Grand Center will soon have an exciting new restaurant, courtesy of one of St. Louis’ most acclaimed chefs. Nick Bognar, the James Beard Award-nominated force behind Indo, Sado and Pavilion, announced today that he will open Khao Soi Cowboy, a “purposeful inauthentic” Thai restaurant at 3224 Locust Street. The space, which formerly housed Turn, is home to the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, which was instrumental in inspiring Bognar to be a part of the neighborhood’s resurgence.
“The Kranzberg [Arts] Foundation is our landlord, and we love what they are doing—it’s a huge deal,” Bognar says. “One of our missions is to bring cool stuff to places we feel we could help. I think Grand Center is going to be one of the next big places in St Louis where people can go to see a show, get drinks, and eat. We could have gone to a lot of other places, but we chose to be here because we believe in the neighborhood and what they are doing here.”
Khao Soi Cowboy will open in 2027, with more specifics and a target opening date to be announced in the future. In the meantime, Bognar shared some initial details about the restaurant and what he hopes diners will take away from what he says will be a more approachable dining experience.
The Concept
In a press release announcing Khao Soi Cowboy, Bognar describes the lunch-and-dinner concept as focused on Northern Thai and Southeast Asian cuisine with an “in-your-face” attitude. Guests can expect a combination restaurant-dive bar feel with “an approachable Thai tiki bar, kung fu posters, warm string lights, and loud Thai disco music.”
“I want this to be like when you eat khao soi in Thailand,” Bognar says. “Often, it’s a dish that’s its own concept, sort of like a ramen shop in Japan. I wanted to open a Thai restaurant that doesn’t have a big menu—like ramen—I wanted to speak through that one lens. I also want to have some other fun dishes and to do some things that others aren’t doing. I’ll be touching on Northern Thailand dishes, from around Chiang Mai, where my family is from, but I want to serve them in fun new ways that make people think less about what they’ve had before and more about what they are having right now.”
Although Bognar is still formalizing the menu, he’s working on different versions of khao soi, the creamy, coconut curry Northern Thai noodle soup. These include a vegetarian option made with tofu and a purposefully nontraditional riff on the soup made with duck confit. The menu will also include several small-plate offerings, including a sai oua corn dog, which was a popular takeout lunch selection at Indo during the pandemic.
While firmly rooted in tradition—Bognar notes that the recipes are all based on his grandmother’s cooking, which has had a huge impact on his identity as a chef—Bognar is excited to bring a playful approach to the food at Khao Soi Cowboy.
“It’s super different from indo, Sado, and Pavilion because it’s a more honest reflection of how I grew up eating,” Bognar says. “It’s the kind of food my family makes—bold, a little funky, meant to be shared, and not overthought. It’s more personal and driven by what we actually want to cook. We have our more serious restaurants, but this is about doing something fun and letting people see a different side of me.”
The Neighborhood
While Bognar had been casually looking for the right building and neighborhood for Khao Soi Cowboy, everything clicked when he was shown the restaurant space at the .ZACK building.
“The day I first came to look at the space, the Kranzberg [Arts] Foundation was putting up pedestrian lights and murals in the neighborhood, and there were all of these other spots in the area that were getting ready to go,” Bognar says. “I think this is such a cool part of town, and it needs more areas like this, where people can walk from the Fox to my restaurant and feel good about being on the street and having spots in between to stop in and out of.”
Bognar was thrilled to hear the Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s vision for Grand Center, including a robust dining scene, as well as arts and culture venues. During conversations with the foundation’s executive director, Chris Hansen, Bognar was heartened to hear that the nonprofit’s goal is to make the neighborhood a place where people can eat, drink, and gather around the area’s world-class attractions. Bognar is excited to lend his voice to creating what he believes will be a vibrant part of St. Louis’ arts, culture, and hospitality scene.
“I am very excited about this and am in such a good mood about it,” Bognar says. “Restaurant openings are serious and not easy. Indo and Sado were ambitious, serious, high-end concepts, but the idea here is to have something low-key and accessible. We just want to have fun here, and I am very lucky I’m at the point where I can do that.”
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