Paramus is getting a serious upgrade in the beer department. Yard House — the chain that claims the world's largest selection of draft beer — is coming to Garden State Plaza next summer, taking over the massive former Pinstripes space. A sign advertising the restaurant is already up outside the site, and NorthJersey.com confirmed the news this week.
Let's talk about that space for a second, because the glow-up is real. Pinstripes was the two-story, 30,000-square-foot "eatertainment" complex — Italian bistro meets bowling meets bocce — that opened in February 2024 with a VIP grand opening party, a ceremonial ribbon-cutting with the founder and the mayor, the whole production. Sixteen months later it was over: the company filed Chapter 11 and the Paramus location — its first and only one in New Jersey — shut its doors in 2025. At its peak Pinstripes had 18 locations nationwide. Big room, big ambitions, big debt. Didn't make it.
Now that same 30,000 square feet is getting 100+ draft beers. That's the trade, and honestly it's an upgrade for how people actually go out in 2026. The eatertainment wave had its moment — dinner and bowling and bocce and a thousand corporate events — but a wall of 100 taps in the middle of New Jersey's busiest mall? That's a license to print money.
Here's what you're walking into. Yard House was founded in Southern California in the late '90s with one stated goal: build the largest draft beer system on the planet. They engineered it like they meant it — individual pumps circulating 2,000 gallons of coolant every hour to keep every single pour fresh and perfectly chilled. Darden Restaurants — the Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Ruth's Chris people — bought the chain for $585 million in 2012 and grew it from about 40 locations to more than 80 nationwide.
And it's not just a beer hall. The menu runs deep: burgers, sandwiches, tacos, pizzas, steaks and chops, chicken, seafood, noodles, salads — scratch-made contemporary American food built to stand up to whatever's pouring. This is the rare chain where the kitchen isn't an afterthought to the bar program.
This will be Yard House's fourth New Jersey location, joining Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, American Dream in East Rutherford, and Moorestown Mall in Moorestown. And here's the detail that tells you everything about how Darden sees this mall: Garden State Plaza already houses three of their other brands — the high-end Capital Grille, Seasons 52, and Eddie V's Prime Seafood. Now they're adding the beer hall. Four Darden concepts in one shopping center. They clearly think Bergen County money is the safest bet in the state, and they're not wrong.
My honest take? This is the right tenant for that space. Pinstripes needed you to commit to an experience — dinner AND bowling AND bocce AND a private event, all under one very expensive roof. Yard House just needs you to be thirsty. In a mall that already pulls from half of North Jersey, 100 taps and a real scratch kitchen is exactly the kind of low-friction, high-volume play that works seven days a week. The Pinstripes era was a very expensive reminder that bigger isn't always better. Yard House is betting that better beer is.
No exact opening date yet — "next summer" is the official word. But the sign is up, the deal is done, and Bergen County is about to have a serious new contender for best draft selection in the state. Start training your palate.