The most delicious hole in the wall.

Lotus of Siam is a Thai restaurant in Vegas which from the outside looks deceivingly cheap and a little dumpy. I was referred to this restaurant by a fellow foodie who is always dining at the best of the best, so showing up to this whole in the wall came as quite a surprise. My skeptical opinion of this Thai experience quickly shifted when we walked in only to find an hour long wait, a wall of wine and an experience of feeling significantly under dressed.

Lotus of Siam hasn’t always been known as a popular Vegas restaurant, this was easy for me to guess considering the out of the way location and less than ideal outside décor. So what changed? What made this restaurant different, why did gourmet magazine call it “the best Thai restaurant in the United States?” Since enjoying my own dining experience here, I had to know for myself. After extensive research, the answer is simple, nothing. Nothing has really changed. The food is delicious, and was delicious. Sure, they might have fancied the place up a bit once they started making it popular. But, I just couldn’t figure out why they made it big in the first place.

This famous Thai restaurant has no public relations personnel, they don’t do much to advertise their restaurant, but what they do have is publicity. Everything changed for this small whole in the wall restaurant, who were only scraping by until they received a raving review from Brock Radke, a Las Vegas Weekly restaurant reviewer. Radke listed this place as number four on the top twenty most important restaurants in Vegas.

Since this awesome review the owners of Lotus have made improvements to the small restaurant to make you feel like you’re anywhere but Vegas when you dine.  They are capitalizing on the floods of people who had to see for themselves if Radke’s review was accurate. Since then, they have received continued reviews of popularity and the best Thai food in America. They have done so well, they are now opening another Lotus of Siam in Manhattan.

This is a perfect example of doing what you’re supposed to and then allowing the public to do the rest. It’s indeed working, seeing as I only heard about Lotus through a friend. They don’t need to have big flashy signs or advertising they are doing just fine by the publicity they receive from what the quality of their food generates.