A Thai Airways employee opened Bai Tong near Sea-Tac in 1989 and created a place for homesick ex- pats with hospitable servers in traditional silk garb and vivid dishes like fragrant meang kum lettuce wraps, stunning crispy garlic chicken, and a comforting banana-coconut milk kluay buat chee dessert. Since then, Bai Tong has moved to more destination- worthy digs near Southcenter (plus Redmond and Issaquah). In 2017 the restaurants added a casual Pike/Pine sibling with its own street food menu, serving tender gems of mussel shrouded in crunchy layers of fried egg, plus a ton of standout pork belly.