Irvine-based Yard House Restaurants LLC, which runs restaurants built around hundreds of beer taps and a classic rock theme, plans to open at Fashion Island in Newport Beach next August.
The restaurant is set take over a spot near Bloomingdale’s that used to house Ozumo restaurant, which closed in late 2005.
Yard House plans to open a 9,000-square-foot restaurant, including a 1,100-square-foot outdoor patio wrapping around the building.
The company had to offer a concession for its nearby restaurant at Costa Mesa’s Triangle Square, said Steele Platt, Yard House founder.
Yard House extended its Costa Mesa lease for five years and is paying more rent, he said.
The Costa Mesa Yard House has done well at Triangle Square, despite years of management turnover at the shopping center. Platt said it finally looks as though the center is in good hands with its new owners, Greenlaw Partners of Newport Beach.
“We’re really excited about Triangle Square having a new landlord now,” he said.
Yard House now has 14 restaurants in six states including Florida and Kansas. The Newport Beach restaurant will make four in Orange County, along with Costa Mesa, Brea and the Irvine Spectrum Center.
The company plans to open 12 more restaurants in the next two to three years, including one in Las Vegas and one at Galleria at Tyler in Riverside.
This year, the chain should have about $120 million in sales, Platt said.
A few years down the road, with more restaurants, he said he may sell the chain to a private equity firm looking to take it public. For now, he said he’s not ready to turn over the reins.
