Downtown Asian dining spot to get new sister restaurant with Pad Thai, Bangkok ribs
A new restaurant is coming to downtown Lexington from a familiar owner.
Nick Lagagsorn, who owns Buddha Lounge on Mill Street, is opening a new restaurant on Short Street.
Osha Thai Kitchen & Bar will open at 107 W. Short St., where he’s operated Bangkok Lounge. The building was a former law office that was remodeled, opening right before the pandemic hit as Cajun/Creole restaurant Roulay. Roulay closed after a year. Since then it’s been Bangkok Lounge, a bar with a menu of small plates and Asian tapas.
Lagagsorn said he hopes to open by June. He said he’d wanted to open a Thai restaurant in Lexington when he moved here from the Bay Area.
“I have a building, I want to try it. I know we have good stuff,” he said. He plans to offer casual upscale dining with a menu of Thai favorites such as pad Thai, pad ka pow as well as pan-Asian cuisine such as fried rice.
But he’ll leave sushi and Japanese food to the sister restaurant, Buddha Lounge, he said.
Lagagsorn said he was inspired by the recent success of a friend who opened Thai House in Georgetown. “They went crazy for it in Georgetown. I couldn’t be more excited for him,” Lagagsorn.
It’s a success he hopes to repeat in Lexington on a broader scale.
Osha, which means “delicious” in Thai, will be open for lunch and dinner during the week, with dinner on Saturday night. And take Sunday off.
The restaurant will have a rooftop patio and sidewalk seating as well as an area for private seating upstairs.
The menu will include specials that Lagagsorn said no one in Lexington is doing at the moment, such as Bangkok ribs, a version of baby back ribs that is marinated and fried. “It’s insane,” Lagagsorn said. “Amazing flavor.”
There also will be a full bar with Asian-inspired cocktails and lots of traditional bourbon options too, he said.
Osha Thai Kitchen & Bar
Where: 107 W. Short St.
Hours: Lunch and dinner weekdays, dinner on Saturday. Closed Sunday.
Opening: Hopes to open by June.
