Lao Laan Xang Restaurant

Called and finished placing a to go order at 5:48PM yesterday. Was told it would be ready in 45 minutes. Showed up at 6:30. Restaurant was packed got to the front and was told our order would be ready until 7:30. I said I was told 45 minutes when I called. They said they’ll start making it now and it would be ready shortly. Never once was a mistake admitted. No apology. I asked if one of our apps could be comped and I was looked at like I had issued an insult. Our food was not close to being ready when promised, a comped app should be the least that could have been done. Won’t be back here for Thai food. Will find other spots around Madison solely based on the poor customer service.

Went there for the first time last night celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. Food was amazing. They offer 4 levels of spiciness. I went with 3 and it was perfect. The iced Thai Coffee and Tea is amazing. The service was top notch. Nice atmosphere inside. Seating is spaced out where you don't feel cramped or feel like you're sharing a meal with strangers sitting next to you. Can't say enough good things about this place. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I've never had Laotian food before but I expected it to be similar to Thai, and it was. The food is very good and there's a pretty wide variety of options. The stuffed chicken wings are my favorite thing that I had, so I definitely recommend that. The curries are all good too. My only complaint is how dark it was in there. Close to when we were leaving they turned on the lights for the dinner service, but it would have been nice to have that for our early dinner too

stuffed chicken wings were good as a concept, but i didn't like the pork in it. The sauce was sweet but lacking in freshness. will come back to try more later.

I ordered the shrimp noodle salad. Unfortunately not a lot of flavor, needed a sauce or rub. Shrimp were good size and cooked properly.

First time we had a poor experience. We were patient and waited 20min for appetizers and then had to ask about our curry squash after another 20min. by visiting the bar to ask the waitress as they never came by the table. They then asked the kitchen while standing there and they said 2min. In the meantime, we saw the same delivery guy 3 times. Unfortunately they were too concerned with their to go orders than those sitting. The inside only had 4 tables of guests. First time in 5yrs, to have such a disappointing experience.

Service was very attentive. The kitchen couldn't handle the orders. Wait 50 minutes for the food. Standard Midwest Asian food style. Very expensive.

Excellent red curry beef. Since four star spicy is "native Lao," and I'm just a native Wisconsinite who has lived in Asia for a couple of years I got three star spicy, which was perfect for a cold January night. I'm looking forward to trying the rest of the menu.

Some of my favorite Thai food in Madison! It's located in a cozy space in the heart of the Atwood neighborhood. A comfortable space with nice big windows. Parking can be challenging. There is no parking lot and limited parking options. I found street parking a few blocks away. We started off with the tofu spring rolls. So fresh and their peanut sauce is amazing! We then shared 2 entrees for 2 people, the pad thai with tofu and their peanut curry. The peanut curry is my favorite! Excellent flavor with fresh veggies and perfectly cooked tofu. The pad thai was great as well. They do only bring out a very small bowl of rice for the curry but they will refill it. Overall, great portions. The staff was friendly but the service was slow. This is a great place for take out so I'm sure especially on a Friday night there were many take out orders to manage on top of the service in the restaurant. A great spot if you're not in a rush.

I highly recommend Lao Laan-Xang. The mango curry with catfish here is my favorite meal in Madison. Absolutely phenomenal. Lao Laan-Xang is excellent for both takeout and dining in, as the restaurant has a nice cozy ambiance. I'm picky when it comes to Thai iced tea, but I love theirs. The crab Rangoon and mango sticky rice are also delicious!

Authenticity is 10/10 here. Went here based on a secondary recommendation. I gobbled up my entire delicious papaya salad. I was with two other people, they were meh on their dishes. My friend actually did not like hers, she enjoys Thai food a lot. Quaint, no frills interior. Modest and authentic feel. It was an experience to see people order something and serve themselves out of the silver communal bowl. Oh and my sticky rice came in a little wicker basket tehehe They said they got a new system and could not offer separate checks.

