LITTLE ITALY — Taking its name from Bangkok's storied Khaosan Road street market, a new restaurant aims to bring traditional Thai recipes to Little Italy.
Sarud Abdennabi and his mother, Pewpran Chaiart, opened Khaosan & Taylor, a Thai street food spot at 1104 W. Taylor St., in April. The restaurant takes over the former Thai Wok.
Abdennabi and his mom decided to open the restaurant after Thai Wok's owner died, he said. The pair took over the restaurant in February and spent two months remodeling it.
"I am the only one of my siblings that has restaurant experience, and this is really her retirement plan," Abdennabi said. "It was inherent that I help."
Co-owner Sarud Abdennabi opened Khaosan & Taylor with his mother, Pewpran Chaiart, in Little Italy this spring. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
While Little Italy is home to an impressive number of Thai restaurants, Abdennabi said his family wants to give foodies the most authentic Thai experience. His mother, who is from Krabi on the west coast of Southern Thailand, is "as Thai as Thai gets," Abdennabi said.
"I want customers to be able to try real Thai food without going to Thailand," he said at the restaurant this week.
Opening the restaurant with his mother, a veteran restaurateur who is in her 60s, was "a learning curve," 26-year-old Abdennabi said this week. While his mother previously owned restaurants in the suburbs, she's been out of the game for a decade, he said.
Since then, the dining landscape has drastically changed with the rise of rating website Yelp and delivery app GrubHub. Online advertising and new billing technology has also changed the industry, Abdennabi said.
"She didn't understand why we needed music in the restaurant," Abdennabi said. "She just learned to text last week."
Sarud Abdennabi opened Khaosan & Taylor with his mother, Pewpran Chaiart, in Little Italy. [Sarud Abdennabi]
Born in Thailand and raised in the city's West Lawn neighborhood, Abdennabi said he has worked to combine his modern restaurant knowledge with his mother's time-honored cooking.
Khaosan & Taylor offers an extensive menu of traditional appetizers, soups, salads and rice, noodle and made-to-order curry dishes. The Pad Thai ($8.95) features stir-fried thin rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, peanuts, green onions, garlic and a choice of protein. The restaurant roast peanuts in house to add a "nutty smokiness" to the dish, Abdennabi said.
The menu also includes Yum Neor, made up of medium-rare beef steak slices mixed with onion, green onion, garlic, bell pepper, cilantro and a lime dressing ($10.95) and Yen Ta Fo, a tomato-based soup with large flat noodles, Chinese broccoli, squid, shrimp, fish ball, green onion, fried garlic and bean sprouts.
Khaoson & Taylor's full menu is available online.
Khaosan & Taylor, a new Thai spot on Taylor Street, specializes in authentic Isaan dishes and street food popular in the region. [Khason & Taylor Facebook]
Abdennabi, who also lives in Little Italy, said the neighborhood's foot traffic makes it a great place to open up a restaurant.
"I love the neighborhood. It's got a lot going for it," he said.
Khaosan & Taylor offers delivery to destinations between Western Avenue, Lake Shore Drive, Chicago Avenue and 35th Street. University of Illinois at Chicago students receive a 15 percent discount on their order with a valid student ID.
The Thai restaurant is open 11 a.m-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2-8 p.m. Sundays.
Khaosan & Taylor took over the former Thai Wok restaurant at 1104 W. Taylor St. in Little Italy. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
