Crime News

Break-in temporarily shutters treasured Thai restaurant in Richardson

We need to get them back open so we can be slurping this soup.

Photo courtesy of Thai Soon

A treasured Thai restaurant in Richardson has had to close temporarily due to the damaging aftermath of a burglary: Thai Soon, located at 101 S. Coit Rd., suffered a break-in over the weekend that included one of the doors being broken and an outright theft of the cash register.

Coming on the heels of a difficult period in which COVID-19 had already taken its toll, the burglary rendered it impossible for the restaurant to open for business.

To help the restaurant get back on its feet, the owner's brother has launched a gofundme in an attempt to "make the restaurant whole again."

"Hi Everyone, My name is Arm Wongchingchai and I'm Irean's brother, she is the current owner of Thai Soon," he says. "Some of you may remember the first and original location on Greenville Avenue once managed by my mom she was also known to many locals as Ma Soon. For the last decade we have moved from that location to North Dallas due to the high cost of rent. My mom has since retired and Irean took over."

"With this pandemic and many others it has affected the business negatively," he says. "Then over the weekend, burglars broke the glass door located towards the back of the restaurant. They stole the register and there was so much damage that my sister had to close the shop."

The restaurant also lost one of its chefs.

Thai Soon first opened in 1987 and built its reputation for flavorful noodle and vegetarian dishes from its early days on Lower Greenville — one that kept it afloat when it moved to Richardson. However, the pandemic has definitely hurt business, and they had to cut back on staffing. There was talk they might close in December until the fine residents of Richardson rallied 'round and stepped up their orders.

Wongchingchai says he felt like he had to launch the gofundme, because he knew it was something his sister would never do.

"Irean as many of you know would never ever ask for a hand-out so i'm doing this without her knowledge at the best of my ability for her business," he says. "With the funds we will do our very best to make the restaurant whole again and do a better job to try to deter thieves."

The restaurant was able to get its door fixed, and is still waiting on its POS system. They are able to take Zelle, Venmo, exact cash, or online orders.

The total of the gofundme is $5,000. If you want to contribute, click here.

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Fried Chicken News

Chicago restaurant debuts its fried chicken and boba tea in Frisco

Chi Tea

Chi Tea burgers and chicken sandwiches.

A new restaurant serving boba tea and fried chicken just opened in Frisco: Called Chi Tea, it's a chain from Chicago that opened its first location in Texas at 4760 Preston Rd. #228, in a former Bonchon Korean in Frisco Village.

According to a release, It opened November 1.

The concept was founded in Chicago in 2020 by brothers Zak Ayyubi, Aman Siddiqui, and friend Abdurahman Sharif, with an unusual goal to pair fried chicken sandwiches, fries, and bubble tea drinks. They've since opened two more locations in Illinois; Frisco is the fourth and the first outside the state.

The name is a little misleading, as it implies it's a beverage place, but there's equal emphasis on the sandwiches and fries. They also tout their welcoming vibe, encouraging customers to eat, drink, and linger.

Their menu features three sandwiches — Nashville hot fried chicken sandwich, a grilled chicken, and a burger with grilled onions, jalapenos, pickles, cheese, and Chi-sauce — which can also be ordered in a smaller slider size.

There are also fries, loaded fries, popcorn chicken, chicken tenders, and mac & cheese, which can be customized with bacon, beef, fries, and other toppings.

Prices typically range from $5 for a single Chi Tea Classic slider to $13 for four-piece chicken tenders.

Boba drinks are entirely customizable, starting with choice of blended smoothie or over ice, with choice of flavor ranging from pineapple to brown sugar milk tea to horchata; and toppings, like popping pearls or cream cheese foam. A regular starts at $5 and a large starts at $6.

Notably, Chi Tea was among the restaurants selected in the recent Spongebob Krabby Patty promotion during October that took place in 12 cities across North America, included a dozen restaurants in Dallas.

"We are very excited to finally bring a taste of Chicago to the Greater Dallas area," says Ayyubi in a release. "This move has been very promising and we cannot wait for the community to welcome us and for us to serve this beautiful city."

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