First Impression

John: Since we haven't done a Dining Duo in about a month, I figured now would be the perfect time to change my look. I've grown a beard, a moustache and I'm now wearing flannel shirts. The great thing about my new look: I fit right in at Yates’s. Well, not right in. Yates’s is a sports pub, and I looked like the Unabomber. Anyway, that's beside the point. Yates’s is a new sports pub that's located on Jones Bridge Road in Johns Creek. It used to be a place called the American Ale House, but things didn't go to well for American Ale House, so they closed their doors. When I walked into Yates’s, I saw a bunch of big flat screen TV's (which is good if you’re a sports pub) and a stage where bands could presumably play. We went on a Thursday. There was a sign that said live music on Thursdays, but we saw no band. On the other hand, the band may not have come on until 9 or 10, as we left around 8:30 p.m.

Tim: The walls inside Yates’s are all black. As the inimitable Andy Bernard would say, I felt like I was looking into my soul. (Or Breech's soul, since he's the Unabomber.) When we got there, there was basically one girl taking care of everyone in the building. She was tending bar, waiting tables and yukking it up with the clientele. I get the feeling that if there had been live music she would have also been playing bass in the band. It was pretty impressive.

John: 7

Tim: 7

Appetizer

John: Since we were at sports bar and since the NFL season starts today (I guess technically it started Thursday, but if you're a Bengals fan like me or a Falcons fan, it starts today), we felt obligated to order a sport's fans favorite appetizer: chicken wings. Chicken wings aren't that hard to cook, a 2-year-old can turn a fryer on. So what I look for is size, and these wings were a pretty good size. Also, the medium sauce we had was definitely home made, which is good because it has a buttery spicy taste too it. But it can also be bad because for the most part, no two batches are ever alike. When we went, the good (size) outweighed the bad. We also had nachos, but I'll let Tim talk about those.

Tim: Just like size matters when it comes to chicken wings, cheese matters when it comes to nachos. And Yates’s nachos had plenty of that. Nachos is another typical bar food dish that's hard to mess up. The only real problem you run into is when the chips get soggy from all the toppings. To prevent sogginess you need either: a) really stale chips, or b) less toppings. Neither of these are viable options if you want to enjoy your nachos. Fortunately Yates’s managed to serve a good amount of toppings and keep the chips from turning into cheesy corn pudding.

Wings: John 7, Tim 7

Nachos: John 6.5, Tim 7

Entrées

John: For our main course, I think we ordered over 10,000 calories worth of food. We went with a Philly cheesesteak, a chili cheeseburger and some fish and chips. First, I'm going to talk about things that bothered me. Our cheesesteak and fish and chips came out together, but we didn't see our burger until about 10 minutes later. By that time, I had almost forgot we ordered it. Plus, the burger was supposed to come with “house made potato chips,” which Tim was pretty excited about. However, there were no chips, only boring everyday French fries. Did I mention that our fish and chips weren't served with tartar sauce. No? Well, they weren't served with tartar sauce.  Now for the good news: even without tartar sauce, the fish and chips were still tasty and it was a pretty nice portion. The cheese steak was huge too. Yate's isn't place where you would expect much from a cheesesteak, but they filled the bun with steak and grilled onions and the cheese was melted perfectly on top. Tim, how was the chiliburger with your boring French fries?

Tim: This is where the supergirl server made her first slip up. Apparently homemade chips were her Kryptonite because we never saw them. The service wasn't overly fast, but I can overlook that because we were at a sports bar, so there were other things to do. But when I don't get chips or tartar sauce when my entrees should have chips and tartar sauce I get a little antsy. Plus the chili cheeseburger wasn't that great. I always have high expectations for chili cheeseburgers because the name has three things that I love all in one. But somehow the whole ended up being less than the sum of the parts.

Burger: John 6.5, Tim 4

Cheese steak: John 7.5, Tim 7

Fish & Chips: John 8, Tim 7

Dessert

John: For only the second time in Dining Duo history, we didn't get dessert. Tim's been trying to watch his waistline lately, so he refuses to eat the sugary goodness known as dessert. Actually, that's not true. Both Melissa and Tim were celebrating birthdays, which meant there were 30 cupcakes and a giant birthday cake back at my place. In case you're wondering, the cupcakes were fantastic; the birthday cake was only so-so. And I think Tim turned 38, but I can't say for sure.

Tim: I'm on board with this new cupcake rage that's going on. It was bound to happen. When human society willingly accepted $5 coffee it was only a matter of time before $7 cupcakes came along. Breech and I are cooking up a way to charge people $20 for pancakes, and I'm pretty sure we're close to a breakthrough. And I'm not 38, but I have peers who are, which isn't a good sign. I'll never reveal my true age, but I'm older than I look and younger than I feel (or something like that).

John: N/A

Tim: N/A

Final Impression

John: Here's the thing, if you're someone who likes go to a sports bar on Saturdays or Sundays and you don't cheer for an in-town team (think UGA, Falcons, Ga. Tech), then Yates’s is probably a good place to go. There's a 99 percent chance you'll be able to see your favorite game on a big screen and if you're lucky, they might give you the audio too. Now, don't go there expecting a four-star meal, because to be blunt, what they do there is bar food. On the other hand, if you're going for a beer or two or three or 10, you can get pitchers of Bud Light, Miller Lite etc, for $10. And if you really want to get fancy, you can get a pitcher of Blue Moon or Yuengling for $12. Oh and let me end with this, although I recommend Yates’s for sporting events, I can't say they're the best place to go for birthdays, right Tim?

Tim: Back in my younger days I used to scour the landscape for places that served cheap pitchers of beer. Draft beer is 90 percent of the reason that I go out of my house to drink, which happens less and less as the years go on. So when I can find a place that serves draft beer at $10 per pitcher, it's a true find no matter how many servers they have or how black the walls are.

John: 6.5

Tim: 6