Looking for Yard House vegetarian options? You have plenty. Yard House prints its own vegetarian and vegan menus and builds much of both around Gardein plant-based “chicken,” so you can order wings, tenders, orange “chicken,” and a rice bowl. Add a Margherita pizza, a Mediterranean Veggie Burger, edamame, and fries, and a vegetarian eats well here. We keep asking what about the vegetarians, so we checked every item against the chain’s June 2026 allergen guide.
A Quick Look at Yard House
Steele Platt, Steve Reynolds, Tom Yelenick, and Bill Wollrab opened Yard House in Long Beach, California, in 1996. They named it for the yard, a beer glass about three feet tall. Every location pours more than 100 beers on tap. Expect burgers and pizza next to poke nachos and lettuce wraps.
Darden Restaurants, the company behind Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, bought Yard House in 2012 for $585 million. Wikipedia counted 88 locations in January 2024, and Yard House now operates out of Orlando, Florida. Darden’s size helps vegetarians in one concrete way. Yard House publishes a nutrition and allergen guide with separate vegetarian and vegan menus, and we built this guide from the version dated June 8, 2026.
Yard House Vegetarian Options: What to Order
The chain defines vegetarian as made without meat, stock, rennet, or gelatin from an animal, though a dish may include dairy or eggs. On those menus, a “Shared Fryer” tag means the kitchen fries the item in the same oil as non-vegetarian food. Here are the regulars, with the swap each one needs.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Gardein “Chicken” Tenders | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes (no ranch, no maple Dijon) |
| Gardein Wings: Whiskey Black Pepper or Lemon Pepper | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes |
| Gardein Wings: Buffalo or BBQ | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes (no ranch) |
| Gardein Wings: Korean Chili Garlic | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ⚠️ Check (not on the vegan menu) |
| Gardein Orange “Chicken” | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes (spicy rice instead of jasmine rice) |
| Gardein Chicken Rice Bowl | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Gardein Mac + Cheese | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ❌ No (cheese) |
| Gardein BBQ Chicken Salad | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes (no cheese, chipotle ranch, or onion strings) |
| Gardein Chicken Nachos | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ⚠️ Check (not on the vegan menu) |
| Mediterranean Veggie Burger | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (on the gluten-free bun) |
| Margherita, Three Cheese, or Truffled Mushroom Pizza | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk in the crust) |
| Edamame (steamed or hot and spicy) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Spicy Za’atar Hummus | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes |
| Guacamole and Chips | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes |
| Jumbo Bavarian Pretzel | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (no beer cheese sauce) |
| Avocado Toast | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (not on the vegan menu) |
| House Salad | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (balsamic vinaigrette, no croutons, no cheese) |
| French Fries or Sweet Potato Fries | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes |
| Parm Truffle Fries | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes (no parmesan) |
| Spicy Rice | ✅ Yes (shared fryer) | ✅ Yes |
| Pinto Beans | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Buttered Jasmine Rice | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (butter) |
| Tomato Bisque | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (not on the vegan menu) |
We took every call in this table from the Yard House vegetarian and vegan menus, valid June 8, 2026. Not every location carries every item, the chain says, so check your local menu before you set your heart on a dish.
Appetizers and Shareables
Start with the appetizers, since Yard House calls most of them vegetarian as is. Steamed edamame and hot and spicy edamame make the vegan menu with no changes, and so do guacamole and chips and the spicy za’atar hummus. Skip the beer cheese sauce, and the jumbo Bavarian pretzel is vegan too.
Dairy eaters get more. Avocado toast, shiitake garlic noodles, Wisconsin fried cheese curds, crispy Brussels sprouts, and the onion ring tower all make the vegetarian list. The kitchen fries the last three in the shared fryer, along with the chips, the hummus, and every Gardein appetizer. Pass on both Caesar salads. Neither one appears on the vegetarian menu.
Gardein and Plant-Based Mains
You get full entrees here, not a plate of sides. Pick from five Gardein wing flavors: buffalo, whiskey black pepper, lemon pepper, BBQ, and Korean chili garlic. Two of them, whiskey black pepper and lemon pepper, are vegan with no changes. Hold the ranch on the buffalo or BBQ wings to make them vegan. Ask for the tenders without ranch or maple Dijon.
