BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A full-service restaurant is bidding farewell after a year of operation in Northampton County.
La Kang Chicken & Rice, specializing in Thai-style chicken and rice dishes, is set to permanently close on Monday, March 9, at 15 E. Fourth St. in Bethlehem.
La Kang Chicken & Rice operates on East Fourth Street in Bethlehem.
Ryan Kneller
Co-owners Nakkarawoot “Noah” Krueawong, Ratchaphol “Paul” Rojratana, Jam Maca-antal and Anthony Valdez opened La Kang Chicken & Rice in March 2025 at the site of the former General Zapata, a Mexican restaurant that closed in November 2024 after 15 years of business.
La Kang Chicken & Rice’s sister restaurants, La Kang Thai French Cuisine at 190 S. Greenwood Ave. in Palmer Township and La Kang Thai Noodles Bar at 620 Main St. in Hellertown, will continue to operate as normal Rojratana told 69 News on Thursday.
The team also remains committed to operating its mobile food trailer, La Kang Thai Kup, Rojratana said.
La Kang Chicken & Rice — a restaurant specializing in Thai-style chicken and rice dishes — is pictured at 15 E. Fourth St. in south Bethlehem.
Ryan Kneller
“After much thought, we want to share that our restaurant will be permanently closing on Monday, the 9th,” reads an announcement on La Kang Chicken & Rice’s Facebook page.
“We are incredibly grateful for all the love and support the community has shown us. Every visit, every meal shared, and every kind word has meant the world to us. This decision allows us to focus on a new project that is coming up, but the memories we’ve created here will always stay with us.”
According to Rojratana, he and his brother-in-law, Krueawong, are planning to open a new restaurant in Katy, Texas, just outside Houston.
The new restaurant is expected to open in early 2027, Rojratana said.
“We want to focus on that Texas restaurant and our other two original restaurants, which are in Easton and Hellertown, as well as our food truck,” Rojratana said.
Rojratana and Krueawong originally debuted La Kang as La Kang Thai-French Cuisine in early 2020 on Greenwood Avenue in Palmer Township.
La Kang Thai French Cuisine operates on South Greenwood Avenue in Palmer Township.
Ryan Kneller
The Palmer restaurant, blending French and Thai styles of cooking, offers popular dishes such as tuna tartare, grilled octopus, grilled prawn mango salad, spicy duck confit salad, pan-seared duck breast, Faroe Island salmon, Chilean sea bass, jumbo lump crab fried rice, red and green curry, pad Thai and pad see aew.
In early 2022, they opened the Hellertown restaurant, which serves authentic Thai cuisine with a focus on noodle dishes, including pad Thai, pad see aew, drunken noodles, braised beef noodle soup and duck confit noodle soup.
The Main Street restaurant also features several seafood selections, including dishes featuring shrimp, scallops, soft shell crab, lobster, salmon and branzino, along with signature dishes such as skirt steak basil, grilled lemongrass chicken and braised beef massaman curry.
La Kang Thai Noodles Bar operates on Main Street in Hellertown.
Ryan Kneller
“Since we grew up in Thailand, we have seen and enjoyed so many foods that people around here have never tried, and we want to introduce them to it,” Krueawong previously told 69 News.
La Kang Chicken & Rice gift certificates can be redeemed at any La Kang location, Rojratana said.
“If you’ve been meaning to stop by, we would love to see you before we close,” the online announcement continues. “Thank you again for being part of our journey.”