Thai House of Holden, sister restaurant to Brown Rice, to open at site of The Local

HOLDEN — Achara "Fawn" Weydt, owner of Brown Rice and four other Central Massachusetts Thai restaurants, will open a new site at the former The Local Restaurant on Main Street.

The Local owners Elena Viapiano and her father, Nic Viapiano, sold the restaurant after nearly 20 years in business at the site.

Weydt said she hopes to open the new restaurant in February. She'll call it Thai House of Holden.

She said it will will take a few weeks to redo the inside and add new exterior signage.

The restaurant will have seating for 70 to 80 customers and will be open seven days a week.

She's currently working to have the liquor license from The Local transferred to the Thai restaurant, she said.

While some might find it brave to start a new business as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Holden eatery will be the second Weydt has opened since the virus hit.

Weydt said she's learned to leverage social media to bring in customers and worked hard to adapt to the changes needed for a business to survive the pandemic. She also credits her team, her niece, her mom and the 30 or so employees who work in the five restaurants she currently owns.

A native of Thailand, Weydt said she believes the popularity of Thai food is growing because Americans are realizing how healthy the offerings can be.

"Asian food is healthy," she said. "There are soups, less fat and a lot of vegetables." In New England, she said, the spicy flavors and hot soups can take the chill off.

"It's comfort food," she said. Weydt — in some cases alongside business partners — owns Brown Rice Thai Cuisine and Brown Rice both in West Boylston, Thai Time and Rice Violet in Worcester and Thai and I in Shrewsbury.

Thai House of Holden will be the sixth she owns and the eighth she's opened. She sold two restaurants, one in Rhode Island and the other in Clinton.

She opened the second Brown Rice a few months ago with a plans to close the first, which is a smaller restaurant. But after running both, she said she's seen new customers at the original spot and many use delivery services like Grubhub or Uber Eats or order take out at that location.

It's been busy enough that she's decided to keep it open and may do a remodel to update the small dining room.

Weydt said she is always grateful to her niece who works with her and her team members, from wait staff to chefs, who have made the restaurants successful.

The owners of The Local, Elena Viapiano and Nic Viapiano, had mixed feelings about closing and selling their business. Elena said her father is a big fan of Brown Rice and was excited to know Weydt would be opening a similar restaurant in Holden.

Weydt said there will be dishes familiar to her current customers and there will be some new items, too.

"There will be some new stuff, we'll have a variety of Thai noodle soups," she said.

Once open, she expects the hours to be from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and until 10 on weekends.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Thai House of Holden to open at site of The Local