Dallas’ Khao Noodle Shop is No. 2 on Bon Appetit’s America’s Best New Restaurants 2019

Dallas’ Khao Noodle Shop was named one of the best new restaurants in America on Tuesday.

The Laotian restaurant, located in Old East Dallas, was No. 2 on the list of Bon Appetit’s America’s Best New Restaurants 2019. Its owner and chef is Donny Sirisavath.

“We're overwhelmed, filled with emotions - we're happy, excited, thrilled and grateful for this recognition & for all of this,” the restaurant posted on Facebook. “Kop jai (thank you) to everyone for your ongoing support & love. As always, we appreciate you & #makinkhao (come eat...but not all at once).”

The magazine heaped praise on the restaurant.

"After one slurp of painstakingly handmade noodles in a savory, complex pork blood broth, the restaurant’s roots came through clearly: This is the cooking of Laos, the country the chef’s mother fled after its civil war before resettling in Texas in 1977," the magazine said in its write-up. "Now, in a strip mall in East Dallas — an area once home to many Southeast Asian refugees in the late ’70s and early ’80s — Sirisavath serves a menu inspired not by books or classes or other restaurants but by his own singular vision, rooted in family and place. This is a rare thing to find, and I felt lucky just to be there."

It's the second big honor for the Dallas dining scene in a week from the magazine. Bon Appetit named Dallas its 2019 Restaurant City of the Year last week.