In 2026, Thailand’s Michelin Guide selection boasted 468 venues, two three-star restaurants (one of which leveled up from one), eight two-star appointees (two promoted from one-star) and a whopping 33 one-star eateries, including three newcomers and four promoted from the general selection.
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But what of its presence in the states? Is the nation’s cuisine, regionally diverse, rife with immigrant influence and overlap from its neighbors, Laos and Cambodia, about to have its moment in America?
Bangkok native Asawin “A.J.” Jockkeaw, chef/owner of Meng’s Kitchen inside the Milk District’s iFresh Supermarket, believes it is imminent.
“There used to be so many Chinese takeout places in Orlando,” he notes. He’s been here for decades, working in various eateries (not to mention bands; when he’s not making some of the city’s favorite Hainanese chicken, he is a regularly gigging multi-instrumentalist).
“I feel like lately, there are less of these, and now, we’re seeing lots of Thai.”
He would know. And in fact, so would many of Orlando’s other Thai chefs and restaurateurs, as they seem to hit up one another’s venues on the reg.
“Hey!” Jockkeaw half-shouts as we head into Lert Thai Street Food, a new spot near UCF. He waves at three people in a back booth. “Those are my friends. I hung out with them last night.”
They aren’t restaurant people, but they easily could have been. He and his good friend, Jack Jone of the exemplary Sea Thai and its even-better weekend pop-up, Tuun, hit up other Thai restaurants with astonishing regularity. Lert owner Timmy Peengoen says this is the way of things.
“When we’re off, we try to go to every Thai restaurant,” he says (his wife, Anna Nilkooha, is Lert’s head chef). “To make new friends, to have connection and cooperation. It makes starting a new business easier because everybody is so nice. Everybody supports each other. And then, when they visit us, it makes me feel good, because we are like a canteen for them, too.”
Orlando’s restaurant scene, like many cities’, is a bit incestuous, as staffers jump from one ship to another, furthering their careers and sometimes opening their own places. As I gather intel for this story, it seems more pronounced.
The newcomers showcased here: Lert, Noods, a brand-new spot in Metrowest where Thailand’s noodle dishes, in particular boat noodles, are the stars, Sabai Thai Street Food in SoDo, all have connections to the Michelin Guide-recommended Isan Zaap (itself connected to both Thai Super Bowl at the Lotte Market, Charm Thai & Sushi in Windermere and the gorgeous, resort-like Talay in downtown Orlando’s North Quarter).
Lert’s owners both worked at Isan Zaap for a time. The same goes for Alex Pissara, who chefs along with his mother, Virade Pissara, at Sabai Thai Street Food in Orlando’s SoDo neighborhood. Both hail from Thailand’s northeastern Isan region, as well.
Sabai opened on March 19.
Tiny but bright and welcoming, co-owner Billy Spradlin (husband to Viradae, father to Alex) says it’s been delightful bringing something to the table that the neighborhood’s been looking for.
“We’ve got a few people who are coming in twice a day, which is great,” he tells me. Meanwhile, I tuck into the Pissaras’ incredible handmade Isan sausage, snappy, stuffed with pork and glass noodles with a beautiful hit of lime amid its garlic and cilantro.
“The food here is as authentic as we can make it in the States, and we do have some Isan influences in there,” he notes, referencing the sausage, “but we’re trying to be cognizant of not working from one specific area. We’ll be introducing a few other special dishes in the future.”
His wife, whose career took her from her hometown to the resort area of Phuket in the south, then on to Los Angeles, has given her a broad flex.
“And on top of the food, we want everybody who comes in here to be like part of our family.”
At Budsaba Thai Bistro, another area newcomer, server and supervisor Pat Olarikdej says theirs is a cozy, easy concept.
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“Our passion is sharing the true taste of Thailand through authentic recipes, fresh ingredients and warm Thai hospitality.”
The concept merges traditional Thai family cooking with the energy of the nation’s street food culture.
“We wanted to create more than just a restaurant; we wanted to build a welcoming place where friends and family can gather.”
When partners Fah Ponprapa and Tarny Putt joined forces to open Noods, another brand-new spot (this one in Metrowest), it was serendipity.
Ponprapa, a realtor by trade, has connections to Isan Zaap, as well, and has harbored a desire to open a Thai noodle concept for a couple of years. She even had a menu in mind. When Putt showed up, asking for help finding a space for her own idea, the two began impromptu discussions.
“I was looking for a partner,” Ponprapa told the Orlando Sentinel. “And when she told me she wanted to do a boat noodle concept, it was just a coincidence, but I said, ‘Why don’t we work together?’”
She smiles over a beautiful bowl of boat noodles, piled with braised beef, sliced beef, tendon and meatballs, its broth made richer with blood.
“It’s going to be fun,” she says. “I like her energy.”
Boat noodles are a star feature here, and get their name from the small Bangkok canal boats where vendors originally peddled the dish. The dish, made with beef or pork, then spread to the city’s alleys, where it proliferated before branching out to other regions as well.
“It’s got so many herbs,” she says. “It smells so good when it cooks.”
Noods features other comforting carb-centric dishes, from khao soi to the beautifully charred kua gai, a chicken-and-rice noodle dish reminiscent of chow fun.
These are dishes Ponprapa says are relatively unique in Orlando, though yes — you’ll find pad thai here, as well.
It’s a beautiful space, one where she says visitors can come every day, much as they do to stalls in Thailand, to grab a quick lunch, then return when the pendant lamps are low-lit and sexy, to enjoy a date-night dinner.
Thai food is rolling in Orlando, as well. Case in point, chef Sirinapa Sittisomsub’s Chada Thai, a food truck slinging all the classics from tom yum to pad see ew to roti canai off Lee Road in Winter Park. And over in the Altamonte Springs area, the latest location for Green Papaya, with multiple venues in Jacksonville and one in St. Augustine, has been slinging its branded blend of Thai and sushi since late last year.
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: [email protected], For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
Thai ’em all
Budsaba Thai Bistro: 222 Neighborhood Market Road in Orlando, 407-273-2808; budsabathai.com
Chada Thai: 2626 Lee Road in Winter Park; chadathaiorlando.com
Green Papaya Thai & Sushi: 2480 FL-434 in Altamonte Springs, 407-853-8888; greenpapayaus.com
Lert Thai Street Food: 12084 Collegiate Way in Orlando, 407-340-7102; instagram.com/lertthai.2026
Noods: 6433 Raleigh St. in Orlando, 407-522-9896; facebook.com/noodsorl
Sabai Thai Street Food: 3333 South Orange Ave. in Orlando, 689-336-3384; sabaithaistreetfood.com
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