SXSE food truck owner Bob Somsith opens Lao-inspired restaurant Lao'd Bar in East Austin
Bob Somsith’s culinary journey has taken him from cooking as a child at his mother’s side in Laos, to corporate catering gigs interspersed throughout his career as an accountant, to a six-year stint running one of Austin’s best food trucks (SXSE).
On Wednesday, he will open his first brick-and-mortar restaurant and bar.
Lao’d Bar will open at 9909 RM 969 (Building 4), serving a menu of Lao-American cuisine packed with salty, pungent and sour flavors that make it perfectly suited for beer (and cocktail) drinking. The food blends the flavors of Somsith’s native Laos with his adopted home of Texas (the chef spent his adolescence in Dallas).
What's on the menu at Lao'd Bar?
Some dishes will look familiar to SXSE regulars, like the ribeye skewers brushed with Lao barbecue sauce; pork buns stuffed with lahb-seasoned pulled pork and herbs; a deep fried Lao sausage brightened with pickled onions and lime.
New menu items include a smashburger made with pork and dressed with Laotian chili paste aioli, slaw, rice fermented pickles, bacon and American cheese; and a lahb-seasoned poke bowl.
Somsith is the first to acknowledge that his food is not “traditional” Laotian cuisine. He’s less interested in recreating authenticity than being true to his personal experience while introducing many to Lao culture and traditions through food.
“It’s just the way I grew up. My mom cooked Lao, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese and sometimes American,” Somsith told the American-Statesman. “The resources we have in the States are vast compared to Laos, and in the early days, it was hard to get those ingredients imported, so we made do with what we had and enjoyed the new ingredients that were available to us. Those that have traveled to Laos would know exactly what I’m talking about. The food there is different than the food here. Heck, when I was teaching English to eco-tourist guides in remote villages of Laos, my daily staple was steamed veggies, soup, eggs, jeow (dipping sauces) and sticky rice. We didn’t eat meats unless it was a special occasion like a Baci ceremony, when I was leaving the village. What I’m really trying to say is, the ‘authentic’ is subjective.”
What kind of beverage plan is in the works for Lao'd Bar?
Somsith attracted an impressive selection of the Austin dining community with his thoughtful beer-paired Chef’s Table series when he was at 4th Tap Brewing (one of three breweries where SXSE set up shop over the years), and he plans to run those special nights in the future once Lao’d Bar is established.
The beverage menu will include jasmine rice lager Beerlao, a Laotian staple, and Southeast Asian-inspired signature cocktails such as the Muang Royale, a play on a mango sticky rice negroni, made with Thai rice-washed whiskey, mango, and Carpano vermouth.
Where can I find Lao'd Bar?
The restaurant and bar, which will have night market vibes accentuated by string lights and floral oilcloth prints, sits on a property owned by real estate company TOPO, of which Uchi co-founder Daryl Kunik is a co-founder. The property is also home to longtime Kunik associate Matt Luckie’s nostalgia-peddling-and-inducing Sign Bar, a celebration of Austin’s cultural history that is home to dozens of signs from famed Austin businesses.
Somsith, who spent part of the pandemic mentoring high school students with culinary ambitions, spent several years working and waiting for Lao’d Bar to become a reality. It’s a “surreal experience” he said he never could have imagined “in a million years.”
“My parents brought us from war-torn Laos for a better life. They’ve always just wanted me to have a career where I wear a suit and tie everyday and work in a nice air-conditioned office,” Somsith said. “I’ve been there and done that as an accountant and it just wasn’t for me. It’s crazy to think that the passion of cooking was ingrained in me by just helping mom cook as a ten-year old and watching Martin Yan on television.”
Lao’d Bar will be open from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday-Friday; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: SXSE food truck chef opens Lao'd Bar restaurant in East Austin
