Yak and Yeti Local Foods Cafe Review (A Tasty Quick Service)

If you’re familiar with Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you’ve probably heard of Yak and Yeti Local Foods Cafe and Yak and Yeti Restaurant. Both are popular dining locations in the Asia section of the park. However, they are entirely separate restaurants. Yak and Yeti is a table-service restaurant where reservations are strongly recommended and often challenging to obtain. Yak and Yeti Local Foods Cafe is a quick-service restaurant where guests can walk up, order food, and then dine where they like.

We have a separate review of Yak and Yeti Restaurant, one of our favorite table-service restaurants at Disney World. For this review, we’ll focus on the quick-service location, Yak and Yeti Local Foods Cafe. Both locations sit side-by-side near Feathered Friends in Flight. If you’re coming from Discovery Island, you’ll cross the bridge to Asia and run straight into them. Here is a photo of the restaurant.

Here is a photo of Local Foods Cafe to the immediate right of the table service. This location opens daily with the park’s regular operating hours. It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The menu board below was posted during our last visit. Some of the more popular items (that have been around forever) include the American Kobe Cheeseburger, the Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich, and the Chicken Fried Rice. If you’re on the Disney Dining Plan, some of these items are a great use of a quick service credit. It’s also important to note the “Chicken Fried Rice Side” on the menu counts as a snack credit. You can only order this item if you’re on the dining plan (which is bizarre to me). They do not let regular guests order it.

Before we look at a few menu items, I wanted to touch on seating. My preferred dining area is across the walkway from the quick service. This seating area is directly behind Drinkwallah, which sells frozen Cokes.

It’s called the lower garden seating area.

It’s a pleasant and mostly shaded area to sit and enjoy a meal.

Most of the tables are covered or have an umbrella, at the very least.

The main sitting area for Local Foods Cafe is to the right of the quick service. You’ll see a sign that points to an area with restrooms and seating. This area is also nicely themed, but I often find it more crowded than the lower garden area.

Lastly, if you walk a few feet down towards Feathered Friends in Flight, you’ll see another covered pavilion along the river. Here is a view of it from the bridge to Asia. In the distance, you can see the bridge to Africa.

This is also a nice place to enjoy a meal with stunning views of the Tree of Life.

Okay, now for the tasty part: the food. We’ll start with the chicken fried rice. It’s a tremendous portion that you could easily share with someone for a snack. It’s so good that you might not want to share it. I don’t necessarily think it’s that different from Chinese takeout, but there’s something about it. I literally devoured the entire carton in a way that felt like I was racing someone to finish it. It’s just good.

I ordered the honey sesame chicken with steamed rice and vegetables on another afternoon. This was another delicious meal that felt like a good value. I was impressed with the size and appreciated that it was served on a hearty bed of vegetables like roasted squash and carrots.

On my last visit, I needed a snack and went back and forth over what to order. I asked about the snack portion of the fried rice again and was told it was only for guests on the dining plan. I have a feeling the cast members spend half of their day explaining that to guests. There is no indication anywhere that it’s a reserved offering.

Anyway, I ordered the pork egg rolls. They were just okay. It was a sweltering afternoon, and I felt I should have found somewhere to sit inside and cool off. So, I wouldn’t necessarily write these off. But I don’t think I would order them again unless I were with someone who wanted to try them.

Overall, I wouldn’t hesitate to dine at Local Foods Cafe again. I’m thinking I’ll eventually get around to trying that cheeseburger or the chicken sandwich. They both sound tasty. The only issue with quick services at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is that most of them are delicious. It’s always hard to choose. Why can’t every theme park be like that? For more dining at Disney World, you might enjoy:

• Flame Tree Barbecue Review
• Satu’li Canteen Review
• Tony’s Town Square Restaurant Review
• Ordering To-Go from Geyser Point Bar and Grill

More Planning

Resorts Gal specializes in Disney World Resorts, Characters, and Dining. Explore our resources, including our Disney World Resorts Guide. It provides an overview of everything you need to know about the Disney Resort Hotels. For dining, our Disney World Dining Guide is an excellent place to start. Our Disney World Transportation Guide is a wonderful resource for planning your routes. It’s one of our most popular resources. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Lastly, our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.