After more than two decades serving Thai food out of its Auke Bay location, Chan’s Thai Kitchen is closing its doors for good, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
The owners, Curtis Hopson and his wife Chantana, were not available for comment Thursday. According to a 2002 Empire article, the couple opened the restaurant in 1997. Chantana, who goes by Chan and is the namesake of the restaurant, is originally from Thailand. She and Hopson met and married when Hopson was studying in Thailand in 1991, according to the Empire.
As the story goes, the restaurant’s signature Pad Thai used to be much spicier, but the owners decided to ease up on the spices after so many people weren’t able to handle it.
“In the 21 years of operating Chan’s it’s been a real pleasure getting to know many members of the community, but we feel it is time to move on and try something new,” the restaurant’s Facebook post read. “Sadly we will not be re-opening again. It’s been a pleasure serving Juneau for 21 years. Thank you all of our loyal customers for all the support over the years.”
There were nearly 300 comments on the post as of 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Many people told anecdotes about their time at the restaurant, raving about the service, the food and the view.
In a separate post, the owners wrote that if customers with gift cards send a Facebook message to the restaurant’s page or to Hopson’s page, they can get a refund.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
