Thai restaurant moves to downtown Carson City

The Thai Spice Kitchen, evicted from Silver State Mall in August to make room for Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, has reopened in downtown Carson City.

Panithan "Otto" Chotisin, who owns Thai Spice Kitchen with his wife, Gina, said the restaurant opened last week at 111 E. Telegraph St., the location of the former Hong Kong Garden.

"We've got the same menu in our new place. People come to get our spicy foods, our curried beef, pork and chicken," Chotisin said Wednesday.

While the menu and the staff are the same, the restaurant has added Sundays to its days of operation, Chotisin said. Thai Spice Kitchen is now open daily 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and again for dinner from 5 to 9 p.m., he said.

The Thai Spice Kitchen opened about two years ago on the east end of Silver City Mall. The Chotisins moved here from San Francisco, Calif., to open the restaurant, bringing along children Gerry and Nikko, now aged 7 and 3 respectively, as well as two employees.

The Chotisins are leasing from Henry and Debbie Wong, who opened their Hong Kong Garden Chinese restaurant and sports bar about a year before the Chotisins started their business. The Wongs also have two teenage children and they brought Debbie's parents and Henry's mother to Carson when they came from San Francisco. The adults all worked in the restaurant.

Henry Wong said his family is staying in Carson City, where he will continue to run his investment business, G.P. Financial.

Before the Wongs opened their restaurant, 111 E. Telegraph St. was the Carson Depot, a sports bar and brew pub, and the large stainless steel vats and other brewing equipment remain idle. Wong said he does not use the equipment and Chotisin said he has no plans for it.