No Thai! employee Josh Hang serves up a plate of fried rice for a dine in customer Monday afternoon at the East Lansing location of the Michigan based Thai food chain, 403 East Grand River Ave. Despite the MSU roots of three out of four owners of No Thai! the resturant, which currently has three Ann Arbor locations, just opened shop on Grand River last Wednesday.
Ever since Jeffery Cho graduated from MSU, he’s waited for an opportunity to return to his college town.
Cho, fellow MSU alumni Brian Kim and Noerung Hang and Michigan graduate Victor Kim are the co-owners of No Thai! — a successful Thai restaurant with three locations in Ann Arbor — and have recently made the move to East Lansing.
The first No Thai! restaurant opened in September 2005, and the owners attribute their success and expansions to the great food they serve in a casual atmosphere.
Their newest restaurant — 403 E. Grand River Ave. — opened July 27. Cho said it was part of he and his business partners’ natural progression to return to East Lansing, and they’re very excited to come back to the city they once called home.
“It just opened up, and so far, the reception has been great,” Cho said. “Everyone’s been very friendly, and we’re just excited and happy to be back in East Lansing.”
Compared to other Asian restaurants, the No Thai! owners wanted to move away from stereotyped mom-and-pop restaurants that might intimidate people looking to try new food.
Cho said many Asian restaurants are “old school” with very traditional music and styles and detailed menus. It might be challenging for some customers to understand those menus, he said, and No Thai! offers a simple menu with traditional and unique dishes, which he hopes create a comfortable atmosphere.
In addition to personalizing the meals, the name of the restaurant has a personal meaning and relates to the business owners. In looking for a simple and easy-to-remember name for the restaurant, the owners came up with No Thai! after Hang, who the group nicknamed No.
“He’s our head chef, and he came up with the menu, so we decided to give him some credit,” Cho said.
Despite its excellent reputation, No Thai! has some pre-existing competition with Taste of Thai, 1105 E. Grand River Ave., and Thai 102 Degrees, 225 M.A.C. Ave., which opened in January.
East Lansing No Thai! manager Shua Kue said she expects the flavors of No Thai! to stand out among the other Thai restaurants. She said the food speaks for itself, and although there are other similar restaurants in the area, she believes her restaurant’s traditional taste and welcoming atmosphere will attract customers.
“The owners believe the way they want to run business (is by) their food itself, and the quality and quantity will satisfy customers,” Kue said.
Thai 102 Degrees’ manager Pamela Yang has a similar view on the new competition. Yang has heard of No Thai! before, and she believes her menu offers different flavors compared to the new restaurant.
She hasn’t seen much of a difference in business since No Thai! opened last week and hopes that remains true once school starts.
“A lot of people still like my food and the sauce compared to theirs,” Yang said. “There might be some similarities, but every restaurant has its own flavor that a student might crave or a particular dish, so I hope there won’t be much change.”
MSU alumna Laura Henry and physics senior Donovan Miske said they were intrigued by No Thai! because it was a new restaurant East Lansing. As Thai food fans, they were eager to taste the food compared to the other Thai restaurants the city has to offer.
“Ironically, I think this and Thai 102 are completely different,” Miske said. “(Thai 102 uses) a lot of rice in their dishes, and No Thai!’s are more saucy and just traditional Thai food.”
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