Yats

As we were thinking of where to go this week, we decided to pick a restaurant that was a bit cheaper than the other restaurants we had chosen already. We decided to choose Yats. For those of you who don't know much about Yats, I will give you a little bit of information on what kind of restaurant it is.

Yats is a small cajun and creole restaurant. This restaurant isn't as fancy as the last few that we have gone too. Basically when you walk in they have their menu wrote on a chalk board. The menu isn't always the same. It changes from day to day. Yats makes their food a bit faster than the previous places as well. If you don't know what you exactly want, they will give you samples the different menu options, which a few of us did.

So after you decide what you want you can do a half plate or full plate. And if you want to mix it up a bit, you can order two different half orders of something. A full plate cozts $5:50, no matter what you got. Plus you get two slices of bread. If you want more bread, only $0.50.

Some of the food options that we ate there would include: Red Beans and Rice with Sausage, Chicken Maque Choux, & Chicken Creole. These were just a few of the things that we had there. There usually is only like 4 or 5 choices on the menu for that day. Most of us got a combination of the same thing. We also did the half and half plates so that we could try more than just one menu item.

Everyone seemed to enjoy their foods and as always, we were sharing what we had gotten to see if we liked something else better. Yats is a smaller restaurant, so the seating fills up fast. After our dinner, we all decided to go out and enjoy a movie together since we were out downtown already. We went to the movie Valentine's Day...and yes the guys went to it too. It was nice to extend the meal to a nice movie afterwards and enjoy each other's company a bit longer.

So if you are wanting something on the cheaper end, yet very good to eat and in the mood to try something a little different, then you should defintely check out Yats. I would highly recommend this place.

Forty Five Degrees

Good morning everyone from the 900 block of North Harrison Street! This weeks dinner was up to me, and I was thinking either a Japanese Steakhouse or Sushi Bar. I decided to do some research via indymetromix. I found the Japanese Steakhouses were a little pricey, so I decided on a Sushi Bar. The first Sushi place I found was Forty Five Degrees, and it fit our price range. Needless to say when you are lackadaisical in your research and pick the first place you see, sometimes you get more than expected.

Forty Five Degrees was another unique dining experience for The Tuesday Night takeoverers. "Forty Five° was created in order to bring a new angle to the dining and nightlife scene on Indy's most popular angled street, Massachusetts Avenue." We were missing Laura (Laaaaars) on this excursion, but we did our best not to let it hold us down.

Like every Tuesday Night Takeover we immediately ordered some appetizers. Luke got his seafood fix in with some shrimp cocktail. Aaron ordered some edamame. Beth and Wyatt tore down some spinach artichoke dip. Finally, I beasted some crab cake caper.

The real reason this restaurant was selected was for its wide selection of sushi. Big A, myself, Heath & Ashley, Beth and Wyatt all dug into some sushi. Heath was a sushi virgin, so he got to pop his cherry. According to Google Buzz, on Friday, February 12, at 12:53 Heath says, "I want to try some more sushi." Fortunately for the non-sushi people they boost other options beside sushi. Luke enjoyed some creamy Cajun pasta (I think) and Sarah some honey ginger salmon.

After dinner a few of us decided to go down the street to a pub to enjoy a couple extra beverages. Another hour of each other's presence definitely added to the evening.

All-in-all I think we really enjoyed the food, and each others presence. We also got a little culturized at the same time. If culturized is even a word. If your ever in the mood for some sushi I would recommend this place. I would also recommend being out of there by 9 PM.

Mama Corolla's

After having Middle Eastern food the first week and Spanish-style dining the second, Sarah and I decided to go for an Italian restaurant for week number 3. After deciding our genre, we both came to the decision that Mama Corolla's was the place for us. Mama Corolla's is on 54th street and the Monon Trail, which is between College Ave. and Keystone Ave. The building that houses Mama Corolla's was originally built as a model home for the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood back in the early 1900s, and according to the description is built in the Mediterrean stucco design with Spanish and Italian style mixed in. Over the years it was many different businesses, including a glass shop, until it finally became the restaurant it is today.

After parking in back, you walk into the small bar/lounge area. As soon as you open the back door you are immediately engulfed in the wonderful smell of garlic and other Italian herbs being used in the various dishes. Those of us who showed up a little early sat at the small bar and had a glass of wine while we waited for the entire party to show up to be seated. Mama Corolla's does not take reservations, so all tables are first come first served.

Once we sat down, we ordered a variety of appetizers, ranging from a wonderful bruschetta, to fried ravioli, steamed mussels and mushrooms. We also were given Italian bread and dipping oil to start off with. The appetizers were delicious and were devoured rather quickly by the table. The entree options were quite appealing as well, as we got a wide variety amongst our group of nine. We had the special, which was bacon wrapped shrimp on a bed of angel hair pasta (served with Italian weeding soup), shrimp scampi, seafood pasta, pasta with clams, pasta carbonara, chicken parmesan and other pasta-based dishes. There also were veal and steak options, but there were only 9 of us! The entrees were wonderfully tasty and filled us all to the brim, but a few of us had to try some dessert. We had tiramisu and chocolate cheesecake, which, despite our full stomachs, were devoured rapidly.

The only negative we found was the difficulty the waitress had in dividing our bills, but, after some deliberation and family conversation, we solved it.

So if you are in the mood for Italian and in the Broadripple neighborhood, we would recommend Mama Corolla's.