Over Memorial Day Weekend, numerous restaurants in the Lafayette area closed their doors for the final time. Some of them chains (Hurricane Grill and Wings, Mellow Mushroom) and others were long-time establishments (Guidry’s Reef, Country Cuisine).
It really brings up one question: why so sudden? In the case of Guidry’s Reef it was due to health issues within the family. One of the biggest reasons why this might be happening is the shift in how restaurants are working in 2017, especially in the Acadiana area. You have the ease of getting food delivered to you from several establishments thanks to Waitr. It’s a move towards bringing the restaurant experience closer to home and that affects some establishments that aren’t willing to adapt to the changes.
A few weeks ago, I went enjoy my birthday at a fairly new restaurant in the Carencro area and saw one blue shirt after the other grab orders and deliver them over to families in and around the area that didn’t want to get out of the house on a Friday night. This seems to be the wave of the future.
Another big factor is the same thing that’s been hurting the economy in the entire state with the oil business still trying to get back to the way it was about five years ago. There aren’t as many people going out to eat and that’s affecting so many businesses.
Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come because that would really continue to affect the economy.