Lao’d District brings Lao cuisine to Asiatown
Houston’s Asiatown town is flush with options for Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese cuisine and more, but it wasn’t until early April that the first almost entirely Lao restaurant entered the equation.
Debuting with little fanfare in the Bellaire Food Street complex, Lao’d District took over the spot formerly occupied by B2J Suancai Fish. Partners Terry Phouminh and Francis Doan, cousins by marriage (Phouminh is married to Doan’s cousin), had noticed the dearth of Lao restaurants and had been looking for locations since 2019. When Bellaire Food Street presented them with the opportunity to take over the lease for B2J Suancai Fish, they jumped at the chance.
Phouminh grew up in Atlanta and was already in the hospitality business, with a seafood and meat restaurant called Parkside District in Lawrenceville, Ga. But he’d always toyed with the idea of opening a Lao restaurant because it was such a big part of his childhood. His mother, Lizbeth, had fled the political turmoil of her homeland, Laos, in the early 1980s, eventually settling in Atlanta, where she got a job working in a cake factory. In her free time, she indulged in her love of cooking.
“Her love and passion was cooking for parties,” Phouminh said. “We would always have family and friends over, for years and years, and people would always rave about her food.”
Phouminh had wanted to open a Lao place in Atlanta for the past 20 years but couldn’t find a place. When his wife was offered a career-advancing job in Houston, he tapped Doan and finally set the wheels in motion. While they looked for a location for the restaurant, Phouminh learned his mother’s recipes, putting together a menu.
Lao’d District’s footprint is only 1,600 square feet. With 54 seats, it’s fast casual with a QR code menu for ordering and self-service flatware and utensils. The design is meant to channel a hip-hop vibe, with concrete floors, black faux leather chairs and a giant graffiti art-style mural by local street artist Jesse Deleon.
“I wanted feel good energy, so the mural has words of encouragement — peace, love, laughter, loyalty,” Phouminh said. The mural spans the entire length of the restaurant and is full of references to his childhood, heritage and his overall journey.
There’s the video game character Sagat of “Street Fighter,” representing Thailand; Kung Lao from “Mortal Combat,” which means Laos person. Underneath the Lao’d District logo, there’s a rendering of the Patuxai monument, which represents a gateway to victory and is dedicated to Laotian soldiers who died during World War II war for independence against France in 1949-50. There’s also a reference to the Houston skyline, with the iconic “Be Someone” mural changed to say “Be Lao’d.” To complete the vibe, the playlist is set to 2000s hip-hop and R&B tunes.
The menu is made up of appetizers, noodle soups, wokseared noodle dishes and a handful of mains priced between $7 and $18. The menu is 90 percent Lao with about 10 percent Thai.
Phouminh describes Lao food as being sweet, savory and spicy.
“Thai food is more curry dishes and is spicy as well, but they are more savory and tend to be heavier,” he said. “Lao food is more fresh herbs. Both Thai and Lao use fermented fish.”
For those who want to try the full spectrum of Lao dishes, Phouminh recommends sharing. “Our Lao sausage has been a hit since day one. It takes almost a whole day to make 80 pounds of sausage. We make it in-house with pork, pork fat herb, lemongrass, green onion, garlic, Worcestershire, mushroom, soy sauce, kaffir lime.”
Other must-not-miss Lao dishes include the pork jerky served with sticky rice; Khao Poon, a traditional Lao chicken noodle with red curry; Khao Piak Sen, chicken noodle soup (with house-made tapioca noodles); Nam Khao crispy rice salad; Lao’d curry crab; and crab papaya salad.
On the Thai front, there are dishes such as Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, Tiger Cry steak (made with sous vide picanha); laab; Thai Basil Steak; and Crack Belly (moo belly), a play on the northern Thai pork belly.
“My mom helps a lot,” says Phouminh. “She preps in the morning, makes the sauces and is teaching us how to make everything by hand — sausage, jerky, papaya and Nam Khao as well. I hope the food speaks for itself.”
Lao’d District is at 9393 Bellaire, Suite B, in the Bellaire Food Street complex. Opening hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. For more information, visit laoddistrict.com.