Bouasone Sounakhen told clients for years at her Baltimore nail salon that she wanted to open a restaurant, but the idea felt far-fetched. Neither she nor her husband had ever even worked in a kitchen.

But when Charming Elephant — the only spot she knew in the city that served Lao food exclusively — closed earlier this year, she jumped at the chance to bring a Lao and Thai fusion concept to the space.

“We love to share the food of our culture,” she said.

Sounakhen and her spouse, Veopheth Vongkhamta, opened Thai-Lao Garden in early April, naming the restaurant after a Parkview neighborhood garden where they grow chiles and herbs for the homestyle Southeast Asian dishes. The menu is large, spanning a variety of curries, noodles and rice: from pad thai and drunken noodles to larb gai, a minced chicken salad with toasted rice powder, and nam khao, a crispy fried rice with cured sausage and lime. Sounakhen loves the Lao sausage, stuffed with lemongrass, onions and kaffir lime leaves, which is prepared by several members of Vongkhamta’s family who work in the kitchen.

Most of the support for the young restaurant has come from family and friends, some of whom are longtime clients of Sounakhen’s Nails Expo salon near Highlandtown. One of those clients, Tamika Cornish, is now general manager of Thai-Lao Garden. She became friends with Sounakhen during nail appointments, where Sounakhen shared her fantasy of opening an eatery with food reminiscent of her childhood in rural Laos.

So when the couple signed their 2324 Boston St. lease and needed staff and a system to get people seated and out the door, Cornish leaped in to help. After a tumultuous 2025, Cornish was looking for something new, and she had some experience in the field: She briefly worked in hospitality, as a front-of-house supervisor for Levy Restaurants at M&T Bank Stadium and Camden Yards, after losing her federal government job during layoffs tied to the Department of Government Efficiency.

Cornish described her experience at Thai-Lao Garden as a “whirlwind” that is finally starting to make sense. Working to make her friend’s dream a reality has filled her with purpose and a deep connection to the community around her — a feeling she often missed in her government job, she said.

“She just stepped up and helped me,” Sounakhen said. “She’s not only a customer; she’s family.”

Though Vongkhamta and Sounakhen are from Laos, Vongkhamta said the couple made sure to put “Thai” in the name of the restaurant because the cuisine is considered more marketable.

Their friends Khamhou Thepsouvanh and Saroj Sharma recently opened their own Lao spot in a food incubator in Abell, and the Sipayboun family, who ran Charming Elephant, ended their nearly six-year operation in January. Several staff members at Thai-Lao Garden said the space’s property owner was eager to see another family-owned Asian restaurant take over the location.

The Lao community in Baltimore is very small, Vongkhamta said, so representing the culture feels profound. On Monday, the restaurant will hold a celebration for the Lao New Year, which lasts three days, with happy hour specials for new customers.

Vongkhamta and his wife have long wanted to find a space in Baltimore where they can ring in the festivities with family. Now several of them will be working and eating beside him for days to come.