Niki and Tanya Pattharakositkul have been building steadily since 2016, when Niki opened the first 26 Thai at what was then Lindbergh City Center. The sisters teamed up, grew that brand to nine locations, and more recently added Pink Lotus and Blackjack Tapas Bar.
Next comes Khao Thai Isan, on the ground floor of the Mitchell apartments in Centennial Yards.
Isan, not the usual Thai menu
Khao means rice — the heart of Thai cooking, and the reason a Thai greeting translates to "Have you eaten rice yet?" Isan is the northeastern region, and its food is bolder and more pungent than the Thai-American canon most Atlanta menus stick to.
Where 26 Thai serves comfort dishes Americans already know, Khao is built to introduce the Isan spice palette, served tapas-style for sharing. Expect papaya salad, sticky rice, wings and crying tiger — grilled marinated beef with tamarind dipping sauce — among the starters, plus bamboo shoot salad, laab duck with roasted rice powder and beef jerky. Mains include Isan fried rice and Pad Mee Korat, a cousin of pad thai with thinner noodles and a sharper edge.
Why it matters
Centennial Yards has spent years being a construction story. Ground-floor restaurants in a finished residential building are what turn a development into a place — and a regional Thai menu is a more confident bet than another burger counter.
Reported by Atlanta Magazine.
