In Business: Drunken Noodle Officially Open in Downtown Brainerd

Drunken Noodle has officially arrived in downtown Brainerd. The pad Thai restaurant chain is now open to the public on Laurel Street.

Drunken Noodle co-owner Sarawut “Em” Rasaphakdee—who also co-owns southeast Asian & South American restaurant Chick N Rice in in downtown Brainerd—is looking to bring the town more cuisine from that region of the world.

“Originally, I’m from Thailand, right? And Thai food is always my origin route,” Rasaphakdee said. “After we’ve opened Chick N Rice for a year, we would like to give them more variety.”

Drunken Noodle features fresh, traditional, Thai dishes with locally sourced ingredients, and other innovative southeast Asian cuisine.

“Thai cuisine always offers heat, noodles, and rice,” Rasaphakdee said. “Pad Thai is our number one best seller, a stir-fry, thin rice noodle with a tamarind-concentrate sauce and it gives you sweet, sour, and a little bit [of] spice.”

As for the store’s namesake, drunken noodles (also known as Pad Kee Mao in Thai) originated in the central plains region of Thailand. The spicy stir-fry dish is made with wide rice noodles, vegetables, and meat and is seasoned with soy sauce, fish sauce, and chili peppers.

With the new location in Brainerd, the Drunken Noodle restaurant continues to widen its reach. There are already establishments as far west as Fargo, where the restaurant first broke ground in 2009, and as far east as Crosby. The chain’s owners say they’re looking to fulfill a desire to bring more Thai and Asian-influenced food to central Minnesota.

“We have many things to offer, from very mild to very spicy,” Drunken Noodle co-owner Thamrong “Keng” Dechawuth said. “Brainerd should be the one that we can serve people year-round because there’s a good population here and [there’s a] lack of the food that we offer nowadays in downtown.”

“I’d like to open the door of flavor and culture to this community,” Rasaphakdee added.

In turn, making those dishes available is something many in Brainerd look forward to having.

“I’ve found a lot of foodies in this town that try the new thing,” Dechawuth said. “It has a good combination of the vegetables, the carb, and protein together. So I think it’s one good meal, it’s fast, and it’s good for everybody.”

Drunken Noodle is now open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.