Numprik Thai Lao

A portal to Southeast Asia tucked inside a 169-year-old white brick building on historic downtown Monroe's Main Street. Owner Laiwan Flanigan serves authentic Thai and Laotian cuisine in all its salty, spicy, sour, and sweet glory—don't be fooled by the pub aesthetic inherited from previous tenants. The six-page menu ranges from familiar dishes like pad thai to regional specialties like kaeng hang le (pork belly and peanut curry with tamarind and Indian-inspired spices) and khao soi (coconut curry noodle soup). Try the Son-in-Law eggs—deep-fried hard-boiled eggs with sweet-and-sour sauce and fried shallots, named for a Thai mother's rumored warning to her daughter's disrespectful husband.