re: Wow! Hymels? "What restaurants in BR will close in 2018" thread

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They won't last long then. It's a great location for the right restaurant. Albasha does great back there

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I think that building is cursed. It was Primo's the longest (from what I remember), then some place called "Kabuki" that I am not sure if it ever actually opened then was empty for the longest time until the new place opened. I went once and agree beer, wine, etc selections sucked. Food was nothing special. It was "Bourbon street-style food" but if they think even their food is more edible than a lucky dog, they are wrong.

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I went to Primos a few times. I think the right restaurant could make it. It's not hard to get to and there's plenty of parking now.

Louisiana Lagniappe should move there. I hate trying to park at that place.

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You would think that with all the residential areas around it plus the after work crowd, people would frequent if the right place opened.

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plus the after work crowd would frequent if the right place opened.

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One would think so. Blue Cross, Baton Rouge General, OLOL, Jacobs, Shaw spinoff, Tuner etc right in the area. That's probably the largest concentration of white collar workers in the city.

There was a lounge area similar to Ringside

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It's as if they sunk a ton of money in trying to make the place look nice, then forgot they actually had to make appealing dishes.

It has no identity other than them trying to create the most boring menu possible and/or the experience of eating TV dinners or cobbling a bunch of leftovers together to make a meal. (At least when I went) the beer selection was limited to bottles of Coors Light, Miller Light, Bud Light and Corona. I'm not a beer snob by any means, but the gas station up the street has a larger selection. I also asked the waiter if they had draft beer. He had never heard of draft beer and asked "is that like when you pour it from the wall?"

Some of the sandwiches come on what appears to be a hot dog bun.

My wife ordered a sandwich and asked the waiter about the "house chips" listed on the menu, as in were they homemade? Or where they french-fry style potatoes? The response was very candid -- "No. It's just a bag of Lay's like you get a the store."

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that place sounds terrible

Sake sushi apparently now aloha poke? Not sure if that counts.

saki sushi done

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It's as if they sunk a ton of money in trying to make the place look nice, then forgot they actually had to make appealing dishes.

It has no identity other than them trying to create the most boring menu possible and/or the experience of eating TV dinners or cobbling a bunch of leftovers together to make a meal. (At least when I went) the beer selection was limited to bottles of Coors Light, Miller Light, Bud Light and Corona. I'm not a beer snob by any means, but the gas station up the street has a larger selection. I also asked the waiter if they had draft beer. He had never heard of draft beer and asked "is that like when you pour it from the wall?"

Some of the sandwiches come on what appears to be a hot dog bun.

My wife ordered a sandwich and asked the waiter about the "house chips" listed on the menu, as in were they homemade? Or where they french-fry style potatoes? The response was very candid -- "No. It's just a bag of Lay's like you get a the store."

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all of this....I went a few weeks ago but didn't end up staying. First as the waiter put down the menus immediately asked if we knew what we wanted, then seemed genuinely surprised I wanted to order a beer, I asked him what they had and he said I could go look at the bar and see

The menu just didn't look appealing, the waiter was glued to the big TV which inexplicably was showing some NASCAR race on a friday night....really odd overall vibe there, just closed out before stepping into more shite.

The place was also pretty much empty on a Friday night, I can't see it lasting another 6 months....which is unfortunate because like you said they did do a good job on the build out and it could have been a cool spot.

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all of this....I went a few weeks ago but didn't end up staying. First as the waiter put down the menus immediately asked if we knew what we wanted, then seemed genuinely surprised I wanted to order a beer, I asked him what they had and he said I could go look at the bar and see

The menu just didn't look appealing, the waiter was glued to the big TV which inexplicably was showing some NASCAR race on a friday night....really odd overall vibe there, just closed out before stepping into more shite.

The place was also pretty much empty on a Friday night, I can't see it lasting another 6 months....which is unfortunate because like you said they did do a good job on the build out and it could have been a cool spot

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I never pull for anyone to fail in their business pursuit. Particularly in the restaurant business, which is notoriously difficult. But it's as if the business plan is to do the absolute bare minimum in order to keep the margins high. Plus, there are no distinguishing characteristics. The menu says it's "Bourbon Street-style" food. That kind of description may sell in somewhere like Nebraska, but people here really don't think of high-end cuisine when they think of Bourbon St. It's a mix of Louisiana type food and kabobs, lasagna, etc.

I guess if you wanted to have a selection of several different types of mediocre food, it's your place. But there's nothing that makes me think "man, we really need to go there"

Also, not sure if mentioned but the cove on corporate closed.