If you’re someone who travels regularly in and out of Old Town Goleta, you’ve probably asked yourself quite a few times when that restaurant at the corner of Hollister and Orange was going to open.
Whitewashed and with a colorful sign that reads “Pattaya,” the building, at 5918 Hollister Ave., has stood seemingly quiet and empty for a couple of years.
Well, now there are signs of life, although Pattaya’s management continues to fly under the radar. A small help-wanted ad is posted on the door, looking for cooks, waitstaff and kitchen help.
“Right now we are still in the process of hiring and training our staff, hostesses, servers and cooks,” e-mailed Sonny Sriprajittichai, the chef and manager of Pattaya Bar & Grill, Thai Restaurant and Music Club. “We like to get things ready before we open. We like our customers to have a good experience with Pattaya.”
If things go smoothly, the new restaurant will open in one to two weeks.
The restaurant’s opening ought to be good news for local Thai food lovers, especially since the closing several years ago of Goleta’s only other Thai restaurant, Appethai.
Sriprajittichai said the restaurant also will feature a sports bar and gill, a banquet room, catering and, at some point, a music club.
Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.