Sports bar Yard House moves forward in Water Street Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 2, 2022

An indoor-outdoor sports bar will rise across the street from Amalie Arena in the shadow of Water Street Tampa's skyscrapers.

A development consultant for Orlando-based Darden Restaurants Inc. has applied for building permits to construct Tampa's first-ever Yard House restaurant. It will be 16,406 square feet; 14,700 square feet will be indoors, according to public records.

Tampa's first Yard House is a $3.2 million construction project, according to building records. It was designed by ACS Architectural Construction Services Inc. It will be built on a site that was previously home to Ferg's Live, a temporary sports bar that was developed to entertain hockey fans before the first phase of Water Street opened. Ferg's was demolished in 2019.

Darden is the parent company of Yard House along with several other household-name chain restaurants, including Olive Garden, Eddie V's, Longhorn Steakhouse and Capital Grille.

Yard House is the latest restaurant to commit to Water Street, where the majority of retail space in the first phase is occupied by food and beverage concepts. Wagamama, an international Asian fusion restaurant, and The Pearl, a concept by Ocean Prime parent company Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, will open there.

A spokeswoman for Yard House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. A representative for Strategic Property Partners, the developer of Water Street Tampa, said the developer was referring requests for comment to Darden.

SPP is controlled by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment LLC, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates' investment fund.

There are more than 80 Yard House locations across the U.S. Yard House is known for its beer selection, with more than 100 drafts on tap. Its menu is standard bar fare with some elevated options — think poke nachos and avocado toast juxtaposed with chicken fingers and half-pound burgers.