Just over a year since they opened a new restaurant on Bucksport’s Main Street, the couple behind Chalee Thai-Sushi are planning to expand their menu and add dine-in seating in an adjacent office building.
Chalee Chaikaew and Vee Napapornipat, who also own the Siam Sky Thai food restaurant in Blue Hill, announced their plans and purchase of 54 Main St. on Friday. Chaikaew is the chef at the Bucksport establishment, which has an extensive menu including sushi offerings and Thai cuisine like pho noodles and curry dishes.
The current location is a take-out, but many customers want to dine in, sometimes eating on her sofa, according to Napapornipat.
“We need to do something to make people more comfortable,” she said.
The expanded restaurant would bring more dining options to the center of Bucksport, which has seen transitions in the last two years with new arrivals and the recent departure of Stowaways Town Tavern for Blue Hill.
The couple won’t have a timeline for their Bucksport project until plans are reviewed by the town, according to Napapornipat.
Chaikaew and Napapornipat are originally from Bangkok and opened their Blue Hill restaurant in 2018, followed by Siam Sky 2 in Ellsworth two years later. They sold the latter business to a friend last year, mainly to pursue a location they could own rather than lease, the Ellsworth American reported at the time. The Ellsworth spot has been renamed ThaiConic.
In Bucksport, they plan to add a walkway connecting the two buildings and turn the ground floor of 54 Main St. into a “spectacular dining area” with counter service, the couple wrote in a Facebook post Friday.
The existing building will be used for food preparation and storage.
The couple also thanked their employees and community for support of the growing business.
“I never dream about success, I WORK for it !!” their Facebook post read. “I can be patient and wait for anything, but there is one thing I simply cannot wait for: eating the most delicious ramen with a rich, flavorful broth at Chalee Thai sushi and ramen.”
54 Main St. currently houses an accounting firm, which Napapornipat said plans to move into another downtown building.
