ERAWAN THAI CAFE

In 1959, a Thai immigrant named Lilly Chittivej opened a small restaurant called Chada Thai on the corner of 20th and Logan. The first Thai woman to open a Thai restaurant in Colorado, Lilly impressed diners with her cooking while teaching her son, Pop, her recipes and cooking secrets. When Lilly passed away, Pop and his wife, Nita, opened a new restaurant in Commerce City. Nita recruited the youngest of her five siblings, Arthur Suthithanin, to work in the kitchen preparing dishes using Lilly's unique and exotic recipes... After graduating from the Metropolitan State College of Denver, where he received a B.A. in business management, Arthur, or Art as he prefers to be called, worked for a brief period in a bank, but realized he was happier in the restaurant. In January of 1979, he and his wife Linda opened the Erawan Thai Cafe. Linda welcomed and waited on customers while Art perfected the recipes handed down from his sister's mother-in-law. Charming and charismatic, Linda knew..

Primary location: Denver United States