The original location of Lao restaurant Snackboxe Bistro will close on Saturday, May 11, after six years at the Super H Mart complex in Doraville.

Owners Thip Athakhanh and Vanh Sengaphone decided not to renew the lease in Doraville and will focus on their second location in Duluth. Athakhanh told Rough Draft they are working on a new menu for Duluth, which should drop on Monday, May 13. She declined to provide further details on the updated menu. However, people can expect some popular dishes from the Doraville location in Duluth. 

Athakhanh and Sengaphone opened Snackboxe Bistro in 2018 at the Super H Mart shopping center off of Peachtree Road where it quickly gained an avid following and grabbed the attention of the local and national press. The restaurant’s menu mixes traditional Lao dishes like larb (ground meat salad), papaya salad, and khao poon (spicy rice noodle soup) with street foods such as lemongrass spare ribs and sausages served with a spicy sour dipping sauce.

The couple opened a second location in Duluth two years ago on Day Drive.

Athakhanh, born in Savannakhet in western Laos, immigrated to the United States with her family as a small child. Before they arrived in the U.S., the family lived in refugee camps, having fled Laos due to the civil war. Growing up in a big family, Athakhanh learned to cook many dishes served at Snackboxe Bistro from watching her aunts in the kitchen.

Prior to opening Snackboxe Bistro, Athakhanh worked as a planning manager for a solar company. She and Sengaphone spent a portion of their honeymoon in Laos in 2016. It was the first time Athakhanh had been back to the country since leaving with her family. The trip would ultimately set the wheels in motion to open Snackboxe Bistro. 

In 2023, Michelin listed Snackboxe Bistro as a recommended restaurant in its inaugural dining guide Atlanta.