While driving from Seattle to the Washington coast to do some interviews, we stopped for lunch at the Rusty Tractor in the town of Elma.

Who knew that the star of their menu was yak.  Yes, honest to God yak whose forefathers and, obviously, mothers also, came from the Himalayans of Tibet.

But according to our very peppy waitress, Aminda, the yak they serve comes from a yak ranch “down the road a short piece.”

The breakfast menu offers yak sausage and eggs.

The several lunch selections include yak burger and fries and the always popular Yak Patty Melt. For late diners, there is the Country Yak Meat Loaf Dinner.

“People really like it, especially the meatloaf,” Aminda gushed. “They say it tastes better than buffalo.”

I checked the eight-page menu twice and found no yak desserts.

The menu calls yak a “healthy, low-fat alternative to beef” that its taste is  beef-like but more delicate in flavor, high in protein with one-sixth the fat of our traditional cow.

Why?

“Yak meat is deep red in color and because it’s a cold climate bovine, the fat is located on the outside and easily trimmed,” the menu explained.

Standing up for our domestic bovine, I had a regular burger and my colleague, Mike Barber, had a chicken burger.

If you stop at the Rusty Tractor and try any of their house specialties, let me know how you liked it.