Boun Chokbengboun was working in the oil and gas industry in Houston in 2019 when he decided he wanted a change in his life, one that involved spending more time with his wife, Nitaya Dethlusay.

Chokbengboun said he decided to quit his job in April of last year to join his wife working full-time at her restaurant, Thai Curry, on Barker Cypress Road in Cypress.

“It’s the best choice ever,” he said. “We do everything as a family, and we can be together more. It’s like a tag team.”

Dethlusay has been running the kitchen at Thai Curry since its opening in June 2018, cooking the food fresh as it is ordered. Chokbengboun said he does more of the front-facing work, interacting with customers and making them feel at home.

“We talk to them,” he said. “We listen to their issues. We treat them like family.”

The recipes are all from within the family, originally developed in at the first location of Thai Curry in Arkansas, which is run by family. Popular dishes include pad Thai, a homemade family recipe for pho, and Thai curry, the dish after which the eatery gets its name.

Everything made at the restaurant is fresh, Chokbengboun said. He said he and his wife do their own grocery shopping for all the ingredients that go into their food.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dropped the eatery’s lunchtime crowd, which was formerly composed largely of office workers in the surrounding area. However, Chokbengboun said he is starting to see crowds picking back up again and is optimistic about the future. He said he hopes to open a second location within 15 miles or so of the Cypress location once the pandemic is over.

The owners, who live a mile from the restaurant and have children who go to school at Cy-Fair ISD, said they are grateful for the support they have gotten from the community.

“We’ve gotten a lot of support from the local area,” Chokbengboun said. “During this [pandemic], they come out and say, ‘Don’t close on us.’ They make us feel like family.”

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