Growing up, Sam Yang didn't often eat food like the dishes he and his family prepare for customers at his restaurants - Bangkok Crossing in downtown Detroit and the newer Coastal Thai in downtown Wyandotte.
His daughter, Susan Yang, says her father wasn't privileged enough to sup on such exotic entrees, but "he grew up learning how to cook. It was a poor country. He ate different things, but learned about Thai cooking."
The Yang family's latest venture to share his experience and the taste of Thai is in a spot on Sycamore Street in Downtown Wyandotte.
Susan Yang says "business is steady. It's going pretty well."
The family chose the new location "because Wyandotte didn't have any Thai restaurants and we heard people wanted something different." While Bangkok Crossing on Woodward near Campus Martius in downtown Detroit draws a lunch crowd of office workers, Coastal Thai gets a dinner crowd of mostly locals.
The restaurant has created full-time employment for six, including chef, servers and owners.
Source: Susan Yang, manager, Coastal Thai, Wyandotte
Writer: Kim North Shine
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