Yard House with Matt Besser

"Yard House with Matt Besser" is Episode 124 of *Doughboys*, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Yard House with Matt Besser" was released on October 5, 2017.

## Synopsis

**Jockdoughberfest 2017** kicks off as Matt Besser (Upright Citizens Brigade, *improv4humans*) returns to review sports bar and restaurant, Yard House. Will this chain get a touchdown, or fumble at the 5 yard line? Plus, stories of childhood sports trauma, and a contentious edition of Snack or Wack.

## Nick's intro

With a name like Steele Platt, you might expect an '80s pro wrestler or a ski-movie antagonist, but he's actually the founder of perhaps the chain-restaurant industry's biggest 21st-century success story.

Platt first rose through the ranks of the hospitality business in Denver before moving out west to sunny SoCal in the mid-'90s for a fresh start. In 1996, while tending bar in nearby Huntington Beach, Platt spotted a 'For Lease' sign on a property in Long Beach's waterfront Shoreline Village neighborhood. He recruited a trio of investors to begin an upscale sports-bar concept that centered on size: large footprint, giant menu, and its pièce de résistance, a staggering 250 beer taps served ice cold in knee-high glassware.

Coming on the cusp of the gastropub trend, the restaurant also emphasized quality - its higher-than-average-priced menu encompassing both traditional pub fare and more daring items with an Asian-fusion influence.

The Shoreline Village location was a local sensation, helped along by the gentrification of the LBC's downtown area, as well as the opening of the nearby Long Beach Aquarium. By the year 2000, Platt's eatery boasted the third-highest per capita sales in the entire restaurant industry. The single restaurant was grown into a chain, quickly expanding across California and then throughout the U.S. west of the Mississippi, with expansive real estate secured for every dining space.

In a 2011 interview with *Palm Springs Life*, Platt, a classic-rock fanatic, claims to have personally curated the playlist for the restaurant chain's in-house music for fifteen years. That streak would end in 2012 when he sold his chain to goliath restaurant group, Darden, owners of the Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, for $585 million. Now that's large.

Also large? The place that he enjoys his retirement: a 98-foot yacht named Your Beer Money.

This week on *Doughboys*, we kick off **Jockdoughberfest 2017**, a month of sports-themed restaurants, with the first player on our roster: Yard House.

## Gatorade Jug rating

For **Jockdoughberfest**, the ratings are not forks, but Glacier Freeze Gatorade Frost jugs.

* Spicy Jambalaya
 Mike Mitchell
* House Honey Amber Ale
* Nashville Hot Chicken
 Matt Besser
 shared
* Classic Sliders

The Doughboys mostly loved the Yard House food quite a bit, but felt it failed on the 'sports bar' yardstick being used for Jockdoughberfest.

## Snack or Wack

In Snack or Wack, The Doughboys have a snack and rate it either 'snack' or 'wack.'

For this episode, they try the Jelly Belly BeanBoozled Jelly Beans (4th edition), which are a mix of popular flavors and crazy, gross ones. For example, the blue beans can either be "berry blue" or "toothpaste," and you don't know what you'll get until you put it in your mouth.

They all hated the experience, which seems to be the point of the beans, to be fair.

They blame Yusong and put all jelly beans into the #HallofWack.

 Mike Mitchell
 Matt Besser

## #hashtags

* #ArmenForAllSeasons vs. #FarMen / #ArmIn vs. #ArmOut
* #JellyBoo vs. #ImWrong

## Related Episodes

* 125. ESPN Zone
* 126. Medieval Times
* 127. The Great Shrimp Off
* 301. Yard House 2
* 124. Yard House

## Photos (via @doughboyspod)

Poke NachosSpicy JambalayaNashville Hot ChickenClassic Sliders with FriesClown Shoes Mango Kolsch and a glass of waterThe Spoonman and a Yard of beer