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The Yard House
7014 E. Camelback Road (Fashion Square Mall)
480-675-9273 (call for hours)

The Yard House has managed to cover all bases. If you like to stick with just the dining basics, they offer the usual fried chicken strips ($8.65) or buffalo wings ($9.75) as appetizers. Then again, their menu lists such off the wall choices as Chilled Edamame, which is steamed soybean pods with kosher salt ($5.65).

Situated on the south side of the mall, Yard House is next door to Crate & Barrel. The restaurant’s interior has a hipster atmosphere with lots of dark wood, subdued lighting and big pieces of modern art on the walls. Their motto is, “Great Food. Classic Rock. World’s Largest Selection of Draft Beer.” I would say they meet all three of those.

The bar has an endless row of taps with over 180 kinds of beer, and offers some interesting options such as a draft beer float made with Young’s Chocolate Stout and vanilla ice cream ($6.50). They also feature a myriad of wines, specialty drinks and the now obligatory list of flavored martinis.

The music that night seemed to come in chunks according to the era. We arrived in the ‘80s with bands like Duran Duran and Madness, which melded into some ‘70s stuff by America followed by Johnny Cash, then The Doors.

Our main objective that night was to test the “Great Food.” I am not adventurous, but did go for the Grilled Jamaican Wings ($9.75) that were tossed in jerk spices. The drumettes were meaty and smoky flavored; even more so after dipping in their rum BBQ sauce. Yeah mon, they delicious. My dining companion is a huge sushi fan, so he ordered the California Roll ($10.95). Rather than the typical layout of sliced circles, the Yard House version comes in a single jumbo circular mound. The bottom layer of rice laced with cucumber is then topped with domestic caviar, large chunks of real crab meat (not that imitation crab so many places use) and topped off with a fat wedge of avocado. I wished I had my camera to take a photo; it was gorgeous.

My companion (we shall now refer to him as Mr. Fish) chose the Seared Ahi Tuna ($22.95) for his entrée. Two large wedges of the barely cooked fish flesh were arranged around a molded mound of jasmine rice and accompanied by crisscrossed spears of asparagus. Mr. Fish mentioned he would have preferred a bit more searing, but somehow managed.

Myself (from now on referred to as Miss Mundane), I ordered my usual choice of Steak & Shrimp ($29.95). The 12-ounce rib eye was exactly medium rare as I had requested and the grilled jumbo shrimp were large and not overdone, perfectly toothy and moist. The side of green beans tasted fresh, but I’ve had better garlic mashed potatoes from a box. Maybe next time I’ll sample some of those beers and get loose enough to try the Ginger Crusted Salmon ($20.95).

Mr. Fish doesn’t usually have a sweet tooth, but loves Crème Brulee ($7.95) so I had to match him and go for the Fresh Baked Brownies ($7.45). He not only pronounced his vanilla custard topped with caramelized bananas heavenly, but then risked life and limb to scoop up some of my selected warm chocolate deliciousness topped with ice cream. Stupid fool was lucky he didn’t get a fork in his forearm. And they say fish is a brain food . . .