BATON ROUGE – Pimanyoli’s Smokehouse on Airline Highway has closed its doors.

In a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page posted Wednesday afternoon, owner Yolanda "Yoli" Perrilloux wrote that the last two years have been "painstakingly horrific."

"I’ve witnessed small businesses and specifically local 'mom and pop' restaurants closing down all around me, which makes me so extremely sad," Perrilloux wrote. "But the COVID pandemic, inflation/increased pricing and decreased sales has directly helped in making the inevitable choice to close."

Pimanyoli’s opened in 2008 and had a varied menu that included everything from standard restaurant fare to barbecue and tamales.

"Now it’s time to hold onto what was, and keep the wonderful memories that we’ve created alive," Perrilloux wrote in the Facebook post.

In recent days, The Velvet Cactus on Old Hammond Highway closed down abruptly. Its owners said sales were brisk but that they couldn’t overcome the increased cost of doing business.