When reflecting on more than three decades of owning Thai Kitchen, which has seen crosstown relocations, menu expansions and years of Best of 225 wins, Sam Sanguanruang humbly maintains that the highlight has been “working day by day and paying the bills.”
Back in 1989, Sanguanruang, an LSU graduate with local kitchen experience, took a chance on the Capital City. Today, the region’s Thai restaurant market includes a handful of spots, like Chai Thai-Lao, Thai Pepper and Duang Tawan. But Sanguanruang recalls there was only one other eatery in the area serving his native country’s cuisine when he first opened Thai Kitchen on North Sherwood Forest Drive.
“Customers didn’t have a choice of Thai restaurants back then, so that’s why we opened up,” Sanguanruang explains today.
Stop by for a steaming bowl of panang curry at its wooden carving-trimmed, present-day location on Concord Avenue, and you’ll find Sanguanruang’s and his family’s wager has paid off. The restaurant has garnered a loyal fanbase that has grown Thai Kitchen to the rank of local legend, with regulars following it to locations off Florida Boulevard and Perkins Road over the years.
The secret? Customer satisfaction.
“Overall, we try to make customers happy and understand what customers need,” Sanguanruang says.
With an expansive pan-Asian menu, there’s something for Thai food newcomers to serious foodies.
It should come as no surprise that one of Thai Kitchen’s most popular dishes is pad thai, Thailand’s national dish, along with other hallmarks of the cuisine, like a range of curries and noodle soups. And the menu has grown over the years to include sushi, dim sum and more to meet diners’ preferences. Just this fall, Sanguanruang and the Thai Kitchen team added khao soi, a rich coconut curry noodle soup originating from northern Thailand, to its menu after seeing its popularity online. Sanguanruang says it’s been a popular addition.
But, great food often isn’t enough to keep a restaurant afloat. Thai Kitchen’s dining room and outdoor patio with a stage have become destinations for local musicians and live music lovers on Thursdays. Throw in daily happy hour deals and enticing weekly specials—like half-off bottles of wine on Tuesdays—and Thai Kitchen meets its celebrated cuisine with an equally exciting atmosphere.
“The business is growing every day—every year,” Sanguanruang says.
And still, as with any success story, Thai Kitchen’s growth hasn’t been without trials. Sanguanruang cites the COVID-19 pandemic as a difficult period for the business. Ultimately, he attributes its staying power to his family’s commitment to the restaurant.
“We passed that,” he says, “and we learned something new.”
And after 36 years of expansions, plenty of pad thai and a pandemic, Sanguanruang has a message for aspiring restaurateurs ahead of Thai Kitchen’s next big milestone: his retirement, a goal he’s set for the not-so-distant future.
“You’ve got to hang on in order to be successful,” he says. “You have to stick with your business. You have to be there.”
This article was originally published in the April 2025 issue of 225 Magazine.
