The secular expression “dinner and show” has nothing on Asiannights.
A given night, at any time, you can enter an EDM set by a well -known DJ in Asian music circles, like DJ Taiypp, which has an upcoming show in April. Not exactly a daily event here at Fort Worth.
Another night, you could trip, as we recently did, an end to university studies. On their Pad Krapow plates and Tom Yum soup bowls, the guests sat down and looked at the fun rejoicing taking place; Some have even joined, sharing drinks with revelers.
And if you are lucky, you will be there at night, one of the owners of the restaurant, Niya Nakasane, performs a set of Thai pop numbers, sparkling and trembling in sparkling glitter, while the crowd sings. It is quite a view that watches her play a minute and deliver your fried rice to crab the next day.
Asiannights is one of the most unique restaurants in Fort Worth – and it is also one of the most gray catering secrets in the city. Local chefs and gourmets have known this for years and have tried to keep it for themselves. Social media has a way to spoil the secrets, however, and with some of the live performances of the Asiannights which become viral on Tiktok and Instagram, the rest of the world was linked, sooner or later, to shoot.
Obviously, there are many restaurants and bars at Fort Worth which serve food in a festive backdrop, but most of the time the food takes the rear seat for entertainment. Here, in this modestly decorated location which rides the border of Fort Worth and Haltom City, the food is exceptional; You come for the POS and fried pork chest, and as on the side, you can witness or participate in entertaining raidmatazz, be it Laotian karaoke or a private party that pours into the rest of the restaurant.
“We are not directing this as a business business,” explains Xayen Chant, an army veteran who owns the restaurant with Nakasane, his wife about 10 years old. “It’s really a family here. Everyone knows everyone. They enter, sit at their favorite table and we already know what they will order. I think it is this level of comfort that makes people want to organize their parties here or come to see a show here or simply come for food.
“But there is generally something fun that happens here, so it ends up being food with a show,” he laughs.
The relaxed vibrations of the Asiannights date back to the opening of the company 25 years ago. “Originally, it was just a bar,” says song. “Many people who came here at the time still come now.”
Over the years, Asiannights has become one of the few places in northern Texas to welcome singers, musicians and DJs, singers, musicians and DJs, which the restaurant welcomes today. “It is a small circle of places that reserve these acts,” explains Chant. “We are one of the few in Texas.”
A song cousin opened the restaurant and directed it for several years, mainly like a bar, but sometimes the food was served. Six years ago, Song and Nakasane, who are both from Laos, took it back after the song cousin decided to let him go. Nakasane had already made a name for himself to Asiannights as a frequent interpreter – then, says song, it was perfectly logical for her to take over as owner.
“We really felt like we could do something special with him,” he said. “We wanted to present Thai cuisine and Lao – the food we grew up on, but keep entertainment live because that’s what we were known at that time.”
To develop and execute their great menu of Thai staples and Lao, the couple turned to people who, according to them, could better manage this challenge: their family.
“We hired my mother-in-law, my stepfather, my sister-in-law,” explains Chant. They all worked in other restaurants in Fort Worth Thai and Lao, notably Thaleux and the neighboring Sikhay. “I thought, why should they work for someone else when we had the opportunity to do something ourselves?” We convinced them to leave their jobs to work here, ”he says. Song and Nakasane’s sons of their previous weddings also work there.
Asiannights’ sprawling menu encompasses known and somewhat obscure Lao and Thai dishes. They are best known for their slightly crisp pork belly, their Laotian sausage with lemongrass and its wide selection of currys.
Those who take a deeper dive into the menu will find so much more to admire, from the Kuay Teow Kua Gai, a mountainous portion of flat rice noodles sautéed in chicken and eggs, to Goong OB WOONSEN, a hot pot overflowing with shrimp, Crab, glass noodles and matching vegetables, up to Pla Rad Prik, a Tilapia fried dish lined with peppers and garlic.
The menu also includes half a dozen pho options, several variations in papaya salads, dozens of other rice and noodle dishes, specialized drinks (both watered and not), and desserts such as ‘A sticky rice of mango beautifully presented, the rice which is the rice generally arranged in the form of a heart.
“These are my wife’s recipes and her family recipes,” explains Chant. “This is what we do here, our atmosphere here – family, a big family.”
Asiannights Lao Thai Cuisine & Bar, 2905 N. Beach St., anlaothaicuisine.com