The Massachusetts Avenue area of Indianapolis is the home of a lot of trendy restaurants, theaters, art galleries and boutiques. With a growing base of young professionals moving into lofts and condos reconstructed out of old factories and warehouses, the area is the "hip" area of Indianapolis.
I have a new potential dealer who is just off of Massachusetts Ave. and is hoping his new location will mean good business when a 200 unit condo goes up just south of his place on North Ave. I went in to see him recently and we had a nice meeting. It was during the early part of the afternoon so we ended up walking over to Yats Cajun and Creole, a funky little restaurant, for lunch (see map).
Yats takes it's name from a common greeting in Louisiana, "Where y'at?" And the food is truly cajun and creole (see menu). They have every thing from jambalaya to etoufee and a lot in between. And it's cheap. Most dishes are $5.00 and you can get half and half orders for $6.00.
My dealer guest and I both went with Yats' gumbo - a big bowl of andouille sausage, shrimp, shredded chicken, okra and other veggies in a rich brown broth. Yats doesn't sell beer, but a cold one would have been perfect with the gumbo on a warm Indy day. One guy took our order, we waited at another window for the gumbo to come up and two minutes later, there it was.
We sat outside on a picnic table and talked business. My dealer said, "To me, this is fast food. People can go to any fast food joint and pay as much for lunch as this. And this is much better."
He's right. The gumbo was outstanding, some of the best I've ever had.
There are two Yats in Indy - the second one is up in the Broad Ripple area on N. College (see map). Don't know which of the two is the original, but the one on Mass Ave. certainly has a "lived in" look to it.
I'm hoping I get this guy on as a dealer because I really like the Mass Ave. area. And even if I don't get this guy on board, I'll still go back to Yats.
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