Chef Oya's The TRAP to close in August, customers mourn loss of neighborhood staple

The parking lot surrounding Chef Oya's The TRAP at 3355 N. Keystone Ave. is steadily filling up around lunchtime on a recent sunny afternoon. Men and women sit in cars with windows cracked and air conditioning blowing as they await their food. The air is sticky with heat but smells of garlic and spice. The handful of people waiting in line at the window are content to sweat, slick sheens forming on their foreheads.

The TRAP is in its last days, at least as Indianapolis has known it for the last eight years. In a July 13 social media post , chef owner Oya Woodruff announced the popular Martindale-Brightwood walk-up seafood eatery will close Aug. 10.

"Above all, we fed hundreds of thousands of people," Woodruff said in the post. "I am extremely grateful! My crew and I have taken great pride in the fact we’ve been able to provide the city with deliciously dope seafood, and you can believe that Trap Trays will be back at some point!"

Woodruff gave no reason for the closure and did not immediately respond to requests for comment. She said in a recent Instagram story that she would provide more details as The TRAP nears its "grand closing." For now, her customers mourn the loss of a community staple and wonder what will come next.

To the right of the walk-up window, a purple door swings open and a young woman calls out, "Lorenzo, your food is ready!" Mitch Swedarsky, 47, rises from the nearby picnic table, where he's been waiting in the shade, to collect two plastic bags holding Styrofoam trays whose bottoms flex under the weight of loaded shrimp and salmon platters. Swedarsky is joined by Lorenzo Bell, 38, whom he recently met at a Second Chance program; Swedarsky is a public defender and Bell works as a re-entry coordinator right up the street from The TRAP.

Bell is a fairly new customer, having first visited Woodruff's seafood joint about five months ago on his cousin's recommendation. He immediately became a fan.

"Everything is — oh, my god — tastes so great," he said.

Both Bell and Swedarsky, who works downtown but swings by The TRAP for lunch whenever he's in the area, worry that a chain restaurant will take its place. To them, nothing else nearby comes close to the quality of Woodruff's food.

"She's by far the best," Swedarsky said.

"By far," echoed Bell.

When Talayon Wallace, 43, saw Woodruff's announcement of the closing, she sent it out to everyone she knew in a state of half-sadness, half-shock. Wallace works down the street from The TRAP and has eaten there roughly once a week since it opened in 2016.

While the high-quality, low-cost seafood that "no other place" offers kept Wallace coming back over the years, she won't miss it as much as she will Woodruff.

"She's a staple in this community," Wallace said. "The work that she does is more than just about the food. She's just really invested in the people here."

The comments beneath Woodruff's closure announcement are filled with hundreds of well-wishes for Woodruff, regret at seeing her go and promises to visit the eatery in the next few weeks. Several commenters dismayed at the loss of their favorite lunch spot — those who have known The TRAP's generous portions slathered in herb- and spice-jammed "trap buttah" don't soon forget it — but just as many despaired at the possible departure of a beloved neighbor.

Bell recalls stopping by The TRAP on a recent Saturday. The daily special was crawfish: $10 for a 1-pound bag.

"I said, 'Nah, I ain't eating that,'" Bell said.

But Woodruff insisted. She gave Bell a free bag and showed him how to peel off the crustaceans' exoskeletons, leaving behind only meat slathered in trap buttah.

"That was the best crawfish I ever ate in my life," Bell said.

It's unclear what will become of The TRAP after its window shuts for the final time in August. While some customers hope to see Woodruff open a larger operation elsewhere, others, like Bell, just want her to stay in the neighborhood. But whatever Woodruff pursues next, it's evident she'll have people eager to be fed by her again.

"We're gonna follow her wherever she goes," Wallace said.

Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@indystar.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @BradleyHohulin.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Chef Oya's The TRAP to close in August, customers mourn loss of neighborhood staple