Former Royal Panda Restaurant Building Sold, Here is What’s Coming to the Space

In today's edition of "As the Business World Turns," we give you an update regarding a building that has been abandoned since 2020.

The building we're referring to is the old Royal Panda Buffet restaurant on Pinhook Road in front of Walmart Supercenter in Lafayette.

According to a report in The Acadiana Advocate, the property has been sold. Land records show that Double Lin Realty LLC of Breaux Bridge, which is registered to Xiu Lin Weng, has bought it.

The records show that Weng paid $1.2 million for the 6,740-square-foot building located at 2418 Pinhook Road. Royal Panda LLC, registered to Hung T. Lu, was the seller.

The new owners also run and operate City Buffet at 1880 Rees St., Suite 105-A, in Breaux Bridge. They've been doing that for about 13 years.

What will the new owners open in this location?

The plan is to reopen their new purchase later this year following about a four or five-month renovation, Weng told The Acadiana Advocate.

The new restaurant will likely be called The Golden Buffet.

What happened to Royal Panda?

Apparently, it closed about three years ago. Reports at the time indicated that the owner simply wanted to retire.

The restaurant had been around for a while. Land records show the owners purchased the property in 2003, but it's unclear exactly when the restaurant opened to the public.