3 minute read
Chan Thai
Opposite page: sesame chicken. Above: pho, Shuko salmon, spring rolls and pad thai with shrimp.
NEW PAD, SAME THAI
Inside Chan Thai/Pho 88’s new West Davis digs
Story by RACHEL STONE | Photography by KATHY TRAN
THE ORIGINAL CHAN THAI
OPENED 22 YEARS AGO in what was then a little-known corner of Dallas called the Bishop Arts District.
Day-one employee Claudia Baez started as a waitress and then managed Chan Thai for 10 years until the original owner was ready to retire.
Baez and her husband, Rogelio, who also started on Chan Thai’s first day in 2000, bought the restaurant about five years ago. By then, they had added Pho 88, a Vietnamese restaurant within their Thai restaurant.
The Baez family lost their Bishop Arts lease last year, but they got lucky. A small law firm was moving from its longtime office at 436 W. Davis, and a friend of the Baezes was leasing it.
The building wasn’t a restaurant at the time, but Claudia Baez says she could envision the space for their business.
A two-story pecan tree at one end of the property inspired her.
They spent six months building a kitchen, tearing out metal garages and turning parking spaces into a dining patio. They built an indoor/outdoor bar and retained about 10 on-site parking spaces on West 7th Street.
Claudia and Rogelio, who grew up in Oak Cliff, met as teenagers while working at the bygone Tejano Mexican Restaurant. The former
Right: Mango margarita and spicy Thai paloma.
owner of Chan Thai was a regular, and she poached them to work at the restaurant she was opening.
Chan Thai/Pho 88 is a family business. Claudia and Rogelia’s son, 24-year-old Alex, is bar manager while enrolled in a political science master’s degree program at the University of Texas at Arlington. Their daughter Jocelyn, 18, works in the front of the house. And son Junior manages the kitchen.
Little has changed on the menu since the restaurant moved.
Regulars come for the pineapple fried rice ($12), pad thai ($13) and pho ($11-$13), and a few American Chinese entrees such as sesame chicken ($14) are also popular.
Crispy Thai spring rolls come four to an order for $6.50, and steamed summer rolls come two to an order for $8.75.
Reasonable prices and the care that can only come from a family owned and operated restaurant still set Chan Thai/Pho 88 apart, no matter how many new restaurants come along.
What has changed drastically at Chan Thai/Pho 88 is the atmosphere.
The new space features a socialmedia friendly backdrop with a “love you pho ever” neon sign. A more prominent bar and sidewalkstyle dining help the owners put a new emphasis on their bar. Popular drinks are a mango margarita and a spicy Thai paloma.
1234 Street Address
• Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization • Experienced in high-conflict custody and divorce suits, involving estates of all sizes • Practicing litigator and The Best Lawyers in America© in family law as recognized by Best Lawyers, LLC Texas Rising Star Honoree (2016-2020 & 2022) by Thomson Reuters Elite Lawyer by Elite Lawyer 1717 McKinney Avenue, Suite 1500 Dallas, TX 75201 214-871-2727 • koonsfuller.com/attorneys/chris-meuse collaborative law attorney • Over a decade of experience practicing only in the area of Texas Family Law 1234 Street Address $000,000 Name Here 000.000.0000 1234 Street Address $000,000 Name Here 000.000.0000
Moving their restaurant was “very hard,” Claudia says. But their regulars seem to love it, and they’ve had to hire several more people to the kitchen and waitstaff to keep up with demand at this location, Alex Baez says. 1234 Street Address “Support from the community has been $000,000overwhelming in a good way,” he says.1234 Street AddressName Here 000.000.0000
Chan Thai/Pho 88, 436 W. Davis St. 214.948.9956. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. MondayThursday, noon-10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Name Here 000.000.0000 Saturday-Sunday