I love their food! The first few times I went I always got the mango curry this time I got something different which was just as savory. They moved to a different location which seems more spacious and brighter. Their service was great. We went during a busy time but we got our food I a timely manner. Highly recommend! I'd definitely come back!!! They have vegetarian options!

This was our first dinner in Madison and it really set a high bar on what we expected for the rest of our meals during our visit. This Laotian cuisine was appealing and intriguing and seemingly draws influence from other Southeast Asian cuisines such as Thai and Vietnamese. Our group of 14 tried several items: Thai iced tea, vegetarian egg roll, chicken satay, pork tenderloin satay, drunken noodles with beef, Lao Laan-Xang fried rice with combination meat, three mushrooms with tofu, spicy peanut curry with mock duck, stuffed chicken wings, stuffed pork tenderloin, and sweet sticky rice with mango. We thoroughly enjoyed every item but there were a few that particularly stood out. The stuffed chicken wings had vermicelli and pork tenderloin had a blend of herbs and spices. Both were excellently executed and a must-try. Keep in mind that both of these require more time to prepare. We have four young children with minimal patience. Therefore I placed an order for both items while we browsed the rest of the menu. The drunken noodle was a huge hit for us. It is similar to the Thai version except I think this does not have the fish sauce and therefore not having that sour, tangy flavor. The sweet sticky rice with fresh mango was their only dessert for the evening and we ordered three bowls to share. My husband and I are generally not big fans of coconut however we made the exception for this. The coconut was not overwhelming and instead well complimented with the mango, sesame, and sticky rice. Not sure what kind of sticky rice they used but it is very different from the white ones that we usually have. Parking was a bit difficult and we had three cars. We had to circle around the blocks a few times. The staff was helpful and told us there is street parking across the street, parking behind the restaurant, and parking at United Way after 5 PM.

I dined in on a Saturday evening. The place was not full. I was able to find street parking close by without difficulty. Lao laan xang fried rice was my entree item. I went for Lao spicy level. I liked it at that spice level. It was a fried rice with a lot of stuff - chicken, beef, pineapple, cashew and shrimp mixed in. Crunchiness of the cashew as good. Pineapple gave a much needed sweetness.

I ordered the shrimp noodle salad. Unfortunately not a lot of flavor, needed a sauce or rub. Shrimp were good size and cooked properly

This time I was kind of upset. The service was great although the curry was tasteless and watery. On a decent note they re made it and it tasted better. The spring rolls are always great as well as the egg rolls. There Portion size dropped tremendously with the price going up. The place was nice and clean I always love the elephant decor. It seems the cook is not the same cook as before. Maybe they need someone with a bit more experience! Overall the meal was fixed I was ok with that. It was just very expensive. $98.00 for 2 people.

I discovered this place when I drove by it to get a haircut nearby and decided to try it the next night. I was really curious about Laotian cuisine because I am a big fan of Thai food. Although they are different cuisines, they basically share a lot of the same style dishes but with different interpretations and sometimes slightly different ingredients. It was my first time trying Laotian cuisine and I was definitely impressed. The chicken satay was absolutely amazing and honestly the best one I have had here in the Madison-area. My go-tos at this restaurant are the pineapple curry and the spicy peanut curry. They also have pretty good mixed drinks with a Laotian twist. Highly recommend this place!

My wife had been here for lunch a few months ago and wanted to return for dinner. We arrived at around 7pm on a summer Friday to find the dining room almost empty - maybe a quarter of the tables were occupied at best. The staff was prompt at greeting us and in taking our order. I got a Sinha beer which was delivered quickly as was the appetizer of fresh spring rolls which were indeed very fresh, large and tasty. After that quick service everything ground to a halt. Despite the small crowd and just a few take-out orders our main courses did not come out for almost 40 minutes. I know places are still short on help but really? We finally inquired what was going on. When our food did arrive it was OK. I got the red curry, a big serving with good spice but nothing special. My wife did like her drunken noodle dish. When we were paying the waitress delivered a complimentary sticky rice with mango dessert to make up for the long wait. The gesture was much appreciated. We decided that the dessert was better than either entree we had. I won't be rushing back...

