Yay Beignet and Cajun Bistro

Customer Service was really nice! This Ethiopian meal was descent and spicy The price at checkout was $10 more than advertised / discussed with waitress. I hear the Cajun fish is delicious, I haven't tried it yet. I'll give it another try before writing this beautiful restaurant off.

Catfish was absolutely amazing!! 🤩 This was seasoned and cooked to perfection. Staff was friendly and attentive. Fries were seasoned well but a little too soft for my liking. Red beans and rice was good, it seemed to be missing something though. I would definitely come back for the catfish poboy.

I had high expectations for the beignets, but they tasted a bit doughy and lacked flavor. On a positive note, the po' boy sliders were good. However, the wait for my food was longer than expected, and there was only one server available. Also, finding parking was a challenge due to the ongoing downtown construction.

PSA: My reviews are based solely on my personal experience as a food reviewer and content creator. I visited the restaurant 7/23/24 with great excitement to indulge in their Ethiopian cuisine, as it was marketed as a special for the day. I looked forward to the injera bread, and Doro Wat. Well, to my surprise the only option for the day was beef or vegetarian. I hesitated, but ultimately ordered the beef selection…..I typically order multiple dishes on my first visit, so that I can experience various offerings from the establishment. Here is my detailed review… FOOD- Ethiopian Special- The beef was very tough to chew, which is surprising since the meat preparation is typically stewed for hours until literally falling apart. The potatoes and vegetables were served cold, not even lukewarm. The injera bed was less than desirable. The portions were really small, and I still couldn’t bring myself to finish it. Fish/Shrimp Po-Boy- The presentation was beautiful and huge portions. The bread on the po-boy almost tasted stale, in addition the sandwich was not dressed with any mayonnaise, mustard, sauce or anything. There was a splash of remoulade sauce on the seafood itself, hardly enough to cover the amount of bread. We asked for condiments, and was told they had no mayonnaise, but offered additional remoulade sauce. Red Beans- The texture was completely off, and the seasoning had a flavor I still can’t recognize as anything good. I detected tomato paste or something like that. Just very unpleasant. Chicken Wings- Cooked very hard, and drowning in sauce! The sauce was thick, almost like chunky salsa texture. The taste was not very pleasant. Beignets- They were served hot and fresh! They lacked the pillowy texture of a good beignet, in fact they were a bit chewy in texture. There were 2 sauces offered at the additional cost of $1.50 each. Service- We were immediately greeted upon entering the restaurant, and immediately seated. The young server took our order, but failed to write anything down. As a result, our food came out staggered. My main dish came out 10 minutes before the other items ordered, and then the appetizer was forgotten, but came out towards the end of the meal. About, half way through the meal a very nice man, perhaps the owner came to the table to say hello, and thank us for coming. I opted not to mention the issues with food and service, as I prefer to keep my reviews neutral.

Feels like in Nola, their waiter is one of the friendliest people on earth! This reminds me whenever I was in New Orleans,all the people there were just so friendly. Their Beignet's good.it was served hot , very fresh. I can taste their coffee using dark roasted coffee ☕. Their price is very reasonable esp located in downtown area. It's a good spot to grab light foods with some coffee. Hopefully they will expand their menu more.

The customer service is amazing. I wasn’t completely happy with a dish. I only shared my opinion because the waitress asked. I didn’t share in hopes to have the entree removed from my check but that is what the owner did and served me beignets on the house the customer service is impeccable! The Cajun catfish was well seasoned and fried perfectly. A huge filet as well. The Cajun spaghetti has promise the sauce is full of sausage half moon’s and small breaded fried shrimp. The mango flavored tea was ever so slightly sweet. The beignets were what you would expect lite airy hot crisp exterior and lots of powdered sugar! Such a cute little restaurant can’t wait to get back and try the hot sausage sandwich!!

I have ordered the Ethiopian special three times now and each experience has been different. First trip: the food took awhile to come out but was absolutely delicious. The owner was kind enough to tell us what had been prepared. Our server was fantastic and we were honored with the coffee ceremony. The beignets were a bit chewy. Second trip: service was lackluster but food came out faster and was just as amazing as the first time. Beignets were on point. Third trip: there was some confusion with my resevation but it was sorted out. The service was better but some of the food was served lukewarm. Overall: I really enjoy the food; the flavoring is amazing. I plan to come back again soon.

Excellent Cajun food! The chicken Po Boy was loaded up with pickles and tomatoes on top of the seasoned chicken. The bread was fresh and soft. We really enjoyed the red beans and rice as well. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a meal downtown.

This place is a small, cute spot. The lady that took our order was very nice and helpful with giving suggestions of what to order. I ordered the ragin cajun burger with fries on the side. The burger was really good and filling. We also ordered the beignets and they tasted amazing! They were very soft & fluffy, & would recommend getting them. Definitely check this place out!

