Jacaranda Yard: from produce store to restaurant and casino
We fill an old produce store just off Prince Street, where grain sacks once stacked to the rafters and the yard out back loaded drays instead of parking cars. Six tables now, a house dealer at each, euchre and five hundred running most nights. Sit down and you'll find points on the scoresheet and nothing else — the jacarandas out front only drop their colour once a year, but we run the tables the same every week of it.
Nobody deals their own hand at Jacaranda Yard — that's the one rule the room has never bent, and every other habit here follows from it.
Marion Doyle's grandfather weighed grain in this building for the better part of forty years; she's the one who cleared the floor and put six card tables where the sacks used to sit. We kept her name off the sign, but regulars still call table four "Doyle's corner" because the old grain hoist still hangs over it.
We deal every table ourselves, so nobody brings their own pack and nobody logs in from home to join — there's no app, no stream, no version of this room anywhere but here. We keep a counter along one wall pouring tea, coffee and something cold; there's no kitchen, and there never was one — the merchants who built the place weighed grain, not dinners. Eighteen and over, every open night.
Marion
Cleared the floor and put the first table down herself.
The store
Timber floors, iron roof, the old grain hoist still bolted overhead.
The tables
Six felt tops, house dealer, chips worth points and nothing more.
The counter
Tea, coffee and something cold, served the length of one wall.
Our kitchen
What the yard kitchen's serving
The kitchen at Jacaranda Yard runs independently of the card tables — a short menu, cooked fresh each evening.
For dinner: tomato soup, then chicken parmigiana.
For dessert, pavlova. A dinner-only table is a separate booking from the cards.
Tomato soup
To start.
Chicken parmigiana
House-made.
Pavlova
With seasonal fruit.
Ask away
Practical questions, before you visit
How do I get to Jacaranda Yard?
We're one street back from the river, on Prince Street — the free car park two blocks toward the water is the easiest option.
Is there parking nearby?
Yes — free parking two blocks toward the river, and metered spots right on Prince Street if you're not staying long.
Can I pay by card, or cash only?
Card only at the counter — we stopped taking cash for chips a few years back to keep the float simple.
Do you check ID for everyone, even regulars?
Every time, regulars included — eighteen and over is the one rule we never bend.
Is there a cover charge to get in?
None — walk in, show ID, and find a seat. The only cost is whatever chips you buy at the counter.
A few frames
Jacaranda Yard, corner by corner
The week
Pick your night, we'll have a table ready
Night
Doors
Leading game
Monday
Closed
Closed for the week
Tuesday
6:30 pm
Friendly poker, no buy-in
Wednesday
6:30 pm
Euchre pairs
Thursday
6:30 pm
Crib and canasta
Friday
6:30 pm
Five hundred
Saturday
6:30 pm
Bridge and mixed tables
Sunday
Closed
Closed for the week
Find the yard
Come and find us on Prince Street
Where we are
61 Prince Street, Grafton NSW 2460
Phone and email
+61 2 6642 7519 · info@jacarandayard.com
When we open
Tuesday to Saturday, 6:30 pm – 12:30 am
House rules
What's expected of anyone who takes a seat
Eighteen and over, always — we check photo ID at the door and sometimes again at the counter.
Chips are points, not cash; we never exchange either one for the other, ever.
No online tables, no app, no livestream — we deal every hand in this room and nowhere else.
Our house dealer settles any dispute at the table; there's no appeal beyond that.
Seats go to whoever's standing closest to an empty one — no reservations, no exceptions.
Keep the phone on silent at the table; the yard gets loud enough without a ringtone added.
We pour tea and coffee at the counter, not table-side, mid-hand.
A seat left empty through a full hand may go to someone still waiting.
Around the felt
Pick a casino table, any table
Euchre pairs off two tables most nights, five hundred takes a third, and whatever's left runs canasta or a patient game of bridge by the window.
We sit a house dealer at every table, so the shuffle's never in question and the score's never argued past a second recount.
Friendly poker runs with no buy-in on a quiet Tuesday — the kind of table where nobody's kept score past the first hour anyway.
Six tables
Spread across the old store floor, one game apiece.
House dealt
Staff shuffle and score, so nobody plays two roles at once.
No buy-in
Friendly poker asks nothing of anyone at the table.
Before you sit down
Know these four things before your first hand
♞BringPhoto ID — the door keeps a simple eighteen-plus check, nothing more.
♜LearnAsk any host for a two-minute rundown of euchre or five hundred before the first hand.
♝Buy inChips are bought at the counter and only ever add up to points on the night.
♛StayThere's no cover charge and no requirement to play every round — the yard is yours till close.
None of this is complicated — it's just the handful of things regulars wish someone had mentioned on their first night here.
Ready for a hand?
Take a seat at Jacaranda Yard this week
Six tables and a house dealer are open most nights of the week — walk in, show ID at the door, and find a seat. No booking, no app, nothing online.
Nothing on jacarandayard.com can actually be played — the games only exist at 61 Prince Street, and this notice is the only age-gated part of the site.
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