When Sagar Tamang arrived in Evansville in 2016 to join his uncle Pash, he couldn't find a single place in town serving the Himalayan food he grew up on in central Nepal. Three years later, he opened his own restaurant to fix that. Today, Yak & Yeti has grown from a single storefront on South Green River Road into a three-location chain spanning Indiana and Kentucky.
Tamang's path to the restaurant business started far from southern Indiana. He moved to Anchorage, Alaska, in 2009 before eventually making his way to Evansville, according to Evansville Living Magazine. Once in town, he partnered with Krishna Shahi, and the pair opened the original Yak & Yeti at 815 S. Green River Road, which served Himalayan and Nepalese dishes when it opened in 2019, according to a historical account shared on Facebook.
A Menu Built on Momos and Copper Pots
The restaurant's identity is rooted in Himalayan staples served with regional flair. Traditional Nepali momo — dumplings filled with ground chicken, onions, ginger, garlic and Himalayan spices — can be steamed or fried and come in 15 varieties, per the same account from Evansville Living Magazine. One version arrives sautéed in chili sauce with onions and bell peppers, while the traditional preparation is served with jhol, a tangy tomato and sesame seed broth.
The kitchen also turns out chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, boneless chicken tikka cooked in a clay oven, and yak and goat meat dishes, including four versions of bone-in goat curry. Curry and naan round out the everyday menu, alongside a thali plate combining curry, rice, lentil dal and alu gobhi. For something more theatrical, the restaurant serves biryani baked inside a warm naan covering and plates Himalayan delicacies on copper dishware. Diners can wash it down with Himalayan masala tea, a caffeinated black tea-based drink the restaurant says promotes focus and calm, or visit the small bar area for draft beer and wine.
Beyond Evansville, the menu features Himalayan, Nepalese, Indian and South Asian dishes, with dishes like copper pots dum biryani, according to DoorDash. To make those flavors approachable for a broader regional audience, the restaurant lets diners choose spice levels from 1 to 10 on chicken, seafood, lamb and vegetable curry, an option detailed by The Owensboro Times.
From One Storefront to Three Cities
The expansion beyond Evansville began in 2023, when Yak & Yeti opened its second location at 11561 Geist Pavilion Drive, Suite 103, in Fishers, Indiana, according to Visit Hamilton County. Nearly three years later, the company completed a six-month expansion push that brought a third location to Owensboro, Kentucky, per Evansville Living Magazine.
The Owensboro restaurant officially opened this past July at 611 Emory Drive in Wesleyan Park Plaza, the Owensboro Times reported. Nepal native Khem Raj Tamang co-led that launch, spending three to four months renovating the space before it opened to diners. Sagar Tamang told Evansville Living Magazine that customers have strongly supported the brand, with groups regularly visiting to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries — gatherings the Evansville location can accommodate for parties of 20 to 30 people, and its buffets and entrée specials can serve up to 150 people across lunch and dinner combined.
A Family Business Rooted in Convenience Stores
The Tamang family's restaurant ambitions grew out of an existing local business footprint. The family owns and operates area convenience stores that house food concepts such as Crazy Bob's Cajun Chicken and Casa Del Taco, according to a Facebook post from Sagar Tamang. That convenience-retail experience gave the family a foundation in food service well before Yak & Yeti's first dining room opened.
Yak & Yeti currently operates three locations. For now, Sagar Tamang says he plans to concentrate on the current three locations, though he has said he hopes for further expansion and intends to eventually hire a chef directly from Nepal, per Evansville Living Magazine.
A Small Community, a Growing Footprint
The restaurant's growth stands out against the backdrop of Indiana's Nepalese community. Nationally, Nepalese Americans include people who speak Nepali at home.
Yak & Yeti also leans into cultural presentation beyond the plate, offering Himalayan music and documentaries for diners, and its name and branding draw on a popular regional animal and local folklore, according to Evansville Living Magazine. What started as one man's search for a taste of home has become a two-state dining brand — and, by Sagar Tamang's own account, it isn't finished growing yet.
