Popular Doraville Laotian restaurant Snackboxe Bistro has expanded with a second location in Duluth.
Located at 1960 Day Drive, the new Snackboxe Bistro opened as a take-out only weekend pop-up through April and opened for dine-in service in mid-May. The eatery opened nearly a year after Thip Athakhanh, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband, Vanh Sengaphone, announced plans for a new location.
“Our goal is to bring Lao food to Duluth and introduce new dishes the community hasn’t tried yet,” Athakhanh said. “Laos is known for their morning markets and night markets, and we are going to do just that reflected in our menu offerings.”
The menu is similar to the one offered at the Doraville location, with a few dishes specific to Duluth including chicken liver and feet, Gaeng Nor Mai (bamboo soup) and Pun Pha (fish lettuce wrap). In the coming weeks, Laotian barbecue will be added to the menu.
Currently, the restaurant is BYOB, with plans to have a full bar by the beginning of July. Drinks of the summer cocktail list will include coconut mojitos, watermelon mules and a dessert cocktail made with honey melon ice cream.
The space includes a 1,500 square-foot patio, along with bar seating and garage doors that face the patio and can be pulled up to create an indoor/outdoor space and natural lighting. The vibe is “similar to Doraville,” Athakhanh said, “with a relaxed, casual, family-friendly feel.”
The Duluth location will also offer many of the “mini mart” retail items that the Doraville restaurant began selling at the beginning of the pandemic including seaweed chips, pandan brownies, banana chips and Thai tea cupcakes.
Sengaphone and Athakhanh opened the original Snackboxe Bistro in February 2018 at 6035 Peachtree Road, quickly gaining a following for their menu that featured Laotian street food like spring rolls, papaya salad, chicken laap, Laotian sausage, flash-fried beef jerky and fried garlic-pepper wings (a short-lived stall at Ph’east food hall at Battery Atlanta closed last year).
In addition to managing two Snackboxe Bistro restaurants, Athakhanh and Sengaphone are focusing on Musubee’s, a sister concept developed in 2020 offering variations of spam musubi and onigiri (rice balls filled with savory fillings). Spam musubi is sold at the Duluth Snackboxe Bistro on the weekends, and Musubee’s has several pop-up dates lined up.
Snackboxe Bistro Duluth’s opening hours are noon-8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and noon-6 p.m. Sundays.
1960 Day Drive, Duluth. 770-558-1105, snackboxebistroga.com
Scroll down to see the current menu for Snackboxe Bistro Duluth:
Credit: Snackboxe Bistro
Credit: Snackboxe Bistro
Credit: Snackboxe Bistro
Credit: Snackboxe Bistro
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