"We want to have something for everyone, and that includes people that have been dragged to a Thai restaurant," Brillhart says.
For those unsure about what to order, Sweet Siam offers Thai BBQ chicken served with shrimp fried rice. Lovers of Thai food are more likely to be drawn in by the curries, pad Thai, pad prik or stir-fry dishes.
This is a homecoming for Brillhart, 38, who graduated 20 years ago from Shawnee Mission East High School."When I was a kid, 119th Street was just farmland. It's good to be home. I missed it," Brillhart says.
He left the University of Kansas to move south and help his uncle with the family restaurant business. He enrolled at the University of Alabama-Birmingham to finish pursuing a career as a certified public accountant, but the service industry was a better fit. He found his niche as a kitchen manager for Surin West and Harry & Sons (his uncle is the Harry), two Thai chains in Georgia and Alabama that are known on the Eastern Seaboard.
Brillhart signed a lease for the Mezzaluna space last August, and his brother-in-law, Dave Shukai, an architect with BRR Architecture, redesigned the space for him. His kitchen staff came to Lenexa with him from Alabama, and he estimates that his three chefs together have 50 years of cooking Thai cuisine between them.
He believes the $7 lunch-menu items (pad Thai, spicy eggplant noodle, catfish special and roasted duck with red curry) are big reasons that Sweet Siam will find success. He also points to several seafood options — a soft shell crab with fresh shrimp, asparagus and red and green peppers in a Thai sauce, and a pan-fried snapper with a light fish sauce, lime juice, ginger, red onion, red pepper, lemongrass and roasted cashews — among the dinner specials as things he hopes diners will appreciate."The sauce is delicious and it's low-fat. It's what I've been eating all week," Brillhart says.
Sweet Siam also has a full bar, but the draw may be the bar itself. Brillhart knocked out the wall that separated the bar from the rest of the space in Mezzaluna and had a showpiece bar top with color-changing LED lights installed.
"I'm hoping people come in here to have a good time and taste good food," Brillhart says.
He hopes to open additional locations, as well as potentially add a sushi bar to the restaurant on Quivira. Sweet Siam will be open seven days a week. The lunch hours are from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner is from 4:30 to 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). The phone number is 913-322-7285.
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Tried this place the other day with my mom and her husband. Sweet Siam serves seriously good food, with some unique dishes/ingredients by comparison to other Thai restaurants in the area. Of course, all the typical Thai dishes are on the menu, but do yourself a favor and order some of the recommended items like the soft shell crab with shrimp and asparagus, or the spicy seafood in red sauce. All desserts are only $5 each and the coconut cake is amazing.
GREAT food HOWEVER, it took an hour just to get the appetizer...which SHOULD HAVE been removed from the bill. Plus, no apologies were made. Sad, as the food was very good.
I ate there tonight with my mom. Very good and reasonably priced! For the 2 of us plus an appetizer and dessert was $35 before tip for dinner! The non-specials were ~$11 and specials were around $17-$20, which included the aforementioned soft shell crab and red snapper. Our waiter told us that all 4 cooks were from Thailand so it has some cred. I thought my pad see-u (as they spelled it) was better than Thai Place's and my mom's massaman chicken curry was delish, if a little mild for her taste. The owner also told us that their website will be up soon: sweetsiam.com and that you can already find them on Facebook for more info. We're so excited to have a Thai place nearby, especially after losing the place next to the old Dillon's like 4 years ago (cannot remember the name)!!
Some of his menu items do sound interesting, but I still cant bring myself to try thai food again.
Ate there last weekend. Friendly and great service. Food was really tasty. Can't wait to go back. I'm bringing more friends!
I love this place. Food was awesome, atmosphere was great, the interior was beatiful. Try the Scallops and shrimp. and the desert was awesome as well.
can't wait to take the rest of my family.
I thought there Spicy Basil Chicken was to die for. Been to several other Thai Restaurants in this city and for that price It was Great!
Food was okay although I think the sauce on my plate may have come from a bottle. Menu was not especially unique.
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