Vicky’s Kitchen owner shares Thai food, culture with customers at Salina’s Central Mall

After setbacks that included the COVID-19 pandemic and a food truck fire, one woman has found success by bringing her native Thai culture — specifically its food — to residents of Salina.

Vicky Suriya opened Vicky’s Kitchen Thai Food earlier this year at the food court in Salina’s Central Mall.

Suriya, who loves to cook, came to the United States from Thailand in 1998 and has been in Salina for 13 years. She earlier spent time in California, where she learned that Thai food was a popular cuisine for people around the world, and had a restaurant with a partner.

“(It’s popular) in every big city,” Suriya said.

Knowing people in these bigger areas were becoming more familiar with the cuisine, Suriya thought people in Salina might enjoy it, too. She began cooking and serving Thai food at a restaurant inside the Quality Inn and Suites.

“I opened and six months after that COVID hit,” Suriya said.

Like so many other places during that time, business at Suriya’s restaurant slowed, and she was forced to close.

After working other jobs throughout the past few years, Suriya had an opportunity to move to Portland, Oregon, where her daughter was going to start college.

While in Portland, Suriya got back in the food business, but this time in a different kind of venue.

“I opened a food truck over there,” Suriya said.

Suriya said Portland is very friendly to the business of food trucks, with more than 700 in the city. She enjoyed her time in Portland, saying there were so many different kinds of people, but they had one thing in common: They loved food.

“I didn’t care who they are or where they come from, they ordered my food,” Suriya said.

She said she probably would’ve stayed in Oregon if not for some unfortunate circumstances.

“The Mexican truck next to me caught fire, and it spread to my (food truck),” Suriya said. “It was a total loss.”

After staying in Portland for a few more months, looking for a possible location for a restaurant there, she decided it was best to come back home to Salina to start fresh with a restaurant here.

Suriya looked around for a good location in Salina before choosing the Central Mall.

“I know the malls got quiet everywhere after COVID, with (some) of the big businesses leaving, but I thought the mall would be perfect for me,” Suriya said.

At the food court, Suriya can be face to face with her customers, offering suggestions to people who might not know much about Thai food, and interact with everyone she meets there.

“I like to focus on wanting to serve the people,” Suriya said.

The food court also offers the perfect amount of space she needs to run the restaurant, especially since she has a smaller staff than might be typical for a bigger restaurant.

“With Thai food, (there’s) not a lot of people who are trained or know deep down what (the culture really means),” Suriya said.

Suriya said since she opened at the end of February, people have been enjoying her food.

While she said around 10% to 15% of the people that eat at Vicky’s Kitchen knew almost nothing about Thai food before stopping there, Suriya said she enjoys acquainting them to her culture.

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“I like to assist them and let them know about what’s this or what’s that, and give them recommendations on what to try first,” Suriya said.

The menu consists of standard Thai cuisine with dishes like tom yum (broth) and tom kha (coconut milk) soups, fried rice, five different Thai curries and noodle dishes, including pad Thai, pad lo-mein, pad see-ew and drunken noodles.

“We have different choices of meat you can choose from for each of them,” Suriya said. “And we have different levels of spicy.”

Suriya recommends people start with the mild level of spice first and then move up to either the medium or hot after. While some people may be used to other styles of food that have spiciness, she said many are surprised by how spicy Thai cuisine can be.

“They come and get all (hot level spicy) and then cough or run to get water,” Suriya said.

Suriya takes pride in having everything be made fresh, including the appetizers, and sources her ingredients from either local Asian markets or some of the distributors and importers from Asia to larger cities in places like Texas and California.

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Vicky’s Kitchen is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays at the Central Mall food court, 2259 S. Ninth St.

For more more information, including a look at the menu, or to order ahead online, visit the restaurant’s website, www.vickyskitchenthai.com or call 785-515-2586.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina’s Central Mall food court perfect for Vicky’s Kitchen