UPDATED: Thai Ginger closing in Madison Park

Thai Ginger is working out a transition in Madison Park, bringing in another Thai restaurant to take its place.

Mike Bradford, who co-owns the restaurant chain with his wife, Varee, said Thai Bamboo Cuisine will be run by a family from Thailand.

“They’ve been training with us for a while to see how things are done,” he said. “… Friends introduced us, who we know in the Thai community.”

Bamboo Thai Cuisine applied for a new business license for a full-service restaurant on July 20.

Thai Ginger has been in Madison Park for 20 years, Bradford said, and was the third location they opened. Once Bamboo takes over that space, there will still be Thai Ginger locations in Pacific Place, Redmond, Factoria and Klahanie.

“It’s hard to manage a really small location, and your resources you have to spend on managing a small location, it can be really expensive to get a high-quality person,” Bradford said. “A manager there would cost the same as running a restaurant twice the size.”

He said the space at 1841 42nd Ave. E. is the right size for a family operation, and the family behind Bamboo Thai Cuisine will be working on the business seven days a week.

Joy West, who owns the property, is excited there will still be a Thai restaurant in her building.

“I love Thai food, so I hope everyone will try out the new restaurant,” West said, “because I know it’s going to be great.”

The governing person for the Bamboo Thai Cuisine LLC is Wirinya Kanasukrotchananan. The Madison Park Times attempted to reach Kanasukrotchananan at the number listed with the license. One call was answered, but the respondent hung up.