Yats

Mmmmmmm… Yats. (or «Stay» for my dyslexic friends)
If you’ve never been to a Yats before, expect a rice based dish covered in creamy, cajun sauces. I’ve never had a bad experience at a Yats, including the Avon branch. My dish, the drunken chicken, is full of flavor. I always order an extra side of bread topped with that «orange stuff» (a seasoned, butter substitute that’s a signature of the chain). Can’t go wrong with the crawfish dishes, either. PLUS there are vegetarian options for all my PETA pals.
As far as service goes, I’ve only had positive experiences with the staff there. Friendly, and attentive, they get my order correct and food served quickly. They’re typically calling my name once I’m done filling up my fountain soda.
Yats is a great option if you’re wanting some unique flavor in the Avon (or Indy) area!

In the voice of Jimmy Fallon, «Yats is the best!» They regularly feature at least 2 gluten free menu items (red beans & smoked sausage, white chicken chili). I usually get the half and half. Portions are big enough that you can get one tried and true flavor and one experimental without being too disappointed if you don’t like one. But the best part about each plate is that it comes with toasted french bread — it’s got oil drizzled on it and goes perfectly with scoops of a spicy dish like the jambalaya. Can’t enjoy that anymore due to the gluten, but I can reminisce!
Only reason for 4 stars is that it does seem a bit expensive for what it is (about $ 10 for a plate of rice and beans/​meat plus drink).

This restaurant is one of my favorite place. Their food is so good that I always try something different each time I go. The personal is very friendly and welcome you all the time. Bring your kids as well they will love it. They even have gluten free ad vegetarian option.

I love Yats. As a lover of high-​end fast casual food, Yats has it all for me. I worked at Yats in high school and it has been a long-​term influence on the way I cook. Yats’s food has robust flavors and is made with what I can only think to call «strong» ingredients served over rice. You pick your flavor, whether it’s the restaurant’s iconic Chili Cheese Etoufee with Crawfish, the B&B (Black Beans and Buttered Corn), Gumbo or Chicken Maque Choux and it is served to you over rice and a piece of seasoned garlic bread (or without, if you’re a low-​carber). If you can’t choose, get a ½ and ½! One of my favorite things is that they always have a vegetarian option, and it’s just as flavorful and filling as everything else on the menu.
Real talk — Yats is fast food. I love Yats in part (but only in part) because I love good fast food. Don’t go here if you want a classy night out with bottle service and a waiter who’s wearing a tux. But if you want to do some culinary exploring or just get a filling, flavorful meal with a barely more than a Tenjamin, Yats will never fail to impress.
tl;dr It’s great food. Possibly phenomenal hangover food. It’s cheap. I love this place.

We tried this place out and to be honest I was concerned when I read the menu. I lived in Dallas and we would venture next door to Louisiana for fun trips and work. We have eaten plenty of creole and cajun meals. I have never seen any that included a cream base to all the traditional items. It works though at Yats. We liked what we had but it is far from traditional.

Yats does a great job offering creole food at reasonable pricing. I have tried at least 6 different entrees and been happy with all of them. My personal favorite is the Chorizo Etoufee with chicken. They come with a couple slices of toast with oil. You can also order 2 half portions to make one full entrée if you cannot decide. Definitely worth a stop if you are looking for some creole food without breaking the bank!

My husband and I ate here today and it was so good! I am usually not one to try many new places, but I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to try it. I’m really glad that I did! They offered free samples for anything that we were curious about and they also give you amazing garlic bread along with your meal. I got the chili cheese étouffée and was very pleased with it! I was a little worried that it was going to be too spicy, but it ended up not being spicy at all, which is perfect for me. :-)

Just left there with Carry out. I love the food here. But more importantly I really like the service. The guys behind the counter are always so nice. There is a relaxed feeling that makes it just a great place to go. The ambiance here, the tone, of the restaurant gives it that sweet southern vibe. And did I mention the bread is phenomenal — get extra!

This place is great! We had never been there before and randomly stopped by as we saw they had a bounce house set up outside, which my daughter loves. I met the manager, Quinn, who was incredibly helpful, as were all the staff. They clearly love their food and are interested in sharing that with everyone that walks in the door. It’s rare to find that feeling of welcoming in a fast casual chain restaurant. They even let us sample a number of the dishes before ordering.
I really liked everything on offer, but the White Chili Chicken and Drunken Chicken were definitely our favorites. The food is Cajun, so has a little bit of a kick, but was overall very mild and toned down for Midwest tastes. Prices are very reasonable as well. We’ll definitely be coming here often!

I was a bit skeptical walking into this because I wasn’t sure what to expect but let me tell ya’ the food is amazing. I got the half and half of drunken chicken and chili cheese étouffée. I like both but I prefer the chili cheese étouffée. It’s served over white rice with Cajun garlic bread to sop up all the goodness. I like this place and will be back.

