The Doungkhae family, owners of Yai’s Thai Kitchen in Richmond, serve the same foods at their restaurant that they eat at home, said Oaky Nagorski, niece of owners Mno and Suchada Doungkhae.

“It’s the food we ate growing up,” Nagorski said.

The Doungkhaes have been in the restaurant business since they came to the U.S. in 1990. The couple opened a Thai restaurant in Houston called Bangkok Palace, and after only a few years, expanded to five restaurants with the same name. In 2007, the Doungkhaes got out of the restaurant business and focused on event catering instead.

Oaky and the Doungkhaes’ children grew up working in the family restaurants, Nagorski said, and they missed it.

The family opened Yai’s in January 2016, after Nagorski and the Doungkhae siblings asked the couple to go into business with them as a family and teach them how to cook their signature dishes. Yai means “grandmother” in Thai, and many of the recipes served in the restaurant belonged to their grandmother, she said.

“We wanted to keep those recipes going,” Nagorski said. “We really believe in our food. We just want to share that with people.”

Yai’s features an open kitchen, in which the family can be seen cooking, separated from the seating area by a glass wall.

“Little kids like to see the flames come off the stir fry,” Nagorski said.

As of now, Mno and Suchada do the majority of cooking at the restaurant, Nagorski said. However, they are slowly teaching the children how to cook the signature sauces and myriad dishes on the menu with the understanding they will take over the restaurant when the couple retires. The family said there is no timetable being considered.

“We’re not sure when we’ll retire,” Mno said. “We’re not even thinking about retirement.”

The family plans to begin serving beer and wine in the future, but for now, Yai’s is a BYOB establishment.

“It’s fun,” Nagorski said. “We like to work together and eat together.”

Yai’s Thai Kitchen

7035 W. Grand Parkway S., Ste. 90, Richmond
281-201-2065
www.yaisthaikitchen.com
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.