Yard House > Freakin' Frog (a comparison of two Las Vegas bars for beer lovers)

I was in a discussion recently about which bar is better, the Yard House or the Freakin' Frog?

We've been to both at least a half dozen times each and I think the Yard House is clearly better.

Selection: Both the Yard House and the Freakin' Frog court beer lovers by advertising the wide variety of beers available.  The Yard House advertises that they have "the world's largest selection of draft beer".  This is not true for the Las Vegas location, which only has 138 unique beers on tap, because my father and husband found a bar in Seattle that has ~180, but perhaps it is true for the chain as a whole (it has about 2 dozen locations around the US).  The Freakin' Frog specializes in bottled beer and claims to have the largest beer selection in the Western US with more than 750 bottles.

The problem is, the Freakin' Frog does not have as many beers as they claim they have.  They may have 750 different kinds of bottled beer listed on their MENU, but they certainly don't ever have that many IN STOCK at any given time.  At least half the times we've been there we've been told that at least one of the beers we wanted to order was out.  Whereas the Yard House has only run out of a beer on us once.

Prices: The staff at the Freakin' Frog also likes to play games with the prices.  You order a beer priced at $6 on the menu and they tell you that they're almost out of it so the price is double the printed price, or they suggest a $20 beer instead.  Whereas the prices at the Yard House are fixed.

Taste: Draft beer usually tastes better than bottled beer.  It's usually fresher, especially when the bottled beer in question has a visible layer on dust on the bottles, as is the case with many beers at the Freakin' Frog.  So the Yard House wins on this too.

Food: The Yard House also has much better food and a wider variety of food, from typical bar food (burgers, pizza, etc.) to gourmet appetizers and seafood dishes.  The Freakin' Frog just has bar food.  Everything we've eaten at the Yard House has been very very good -- tasty with excellent presentation -- whereas the food at the Freakin' Frog is just meh.

Happy Hours: The Yard House has great happy hour specials: $3.50 pints and 1/2 off most appetizers Monday-Friday 3-6pm and Sunday-Wednesday 11pm-2am.  The Freakin' Frog also has a happy hour from 3-7pm but I don't remember it being anything special and it's only on a few of their beers.

Music: Which bar has the best music depends on whether you like loud live shows by crappy local bands or not.  If you do, then Freakin' Frog is your place, because they host them often.  The Yard House has piped-in rock music.

Atmosphere & Clientèle: The Yard House is brand new, sleek and shiny, with warm lighting.  They have outdoor seating available.  The crowd seems to be mostly 20's-40's and is a mix of singles, couples, and groups.  The Freakin' Frog is your typical small hole-in-the-wall bar.  There were never that many other people there when we've been there, but I've heard it draws a lot of UNLV students because of its location, as well as older beer snobs.  (The Freakin' Frog also has a members-only whiskey attic upstairs that draws an older, more affluent crowd.)  Both bars have TVs -- the Yard House has more TVs, always tuned to sports, whereas the Freakin' Frog bartenders play movies.

Location: Which location is better depends on where you're coming from, of course.  The Freakin' Frog is right across the street from UNLV so if you're a student it's ideal.  If you're coming from The Strip, start at the MGM/New York New York/Excalibur/Tropicana intersection and travel 2 miles east on Tropicana, then turn north on Maryland and it will be on your right.

The Yard House is in the new upscale Turnberry Town Center Mall, on the southwest corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Sunset, about a mile and a half south of Mandalay Bay at the south end of The Strip.  It's right next to the awesome new Rave Motion Pictures movie theater, so you can sober up in a movie afterwards if you drove.

Conclusion: If you want to pay $20 for an obscure beer that may or may not be in stock while listening to a loud crappy local band and don't care about the quality of the food, then you might prefer the Freakin' Frog.  I think everyone else would like the Yard House better.  If you're a beer-loving tourist from out of town, and don't have anything like this at home, then both are probably worth a visit, but as a local I think the Yard House is better as a regular place for dining/drinking out.

Comments

[Eric]

While I agree draft beer is better tasting, I have wonder about a place like the Yard House....

That is, if you have a keg of some obscure beer, just how fresh can it be by the time you've had it on site for a couple of weeks?

[Jacqueline]

The Yard House is always packed, so I doubt they have trouble turning over their inventory. Plus the staff suggests beers to people so they can always just suggest whatever they want to get rid of. :)