Amazing Cajun style food! They give you free samples to figure out what you’d like and you’ll have a hard time deciding.
If you like jambalaya, or anything in that realm, definitely stop by! Extremely friendly staff too.

It’s ridiculous that it took me this long to finally make it to the Avon Yats. It’s down the street from my house and I think I’ve visited three other Yats locations since this one opened, but not here. I am ashamed…
This location is as awesome as the others — delicious food, a relaxed atmosphere, and laid-​back service. My usual chili cheese étouffée was perfect, as always. I love the flavor and it’s hard to beat a warm, hearty dish like that on a cold, rainy day. I also tried the curry chicken and mushroom étouffée in my half & half. It was good, but not as good as the chili cheese. And of course extra bread. Because it’s amazing.
Does Yats serve authentic Cajun /​Creole food? I have no idea, I’ve never been to New Orleans. But is their food delicious? Hell yes. Check out the Yats in Avon (or any location, for that matter) and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the experience.

Delicious!
Super friendly and super fast service!
Great prices!
A nice taste of Cajun food here in Indy. I love their cajun garlic toast. I love that they will let you sample stuff on the menu before you commit a whole plate of it.
Personally, I could have used a little more spice in the meal, but that’s just me and they do provide a awesome array of spicy sauces and shakers to heat things up.

Everyone is obsessed with Yats. I love Cajun food, so I was pretty excited to try this place. I ordered the Drunken Chicken and it was good — spicy, but not too much. The bread was delicious. The food just wasn’t «wow.»
I would go back and give it another try if it was in a better location, like Plainfield.

We cannot get enough of this place. Their menu is ever-​changing and you can taste anything for free! The favorite is the chili cheese crawfish étouffée. You have to get extra bread also. So delicious. Go there… Today!

Like this west side location! Quick and friendly service, clean and comfortable design, regular Yat’s feel. I always get the vegan white chili. It’s hearty and can be spiced up with one of Yat’s sauces. Always get extra bread!

This Yats is fabulous, and I expect nothing less from them. It sucks that it’s very far far west side, but it’s a start there. Unfortunately the signage is not that great, you have to pretty much know where this Yats is to find it.
However though upon arrival I’m greeted by one of the hipster guys working. Fast service as I walk from door to the counter. The guys deliver your tray of food, aka hot deliciousness, to your table. Guys are walking around bussing after other patrons leave, meanwhile checking in with yourself. Can’t be more consistent than that!

I am not quite sure why everyone raves about Yats.
Since this location is new to Avon, we thought we should give it a try. The atmosphere is pretty neat for this location. The food, however, is nothing to write home about. We ordered three different entrees to try. All three pretty well looked the same… some variation of brown gravy over rice. The meat was very sparse with only a few chunks swimming in each pint. Every dish also had a layer of grease floating on the top. The flavor was unimpressive and lacked the pop of good cajun/​creole. Two of the three entrees were marked as spicy on the menu, and none really had much spice.
With cajun/​creole being one of my favorite styles of food, Yats simply does not make the cut. There is more to cajun cooking than brown gravy over rice. Also, everything is served on styrofoam with plastic utensils. While this may be trying to display a street-​food type atmosphere, this is not environmentally-​friendly. The local appeal of Yats is also diminished at this point since Yats is a chain with 13 locations.
After this experience, I can say I will not return to Yats. There are better, more-​local cajun/​creole restaurants out there.

I love Yats more than any other quick service restaurant. Great food everytime. Fast friendly love it.
If you have not been you have to try it! Please yats come back to Brownsburg.

Yes!!! Yats is finally open in Avon, I am so excited that a business like Yats is showing the West Side some love. I really do hope this location lasts, it is a bit hidden and the sign is not super big and obvious. For those who know Avon, it is in the same strip as Sidelines right near Waffle House.
My husband and I decided to eat out for no reason on a weeknight and headed here for dinner. He’s never been to one and I haven’t been in some time so I was super excited to check out the new location!
It didn’t disappoint. We decided to each get a half & half so we could try a couple each. Food was ready very fast which was nice because we were hungry. We both got the chili cheese étouffée and I got the B&B and he got the Drunken Chicken. The menu changes daily [you can find it on their website] but some things are there every day. We both loved the étouffée [fun fact, étouffée means «smothered» in French] and he wouldn’t shut up about how much he liked the Drunken Chicken. The B&B was just as described, a little spice and a little sweet. It was all very delicious. The hardest part was trying to be patient eating it because it was piping hot. Bread was super good as you expect from Yats and we even tried out the peanut butter pie. Never had that before and it was heavenly. The perfect amount of chocolate and peanut butter.
I am looking forward to more visits and we both agreed that we will have to get take out sometime soon since it would make an easy to-​go and much tastier than fast food.
So West Siders, go check this place out now if you have never been to a different location and if you have before, jump up and down in excitement that you don’t have to drive to 86^th anymore to get this delicious food.