Our Story

A Closer Look at the Owner

Chatree “Chat” Soisoongnoen was born in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. He moved to the US with his mother, Phatcharee “Pat” Yoddumnern and sibling, Chai, in 1991. After moving around from Texas to California, the family finally settled in Las Vegas in 1996. Chat is the Founder of and Executive Chef at Chatthai Bistro. While he always cooked at his mother’s side as a child, he truly developed his love, his passion,  for cooking while serving our country in the US Navy. He found that being away from his mother’s “home cookin’” forced him to learn and improvise to get that taste of home that he missed. It was then that the seeds of Chatthai Bistro began to grow. When Chat returned from the Navy in 2006, he immediately wanted to open a restaurant with his mom Pat. Pat has over 30 years of restaurant experience and has held every possible position in a commercial kitchen from dishwasher to Executive Chef. She however, was not interested in the least. With no lack in persistence, he kept asking for another seven years before Pat would finally agree to join him in opening an authentic Thai restaurant. Fast forward to present. After Pat finally agreed to join him, Chat knew that they were going to be moving forward with creating a restaurant, but it needed a name; something catchy, something significant. Then a perfectly timed conversation with Chat’s brother in law occurred. Without knowing the meaning of the word itself, Chat's brother-in-law, Michael suggested we call the restaurant Chatthai because Chat is Thai. Genius! While the nickname “Chat” is not a normal abbreviation of the name Chatree in Thailand, it is his American given nickname. And yes, Chat is Thai. Most significantly however,  the word “Chatthai” translates from the Thai language to English as “Born to be Thai.” How perfect is that?!? Chatthai LLC was born in July 2013. Chat has worked diligently since then to build a menu and brand authentic to Thailand, with a commitment to great service and superior food quality and freshness. We can't wait to share our piece of Thailand with you!