BATON ROUGE - A prominent Mexican-inspired restaurant in the capital area is shutting its doors for good, citing inflated business costs as the main reason for the sudden closure.

Owners at the Velvet Cactus announced via social media late Wednesday night that the Baton Rouge restaurant, located on Old Hammond Highway off Jefferson Highway, is permanently closed. 

In a Facebook post, ownership said while business had largely rebounded since the start of the pandemic in 2020, inflated costs "across the board" made keeping the restaurant open untenable. 

"Hopefully someone can take our building and make a wonderful place for Baton Rouge," the post said.

The Velvet Cactus' other location in New Orleans was seemingly unaffected.