Yard House Restaurants, USA, Wins Two Industry Awards for Its Extensive Beer List; Editors of Nation's Restaurant News and Cheers Magazine Laud Growing Company.

Lifestyle Editors/Business Editors/Food Writers

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 2004

Yard House Restaurants, USA, the parent company of the Yard House, a collection of upscale eateries with six Southern California locations as well as a single Denver unit, is the recipient of two prominent industry awards. Recent accolades include the 2004 Cheers Excellence Award for "Best Beer Program/Independent," as well as the Beverage Innovation Award for the "Best Beer List" from Nation's Restaurant News.

In order to be considered for the Cheers Excellence Award, a restaurant must have been in business for three or more years and have less than five units within a single geographic region. Other considerations include innovation, training, merchandising, menu concept, previous recognition and awards, creativity, operating efficiency, sales and profitability. The Yard House successfully met all of the criteria set forth by the editors. Accepting the award on behalf of the company were Harald Herrmann, president and chief operating officer, and Kip Snider, corporate beverage manager. The pair also participated in a panel discussion on "Better Beer Profits through Technology" at the magazine's 7th Annual Cheers Beverage Conference held near the company's headquarters in Irvine, California.

Steele Platt, founder and chief executive officer of Yard House Restaurants, USA, accepted the Beverage Innovation Award from Nation's Restaurant News this past March during the annual Nightclub & Bar Association's convention in Las Vegas. The editors selected Yard House Restaurants for its extensive and interesting list of beers, as well as for its unique delivery and presentation. The restaurant, which boasts anywhere from 130-250 taps of beer depending on the location, features a signature oval bar where an assembly of tap handles are prominently displayed. Nearby is a glass-enclosed keg room, where hundreds of barrels of beer are kept properly chilled before being transported to the oval bar via an intricate network of steel and nylon tubing. Guests can order beer by the yard, which are served in three-foot high glasses complete with stand, as well as in half-yard containers and traditional pint glasses.

"We're extremely honored that our beverage program has been recognized by both of these highly respectable trade publications," said Platt, who was recently profiled in Entrepreneur Magazine. "We always knew the idea of having the world's largest selection of draft beer was innovative, but to have some of the top industry leaders recognize our efforts is by far the highest compliment we could receive."

Yard House Restaurants, USA, ranked #13 by Restaurant Hospitality as among the nation's 50 Fastest Growing Full Service Chains, was also named a Hot Concept! by Nation's Restaurant News in 2002. Other accolades include being ranked among the nation's Top 100 Independent Grossing Restaurants by Restaurants & Institutions Magazine, as well as being recognized as a Concept of Tomorrow by Restaurant Hospitality. The Los Angeles Business Journal has also ranked the Yard House as the third-highest grossing independent restaurant in Los Angeles County.

The Yard House features six Southern California eateries, as well as a single unit in Denver, Colorado. Next month the company will open its eighth restaurant in Glenview, Illinois, 20 miles north of Chicago, and will add another Southern California location later this fall along historic Route 66 in Rancho Cucamonga, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.