Lotus of Siam Is Reopening on Sahara in the Las Vegas Commercial Center | Eater Vegas

"Reopening in its original Sahara Avenue home, Lotus of Siam will occupy a much larger footprint—expanded from 11,900 to 19,000 square feet after the owners bought adjacent buildings—and will include a new, bigger bar, higher ceilings, an expanded dining room (shifting some seating to the left), and a refreshed private room that nods to the Chutima family’s history with framed photos of the previous king and queen of Thailand and family portraits dating back to the 1800s; the restaurant will keep its green color scheme while adding traditional Thai decorative touches seen at the Flamingo location. The Sahara restaurant, which closed in 2017 after a roof collapse and has had only spotty reopenings in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 and staffing issues, has long been the nostalgic favorite for locals even as Lotus launched locations on Flamingo Road and inside Red Rock Resort, and it has earned recognition from the James Beard Foundation and attention from the late Anthony Bourdain. The expanded space also allows room for the restaurant’s roughly 5,500-bottle wine collection—focused on Gewurztraminers and Rieslings to pair with the restaurant’s garlic prawns and Issan sausage—and the menu will continue to showcase signature dishes like bright orange kaho soi with roasted duck, pad prik king in spicy chili paste with bell peppers, and slow-cooked short ribs with garlic pepper sauce. Chutima says the Sahara location is likely to reopen before the end of the year, and as John Curtas puts it, “In no other Thai restaurant in town can you find the variety and freshness and vivid flavors put forth by the kitchen on a daily basis.”" - Janna Karel