These two restaurants take part in bringing back the new “American Cuisine,” a place where tons of European and American cultures collide into one restaurant. Foods like burgers, wings, pizza, and even pasta are common staples of the New American Cuisine. This begs the question, who serves it the best? Burgers and wings are real common place, but who serves the best pizza, pasta, and even salads are left up to the public decision.
Reviews (According to Yelp):
Yard House (3.5 Stars):
This specific location has had some real ups and downs when it comes to their reviews. Service reviews were all positive, with host and servers being seen as nice and very cooperative about foods and allergen related topics. Food wise, people have had varying views on the food in the recent months, with some reviewers saying the food has declined and gone down in quality, while others have been praising the foods taste and quality. This can be due to different chefs or just a customers overall preference, nonetheless this places Yard House at 3.5 stars.
BJ’s (3 stars):
Similar to Yard House, the variety of reviews truly depends as the months go on. Service has been highly praised, with wait times and servers being seen as the pros of the restaurant, compared to other restaurants that cannot handle or operate well under the pressure of wait times. Food wise, the reviews altered and varied. Some praised the delicious entrees and appetizers, whilst others had opinions on the drinks and alcohol, with some other dishes being commonly criticized.
As much I don’t want to consider a restaurant that can’t even hit 4 stars as a “winner,” for the sake of the article I must declare Yard House victorious in the review category.
Pricing:
Yard House:
When it comes to the appetizers, Yard House doesn’t necessarily come off as reasonable, but they offer some good food at lower prices. Their edamame and sweet potato fries are one of the cheaper items on their appetizer menu, average around $6-$8 for a plate/bowl. Handheld foods, like burgers, sandwiches, and tacos, in my opinion, are priced pretty high. A taco is about $6 (yes one taco), and burgers are $16, with sandwiches being priced about the same. Pizzas are the higher priced handheld item, with a regular round pizza being $18. Main meals, like steaks, noodles, chicken, seafoods, and even salads are some of the higher priced products. Steaks can reach up to $40, chicken plates can hit up to $22, and seafood can average around $22 depending on the type of seafood is on your plate. Salad plates are relatively good when it comes to pricing and size, with a plate being about $14 (with the exception of the Poke Salad being $21). Along with their menu, they offer under 700 calorie meals, gluten-free options, kids menus, and reasonably priced dessert menus.
BJ’s:
Starting off with appetizers, BJ’s has really reasonable shareable meals (with the exception of the bacon jam wings that are $20). With a good variety of options, ranging from wings, nachos, sliders, and even thin-crust pizzas. Handheld foods, like tacos, burgers, and other sandwiches are priced much more reasonably than their competitor. Good quality sandwiches from BJ’s average around $15-$16, with there being a wider variety of flavors and option of sandwich. Burgers are where BJ’s shines, average a price of $12, being a whole $4 cheaper than Yard House. However, the thing that keeps the handheld foods from being beyond greater than Yard House is the price of pizzas. Their signature deep dish pizzas require a lot more dough and ingredients, which lead to an increase they must charge, with a deep dish pizza costing $33. They do offer other thin crust and even gluten free doughs, with thin crust being $15 and gluten free being $23. Pasta plates and salad entrees are some of the popular choices at BJ’s and reasonably priced for their size, average about $21 for a pasta plate and around $18 for a salad entree. Even when it comes to the steak and meat plates, BJ’s smashes the competition, having steaks that don’t even surpass $40. Alongside these plates, there are kids menus, gluten and other allergen sensitive options available on the menu, and even a good dessert menu, serving their famous pizookies.
Between the two, BJ’s takes the cake. Not only are they more affordable on majority of their foods, but they offer more for people with varying tastes, allergen complications, and touch on a wide variety of foods from different cultural aspects. For this, BJs comes in first for food pricing.
Cultural Variety:
To be considered “New American Cuisine,” you must serve all sorts of dishes. There is the traditional burger and wings, but then there is pizza, pastas, noodles, and even soups of all sorts of variety. For this, we will see offers the most diverse offerings when it comes to certain dishes, all the certain types of culture, and just how well these restaurants incorporate everything under the american cuisine name.
Yard House:
With a glimpse over their menu, there are some things that really do stand out. One thing that differs from its competition is the fact that tacos are available. What’s also important about these tacos is they include all sorts of meats and seafoods, even having a korean beef option. Once you get to the entrees, you’ll find a decent amount of plates titled with “korean” on it, mostly under meat options. How truly like korean beef it is, I’m not sure, but it is a good look to diversify the menu to customers. Another big part of Yard House’s menu is the use of ahi in many different dishes, from salads, to meat plates, and even appetizers. Besides this, Yard House is limited when it comes to noodles, pastas, and any other cultural dishes.
BJ’s:
Right off the rip, looking through the appetizer section of the menu, you are met with a plethora of different options. From avocado egg rolls, to potstickers, and even an ahi poke plate, there is already tons of variety from the occasional mozzarella sticks and wings. BJ’s also does well with their pastas, having a dedication section to different Italian bowls and plates. Like Yard House, BJ’s makes great use of ahi in their dishes, including them in their one and only taco dish and in their appetizers as well. The different selection of dishes really shines well from their common place meals, like burgers and pizza, and have many niche options that you may not expect from an “American” restaurant.
Between the two, and without much analyzing or deep diving into each subcategory of the respected menus, BJ’s prevails as a clear winner between the two.
End Result:
A clash between two of the top, and possibly only, American Cuisine restaurants within Chino Hills proved to be one that came down to niche offerings. Yard House, though not topping the competition in food, rivals BJ’s through customer service and overall efficiency and good reviews from customers. Sadly, this is not a battle of friendly hosts and servers, but even then with better food and greater choice, coupled with great hospitality, BJ’s comes out on top as the best “New American” restaurant of the local area.
