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Like any major metropolis, Los Angeles is a massive city filled with smaller neighborhoods. What’s special about Los Angeles is that, amongst all of those pockets of the city, many of them are designated by the word “town” in the name: Koreatown, Frogtown, Downtown, Historic Filipinotown, Chinatown, and, last but not least, Thai Town. And within Thai Town sit some of the best Thai restaurants in Los Angeles, including famous ones like Jitlada and Ruen Pair. But some equally delicious restaurants fly under the radar of most lists, including some fantastic hole-in-the-wall spots like Spicy BBQ, a few blocks south of the main drag in East Hollywood.
Spicy BBQ’s photo-heavy, plastic menu features, of course, plenty of spicy barbecued meats and classic dishes like Pad Thai, but the restaurant is best-known for its chile-laden Northern Thai dishes, with particular fiery standouts like Northern larb and jackfruit salad. Redditors also love the Khao Soi, which has a spicy, fragrant coconut-based curry broth with egg noodles and is one of 23 traditional Thai dishes you should know about. The Los Angeles Reddit community is also a fan of Spicy BBQ’s generosity in service, portions for the price, as well as the liberal heat levels, with one Redditor saying that “the women who run that place are the nicest.” The restaurant is also lauded for its traditional pork patties.
Spicy BBQ is adored for it’s unapologetic heat
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Not only a darling of Reddit, the restaurant is favored by celebrities as well, including music producer and cookbook author Benny Blanco, who took a Los Angeles Times writer there on a food crawl in 2024. Spicy BBQ was written about in 2008 by the late, great restaurant critic, Jonathan Gold, who was a pillar in Los Angeles culinary culture, where he specifically highlighted the restaurant’s nam prik oom, a fragrant and mind-blowingly spicy condiment famous in Northern Thai cuisine made from pounded roasted chiles, fish paste, aromatics, and herbs.
Like many of the best yet underrated restaurants in the “City of Angeles,” Spicy BBQ occupies a small space in a nondescript strip mall. Chef and owner Nong Sriyana has operated the small restaurant for over 20 years, and her sister Noi happens to be the owner of another small Thai restaurant in the San Fernando Valley. The narrow, family-run restaurant is cash only with a maximum occupancy of 15 people, small enough for only a few tables covered by colorful tablecloths and glass tops. Despite being shuttered after a car crashed into the restaurant in 2008, the restaurant was able to reopen and is still thriving today, with customers saying the spicy, fragrant dishes are well worth the wait.