Vegans should swap the buttered jasmine rice on the Gardein orange “chicken” for spicy rice. The Gardein chicken rice bowl needs no changes at all. For something heavier, Yard House also makes Gardein mac and cheese, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich, Nashville hot chicken and pancakes, a cobb salad, chicken nachos, and a grilled chicken and avocado sandwich. Every one of them is vegetarian. You can make that last sandwich vegan if you drop the cheese and the lemon basil aioli and ask for the gluten-free bun.
Pizzas, Burgers, and Salads
Three pizzas make the vegetarian menu: the Margherita, the Three Cheese, and the Truffled Mushroom. Skip all three if you’re vegan. Alisa Fleming of Go Dairy Free reported in February 2026 that the crust contains milk, so even a pizza without cheese has dairy.
For a burger, order the Mediterranean Veggie Burger. You get a side salad with it, and it’s vegetarian as is. Vegans should ask for the gluten-free bun, because Fleming reports that both brioche buns contain dairy. You can order the house salad vegan with balsamic vinaigrette, no croutons, and no cheese. Do the same with the Gardein BBQ chicken salad and skip the cheese, the chipotle ranch, and the fried onion strings.
Sides and Desserts
Pick your rice with care. The kitchen butters the jasmine rice, so it’s vegetarian but not vegan. Spicy rice and pinto beans are both vegan, though Yard House marks the spicy rice as shared fryer. French fries and sweet potato fries are vegan as is. Ask for the parm truffle fries without parmesan to make them vegan, and know that the kitchen cooks every fry in the shared fryer.
Four desserts make the vegetarian menu: the Whiskey Caramel Butter Cake, the Oreo Brookie, the Cheesecake Brulee, and the “S’mores” Brownie Meltdown. None of them appear on the vegan menu. Because the chain rules out animal gelatin in anything it calls vegetarian, the s’mores dessert is fine for vegetarians.
A Note on Drinks
This is a beer hall first, with more than 100 taps and a long cocktail list. Most beer is vegetarian. Some brewers and winemakers clear cask ales and wines with fining agents such as isinglass, gelatin, or egg whites. Strict vegetarians and vegans can look up each beer or wine on Barnivore, a free database. Most vegetarians can order from the draft list without a second thought.
What’s Vegan at Yard House?
There’s no guessing, because the chain prints its own vegan menu. These Yard House vegetarian options are vegan as is: guacamole and chips, both edamame dishes, the spicy za’atar hummus, French fries, sweet potato fries, spicy rice, pinto beans, the whiskey black pepper and lemon pepper wings, and the Gardein chicken rice bowl.
More dishes turn vegan with one or two swaps. Get spicy rice with the orange “chicken” and the gluten-free bun on the veggie burger. Skip the ranch on the tenders and the buffalo and BBQ wings, the beer cheese sauce on the pretzel, and the croutons and cheese on the house salad. By its own definition, a vegan dish has no animal meat and no animal by-products, honey included. The company also says it isn’t a vegan restaurant, because its kitchens share cooking and prep space.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Shared equipment is the catch on most of this menu. Yard House says its kitchens share cooking and preparation areas, including grills and fryers, so it can’t guarantee any dish is free of an allergen. It marks every shared-fryer item on its vegetarian and vegan menus, so you can spot them fast.
Watch for dairy in five places: the pizza crust, both brioche buns, the jasmine rice, the parmesan on the truffle fries, and the beer cheese sauce on the pretzel. If you have an allergy rather than a preference, tell your server and the manager. Call Guest Relations at 1-800-272-9864 with allergen questions, and allow up to two weeks for an answer.
Tips for Vegetarians at Yard House
- Download the Yard House allergen guide before you go. You’ll find the vegetarian and vegan menus on the last five pages.
- Start with the Gardein section, where you can order a full entree.
- Say “vegetarian” or “vegan” when you order, then name your swaps: no ranch, no cheese, no maple Dijon.
- Ask for spicy rice instead of buttered jasmine rice with the orange “chicken.”
- If cross-contact worries you, pick edamame, the house salad, pinto beans, or the Mediterranean Veggie Burger. None of them carry a shared-fryer tag.
- Order the veggie burger on the gluten-free bun if you skip dairy.
- For a vegan plate, pair the orange “chicken” and spicy rice with guacamole and chips.
Conclusion
Eating vegetarian here is easy, because the chain prints the answers. Order from the Gardein list, name your swaps, and trade the jasmine rice for spicy rice if you’re vegan. For the wider playbook, read our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse more restaurant guides. If you like this kind of casual spot, see what’s vegetarian at BJ’s Restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, and Buffalo Wild Wings next.
