Baan Mae

Baan Mae comes from the people who built Thip Khao, and it uses that foundation to push somewhere more specific: Lao cuisine run through a Thai-inflected, fusion lens, served as small plates meant for sharing across a crowded bar. The room is tight enough that you'll bump elbows with the next table, and that closeness is the point — soft orange light, first dates leaning in, a space built for proximity rather than distance.

The kitchen backs up the atmosphere. Cilantro shrimp crudo reads bright and citrusy against a massaman curry built on shredded beef brisket, rich and unhurried. The banana jicama blossom salad plays cold and crunchy against warm tapioca dumplings stuffed with peanuts and wrapped in lettuce — a dish worth ordering on its own. Crispy catfish sliders disappear fast, and the crab curry is seasoned with real precision, not just heat.

None of it feels like a lesser echo of the owners' other restaurant. It's its own argument, and a confident one. Bon Appétit named it among the country's best new restaurants in 2025, which is confirmation, not the case itself. The case is on the plate.

Get a reservation. Bring people you want close to.