, the regular price of a Bud Light draft is $4.25), $2 off mixed drinks, martinis which regularly cost around $11 are $6.50, and it’s half off most (90% they say) appetizers.
The Yard House is open 11,a.m.-1, a.m., with last call extending on Fridays and Saturday until 1:20 a.m. And here’s a bonus: the restaurant will be open until 12:30 during the week and on weekends until 1 a.m.
The Yard House’s address is: 13455 Maxella Ave., Marina del Rey.
Cheers!
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