5/5 restaurant for asian food by madison standards! my friends and i came here as a group of 4 on a friday night and there was no wait at all. the interior was cute and nicely decorated. service was prompt and we got everything we needed quickly. for food, i ordered the khua mee and my friend got the papaya salad. i'm not sure if this was a laotian specific papaya salad but it tasted very similar to the thai version. i enjoyed the khua mee but it wasn't as satisfying with the tofu imo. i probably should've gotten the chicken. it reminded me a lot of how a pad thai would taste. another thing to note is that the level 4 spice isn't that crazy so i would go higher on the spice level if you're able to. overall pretty yummy spot for laotian/thai food (and is better than other asian restaurants I've had in madison thus far)!

I love this place! The food is outstanding, the atmosphere is great. The crab rangoons are some of the best in Madison!!! So crispy and delicious. I really enjoyed the drunken noodles, however, they are better from the Willy St. location. These were still good, just not outstanding! I would definitely come back. Parking is limited in the neighborhood, but typically some street parking nearby.

Personally, 6 out of 5. I'm japanese and this is a great asian selection. Nice small restaurant. I did take out and got chicken larp and tom yum soup. The soup was good, it had mushrooms and tofu. The larp was amazing! It was like Japanese lettuce wrap, it had minced chicken with spices and vegetables. I thought the cucumber was thinly sliced but they were big rounds. You can wrap the minced meat mix with lettuce and sticky rice. Sooooo delicious.

What a great experience. Food was very good and very flavorful. Restaurant was very clean and pleasant. Wait staff was very attentive. Very special, memorable experience.

Khao phuun is a savory rice noodle dish with a wonderfully rich curry. The mint and cilantro give it a freshness that prevents it from being too earthy. Squash curry is a big hitter - not overly sweet, but you'll still want to bathe in that coconut milk curry. The atmosphere is pretty cool, and it's good for an impromptu date night when a storm knocks out your power for 24 hours.

Got take out. Food was alright nothing that'll tickle your fancy and was missing part of our order.

We had pretty good service during our visit, they were attentive to our big party and food came out quick BUT The food left us very unimpressed. The som tum smelled soooo good but lacked flavor, the drunken noodles had barely any noodles and lacked flavor despite being doused in sauce (probably the biggest disappointment, if you're a SE Asian restaurant, it should be a staple dish), and everything else was mediocre. I don't think I'll ever come back.

Fantastic spot! We often get delivery from here, but the in person experience is even better. My go to is the pineapple curry, and it was excellent as usual. Our server Colin refilled our water frequently and with finesse. The vibes were immaculate and the bathroom was nice and clean. They tried to bring us crab rangoon which we didn't order but it was funny so all good! Me and my companions found the meal to be (in their words) suberb, stellar, and mind-blowingly good. One of the premier restaurant destinations in the Madison area!

Got the squash curry and stuffed chicken wings. The stuffed chicken wings are amazing!

I'm a big believer in family-style and Lao Laan-Xang is the perfect place for that! I came with a group of 4 and we ordered a variety of dishes ranging from vegetarian to chicken to noodles, and of course dessert! On a Friday night dinner, street parking was scarce and the place was crowded, but the waiters worked hard to turn tables quickly, so we were seated after about 15 minutes or so. All the entrees has plenty of veggies and they were big pieces high I loved! Lighter in flavor but that's probably better for my sodium intake. More deets: Squash curry -- solid choice, lots of squash chunks! The curry was creamy, on the lighter side, and not salty. I liked having larger chunks of veggies and tofu as well. Cashew Chicken -- Similar to the curry, there are large chunks of veggies - squash, tomatoes, onions, snap peas, etc. The sauce resembles more of a thinner sweet and sour which was the surprise for me. Flat noodles (veggie) - they seemed to be pan fried a little which gave it a nice texture! Lots veggies, yum. Chicken Laab - not my favorite laab in town but the herbs were there! It was a little too citrusy for me, but I appreciated it was served traditionally with sticky rice! Last, but not least -- Mango sticky rice dessert - so delicious!!! The mango is a little more on the tart side which balances out the sticky rice perfectly. The rice is ooey, sweet, and warm when served. Delicious is every bite. We were all a huge fan of this dish! For drinks -- they tend to make on the very sweet and stronger side. I liked the mulled wine someone in my group got. Mine tasted too close to a very spiked mountain dew.

