Spring in Louisiana brings many changes: warmer temperatures, pollen floating in the air, 100 percent humidity all day and, most importantly, seafood.
Many restaurants can satisfy those cravings, but a new one is gaining some attention.
“My family has been in the business for 20 years,” Ause Ismail, University alumnus and owner of Niche Bar & Grill, said. “I grew up in that environment.”
Ismail’s parents own the Po-Boy Express locations around Baton Rouge, but he didn’t want to live in their shadow.
“I wanted to do my own type of thing,” Ismail said. “I didn’t want to be like everyone else.”
Niche offers a different, more varied menu since its opening in July. It serves up a mixture of American food like hamburgers and steak and also has local cuisine like catfish Acadiana and crawfish pie.
Niche’s executive chef worked at The Little Village for five years, Ismail said. He called the restaurant “relaxed fine dining.”
“You get great food in a comfortable atmosphere,” Ismail said.
The restaurant’s location on Siegen Lane has not been kind to previous owners, however. Lighthouse Seafood Restaurant and Los Gallos Mexican Grill & Cantina failed to stay there longer than a year.
“In the beginning, I wasn’t aware [of the location being cursed],” Ismail said. “Then people kept bringing it up.”
Ismail said he chose the location because his parents own the land, and Los Gallos failed to renew its lease.
“It kind of fell in my lap,” Ismail said.
Though many people still talk about the plagued location, Ismail said he hopes to break the curse.
“The reason a lot of restaurants fail in the beginning is because they don’t have enough money to float them through,” he said.
Ismail’s only annoyances with the location are the small size of the parking lot and the poor visibility of the restaurant.
“If people like going there and the food is good, they’ll find a way,” he said. “Work with what you have.”
And the location isn’t keeping people from enjoying Niche. It has a 79-percent “liked it” rating on Urbanspoon, a website that reviews restaurants.
Jake LeBas, graphic design freshman, said the restaurant was “pretty good.”
“It’s a great place for college students and even families,” LeBas said.
Business has been great since the Catholic season of Lent began, especially on Fridays, Ismail said.
“Lent has pretty much been our godsend,” Ismail said. “[Business] picked up a few weeks before, and then it really took off.”
Ismail warned that those who want to own their own businesses should know what they’re getting into.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” he said. “But if you want to do it, just do it. Don’t give up. And never expect things to go the way you want them to. You have to be able to adapt.”
 
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Contact Taylor Balkom at [email protected]