Yats — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Impression: This is a new location for Yats, previously it was further down Mass Ave and for some reason they left their location. Its a normal restaurant with a lot of seating space, but it doesn't have the same "flair" as the old location, in fact its downright boring. With fresh eyes though, this location is a nice little restaurant with ample seating and you can smell the cajun creole scents hit you as soon as you walk in (in a good way, mostly).

Pros: The food is good. It sometimes is super spicy and sometimes not, depending on the dish you order. Of course you can always make it more spicy with some tabasco. The flavors are unique and pleasant on the palate. Your breath will smell bad afterwards.

Cons: We were served food on styrofoam plates. Thats stupid. Seriously? No, get rid of that. You are on Mass Ave.. a cultural center in Indianapolis and you are serving food on styrofoam plate???? Whoever thought that was acceptable should be embarrassed and ashamed of themself. Also, the portions are about half of what they used to be. I attended this restaurant with 4 other people and we all agreed the size was significantly smaller. Both the use of cheap styrofoam plates and smaller sizes have chased me away as the price point did NOT change. So now you get less for the same cost. Less isn't always bad, but I was still a little hungry after I was finished (no, I'm not overweight and I eat proper portion sizes).

Conclusion: I don't know what happened. This restaurant used to be delicious, eclectic, fun, and your portion size was big. Now it screams of a cheap chain. I'm so disappointed with what happened that I have no reason to return. The food is good, but I found another cajun location where the portion sizes are actually adequate and they use re-usable dishes (read: real plates and silverware). I used to love this place, now I'm just disappointed.

Great for: small groups, people who want a taste of creole but don't mind still being hungry afterwards

Note to Owner:...

I’ve been a big fan of Yats for years—so much so that my husband and I had them cater our wedding rehearsal back in 2018. When we moved out of state later that year, Yats was one of the local restaurants we missed the most. We’ve visited Indy a few times since then and always make it a point to come back to Yats. So I was especially disappointed in the experience we had this last time.

I was really craving Drunken Chicken, which is what I always get when I go to Yats, so I was bummed when I saw they were out of it. I’ve been so obsessed with Drunken Chicken for all these years that I had no idea what any of their other dishes even tasted like, so I asked if I could sample another dish. In the past, being permitted to sample Yats dishes had always been allowed. They come in big batches from an offsite facility anyway, so in a way, it’s a lot like an ice cream shop, where they can easily give you a tiny spoonful to try without it requiring any additional food prep from staff. So I was surprised when the guy at the counter said that they don’t do that. “Oh really?” I asked without thinking. I was genuinely confused. Then he dug in: “You can’t try the food before ordering it at other restaurants, can you? Why would we let you do that here?” The implication being that I was unreasonable for even asking. Feeling like I was being gaslit, I sat in stunned silence. I was grateful then when my husband politely chimed in with, “well it’s just that they used to do that here all the time.” The guy behind the counter just shrugged and walked away.

I’m not sure what that was all about, but it smelled like misogyny. I went across the street and got a spicy cubano at...

I went to the Mass ave. location for lunch today and had a terrible, embarrassing experience. I have been a loyal customer of the College Ave. location for over ten years, but I was on a job near the downtown location so I gave it a try. I am a young black man and I work construction, I brought another guy I work with who was also black, and dirty from work like me. The young blonde guy behind the counter acted like he didn't even want to serve us. When I ordered my own food, (a half and half with extra bread, and a drink for myself and my friend) this guy actually sneers and says "are you sure you can afford it?" I may not look like much, but I guarantee I make three times in a week than that creep. I then waited on my food for 10 minutes before I asked where it was, wherin the employee smugly says that he forgot to put the order in. I hate to think what he did to my food before it came out, but after another 10 minutes I had a pile of bland, reheated slop that pales in comparison to the mother store. Joe needs to get a handle on what is going on at this store, this isn't the first accusation of racism. No reason a working man should feel uncomfortable downtown trying to eat unpretentious grub. Lots of construction going on, get your...