I'm surprised with the low rating. We have eaten here for years and it's great. I always get the squash curry and it's delish. Check it out! We'll be ordering it for tonight's dinner!

Great, authentic Laotian food. Pleasing atmosphere. Friendly service.

I ended up here upon my friends recommendation. I got the feeling from their review that this place is mistaken for Thai cuisine where actually this is Laotian. Inside it is quiet an ambience, reflects the traditional vibe in most senses. The dine in area is not very spacious, at a first glance it looks but crowded. They have a bar too with limited seating. From the menu it looks like they've got variety within he alcohol section. I went there little late after noon for lunch and It seemed to be busy even then. I've order shrimp spring rolls and chicken satay for appetizers. I liked the spring roll although I hardly could tase any shrimp in it. Chicken satay is good too, not too much turmeric just the right amount as how I like it. For entree I had Khua Pet Kee Nu and my friends got house special fried rice and mock duck curry. I really enjoyed the taste of Khua Pet, the sauce especially. It's made with 4 different kinds of mushroom and mushroom tasted tender and flavorful. I didn't like the house specials fried rice, for some reason it didn't really Stan dour as special. I did enjoy the mock duck curry as well. It's a good protein option for vegetarians. I'd give a a decent four star for food but one thing I didn't like is how they serve the customers. I understand during the rush hours you'd be busy running around but the lady who served our plates literally threw them in front of us and just left. She was not the one who took our order but for some reason she served our plates. Not so good experience with the service will always make me double think to go back even when the food is good.

I've never had Laotian food, at least not to my knowledge. I really enjoyed my meal here. I ordered a Thai Iced Tea, of course. It's hard to go wrong with that. It was only $2.50. We started with the Fresh Spring Roll with Lao sausage. I liked the spring rolls. They seemed pretty standard. I'm not sure how to describe the sausage. It was good though. For my entree, I got the Phra Lam Durn Don with beef. It's a stir-fry kind of dish with a sweet peanut sauce on top. I got the "Careful" spicy level. I really liked the peanut sauce. I think it did get a bit watery at the bottom of the dish though - probably from cooking the zucchini and mushrooms. I did think maybe they got a little lazy with cutting the zucchini because I had a few giant pieces. I'm curious to see what the other location is like. This one was quite busy on a Thursday night!

One of my favorite restaurants in Madison for Lao food! Good pricing $5 - $17 and portions are hefty; 2 people can share a dish (for me). Love the spice level options (always do 4 and its spicy). There are two locations. They generally take 40 mins on my orders -- plan for it accordingly.

Wow, this place was so good! I've been living in and out of Madison for 9 years now, but I've only recently eaten here and don't know how I've missed out. I thought we received pretty good service during prime dinnertime, and would recommend eating family style here so you can get a taste of all their different dishes. My favorite had to be their mixed vegetable curry made with tofu -- loved all the butternut squash in it -- and second would have to be their chicken larp. We also had their khua sa eiu and honey chicken with cashews. The chicken was unexpected since we thought stir-fried meant it would be coated and crispy. Instead it was a dish with a broth-like sauce, but it was still tasty. For the drinks, we each got a house cocktail. My friend really enjoyed her ginger rum hot toddy, but our other drinks could have used more ingredients to cut through the strong alcohol. We finished alllll that food plus dessert. For dessert, you have to have the mango sticky rice! It's made perfectly!

