Soul Lao Take-Out Restaurant

Since our genesis, we have dreamed of having a small humble restaurant. Whenever we visited other cities, neighborhoods, restaurants, etc., we would always think: What would we do differently? The few pop-ups we’ve done in the past have been small windows into the experience we want to provide — working within the limitations of the spaces we’ve used. As we’ve grown over the past years, so has that question — “If you had the space to do whatever you wanted in, what would you do with it?”

Walls that tell a story of our life and reminders of the people, places and food that have inspired us. Our menu is designed to share and explore a mix of traditional and innovative Lao cuisine against a backdrop of Lao vintage design. We want to create a kitchen to house all of our wild ideas.

Today, we are launching a GoFundme for a Soul Lao take-out restaurant. Starting this project with a raw 1,500 sqft space at the Sibley Plaza on West 7th Street and Davern Street in St. Paul. We are excited to be representing Southeast Asian food in these neighborhoods! We want to build a supportive environment where young chefs can shape a career and neighbors can share a plate of Lao sausage, sticky rice and spicy papaya salad. There’s no other place we would want to place our roots.

We aim to open April 2023 and ask our community for support with this process. Your support will help us create a shop we are proud of, a space for community and nourishment. You’ll support a mission to add more inclusiveness, diversity, and representation in a rapidly gentrifying city.

Running a restaurant requires laborious and humble efforts around passion. As a small business, everything we touch becomes personal, and we want our work to be meaningful. We take our time to think about our processes and how we impact our community and environment. We strive to keep an open mind to continue improving and growing. While we’re not looking to re-invent ourselves - we’re seeking to elevate our operations by putting solid systems in place. This idea comes with a cost, and they are investments into our future. With our five years of experience on the food truck, we have been through a lot, and we've honed down our skills to minimize risks. That means we’re constantly looking out for our financial projections and working shifts ourselves to discover potential barriers.

Why now? The five years of sold-out events of all kinds, and catering of all sizes, in all sorts of places have taught us resilience. Demand has continued to surpass what we can accommodate in our current situation, and we are ready to grow. We wouldn’t be where we are today without your continued support. We have never been this close and are asking for your help to make this happen finally. Every contribution will be appreciated! We look forward to cooking for you in our space!