Thai Street Food Will Soon Arrive at the Dallas Farmers Market

Ka-Tip, a brand new restaurant focused on Thai street food, will soon open its doors at the Dallas Farmers Market.

The new restaurant is from husband-and-wife duo George and YuYee Kaiho, according to CultureMap. YuYee grew up in Thailand cooking authentic dishes, and George is an award-winning bartender at Jettison in Sylvan Thirty, Houndstooth Coffee’s cocktail-slinging counterpart. The duo hasn’t yet begun construction on their new space on the bottom floor of Harvest Lofts, George Kaiho tells Eater. When Ka-Tip moves in, the Kaihos feel confident that it will fill the Thai food vacuum in Downtown.

“We saw a lack here, you have to go to the suburbs to find Thai food restaurants owned by Thai people,” George Kaiho says. “We wanted to open here because we like the energy of the Farmers Market. It’s very lively weekdays because of the business crowd in Downtown and on weekends because of the market.”

The duo will specialize in small plates that aren’t typically found in Dallas, although familiar fare, like pad Thai, will also be on offer. According to menus posted to its Facebook page, diners will be able to snag dishes like moo yang, grilled pork served with sticky rice and a spicy sauce, or geng kyow wan, a green curry dish with seafood, eggplant, bamboo, basil and vermicelli noodles. The restaurant will have vegetarian options on offer and will be largely gluten-free. “Thai food is typically very healthy and naturally gluten-free — like in the curries and soups,” he explains.

The Kaihos have already been road-testing their dishes around town with a regular stall at the Farmers Market, plus pop-ups at the Asian Night Market food extravaganza held at the Bomb Factory in July, and another pop-up hosted at Taco y Vino earlier this month. In September or October, the duo will bring a three-course pop-up dinner to Jettison and more of their dishes to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Stay tuned for Ka-Tip’s official opening date at its permanent location.

• New restaurant at Dallas Farmers Market gives downtowners true Thai [CultureMap Dallas]