Let me begin that we really wanted to like this place. My husband had lunch here in the past and liked what he had, so a few weeks ago we decided to try it for dinner. We were pleasantly surprised that we we arrived there was only a short wait given that the dining room was full; however, our pleasant surprise and our wait got much much longer. We were given menus when we sat down, but it took a bit to get our orders in. There was a large table next to us, but I'm not sure that was the hold-up. Once we ordered Chicken Satay as an appetizer, as well as Cashew Chicken and Ginger Chicken for our main courses. And then the wait began. Our Chicken Satay came out after about 20 minutes or so. It was a bit longer than we thought we'd have to wait for an appetizer, though, in this case the wait was worth it. The chicken was grilled and hot and tasty. The accompanying Satay sauce was fine, though nothing special. That is to say, it was very bland and a tich oily. But as I say above, the chicken was very good. And then we waited more. Our server came to check on us maybe twice. Once to say our dinners would be coming up (and they did not) and then another time to say she didn't know what happened to them. I think we waited at least an hour to get our dinners. An hour. Others around us were served--except the table next to us. They were a largish party of three or four adults and two children. God bless those parents that kept those kids well occupied. When food finally did arrive, we only got one dish at first--the Cashew Chicken. It was not super hot in terms of temperature, and again it was very bland. To be fair, I did order it as "mild"; however, one can still have spice without having heat. About five or ten minutes later my husband got his Ginger Chicken, but sans the chicken. He sent it back and he did get the dish with chicken more quickly than he imagined. Still, it was also rather bland. I can't really say more about the dishes as we ate what was in front of us because we were starved, but when we had enough, we both left a good bit on our plates as it just wasn't very good. Our server did take a percentage off so that the appetizer was essentially free and maybe half off of one of the main courses. We appreciated that given the long wait and forgetting the chicken. Still the kitchen needs to work on a lot before we'll return again.

We love Lao Laan-Xang at their Williamson Street location, so I was excited to try their Atwood location. I'm happy to report the food was just as good! I'm not sure if there were differences in the menus themselves, but they seemed quite similar. Everything we ate was fresh with lots of complimentary flavors and textures. We enjoyed the pork egg-rolls and spicy sausage. The beef salad was spicy and amazing. The larp was outstanding. Like most southeast Asian food, the flavors were a mix of sweet, salty, sour, spicy, and everything was fresh. For either location, the food at Lao Laan-Xang seems to be spot-on. The main difference was in the atmosphere and the service. While the Williamson location has a quirky, I'm eating at my Lao neighbor's house feel, the Atwood location has a professional restaurant feel. It also has a more complete bar w/specialty cocktails. It's more formal and a place you would feel comfortable taking business associates while the Williamson Street location I would save for friends and family. The service also varies in that at the Williamson Location we have been served by both a waitress and the cook. It feels more informal. At the Atwood location the wait staff felt more experienced and more of a typical restaurant visit rather than visiting someone at their home. Either way, Lao Laan-Xang is a winner in my book an definitely worth visiting.

This place is A-OK. We waited a few minutes for a table and they got us in as quickly as they could. 4 of us ordered different entrees and all tried each other's. Everything was good but nothing exceptional. The Thai food scene is fierce and competitive in Madison, and I feel like Lao Laan-Xang falls in the middle of them. It was good and I would go back but was nothing special.

The thai iced tea here is amazing, and their squash curry is my go-to, delicious every single time Love going here for a special date night

Drunken noodles were dried. Flavors wasn't a hit. I ordered larp, red curry, drunken noodles.

One of my favorite Thai/Laotian places. Whenever I get back to Madison, I try to make a stop here for their curry squash and crab rangoon. I don't think I've ever had anything bad here at all. Also, service is always outstanding!

Perfectly fine except for the fact that Madison has better choices for Southeast Asian cuisine. Lunch prices were incredible, through. $8.75-ish gets you a good portion of food, including an eggroll or small cucumber salad. Service was very slow. I just feel that some of the other similar restaurants have more flavor to their dishes. I could eat here again though.

