Good news for the fans of original owner /cook of KOI restaurant on W. State St. near LSU. After the sale of the original KOI restaurant, he decided to re-open a new restaurant by the name of OMI after a hiatus of a year and a half. Restaurants that used to be at the same location on One Calais Ave never did well because of difficulty in getting in and out of One Calais Ave onto Essen Lane without the benefit of a traffic light at the street corner. Now it is not an issue as it is connected to Franciscan Drive either via the Drury Inn parking lot, or a connecting street now open at the end of the block, Franciscan Drive has a traffic light at the corner with Essen Lane right at Rac-Trac gas station. Recently went to try their authentic northern Chinese cuisine as I have always been a big fan of their Chinese food; didn't get disappointed at all as it is identical to what I used to get at the old Koi Restaurant. Japanese food is solid and reasonably priced. That's why the old Koi restaurant was such a huge success when they first opened near LSU. I am ecstatic about their comeback! There is no other place in Baton Rouge that offers this type of authentic Northern Chinese cuisine.
