Lao'd Bar
Chicken wings doused in caramel fish sauce and crab fat.1
Why go
The room is short blue stools and yellow and orange floral tables, mostly open air, with garage doors that go up when the weather allows.1 The cooking runs classic Lao next to fusion, and the sequence The Infatuation's Nicolai McCrary recommends is coconut escolar ceviche first, then the wings in caramel fish sauce and crab fat.1 The ceviche is the tell: no lime wall, just buttery escolar in coconut water with a little vinegar, so it lands light instead of sharp.1 He scored it 8.5.1 The smash burger is built on pork sausage patties with jeow bong aioli and rice-fermented pickles, and he says get the double.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the coconut escolar ceviche to start, then the wings in caramel fish sauce and crab fat. Expect sticky fingers.1
- Also: the Lao sausage on its own with pickled cabbage and jeow bong, and the crispy chili prawns eaten whole.1
- Drink: the Yum Chelada, a tom yum michelada the reviewer says he would drive across town for, or the Mak Mo Cooler with rum, watermelon, Thai basil and lime.1
- Avoid: the ribeye skewers. Tough, despite the cut.1
What locals & experts say
- The Infatuation Austin, Nicolai McCrary, 8.5 out of 10:
Get the coconut escolar ceviche to start things on a refreshing note, then try the chicken wings doused in caramel fish sauce and crab fat, and prepare to leave with sticky fingers.
Recorded as a rating, never as an award.1 - James Beard Foundation, Best New Restaurant semifinalist, 2025. That is a restaurant-scoped category and it belongs to the room.4
- James Beard Foundation, Best Chef: Texas semifinalist, 2026, Bob Somsith. That one belongs to the chef and not to the door, so it is recorded as a person's standing and does not score the venue. Austin had zero James Beard finalists and zero winners in 2026.3
Good to know
- Book ahead on a weekend. Ordering is still walk up to the counter, but the room takes reservations and says to use them, especially Friday and Saturday.5
- The room gets hot. It is a mostly open-air building and the reviewer's own advice is to dress for it in summer, when the scattered AC units struggle.1
- Hygiene: no record found for this bar. Sign Bar holds the only permit at 9909 FM 969, scoring 91 on 3 December 2025, and that is a different business whose score is not this venue's. Austin Public Health holding no record for Lao'd Bar is not the same as the kitchen passing.2
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Eater best new 2024, James beard chef nominee 2026". The James Beard half is right and is sharper than he wrote it: Bob Somsith is a 2026 Best Chef: Texas semifinalist, and the restaurant itself was a Best New Restaurant semifinalist in 2025. The Eater half did not verify: I haven't found that listing, so it stays his note rather than a fact.
Verdict
should-visit — An 8.5 from The Infatuation, a James Beard Best New Restaurant semifinalist nod in 2025, and a menu with an actual point of view: wings in caramel fish sauce and crab fat, a ceviche built on coconut water instead of a lime wall, and a smash burger made from Lao pork sausage. It is a drive east and the building is hot in summer, which is the reviewer's own caveat, and there is no public inspection record to stand on.