So we went here because how long bay it was too full. It was pretty dead when we walked in but then it got a little busier there seem to be a lot of people that ordered takeout. We ordered the coconut shrimp as an appetizer and they were probably an eight out of 10. We got the pad Thai and honey cashew chicken and they were both pretty fire to be honest. I will give this place a try if you are tired of ha long bay

Stopped in on a Saturday night before attending a show next door. We hadn't eaten there before and decided to try it out. We were seated promptly and given menus, that's where any semblance of good service ended. It took several minutes for a waitress to come to our table, we gave her our drink order and also our food order as we'd had plenty of time to decide. She brought our drinks fairly soon but we never saw her again. The table across from us was seated just before us and ordered drinks and an appetizer when we did but they were never checked on again either. After 35 minutes of waiting for our food my husband went to the counter to, nicely, speak to our waitress and inquire on our order. She looked surprised, pulled our ticket from a long clothesline of other tickets, spoke to the kitchen and ended the conversation with my husband. We sat for another 20 minutes with no food or waitress contact. At that point we left cash on the table to cover our drinks and walked out. In addition, the restaurant is extremely loud with made it difficult to talk in a normal voice to the person right across the table. We were very disappointed and will be hard pressed to give them our usual second chance. Snacks from the concession stand at our show held us until we could walk to another close restaurant to eat afterwards.

It's alright. I had stopped going to Lao Laan-Xan not because the food wasn't good - because it is... but the service is so so at best. Like I said the food is decent. The decor is getting tired and the space could use a bit of a refresh. I appreciate the full bar and the location is great.

Returned here and had a much better experience. The three mushroom dish and fried rice were both truly delicious. I asked for the food to be spicy and it came truly spicy, which is a nice change of pace for restaurants in Madison. The curry I got, however, was just mediocre. I will absolutely give this place another chance and check out more items on the menu.

One of my favorite restaurants in Madison. Delicious food, friendly service, and fast takeout, which means a lot at the moment. If you have room for dessert, sweet and sticky rice with mango is excellent!

There are 2 Lao LAan-Xang restaurants in Madison. Personally, for the the atmosphere and overall food experience, I like the one on Williamson Street the best - not this one on Atwood. However, this restaurant has mixed drinks where as its sister restaurant does not... including one called the Laotini! If you like lychee and haven't had a Laotini, this is the place to try one! Most excellent. The food here is also not as spicy as the one on Williamson Street, so if you've heard of the spicy Laotin food dishes from Lan Laan-Xang, go to the one on Williamson Street! I still come here often, but only because it's not as crowded as the one on Williamson Street. So it's usually my backup restaurant :)

So...had to take a star away due to the poor customer service...ie, not answering the phone for take out orders. I love the food but in the last 4 months I have been unable to get through on the phone at least 4 or 5 times. The phone either rings and rings, and then when someone finally picks up they leave it sit muted, or you get a message saying the inbox is full. I have twice driven to the restaurant while trying to call and had to order at the counter....ugh... I was chalking it up to Yay they are busy and the food is great but it is simply not an appropriate way to treat customers. Boooooo.... I hope it changes soon cause i really want to order take out again.

I love the location! The street view of Atwood makes for a nice people watching spot. Plus, it's a Pokemon hotspot. The vibrant red, gold, and orange decor pops against the overflowing plants. We went during peak lunch hours on a Saturday and found a table right away. We shared two pork egg rolls and chicken satay as apps. The egg rolls are so unassuming! I didn't expect the soft vermicelli noodles to add so much to the bit. The chicken satay was tender, but we would have liked the cucumber salad to been a little sweeter. I ordered the pork wonton soup, which was so fresh! The wontons quickly fell apart though, but over wise the flavor and texture combo was superb. The reason why I'm giving it 3 stars is firstly because the spice levels are too conservative in comparison to similar places in Madison. But it throws you off by saying the hottest spice level is "Native Laotian." MY mom was timid to order anything above the "adventurous" level, so she ordered "careful" with her pineapple curry. It was extremely mild, and the coconut overpowered any semblance of spice. We thought the curry was just kind of bland in general, but luckily the pineapple thrown in added a flavor element. At the end of our meal, we were informed that the credit card machine was broken. I wish we knew this at the beginning but we luckily scraped enough cash together. Otherwise, service was fast.

