Yard House restaurant planning to open in Rosemont
Yard House — the bar/restaurant boasting the world’s largest draft beer selection of more than 100 varieties, along with a menu of more than 100 dishes — is eyeing Rosemont for its next suburban location, officials revealed Monday.
The village board gave zoning approvals for the proposed 7,500-square-foot restaurant with patio to be built in The Pearl District, south of Balmoral Avenue and west of the Tri-State Tollway.
It was already one of the worst-kept secrets around village hall, after trustees last month amended the definition of a “drink” in their municipal liquor code to allow for unlimited sized beers and 6- and 9-ounce pours of wine at bars and restaurants in town.
Yard House, founded in Long Beach, California in 1996, sells so-called “half yard” beer pours, or 32 ounces, at its locations.
While the village has been trying to tee up the redevelopment, Mayor Brad Stephens cautioned Monday the deal hasn’t been finalized.
The village inked a redevelopment agreement with S/Point Ventures, the builder and developer of properties for Yard House operator Darden Restaurants, which also owns sit-down restaurant brands Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and The Capital Grille
But S/Point is still working on a lease with Darden for the Rosemont location, Stephens said.
The plan calls for the village to give the developer the publicly owned land, and the developer to build the restaurant from the ground up. The village will lay a concrete slab after remediating soil compaction issues on the site.
Yard House has been looking to come to Rosemont for a while, and had “casual discussions” with village brass over the last nine months, Stephens said.
At the same time, a deal for the previously announced, automobile-inspired Ford’s Garage restaurant fell through in the fall, prompting Yard House to come back into the fold, Stephens said.
Construction is underway at the neighboring property, where a 25,000-square-foot exhibit space for immersive art experiences is set to open by September or October.
Stephens asked if the Yard House logo could be placed on construction fencing, but was told not to until the lease has been secured.
Officials are aiming for the restaurant to open in early 2026.
With locations in Glenview and Lombard, Yard House is set to open its third suburban location in July or August as part of the Hawthorn Mall redevelopment at 950 Milwaukee Ave. in Vernon Hills.
Another location has been contemplated in Naperville, where city council members debated similar changes to their liquor code a year ago to pave the way for a Yard House at Route 59 and Aurora Avenue. The council limited the 32-ounce beer pour to one per customer, and hours to 10 or 11 p.m.