Denver, CO
Thai restaurant filling former Patxi’s space in Denver’s City Park West
In 2022, Orrapan Botthaisong opened Edgewater’s La Mai Thai Kitchen, named after her mom.
That made choosing a moniker for the new restaurant she’s preparing to open in City Park West easy, Botthaisong joked her dad would be jealous if he didn’t get a restaurant named after him too.
“This is my dream to open for my mom and dad,” Botthaisong said. “They are both important in my life. Family is number one. That’s why I’m here, why I built my life here.”
Som Dee Thai Kitchen will join Olive & Finch on the ground floor of the Ascent Uptown apartment building at 1598 E. 17th Ave. The 3,500-square foot space was formerly home to Patxi’s Pizza, which closed in 2022.
Botthaisong said the restaurant will focus on authentic street food that you can’t find in the states, paired with cocktails like Thai tea with rum.
“I want to bring Thailand to Colorado,” Botthaisong said. “I want to show the real Thai food from where I grew up.”
Som Dee will be more upscale than Edgewater’s Lai Mai. She said it will focus on sit-down service rather than takeout, and be a classy spot to celebrate anniversaries or birthdays.
After moving from Thailand to Denver in 2010 to get her MBA, Botthaisong started LoHi’s Daughter Thai with Ounjit and Duane Hardacre. She left Daughter Thai a year ago to focus on her own concepts a year after opening in Edgewater. With a business background and a love of cooking, opening restaurants was always her dream.
“If the chef’s sick, I can jump in,” she said. “I know every position in my restaurant.”
Botthaisong said she’s been developing the idea for Som Dee for a while, but wanted to make sure Lai Mai was running smoothly and she found the perfect location.
After finding the City Park West space, she staked out the neighborhood, eating at the other restaurants and watching the street traffic before signing the lease in June.
Lai Mai did over $1 million in revenue last year, which Botthaisong said is funding the buildout of Som Dee. Because it used to be a pizza restaurant, she said the space needed a full buildout, including a brand new kitchen.
“I think Denver needs more restaurants, that’s why I keep opening and have confidence,” Botthaisong said. “I want authentic food here.”
This story was reported by our partner BusinessDen.
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A Frontier Airlines plane has hit and killed a person at Denver’s international airport, prompting the evacuation of passengers. Authorities say the man jumped a perimeter fence and ran in front of the plane as it was taking off to Los Angeles.
Published On 10 May 2026
Denver, CO
Pedestrian fatally hit by Frontier airplane departing Denver for Los Angeles, flight canceled after
Posted:
Updated:
DENVER (AP) — A Frontier Airlines plane hit a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.
The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,” the airport’s official X account wrote.
Neither the airport nor the airline has disclosed the pedestrian’s condition.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that and “individual was walking across the runway.”
The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”
Frontier Airlines said in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.
“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”
Passengers were then evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal.
Denver Airport said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident took place, will remain closed while an investigation is conducted.
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