My husband and I came here for date night. We got here at the perfect time because 5 minutes after we arrived, there was literally a line out the door to get in. The atmosphere is really nice. It's dimly lit and decorated with what I assume is authentic Laotian pieces. As for the waiter, he was super nice and on top of everything. He made sure we had everything we needed, but didn't come up to our table every 5 seconds. The food is amazing! They have huge portions and a great selection. I had their take on pad Thai. It was delicious and tasted super fresh. We also got the appetizer platter and it also was huge and offered a lot of options. Try the Thai iced tea too. For an app, two entrees, a drink, and 2 beers, our check was around $40ish. Not bad. This was a great experience for the both of us!

The honeyed chicken with cashews and fried rice are my favorites - and the delivery is nice. Very flavorful, and my wife loves the curry squash. The reason for the 3 stars? They get my order wrong nearly every time. Recently, I got a fried rice that was 3 stars rather than 2. Need new phones? It burned my mouth off. The last time we dined-in, we had two out of town guests that we thought would rally like Lao Laan-Xang. We sat outside, and to our dismay got no attention at all to our table in 20 minutes. We went across the street.

I always get the squash curry because I love squash and it's not easy to find at restaurants. This has consistently been my favorite Asian restaurant in Madison all the years we have lived here. We hosted a Thai exchange student a few years ago and took her to all the Thai, Laotian and any other southeast Asian restaurants that were in Madison during the 10 months she was here. This was by far her favorite restaurant as well. She really missed the traditional spicy salad she would eat in Thailand and really liked their version of this dish. Their crab rangoon is THE BEST you will eat anywhere. Hands down. Yes, I know that rangs did not originate in Asia (I've heard they were originally introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair), but I love Lao's version of them.

I am honestly baffled as to what makes this place Laotian. The menu seems pretty solidly Americanized Thai, and the flavors follow suit. Maybe the cook or the owner is Lao? Or maybe they just Americanize the menu for the lunch specials, and lunch is when I went. Their spice guide is listed from 1-4: timid-Native Lao. I ordered 3 for my catfish/Thai eggplant curry. It was nothing. A hint of heat, perhaps. Order your food at a 4 if you're used to timidly and apprehensively ordering medium in authentic Thai restaurants. Look, the food was not bad by any means. The fish was tender and boneless, the Thai eggplants were cooked to a soft, skin-peeling pulp, and the potatoes still had a bite to them. The bamboo shoots were, surprisingly, the most flavorful part of the curry, retaining that sour tang that most lose when they're put in a can. It's just that it was all pretty unmemorable, mostly due to the curry - a nondescript coconutty slurry. And the cucumber salad that came with it literally tasted like plain cucumbers. I was satisfied when I walked out: my stomach was full of healthy, nutritious food. I just wished it had been shaken up a little, too.

Both locations have consistently amazing food in a comfortable, intimate setting. And best of all, they deliver. For anyone who has only tried their food at a summer festival food cart and thought it was meh, you really need to go into the restaurant and get the full experience. Their mass produced curry squash is a bit disappointing and lacking in actual curry, but the full restaurant dish is one of our favorites. The chicken satay and crab rangoons are solid even at the festivals. Also on our long list of favorites: spring rolls w/ tofu - fresh and minty with a nice peanut sauce Kang gai w/ tofu - soup w/ coconut milk base, lemongrass, mushrooms Khao khua phet - the best fried rice I have ever had in my life. Has lots of fresh basil throughout. Garlic ginger chicken - meat + lots of stir fried but still crisp veggies in a light sauce packed with garlic gingery flavor.

