I dined at the Beam
Yard with two family members for dinner on a Wednesday evening in early October
2018. The restaurant is open Tuesdays through Sundays for lunch, dinner,
drinks, and in-between from 11:00 am until approximately 9:00 pm (extended one
additional hour on Friday and Saturday nights, and closing one hour earlier on Sunday
nights). The Beam Yard accepts reservations by telephone; however, walk-ins are
also accepted.
The Beam Yard opened
in summer 2018 on the ground level of the 27,000-square foot main building/clubhouse
of the former Bethlehem Steel Club (in the space previously called the Fairways
Dining Room). The club was incorporated in 1934 with the goal of fostering
athletics, social interaction, fellowship, and technical discussions among its
members who were primarily mid-level executives at the steel company. The
original property consisted of a stone farmhouse on 12 acres, and about 10
years later, the club acquired additional land so they could hire a notable
architect to design an 18-hole golf course. Another 9-hole course was added in
the late 1950s. In 1986, the club was renamed Silver Creek Country Club, and it
operated until spring of 2018, when it was purchased and renovated, including a
return to its (mostly) original name. The golf course was most recently
renovated in 2011, so recent efforts focused on the main dining room and
banquet facilities. Future plans include building “Bistro Street”, which will
enclose an alley in order to build another dining/drinking venue, and
renovating the club’s locker rooms and former bowling alley to house a fitness
and training center.
The spacious Beam
Yard restaurant can seat 170 diners at a time at the bar, at high-top tables
adjacent to the front wall of windows (some of which can be retracted to join
the indoor and outdoor spaces), at dark brown leather-like booths, one semi-circular
booth, or at four semi-booths that occupy the corners of the restaurant. The
showpiece of the room is its large four-sided rectangular bar, over which hangs
a metal framework (reminiscent of a bridge or gantry crane) that holds the
bar’s liquor bottles and several flat-screen TVs interspersed with photos of
old Bethlehem Steel-making machinery/components. A coffered ceiling and pendant
lights create a trendy feel. An adjacent outdoor flagstone patio can accommodate
another 200 patrons at heavy wrought-iron tables topped by terra-cotta colored
umbrellas and matching cushioned chairs. Future expansion plans for the Beam
Yard include incorporating the property’s former Ross Pub. Banquet/event
facilities on the second floor can accommodate over 200 guests in a
high-ceilinged room with huge windows that overlook the patio and fairways; an
adjacent lounge area has a fireplace.
The Beam Yard serves
upscale American cuisine. A variety of small plates, salads,
sandwiches/burgers, and entrees are available, so there are options to suit
everyone’s taste and budget. We each chose to order the restaurant’s crab cake
entrée, plated as either a single or double order; the chef served the dish
with spinach and a choice of starch (basmati rice, mashed potatoes, sweet
potato fries, or French fries). Although we didn’t try the desserts, the
kitchen makes several in-house (including rice pudding and creme brulee), with
others sourced elsewhere (key lime pie, cheesecake, and chocolate lava cake).
We tried a disappointing drink purported to be a spicy margarita, but wasn’t in
the least bit zesty.
We enjoyed our al
fresco dinner on the patio overlooking the 18th hole; we were even
treated to a herd of deer passing through the adjacent golf course just before
sunset.
