If he has the clout to get a liquor license… Thai cocktail spot.
Anything in there has to be outrageously good or support the other superstars like Scoops and Endorffeine do.
Just brought a pad thai and Thai omelette w/ pork back to the office. Arguably the best versions of each I’ve had there to date. Too bad…
He could just add it to his flagship spot and pay less rent and overhead costs. Seems like having Pok Pok Phat Thai would actually take away from his other business, or vice versa.
Make that two. Sen Yai in Portland just closed.
Ricker claims ethnic food prejudice behind closing of Pok Pok Sen Yai
Maybe he isn’t managing expenses well.
i.e. Som Tum Der. 1 Michelin Star, LES NYC, nothing over $13. Food is pretty darn good.
http://somtumder.com/menu.html
Yeah that place has much better food than Pok Pok which probably has something to do with it, STD (they could use better initials) is always packed, deservedly so.
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Oh noooooo! I’m crushed. Where will I get my pad thai fix now? 
Was there just over a week ago and it was as good as ever. But I must say I’m not at all surprised. I really hope it’s just a hiatus rather than a permanent closure…
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It’s like Ricker is a millenial or something. Always blaming others for failures instead of taking responsibilities. Maybe your food isn’t as great as you think it is.
Ate here one last time before it closed… Say what you will about the place and Andy Ricker, but I was served a damn great phat sii ew with pork. The vegetables were bursting with freshness. The pork was slightly singed yet juicy with a delicious hint of soy flavor just so. The noodles were not limp, and absorbed the essences imparted by the vegetables, and porky goodness with a slight smokiness (AKA wok hei).
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yeah, this was was surely only invented in 2000 c.e.
and i’m the paraclete of caborca.
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I loved the noodles here–I think he just ran into a cultural buzzsaw, which was amplified by inconsistency in the product. I think I had pad see ew three times there. Twice it was great and looked like yours. Once it was limp and sad.
I’m not surprised it’s gone. I went with two friends from Singapore, and we were completely underwhelmed by the pad thai, which had a weird bitter flavor in some bites that clearly didn’t belong. Also very, very bland, and beyond simply needing to “dress it” ourselves (bad idea anyway, IMO).
That said, the broken rice crepe was revelatory.
I certainly don’t think PPPT’s closure has anything to do with a cultural prejudice whatsoever, seeing as this is Los Angeles with the best Thai food outside of Thailand and so many successful Thai businesses managing to be so successful they even open outposts in the suburbs that ALSO manage to be successful. I also have a hard time believing PORTLAND would be guilty of “ethnic food prejudice” given their caricature of being Hipsterlandia.
Not having been to PPSY, if its food were similar to PPPT’s, then its closure is most likely the result of the food simply failing to be good enough consistently enough to enough people.
oh shit, Baohaus taking over?!
George Yu, yu da man.
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Fine. Even more chaos in Far East Plaza. At least it’s the “Food Center” once again. You won’t find me waiting in line to try Baohaus, though. Visited the NYC branch when it was located in the LES and was underwhelmed. (Also zero waiting when I was there.) Indeed, I’ve had a similar meh reaction to other Asian eateries that attract a hipster audience, such as Fung Tu in Manhattan, as well as Little Sister and Night Market Song locally.
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Have you tried Mission Chinese? In either SF or NY? I have not but have been curious.
Yes I’ve tried Mission Chinese SF. Quite good if you accept it for what it is, i.e., non-authentic Chinese (which they don’t purport to be).
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I’d add Xi’an famous, quite awful the branch in mid-town Manhattan.
I thought the original small XFF in Manhattan Chinatown was pretty good. But after they expanded outside the .Chinese community and I believe went to a central kitchen, I suspect that led to a dilution
I am pretty excited that Eddie Huang is opening up in the hood. It makes sense since he lives here in LA for like half the year, has fam in SGV, and plenty of friends (speaking of that listen to DVDASA episode with Eddie, him and David Choe are hilarious)
I rather have Eddie Huang in Chinatown than some bougie ass wine bar or freaking Packing House #2 at Jia Apartments
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