Thai Restaurant searches for new home as it leaves longtime Waverly location
Jan. 2—By Amanda Yeager — ayeager@baltsun.com
PUBLISHED:January 2, 2024 at 3:12 p.m.| UPDATED:January 2, 2024 at 3:51 p.m.
Thai Restaurant, a Waverly staple for four decades, is on the hunt for a new dining room.
The family-run Thai eatery announced over the weekend that it has shut its doors at 3316 Greenmount Ave. But owners Billy and Soy Mettawiparee hope the closure will only be a temporary one.
The family is looking for a replacement space in Waverly or North Baltimore, according to the couple's son, Nat Mettawiparee, who also works at the restaurant. In order to easily transfer Thai Restaurant's liquor license, they will need to move somewhere that is within the same legislative district as their recent location. That would be District 43, which also incorporates neighborhoods like Abell, Charles Village, Ednor Gardens, Lauraville, Pen Lucy and Tuscany-Canterbury.
As the search begins, the family is packing up and cleaning out a restaurant space that has been a local favorite for more than 40 years, serving Thai dishes like drunken noodles, red curry and mango sticky rice. Billy and Soy Mettawiparee have been Thai Restaurant's owners for about half of the eatery's existence: They bought the restaurant in 2000.
Neighbors and community leaders like Councilwoman Odette Ramos, the owners of nearby ramen spot Toki Underground and the not-for-profit Waverly Main Street have reached out to offer help with finding a new spot, Nat Mettawiparee said.
"We haven't looked at any properties yet, so nothing's finalized at this point," he said. "The last 3 1/2 days, we've just been clearing everything out."
John Rusnak, a restaurateur and longtime Thai Restaurant customer, is also helping with the search for a new location.
"My family and I have been eating Sunday dinners at the Thai Restaurant for 30 years, and we all feel at home there," Rusnak said.
Their love for the cuisine inspired a family trip to Thailand. Before they left, Billy Mettawiparee warned they wouldn't be able to find better pad Thai there than the one he serves in Waverly.
"I shook my head," Rusnak said, "but it was true. There was no better pad Thai than Billy's."
Ramos is another regular customer. The councilwoman, whose district includes Waverly, said she and her husband "feel like family" every time they visit.
She's hoping the restaurant can find a new home on Greenmount Avenue, which is in the midst of a revival that has seen the recent opening of restaurants and shops like Jinji Chocolate and Toki Underground.
"We wanted, and we still want, Thai Restaurant to be a part of all the great things happening in the area," Ramos said.
Thai Restaurant's move was prompted by new ownership of the restaurant's building, which recently changed hands. Nat Mettawiparee said he and his parents got notice in September that they had three months to move out.
They hope to find a new space with a smaller footprint. Whereas Thai Restaurant's longtime location could seat diners at about 20 tables, they're looking for a dining room with capacity for 10 to 12 tables — "something a little easier to manage," Mettawiparee said.
He's been overwhelmed by an outpouring of well wishes since the family announced Thai Restaurant's plans at the end of December.
"You don't really know how much you affect people's lives just from having a restaurant for so long," he said.
"It's just a transition period in our lives, and we're going to make the best of it, and when we do come back it will be better than our previous version."
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