Our History

Former President Bush and Former First Lady Barbara Bush dine at Nit Noi.

For over 20 years, the Nit Noi Restaurants and Nit Noi Cafes have been family owned and operated. Mama Alice, the founder and mother of Nit Noi, still runs as Head Chef of the business. At 67 years, she spends all day making the famous Nit Noi sauce. The secret to her success comes from her original recipe - the delicious Nit Noi sauce is prepared every morning by Mama Alice at the Richmond location (daughter-in-law Malisa makes it at the Woodway location) and then distributed to the other Nit Noi Thai Restaurants and Nit Noi Cafes. This ensures consistency and maintains quality so that whichever location a patron dines at, they are guaranteed the same great taste. Nit Noi's number one priority is the quality of their food, but they also take pride in the successful family operated business. With 20 years of service in the Air Force and an MBA and Law Degree, Alice's son, Doi, successfully manages the restaurants. Doi's wife, Malisa, also devotes her time to the family-run business, helping Mama Alice make the sauces and create new and original dishes. Spending seven days a week in the restaurant is a challenge for the family, but its what makes the food so delicious and the quality and service of Nit Noi so outstanding. And all of Houston knows this—Nit Noi has consistently been rated the best Thai restaurant by the Houston Press, Houston Journal, cityguide.aol.com and other publications. We are also featured in Yellow's July 2008 publication (see entire magazine here). Nit Noi has also been selected as one of the top 100 Thai Restaurants in the USA, and more recently, Nit Noi was notified that they have been chosen as one of the top 50 Best Thai Restaurants by Bestthai Inc. However, Nit Noi's biggest compliment is the frequent visits by former President Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush.

Nit Noi started its humble beginnings in the Philippines on November 9, 1975 serving traditional Thai Cuisine to local patrons. Soon after, the family moved to the states and opened the original Nit Noi Thai Restaurant in Houston's Rice Village in June of 1987. It was a modest dining room, comprised of 16 tables. Fast forward a few years and Nit Noi now has five full service restaurants and three cafes. Nit Noi is one of the original and oldest Thai restaurants in Houston, Texas. It is home of the original sauce, soft spring roll, and best Putt-Thai bar none! The repeated success and customer raves expanded our Flagship Restaurant in the Rice Village and moved it half block from the original location on Bolsover to a new 5000 square feet space, now seating 44 tables with a full bar and amble space to meet the demands of growing patrons. Other full restaurant locations include the Woodway/Voss Nit Noi which opened in 1997, Nit Noi near the Bush Intercontinental airport at the I-45 and 1960 intersection, The Royal Oaks Village Nit Noi on Westheimer Road which opened in late summer of 2003, and Nit Noi's fifth full service location which opened in the Woodlands area. The three Nit Noi 2000 square foot Cafes are located on Dairy Ashford, Richmond in the Galleria area, and in Houston's Midtown area. Nit Noi Cafes offer the same quality food but with smaller portions and lower prices.

Nit Noi stands for "a little bit" in everyday conventional Thai. Nit Noi Thai Restaurant and Nit Noi Cafe stands for quality foods and service. Our #1 priority is the quality of our food. For the vegetarian lover, try one of our curry dishes – you will taste the uniqueness in the spices. You won't find that anywhere else because it's homemade. Nit Noi Thai Restaurant and Cafe is home of the original sauce, soft spring roll, and best Putt-Thai!

Nit Noi — a little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit everywhere. Now Houstonians can enjoy a little bit more!