Yard House, which now operates nine locations but will soon be operating 16, says the new restaurants scheduled to open in 2006 will be in Brea, CA; Kansas City, KS; Glendale, AZ and Las Vegas, NV. The Hawaii restaurant is planned for Waikiki on the Island of Oahu.

Founder and CEO Steele Platt says the chain's goal has always been to open three to four units per year in lifestyle centers where the area is populated by young families, professional couples, and upscale singles. The focus of the company's growth plan is to expand "at a steady rate," he says.

Founded in 1996, Yard House calls its concept upscale yet casual, featuring an extensive menu and one of the world's largest draft beer systems. Each location features an island bar, a transparent keg room containing more than 600 barrels and some 1,000 gallons of beer, and between 130 and 250 beers on tap, depending on the location.

In addition to the nine Yard House restaurants now in operation and the four new restaurants announced Thursday, the company had previously announced plans for a pair of Phoenix-area restaurants and a Yard House in Palm Beach Gardens, FL that will expand it to 16 units in seven states. Company revenue, which reached more than $60 million in 2004, should exceed $80 million by the end of this year and to more than $120 million by the end of 2006, Platt says.

The company is scouting for locations in Murrieta, Riverside, and Marina del Rey, all in California, as well as in Gilbert, AZ. It expects to sign leases for those locations by the end of the year.