Wow! This place is great! Every bite was simply a flavor experience! I came here with my parents and grandparents who were in town for the day. We went on a Sunday at lunch time because this was on my bookmarks for a while now, and they wanted to try something new with me. My mom had Laotian food only one other time, and my only Laotian food experience was Ha Long Bay's nem khao tod. LLX seemed like a great place to experience new food. The menu wasn't too big, but we were still so unfamiliar with the cuisine and needed help ordering. Luckily, our server was a huge help, and she basically told us what to order to eat family style for 5 people and get a nice, well-rounded experience with traditional Laotian cuisine. We ended up ordering 3) fresh spring rolls with sausage, 15) khua phet khee noo with beef and broccoli (she suggested adding broccoli which was off-menu), 24) kang phet with beef and noodles, 29) cat fish moak pa, and 31) beef larp. We chose the spicy level of "adventurous," which is the third of the four spiciness levels to choose from. It ended up being pretty spicy, so be careful if you don't have a good tolerance! The appetizer spring rolls came out pretty quick. I found these spring roll wrappers to be lighter than what I'm used to from the Vietnamese variety, and this made for a light texture overall. The peanut sauce also had a light texture and was pretty sweet. She also brought us a spicy lemon grass fish sauce that would normally go with the moak pa. This lighter texture, use of sausage and egg, and different sauces was a pleasant change of pace from the more common Vietnamese spring rolls that I'm used to. The khua phet khee noo was a stir fry dish that showcased a variety of mushrooms that made for a nice contrasting texture to the beef. The sauce was a little thick with a good amount of basil flavor and went well with the rice. The kang phet was a coconut milk curry with a nice mix of potatoes and vegetables (including Thai eggplant, the best vegetable to put in your curry). I didn't find this to be as fragrant as Ha Long Bay's Thai curries, but I did find it to be exceptionally velvety. Maybe they use more coconut milk? It was really fun to eat this with noodles. They use the same noodles that they put in spring rolls, so they were cool and refreshing and served as the only respite to the bold spiciness that the curry provided. The moak pa was my favorite thing that we ordered. This was like a catfish meat loaf baked in banana leaf. This dish had a lot of flavor from ginger, lemon grass, and chili peppers, but the use of dill (which I wasn't expecting) was a real x-factor that made this dish a new flavor experience for me. This came with some mixed vegetables and a spicy sweet and sour sauce. I thought this went really well with sticky rice, but that's probably just something in my head because I'm used to seeing sticky rice in banana leaves like the moak pa. The beef larp seems to be their most popular dish, and I can see why. The rich and fatty minced beef takes in the fresh herbiness and acidity from the onslaught of flavorful ingredients in the recipe. The bean sprouts, lettuce, and cucumbers provide a nice fresh crunch without fighting against the bold flavors from the other ingredients. I highly recommend going here, especially on a Sunday (since my server, who was incredibly helpful and might even be the best server I've ever had in my life, only works on Sundays). If you like bold flavor, you can't afford to miss out on this place. Next time, I'm going to get 30) thum som (papaya salad) with Laotian fried chicken at the "Native Lao" degree of spiciness.

This place offers a warm atmosphere with bold colored walls and vibrant decor. We appreciated all the art work decor throughout. We were seated immediately for two and received the food ordered quickly too. We ordered tofu spring rolls which were served with peanut sauce..so good! For our meals, I got mixed vegetable chicken curry and my boyfriend got the mango shrimp curry. We each got a two star for spicy ness which was just right and might up it to a three star next time. We both loved our choices and will be coming back.

Nice place with good food. I had lunch with my daughter - she the squash curry, myself the catfish curry. Don't pass on the squash curry - very good. The catfish curry tasted slightly metallic - no sure if that was from the coconut milk or what, but it was just a little off. Still good - but .... Also, they definitely under seasoned when it comes to heat - I ordered the hot (but not native hot) and it was mild. Barely would of qualified as medium. It was good, but I wanted more heat. Good service, nice decor, good location. They have a good selection of drinks, I definitely would try this out for dinner or a group of friends after work. Good for lunch also - lunch is $8 ish, comes with salad, spring or egg roll - good value and you can get in and out quickly. Nice enough to take a business colleague, or go on a date. Also has free wi-fi. For just food, 3 stars. Add great prices, good service, free wi-fi, nice atmosphere - 4 stars.