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One of the South Bay’s Most Thoughtful Thai Restaurants Has Closed

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Modern Thai destination Ayara Lūk is no more

Khao soi at Ayara Thai, presented in a white bowl with lime wedge on the side.
Khao Soi from Ayara Lūk
Wonho Frank Lee

The South Bay is down one innovative Thai restaurant this week, as Ayara Lūk has closed its doors. In reality the restaurant was always meant to be temporary, even ethereal in a sense, but the loss of the more modern Thai restaurant still stings for the community.

Ayara Lūk was an offshoot of Ayara Thai, a longstanding and quite popular Westchester restaurant situated right near LAX. The idea with the new restaurant was to not only transfer over staff, kitchen equipment, and some recipes while the original Ayara Thai was being remodeled, but also to offer an opportunity for the Asapahu family to grow and expand its reach. There is a generational shift happening at many immigrant-owned restaurants around Los Angeles right now, where the sons and daughters are taking over the business, hoping to modernize while still keeping traditions alive. Perhaps nowhere has that been more clear than with the Ayara crew, and it showed on the modern Thai menu at Ayara Lūk.

Now Lūk is no more, and Ayara Thai is back in its original home on 87th Street as of yesterday. Head over for some of the restaurant’s longtime signature dishes, with daily hours from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Ayara Thai
6245 W. 87th St.
Los Angeles

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