LAFAYETTE, La. — Blu Basil Asian Fusion, the restaurant that’s held down a corner of the Time Plaza shopping center on Johnston Street for more than 10 years, is closing, with Sen Viet Kitchen & Bar lined up to take over the 5451 Johnston St. space.
Blu Basil hasn’t posted a final day of operation on its social media accounts, so anyone with a standing order or a favorite dish still has a window to get one more visit in before the doors change hands.
What’s Changing at 5451 Johnston Street
Real estate agent Brandon Bradley of Bradley Moreau Title first flagged the move in a Facebook post earlier this month, and The Acadiana Advocate’s business desk picked up on those online posts this week and confirmed the closing is tied to a new tenant moving into the roughly 4,500-square-foot building.
That new tenant, Sen Viet Kitchen & Bar, is locally owned. The people behind it aren’t new to the Acadiana restaurant scene, either: they’ve lived in the area since 2008 and already own a couple of other businesses around town.
Blu Basil’s Run Goes Back to a Different Restaurant Entirely
Blu Basil’s roots on Johnston Street stretch back to early 2015, when it opened in the former Chung King space as Blu Basil Wine & Grill. It launched as a Vietnamese restaurant under owner Tam Nguyen and operated as a sister restaurant to Saigon Noodles, another familiar name for Acadiana’s Vietnamese food scene.
kai813close up of a ‘CLOSED’ sign hanging in a window
Over the following decade, the restaurant became one of the more established Asian dining options along the busy Johnston Street corridor, a strip that’s seen plenty of restaurant turnover but has held onto a handful of longtime tenants.
What Sen Viet Kitchen & Bar Plans to Serve
Sen Viet is billing itself as an authentic Vietnamese kitchen with Japanese and Korean dishes rounding out the menu, plus a Cajun-Asian fusion lineup that includes a Cajun-spiced take on phở.
The buildout includes lotus-inspired artwork and a renovated kitchen designed to fit the new concept, and there’s word that a few of Blu Basil’s staple dishes could make their way onto Sen Viet’s menu once it opens. Developing Lafayette pegged the opening for October.
Where This Leaves Johnston Street Regulars
Blu Basil is still open and taking orders, with no announced closing date. Anyone hoping to catch a last meal there should keep an eye on the restaurant’s social pages for updates.
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