The restaurant is the first and only fully authentic Thai restaurant in Abilene
On September 3, 2002, a new restaurant opened at 3309 South 1st Street. It brought Abilene its first fully authentic Thai restaurant: Ann’s Thai Kitchen. While the outside isn’t gorgeous, through the doors is a beautiful, delicious and authentic Thai experience from the food to the décor.
Ann moved to Abilene over ten years ago with her husband and two children. Through a series of unfortunate events, her family was broken up and her now ex-husband moved back to Thailand. She began working as a waitress at the restaurant China Star to help support her children. She then decided to open her own restaurant.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is very homey and has a sense of family. There is no host or hostess, so customers can sit wherever they would like. The restaurant is small so there are only one or two servers working at a time. Customers have time to look over the extensive menu, which has everything from fried rice to a range of curry dishes. Once the food orders have been taken, it’s about a ten to fifteen minute wait until the dish is ready. The most incredible thing about that is that Ann does all of the cooking herself.
“I am the only person here who knows the recipes, they are secrets,” Ann said. “They were passed down through my family. All of the ingredients, except for some vegetables, are from Thailand only. We don’t order them from China or anywhere else.” This gives the restaurant its own unique flavor.
During the wait, looking around the restaurant would not be a bad idea. It is decorated with an abundant amount of trinkets straight from Thailand. There are elephants, plants and tons of other figurines. There are even photographs on the wall of Ann and her two children, Jane and James.
“The decorations are very true to Thai style. I wanted to make it a mixture of older, more traditional Thai and modern style as well. I want the customers to feel comfortable and relaxed, like they are at home,” said Ann.
Once the food comes out, the experience is guaranteed to continue improving. All of the ingredients are fresh and authentically Thai. The food can be ordered however spicy the customer desires. But be careful, the five star level has been known to cause people to sweat.
When the plates have been cleared away and the check has been brought to the table, the meals can be paid for at the cash register towards the back of the restaurant.
Customers leave Ann’s Thai Kitchen feeling full and satisfied with their overall experience. “We have many loyal customers,” says Ann. “I see a lot of the same people all the time.”
A lot of work goes into this overall experience. A former employee who wishes to remain anonymous shared some information about what it is like to be an employee at Ann’s Thai Kitchen.
“Ann is a very picky boss,” she said. “She’s kind of OCD in that she’s really obsessed about everything being clean. We have to clean the restaurant after every shift and then we thoroughly clean the restrooms on Fridays and Saturdays.”
She is also very meticulous about the restaurant’s signature drink, Thai tea. “We have to measure all of the ingredients every time we make it so that it turns out to be the color that Ann likes it to be. We are not allowed to guess at the amounts,” the former waitress said.
There is a strict set of rules that the servers have to follow. The uniforms consist of a modified version of traditional Thai clothing. “Thai clothing tends to show a lot of skin. So, Ann added some garments to the top to make it more modest and appropriate for a restaurant setting,” she said.
They also are not very welcome in the kitchen. They get to go in to give Ann the orders and to pick up the food. Also, there must be one server out in the restaurant at all times.
Servers also have rules when it comes to customers. They are not allowed to modify meals to fit the customers’ desires. Also, if a customer wants egg roll sauce (sweet and sour sauce) for their fried rice, they must also order the egg rolls. “Ann’s pickiness makes it hard on us because we depend on the customers’ tips. When we have to tell a customer that we cannot modify their meal, they tend to reduce the size of their tip. It is kind of bad because we get paid $2.50 an hour and we need those tips to make the job worth the work.”
Since Ann is running her own business, she does not really like to spend money on things that may be unnecessary like to-go boxes and cups. Customers cannot take their meals to go unless they order the food to take out.
Even though Ann sounds strict and somewhat picky, she is good to those who have helped her out along her journey. She sympathizes with other restaurant owners who come in and those who have known her since she was a waitress at China Star. For them, she is willing to change up her recipes. But it takes a long time to get to that status in her book.
“Even though I was fired, I still go back to Ann’s,” the source said. “I really like the Pad See Ew. It is a dish that has fried noodles with a choice of pork, chicken, beef or shrimp, and vegetables. It is delicious.” This says a lot about the quality of her food and her restaurant as a whole.
Opening the restaurant has helped increase awareness of Thai food as well as other cultural foods in Abilene. But for a great, authentic Thai experience, be sure to check out Ann’s Thai Kitchen.
Email Teaser
Subject: Ann’s Thai Kitchen guarantees a new cultural experience
Content: Not only does Ann have an interesting story, but she also has skills in the kitchen. Her restaurant is bound to impress almost all of its visitors leaving them wanting to come back for more.
The sign!
Welcome to Ann's!
The Dining Room
Sidebar–Other Asian Restaurants in Abilene:
- Taste of Asia
- China Star
- Szechuan
- Bonzai
- Fuji’s
- China Garden
- Little Panda
