When you hear the name Yazoo, craft beer is definitely going to come to mind. But they also have one of the best patios around, and now Grillshack has opened up inside the Yazoo Taproom and is serving up a mean burger! I went to check it out as part of my assignment to find the best burgers in town!
Gone are the days of having your burger without a beer to wash it down. Yazoo owner Linus Hall told me, "There are no restaurants within walking distance anymore, and the number one thing our customers were asking for was more food options."
Hall knew enough people in the food business to know that it wasn't for him, so he went in search of someone who really knew what they were doing. A mutual friend introduced him to Steve and Susan Richter, and the partnership was born.
"We serve the same burgers and fries we have at our other locations," Richter said.
What's the secret?
Grillshack makes a very simple burger and Richter says there aren't any secrets. They use the very best beef they can find, from Bear Creek Farms in Thompson Station. Their bread is made by Charpier's Bakery, and they make all of their fries themselves.
"You can see the kind of potatoes we're dealing with," Richter joked. "The very biggest potatoes, a complete lack of portion control."
You can add bacon or grilled onions, but outside of that, they just focus on making the best product possible.
What's happening at Yazoo?
Their 20th anniversary series is available in Middle TN as well as in Wisconsin!
Linus Hall’s love for making (and drinking) craft beer led him to open Nashville’s first production brewery since prohibition.
They opened their doors in October 2003 in the historic Marathon Motor Works building, and started by self-distributing kegs of Pale Ale, Dos Perros, Spring Wheat, and Onward Stout to local bars and restaurants, gaining an enthusiastic local following in the process.
They quickly replaced their Spring Wheat with the now popular and award-winning Hefeweizen, and started bottling thier beer in 2005. Other local favorites like the Sly Rye Porter and Hop Project IPA rounded out the line-up of beers.
In 2010, Yazoo moved to the Gulch, one of Nashville’s most active neighborhoods. This allowed them to add a new 40-barrel brewhouse and room to produce more beer. They continued to grow enough that in early 2018, Linus Hall announced plans to move the taproom and brewery to the brand new 6.5 acre campus north of downtown – where they continue to this day.
Yazoo continues to be an independently owned and operated brewery – Linus and Lila Hall maintain 100% ownership and direction of the brewery, and you can frequently find Linus tinkering with something in the production facility 5-7 days a week!
They've expanded their taproom hours to match the hours of Grillshack.
- MONDAY – 11AM – 9PM
- TUESDAY – 11AM – 9PM
- WEDNESDAY – 11AM – 9PM
- THURSDAY – 11AM – 9PM
- FRIDAY – 11AM – 10PM
- SATURDAY – 11AM – 10PM
- SUNDAY – 11AM – 9PM
Yazoo Taproom is located at 900 River Bluff Drive in Madison. The also have one of the best patios in town - and it's pet friendly, so bring the kids and the pets!
For more information on the latest from Yazoo, visit www.yazoobrew.com
Place your burger order at Grillshack.net - they only need about 8-10 minutes notice before you're chowing down! They have locations in East Nashville and Germantown in addition to the Yazoo Taproom location. Check out their full menu here.
If you've got a favorite burger in town that I might not know about - hit me up at nathan.wilburn@newschannel5.com
