The Cajun-Asian buffet at 3202 S. Sherwood Forest Boulevard in Baton Rouge has closed, just shy of its second anniversary. A notice photographed on the door October 28 described Ombu Buffet’s shutdown as permanent, according to local reporting by The Advocate. The posted farewell thanked customers, but it did not provide a reason for the decision or identify the restaurant’s final day of service.
That puts an abrupt stop to a buffet that opened on November 27, 2024, with a particularly Louisiana idea of variety: Cajun boiled seafood alongside sushi and the hot Chinese dishes familiar to buffet regulars. Contemporary coverage of the opening highlighted snow crab legs, boiled seafood, sushi and Asian cuisine. It was the sort of lineup in which someone seeking crawfish could quite reasonably return to the table with a sushi plate as well.
Its Sherwood Forest dining room occupied a space with its own AYCE history. Before Ombu, the address was home to Volcano Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, where tabletop grilling and simmering broth offered a different take on unlimited dining. Earlier still, the location had housed Nagoya. The transition to Ombu replaced a cook-at-the-table concept with a broad self-service buffet built around seafood and Asian favorites.
One restaurant closed; the original remains
Ombu began in Marrero, LA, in January 2024, then expanded to Baton Rouge about ten months later. Its original location at 5990 Lapalco Boulevard in Marrero remains listed for business, so the closure concerns the Baton Rouge restaurant rather than the entire name disappearing from Louisiana. Hoodline’s October 30 account also describes Marrero as still operating.
One point needs a little care: the door notice used the word permanent, but the online trail has not been entirely consistent. Hoodline reported a customer comment suggesting a possible January reopening, as well as a conflicting Instagram message associated with the Baton Rouge restaurant referring to a return. Neither amounts to a confirmed reopening plan, and no reliable date or explanation has emerged to reconcile those messages with the posted closure.
For now, the concrete news is that the Baton Rouge buffet is closed. There has been no verified explanation for why it shut down, and current menu prices circulating online cannot safely be treated as its final local rates. That leaves diners with a familiar but unwelcome distinction: a restaurant may still have a webpage and a remembered seafood station, even when its front door tells a different story.
We will be watching for any direct announcement that clarifies the Sherwood Forest location’s future. Until then, the posted notice is the strongest evidence of its status, and Marrero is the remaining confirmed Ombu Buffet destination.