Yay Beignet and Cajun Bistro in Macon, Georgia, is an absolute gem that deserves every one of its five stars! From the moment we stepped in, the unassuming exterior belied the culinary delights that awaited us inside. I ordered the fish po'boy, and let me tell you, it was enormous and absolutely delicious. The fish was perfectly seasoned, with just the right amount of spiciness complemented by a subtle sweetness from the pickle. Every bite melded together in perfect harmony, making it one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. My girlfriend had the chicken po'boy, and she was equally impressed. These massive, Fred Flintstone-like sandwiches were a sight to behold and a joy to devour. The Cajun fries that accompanied our po'boys were also fantastic, adding just the right amount of crunch and flavor to our meal. And then came the beignets--oh, the beignets! They were otherworldly, perfectly fried, and accompanied by a heavenly caramel dipping sauce. We were mad at ourselves for only ordering three; they were so good that we wished we had gotten more. The service at Yay Beignet and Cajun Bistro was top-notch, friendly, and attentive. The staff made us feel right at home, enhancing our dining experience even further. We even held conversations with the other patrons, adding to the warm, community feel of the place. Their Ethiopian menu on Tuesday nights, available by reservation only, has us eager for our next visit. The modest appearance of Yay Beignet and Cajun Bistro might be deceiving, but the food and atmosphere are outstanding. We loved every moment and can't wait to return!

A great, cozy little place for breakfast and lunch, with fresh beignets! Terrific service, too!

Stopped by to grab some beignets to go one evening. Restaurant was not very crowded, but it still took a solid 20ish minutes to receive my order. Because of the wait time, I guess the vibe here is more "sit down to order and eat" than ordering and grabbing food to go. Unfortunately, the beignets were not good at all. I was soooo bummed. I lived in New Orleans for a while for work, so I've had my fair share of them. These were very large and very dense/doughy. Ours didn't have any crispness to them. It honestly tasted kind of like a bland piece of lightly fried and reheated French bread. Unfortunately, the worst part was the after taste. It's almost like they were fried along with other seafood/dinner items, or maybe the oil was bad? I'm not sure, but there were 3 of us eating them and we all agreed they just had a very unpleasant after taste. We ended up throwing them away after no one finished a single one. I'm also a little confused by the vibe. It seems like they want to be family friendly but it also feels like they only want to cater to those leaving the bars at midnight? Service was friendly, so I hate to leave such a rough review, but sadly the beignets need a lot of help.

It's Burger Week Macon Ga! And this wonderful Cajun Bistro is tucked in next to Theater Macon. Relaxed atmosphere and great food combined with friendly staff and great owners.

Best catfish and shrimp we have had in this area in a long time. Ingredients were fresh in the poboy and sambuscas. The beignets were like little heavenly clouds! We will be back!

Such nice service and the music was not classical but a cool instrumental that kept me interested throughout dinner. My wife and I went on Ethiopian night for which you need to make a reservation. My wife was surprised it had a spice to it (cut jalapeno's), and I thought it was perfect. You can order the menu vegetarian, which we did, and the portions were spot on with 2 lentils, greens, a potato dish, what I am calling a slaw, and the Ethiopian bread. The chef came out to ask our opinion which is always a nice touch. Wish I remember our waitress name because she was so attentive and smiling, which of course made us smile and feel welcome. Thanks for the great dinner and we'll be back.

The food was excellent! Our server was attentive and gave some great recommendations. We got a chicken Po Boy and red beans and rice. Both dishes were fresh and had the perfect level of spice! Will come back whenever we are in town.

It makes me sad to write this because I was so excited to try this place. The food looked really good and the atmosphere seemed cool and the people seem really nice, however unfortunately we did not have a good experience. We came in on a Friday around 10:15pm. The restaurant had patrons but it didn't seem packed. Myself and my friend placed our orders, myself for 6 beignets and a side of red beans and rice, and him for 3 beignets and a side of shrimp po boy sliders. We waited, and waited and waited. In total, we waited for an hour before anything happened. People who came in after us began to receive their food and we still did not. We asked the employee, who said it should be right out. We continued to wait and were approached by different employees and told different things. One stated that they weren't sure why they were training a new person on a Friday and they aren't sure what happened to our order. We also were told that a big order came in and that they had to rush theirs out and that's why ours was taking so long. With each interaction with an employee, they offered a free dessert while we waited - this didn't make sense because this is most of what we ordered in the first place and we just wanted what we had ordered. It came to the point where we just wanted to get out of there - we had been waiting an hour and had popped in for some food to go. We asked for refunds to be processed. I was asked again what I had ordered, repeated the order, and was brought out a side of red beans and rice almost immediately, which was really confusing. Who seemed to be the owner processed our refund and apologized, and encouraged us to come back for a $50 free credit on our next meal - this was offered verbally and we weren't given a certificate or anything. We appreciate the sentiment, but weren't sure how authentic the word of mouth offer would be if we were to return. Overall we are disappointed with the experience and wouldn't come back ourselves.

Charming decor, huge portions, terrific food, poboy bread to die for, and actual, authentic beignets. Clean, friendly, fun, delicious. This just became one of our Macon faves. Can't wait to return and try more!