I am tempted to make this my shortest review yet by simply saying this: Yats is the best restaurant ever. Period. That being said, I don’t think I can resist this opportunity to gush over the incredibly good food and reminisce on the many, many meals I have enjoyed there.

Yats is my favorite restaurant, hands down. Yats specializes in Cajun-Creole food, and has been my go-to place for a quick bite to eat in Indianapolis for almost a decade now. For people located in and around Indianapolis, Yats is probably a staple in your diet, but for me it is food that I crave weekly and only get to eat once or twice a year. When I visit Indy, I try to go as many times as possible, often buying the stuff by the quart to freeze and bring home with me! Fortunately for my waistline and wallet, the food is even healthy and super affordable! For those of you with picky eaters in the family, they also offer rice with cheese and/or beans for children…I’m sure adults could get it too if they really won’t branch out.

If you’re not familiar with “Cajun-Creole” food, think spicy (not necessarily hot-spicy, but lots of spices) sauce + beans + veggies and/or meat. This is not just any beans and rice joint though, the food is out of this world. The menu even has a vegetarian section and regularly features my favorite dish of all, the B ‘n’ B. I cannot tell you with any certainty where the name for this dish came from, but it is a perfect balance of spiciness and sweetness with black beans, big chunks of tomato, and lots of yellow sweet corn in a divine sauce. They also have an incredible Succotash and, for mushroom fans out there, they have a killer Spinach and Mushroom Etouffee, and several surprising and tasty versions of chili. I’m so in love with the B ‘n’ B that if it’s on the menu I order it without even looking at the rest of the menu, but this was a haven of my high school years and even now walking in there I almost always run in to a familiar face.

B&B

                    Maque Choux

My reasons for Yats run even beyond the stupendous food because the walls are bright yellow, the menu is on a chalkboard and there is art, clutter, and Mardi Gras party favors all over the place. Just walking in the door makes my day instantly better. Writing this just before having a blasé dinner of tortelini and steamed broccoli is, retrospectively a bad idea, but for those of you close enough to go grab some, enjoy it for me!