A beloved noodle shop in Dallas have recently closed their doors after an on and off phase due to the pandemic according to an Advocate article which reports, 

“Khao Noodle Shop is now closed for good.

The East Dallas restaurant’s chef, Donny Sirisavath, posted a message on his Instagram page announcing the news.

“Good morning world, the Khao Tribe @Khaonoodleshop has served up our last bowl of noodles,” he wrote. “We had a crazy fun ride. It’s an end to this chapter, but a new beginning of another.”

The restaurant on Bryan Street closed in January 2021 and reopened later that month for takeout only. Before then, it closed temporarily in mid-April 2020 and reopened in May for curbside and to-go service.”

However, he reassures that a brand new restaurant featuring a fried chicken frenzy will come up to replace his old noodle shop according to a Dallas Morning News article from February 9. They say, 

“It was a hard decision, and I’m still sad,” Sirisavath told The Dallas Morning News. “But I was drained. I needed to do something different besides just pivoting and pivoting. We’re tired of pivoting. We pivoted three or four times, and we were still trying to survive.”

But he is pivoting once more, this time alongside Jimmy Niwa of Niwa Japanese BBQ in Deep Ellum. The two are opening a fried chicken concept, Darkoo’s Chicken Shack, in Khao’s old space. The restaurant is scheduled to open at the end of the month.

“Everyone is doing fried chicken these days, so we thought let’s hop on the bandwagon but just make it our way,” Sirisavath said.

They figured they’d give the Dallas fried chicken frenzy a Japanese and Laotian spin and open a casual counter service spot that will be a bit more pandemic proof than Khao was with its delicate noodle dishes and intricate prep.”

Chef Dirisavath became popular in Khao Noodle Shop as he freely invented and mixed new flavors. He even introduced different pastries and dumplings that featured Laotian cuisine.