Gai Noi

Review Highlights

New York Times critic Brett Anderson visits Gai Noi in Minneapolis's Loring Park neighborhood, where veteran Twin Cities chef Ann Ahmed has opened her most personal restaurant yet. After three successful concepts — including Khâluna, which landed on Eater's Best New Restaurants in America list — Ahmed turns fully toward the Lao cooking of her birthplace, building a menu around sticky rice, jeow, and the dishes she grew up eating. Anderson is here to see whether Ahmed's fourth restaurant, named after a spotted short-grain rice variety, delivers on the promise of its deeper Lao focus.

• ·Sticky Rice with Four Kinds of Jeow — the foundational experience at Gai Noi, and the clearest signal of Ahmed's Lao focus. Diners dredge warm sticky rice through an array of jeow (Lao dipping sauces) that range from mild and herbal to fiery and fermented. The NYT notes that customers appear genuinely at ease with the format, thanks to Ahmed and other chefs who have been spreading Southeast Asian flavors across the Twin Cities
• ·Laab with Shrimp Flake-Dusted Watermelon — a classic Lao minced meat salad, served hot and chased with cool, juicy bites of watermelon dusted in dried shrimp flakes. The NYT singles this out as a representative dish, calling it a study in heat-meets-refreshment that captures the kitchen's instincts
• ·Basil Wings — Ann Ahmed's signature dish across all her restaurants: dry-rub chicken wings tossed with tempura-fried basil and spices, crispy and fiercely aromatic. A Twin Cities creation with a loyal following that fans insist on ordering regardless of which Ahmed restaurant they visit
• ·Lao Sausage — house-made sausages served with sticky rice, recommended frequently by servers and praised for their herbal, savory depth. A dish that grounds the menu in Lao culinary tradition
• ·Mok Paa — white fish steamed in banana leaves with a fragrant, aromatic sauce. Diners consistently highlight this as a standout among the larger plates, with the banana-leaf cooking method lending a subtle earthiness to the delicate fish
• ·Drunken Udon — chewy udon noodles in a savory, slightly spicy sauce. A crossover hit that bridges Lao flavors with broader pan-Asian comfort food, with a loyal following among regulars
• ·Kanom Krok — bite-sized coconut-rice cakes with crispy edges and a soft, sweet center. A traditional Southeast Asian street snack executed here as a light, shareable dessert to close the meal

The New York Times named Gai Noi one of the 50 best restaurants in America in 2023, with Brett Anderson framing it as the culmination of Ann Ahmed's journey as a chef — the moment she stopped adapting her Lao cooking for Minnesota palates and let it lead. After years of naming restaurants 'Thai' because the cuisine was more familiar to diners, and layering Lao flavors into broader pan-Asian menus, Ahmed has finally built a restaurant that centers sticky rice and jeow as the main event. The setting — a multi-level space overlooking Loring Park, with bracing fruit-forward cocktails and a walk-in-only, no-tip policy — makes it as accessible as it is personal. For anyone looking to understand Lao cuisine in the Twin Cities, Gai Noi is the essential starting point.

About

Gai Noi is a Laotian restaurant from chef Ann Ahmed, perched on the edge of Loring Park in Minneapolis and named after a spotted short-grain sticky rice variety commonly called 'little chick.' It is Ahmed's fourth Twin Cities restaurant — following Lemon Grass Thai, Lat14, and the acclaimed Khâluna — and represents her deepest dive into the cooking of her native Laos, where she was born in Vientiane before spending her early childhood in a Thai refugee camp and immigrating to the United States in 1984. The multi-level, walk-in-only space channels the atmosphere of Luang Prabang, with a second-floor dining room, an outdoor patio, and a menu built around sticky rice, jeow, and shareable Laotian dishes drawn from family recipes and Ahmed's travels across Southeast Asia.