A Conversation with Alex Saeteuni of Thai Taste
Alex Saeteuni didn’t set out to just run a restaurant—he set out to build a home. Not the kind with walls and a roof, but the kind where people gather, share meals, and find comfort in each other’s company. When he first walked into the neglected space that would become Thai Taste, it wasn’t the broken equipment or filthy floors that stood out to him—it was the potential. He saw what the restaurant could become. The transformation wasn’t just about scrubbing away grime and fixing appliances; it was about restoring something deeper, a place where food connects people, and where a family’s love and hard work could create a lasting bond with the town around them.
The situation at Thai Cuisine had already become so dire that the city of Dover was prepared to shut the restaurant down for good. Customers Yelped one-star reviews, complaining about poor service, mediocre food, and incorrect orders. A foul odor emanated from the bathroom, where paper towels were strewn across the floor, and hair and caked-on grime had accumulated over weeks. The water was warm, and the tea was cold. The green curry, pineapple fried rice, and mussels in garlic were better known for food poisoning than taste.
“Yeah, I came over to see [the restaurant] and I don’t know why I say, yeah, we can clean this up, we can do this. Yeah, it was very bad. Very bad. Everything was broken. Wasn’t clean.” But the Alex, his wife, daughter, and son in only five days completely transformed the restaurant, received a 100% pass from the health inspection, and immediately changed the name to Thai Taste.
Alex and family opened Thai Taste in 2018. The swift transformation wasn’t just a renovation; it was an act of faith. Alex didn’t just clean up the mess; he rebuilt the community’s trust. “We knew exactly what we wanted it [the restaurant] to look like. Everything neat and clean and in the right spot … we did a lot of work,” said Alex in Foster’s Daily Democrat.
The same Democrat article reported that Alex made sure people knew Thai Taste was different from the previous establishment. People clamored for Alex’s food. “This place was packed before the pandemic,” Alex said. Standing room only. “We have all kinds of people coming here. We had regulars coming in like twice a week. I had this guy, coming every Sunday. I see him walking down the street, and already I know what he wants. I have a couple come here. An older couple, and they’re probably sixty, seventy years old. They came when I first opened. The restaurant was packed, and so we were a little slow getting the food out. That couple waited for 35-40 minutes for their food. So in my mind, I’m like, they’re never gonna come back anymore. But guess what? They came here every Sunday and ordered the same thing every Sunday. And when they go on vacation, they tell me they are going on vacation and I won’t see them for a few weeks, and they tell me so we won’t worry.”
Up until 2020, Thai Taste was double the size it is today, but because of the pandemic, the business drastically dropped off. Winichahanat Veterinary Care next door needed more space, and so Alex cut the restaurant space in half, and we watched via Facebook Winichahanat’s expansion.
Pre-covid, Thai Taste brought in, on average, $2000 a day, and during the shut-down, $375.
Because Alex and family live above the restaurant, their commute is a flight of stairs. “We never never closed a day,” said Alex.
Cooking at Thai Taste isn’t just a job—it’s personal. Every dish served comes from the ingredients Alex personally selects, ensuring that his food is as fresh and authentic as possible. “I want to pick it myself, make sure it doesn’t expire or close to expire,” Alex explains, describing his weekly trips to Boston to gather authentic Thai ingredients. Every Tuesday morning, Alex makes the drive to Quincy, Massachusetts, to visit the wholesale markets that carry the precise ingredients needed for his restaurant. He’s not just picking up any vegetables or noodles; he’s ensuring that the curry paste, sauces, and noodles are of the highest quality, imported directly from Thailand. It’s a commitment and a non-negotiable for Alex.
And every Friday, Alex heads to the local Market Basket to select the perfect tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, and other produce. “Even little stuff like that—tomato—it’s important, we have to pick the good ones,” he says. His customers know they’re getting the freshest ingredients, handpicked by Alex himself.
For Alex, Thai Taste is about his relationship with the people he feeds. His dedication to getting the freshest ingredients a reflection of his care for his customers, many of whom have become like family. “I already know what they want before they even sit down.”
Alex and his family eat the same food they serve their customers. Living above the restaurant, they come downstairs every day to prepare their own meals in the kitchen that also serves the public. “We don’t eat upstairs,” Alex explains, even though they have a standard apartment kitchen. Instead, they cook and eat in the restaurant kitchen, turning the dining room into a shared space for both their family and their guests. This is more than just a business for Alex—it’s their home, their livelihood, and a reflection of the bond they share with their community.
When customers sit down at Thai Taste, they’re being welcomed into Alex’s home, sharing the same food that nourishes his family every day.
During the pandemic and the mandatory shut-down, Vong, his wife, sat at the restaurant’s window table, watching the few vehicles make their way down Central Avenue. “She knows every model of car now,” said Alex, “cause you know, there was nothing to do.”
“We’re family-owned, right? We go without salaries. Food on the table for us, and the roof over our heads. Pay our bills. That was enough.”
For a while, Thai Taste did offer take-out services during the pandemic.
Customers said they didn’t want him to close. They told Alex they’d continue to order as much as they could—maybe twice a week, once a week, whatever they could to help him out a little. Eventually though, customers stopped coming because no one wanted to die. Then, someone called him and asked if he could deliver—to drop the food off on the front door and he’d find the money for the order in the mailbox. In a time when the world felt unsafe, customers trusted Alex enough to keep coming back, even if they couldn’t enter the restaurant, and Alex, delivering all over—the Berwicks, Elliot, Rochester, Somersworth, and Dover, of course—the money would always be in the mailbox.
