Jonathan Rojjanasrirat grew up at Thai Orchid. He has memories as a kid from the Thai restaurant that his family ran, later working his first jobs there as a dishwasher, bus boy and server.
Now he’s the owner, taking over part of his family’s legacy, and he’s got big plans.
The restaurant was one of the first Thai restaurants in Kansas City in the early 1990s, and his aunt, uncle and mom took it over in 1998. Jonathan moved back to Kansas City with his wife from the West Coast when Jonathan’s mom got sick with cancer, and tried to help the business that got complicated when his mom’s health deteriorated.
“The restaurant was just being run by my mom up front and then my uncle in the back, and towards the end, they were gonna sell it because my mom got sick with cancer,” says Jonathan.
He approached his family about buying the business, located in Mission, in 2018 and was able to transition into an ownership role while spending time with his mom before she died from cancer in 2019. Since then, he’s been plenty busy. Between the roller coaster of dining trends throughout the pandemic, the birth of two kids, and juggling a chiropractor practice, you’d think Jonathan would have enough to do.
But he’s pushing it even further, planning the opening of a second location of Thai Orchid at Metro North Crossing later this year.
Jonathan has been shaking things up at Thai Orchid in his last six years of ownership, adding innovative and unique dishes to the menu — something that can be challenging when people have expectations about what Thai food is supposed to be. Along with his chef team, he likes to offer riffs on Thai classics or change things with the seasons, and he hopes the new space will be a place to do that even more.
Jonathan had been shopping for locations for a while and actually found the Metro North space through a regular customer at the restaurant, who worked with Metro North Crossing.
“I met Dan [Horn], the project developer, who was a customer,” says Jonathan. “He used to live in Mission so he would come frequently, and now that he's up North, he doesn't get to come as often. But, I think part of why the negotiation and the lease portion went really smoothly is because he likes us, and he wants to support us, and he trusts the business, while others may have not. Because even though we've been around a long time, we're kind of small mom-and-pop shop. So working with Dan has been awesome.”
The new Thai Orchid will be housed in an almost 4,000 sq ft building at Metro North Crossing, located underneath the luxury apartment complex there. It’s a big change from the space half that size they have now in the Mission strip mall, which can be both exciting and intimidating.
“I think it's great because there's a lot of limitations to the old space,” says Jonathan. “It's fun in that regard, but it's also challenging because, well, we're building the engines and building the actual systems, versus inheriting what's already working and running.”
The new space will be modern but not unapproachable, with concrete floors, warm wood throughout, bamboo room dividers and light fixtures, and a colorful mural on the wall. Thai Orchid in Mission has a lot of regular customers, and he hopes the Northland location will be similar in that way. Because it will be located under an apartment complex, the price points will appeal to patrons who want to eat there multiple times a week, but the chic decor will make it feel like a fun place for a night out. The team at Thai Orchid is most excited about the upgraded kitchen, with large walk-in coolers and prep space, so they can store more ingredients and spend time creating new dishes.
While Jonathan is looking forward to the future with the new location, he knows he’s building upon the hard work of his family that helped it reach this point.
“It’s the place where I grew up,” says Jonathan. “It’s a business that helped send money to my grandparents and help with the family. My cousin is now working with me in Thailand. There’s that family legacy aspect.”
Thai Orchid’s Metro North Crossing location plans to open in late 2024.
Thai Orchid
Metro North Crossing
460 NW Legacy Drive, Kansas City
thaiorchidkc.com
“It’s the place where I grew up. It’s a business that helped send money to my grandparents and help with the family. There’s that family legacy aspect.”
“I think it's great because there's a lot of limitations to the old space. It's fun in that regard, but it's also challenging because, well, we're building the engines and building the actual systems, versus inheriting what's already working and running.”