A new restaurant is coming to the former Gasthaus' East End space. Here's who's moving in

A local Thai restaurant is set to move from Fifth Street into an east Louisville space that previously housed Gasthaus German Restaurant.

All Thai'd Up, which also operates as a food truck and markets itself as "the ultimate Thai experience," is set to move to 4812 Brownsboro Center. Chef Katherine Aphaivongs-Harrod said her goal is to open in the popular space the week after the Fourth of July.

Gasthaus operated for 29 years at the location. Annemarie and Michael Greipel served from-scratch German recipes like home-style egg noodle dishes called spätzle, Hungarian-style beef goulash, braised beef rouladen and choice beef stroganoff. The restaurant closed in April 2022 due to a severe staffing shortage.

Aphaivongs-Harrod is asking Gasthaus fans to give her restaurant a try.

All Thai'd Up uses fresh ingredients that are locally sourced from Asian markets and are prepared daily to ensure the highest quality food, according to the restaurant's website. All recipes are inspired by the childhood of Aphaivongs-Harrod, who was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, by an American mother and Thai father but moved to the United States in June 2017.

Aphaivongs-Harrod said she is "kind of sad" to move her restaurant from her Fifth Street location to east Louisville because she's a "city girl," but she is excited as the area is "definitely more hopping than downtown."

When customers visit the new location, Aphaivongs-Harrod said they can expect a more upscale, order-at-the-table dining experience with a wider array of menu selections. Though it may not be ready right away, she said she anticipates the restaurant will have a full bar with a menu that may include appetizers like French fries and curry sauce and wings with honey and tamarind dressings in addition to after-dinner cocktails.

All Thai'd Up will feature dishes like steamed whole fish with a tamarind dressing, grilled items like the Crying Tiger, which is sticky rice and papaya salad. Aphaivongs-Harrod's favorite dish is a spicy basil stir fry with pork, a fried, sunny-side-up egg and white rice, which she equates to "the Thai version of a hamburger." The restaurant's deli menu will not be available as this location will "stick to Thai," she said.

Aphaivongs-Harrod said she she took over the space "knowing that (the Greipels) were successful and the space itself can be successful." She said it's "disheartening" as a local business owner to see negativity following the announcement of her move into Gasthaus' former space.

"I haven't even started yet, and they're already shooting me down," she said.

She said her food is authentic. "What you get at All Thai'd Up is what you can expect to get when you're in Thailand," she said.

Her restaurant doesn't do spice levels, and she works to educate people about the misconceptions they may have concerning Thai food, including how spicy it may be.

"I'd say 85% of Thai food has no heat to it, so it's a big misconception," she said. "I'm trying to educate people as simple as not having knives at the table because knives are a Western concept. We have forks and spoons, and that's what we eat with, and if we serve a noodle soup dish, we will give you chopsticks because that's how we do it back home."

Another way Aphaivongs-Harrod seeks to convey an authentic Thai experience in her new location is by creating a more tropical setup resembling a Thai village with teak wood homes. She said she also informs inquisitive customers about the history of Thai food and the inspirations it takes from Indonesian and Chinese settlements within the country.

People can get a taste of Thai six days a week, Monday through Friday, from 4 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m.

Reach reporter Leah Hunter at lhunter@gannett.com or on Twitter @theleahhunter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: All Thai'd Up to move into Gasthaus space in east louisville