Closed down: Daawat, an Indian restaurant that opened last September at 4855 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd., closed its doors in early July and likely will not reopen. Owner and chef Mohamed Hanif, who also owns Al Noor Indian Cuisine at 15380 George O’Neal Road, says he hasn’t “given the keys back to the lender yet” but that he does not have plans to reopen at this point. Hanif says Daawat’s biggest problem was not a lack of customers but a dearth of adequately trained staff. “Customers were OK, but we had staffing problems,” he says. Hanif says he will continue to concentrate on growing his business at Al Noor, which opened in 2013 and has been well received by local restaurant critics.
Favorite place: Ruffino’s has made ESPN announcer Kirk Herbstreit’s list of favorite restaurants for his annual 2016 Herbie Awards and College Football Playoff picks. Ruffino’s is No. 3 on the list behind Five in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and The Smokin Pig in Pendleton, South Carolina. Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse in Columbus, Ohio, and Mama’s on the Half Shelf in Baltimore round out the short list. LSU’s Leonard Fournette was also awarded a 2016 Herbie for Throwback Players. See the full list.
More losses: The number of active oil and gas rigs in Louisiana dropped by seven this week to 35, according to the weekly tally out today by Houston-based oilfield services firm Baker Hughes. There were 75 oil and gas rigs around this time last year. Nationally, the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by eight this week to 497, The Associated Press reports. A year ago, 864 rigs were active. Depressed energy prices have sharply curtailed oil and gas exploration.
Editor’s note: The offices of Business Report will be closed on Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday and Daily Report will not be published. Daily Report will return on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
