Crying Thaiger Brings Authentic Thai street food with “bold flavors, made from scratch,” the new restaurant in Wheeling is open for business in the location previously occupied by Wood Fired Pizza Company in Waterfront Hall on Water Street downtown near Heritage Port.
Co-owners Tat Sorat and chef Paul Chuanchaisit took long, different paths to arrive together at Crying Thaiger. After many years and many miles apart, they reconnected and decided to pursue their dream together with this new venture.
“I came here in 2014,” Sorat said. “My family operated Golden Chopsticks at that time. They were the ones who built everything from the ground up in the ’90s. I came here when I was about 15.”
Sorat noted that his uncle is Chinese and his aunt is Thai, and they met at West Liberty back in the 1970s. He said he worked with them at Golden Chopsticks for many years after coming to the U.S., while Chuanchaisit set out on his own culinary adventures in Los Angeles.
“It’s kind of funny because we were childhood friends in Bangkok, Thailand,” Sorat said. “I moved here to Wheeling, and he moved to L.A.
On the West Coast, Chuanchaisit brought a true taste of Thailand to locations where he honed his craft as a chef.
“I’ve been cooking for 10 years now,” he said, noting that he had shared his culinary artistry at multiple sites in Los Angeles – but in Wheeling, Crying Thaiger will be the sole location. “In L.A., I was a private chef, and I had a residency at a couple of wine bars. But now it’s only here, and I’m doing my own thing.”
Crying Thaiger offers a selection of appetizers, salads, soups, dishes from the wok, curries, noodles, dishes from the grill, sides and desserts. Features include Crying Thaiger Steak, Crying Thaiger Wings and Pad Kra Pao – a <a Golden Chopsticks was always a really good Chinese restaurant. But I’m from Thailand, and I’ve always wanted to do Thai food,” Sorat said. “All of my friends and people around me always asked – where should we get Thai food from? I would always recommend a good spot in Pittsburgh or Columbus.”
Friends and associates kept pressing him to consider opening his own restaurant in Wheeling, Sorat said. Dan Milleson, owner of Waterfront Hall, was one of Sorat’s customers at Golden Chopsticks who would ask for recommendations on where to find good Thai food.
“There is no Thai food in Wheeling – there’s never been one,” he said. “I just want to give people in Wheeling real, authentic Thai food.”
The secret to the flavor is that they use the right ingredients, which can be very hard to find.
“We can’t even find most ingredients around here,” Sorat said, noting that his partner came to Wheeling with some key ingredients, but they have to travel to find others. “He brought some from L.A., and we had to drive to Pittsburgh to find some of the ingredients. They wouldn’t deliver!”
The name of the restaurant has roots in both the cuisine and the partnership of the young entrepreneurs, who are both 27.
“Crying Thaiger is actually a dish in Thailand, and it’s one of our signature dishes, too, with steak,” Sorat said. “But we were also both born on a Tiger year – on the Chinese calendar.”
Some of the specialty dishes at Crying Thaiger are those to which the chef enjoys adding his own signature flair.
“Usually my favorite one is grilled chicken – Gai Yang – that’s what I sold a lot of in L.A.,” Chuanchaisit said. “I make my own marinade, and we have a Thai barbecue sauce and papaya salad to go with it.”
For now, it’s a family affair at the restaurant, where about five or six people work.
“This place will give you more like the flavor that we grew up eating in Thailand,” Chuanchaisit said. “We try to use the same ingredients when we can. What Thai people eat – what I eat on a normal basis, we’re making it available here.”
Hours for Crying Thaiger are noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (at least) on Friday and Saturday nights. They intend to be open late on the weekends to serve hungry patrons when concerts and events are taking place at Waterfront Hall.
“We just want to do something really cool in Wheeling,” Sorat said. “I’ve been here for 10 years, and people here have been really nice and welcoming. I want to show them some of my culture from Thailand.
“Crying Thaiger is more than just a restaurant to us. It’s a way to share the food, culture and hospitality we grew up with, while giving back to the communities that welcomed us here. We’re excited to introduce authentic Thai street food to the Ohio Valley.”
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