Business Spotlight: Thailicious
We’re excited to spotlight one of the grant recipients of our next round of Longevity Fund: Thailicious. Owner Jay Lue grew up in Thailand and spent years cooking with her family. In 2016, she opened her Thai restaurant in Chinatown which quickly became popular with the local community. Read on to learn more about how the business has been faring during COVID and why Thailicious decided to apply to the Longevity Fund.
To support Chinatown small businesses like Thailicious, donate to the Longevity Fund here:
Tell us about your how you came to Chinatown and started your business
I was born in Thailand and moved to Chinatown as a teenager. My family is ethnically Chinese and I always felt at home in Chinatown. That’s why I wanted to have my restaurant here. I had a lot of support from the community and my neighbors when I first opened. I love cooking for people and seeing people finish my food makes me really happy.
Who are your typical customers?
Our customers were mostly locals who lived in the area and who worked nearby, like government official and medical workers.
How do you support or interact with the Chinatown community?
I help whenever I can. In terms of our business, I order all my supplies and ingredients from Chinatown stores. I also provide free meals to the Chinatown cleaning team and the homeless. We have also partnered with Welcome to Chinatown to provide meals to healthcare workers. Throughout the years, we’ve helped our neighbors navigate operational processes like loan applications because they don’t understand English.
How has your business changed over the years and since COVID? What obstacles do you now face?
Our first store was on Baxter Street. It was a small space that didn’t even have a bathroom, but we were always packed. So after three years, we found a bigger spot for our second location, in the lower east side on Clinton Street. Our new location is bigger, has a bathroom, and a full bar.
Since COVID, Chinatown has been getting slower and slower. In 2020, we had to close our first location on Baxter street, but kept our Lower East Side one. Our Baxter location could only have five tables and with the capacity restrictions, we couldn’t financially maintain the business. At our Lower East Side location, we can at least have outdoor dining. Business is still very slow (about 60% less than before) since everyone is work from home and all the students and tourists are gone. A lot of customers also don’t know that we moved, so sometimes they call our old location by mistake.
How are you planning to use the Longevity Fund grant?
The grant money will help us with operational costs, such as rent. Since March, we have paid our rent every month. We’ll also use the grant to help with inventory costs.
What do you hope for the future?
We’d love for everybody to shop local and in Chinatown, it doesn’t have to be us. I want to see Chinatown back and alive again. If you have a chance, stop by our Clinton Street location.
How can people help support your business?
Please order directly from our website. We’re able to give better prices to our customers there since 3rd party websites charge 20-30% commission. You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook, where we post our new menu every 3 months as well as promotions.
