Sukhothai Restaurant welcomes Mayor and public to grand opening

Sukhothai Restaurant, a Lark Street standard for pad thai and other Thai specialties, opened its new restaurant on Central Avenue this month. Mayor Jerry Jennings, and staff from the Central Business Improvement District were at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday with owner Saowa Luck.

"These are the kinds of businesses that will bring the avenue back," Jennings said at the ceremony. Jennings, who grew up on Central Avenue, has always taken a great deal of interest in its revival. Jennings said he is glad the couple has decided to expand their business into the neighborhood. "This is Albany," he said, pointing to the street outside the restaurant's windows.

Luck and her husband Maung Yannaung have owned the Lark Street Sukhothai for two years. They bought the building at 62 Central around the same time with the intention of expanding there. "We bought the whole building here and the business over there was doing well so we decided to open another," Luck said. Renovations to the Central Avenue building, which she and her husband did themselves, took much longer than expected, she said, but they completed them earlier this spring and officially opened the first week of April.

The new restaurant is much larger than the old restaurant, and a bigger kitchen has allowed them to expand their offerings. "We keep things simple and the same, but have just a little more," Luck said. The restaurant is open 7 days a week, from 11:30-10:00pm.

Sukhothai Restaurant is located at 62 Central Avenue. 433-7203.