Kra Z Kai’s Laotian Barbecue

Several of Rodeo 39 Public Market’s earliest restaurant vendors hit the ground running, delivering unique concepts and flavors exciting enough to give the entire food hall extra energy. Kra Z Kai’s Laotian barbecue was the prime example, and was one of Rodeo’s strongest tenants until its unexpected closure in 2024.

The menu was disarmingly simple: choose from grilled chicken, grilled pork ribs, grilled beef short ribs, deep-fried sausage, grilled steak dip, deep-fried beef jerky, or a mix of the first four. Each included rice or a side salad; sticky rice, fried rice, and regular rice are options, as were papaya salads and chicken soy sesame salads.

Across multiple visits, Kra Z Kai’s meats were consistently excellent – the smoky grilling and soy-heavy marinades are prime examples of Laotian BBQ’s virtues, ideally balanced by both the neutrality of the rice, and by sharp and tangy flavors in the papaya salad. Although big plates of meat aren’t necessarily healthy, they felt healthier than nearby Rodeo 39 neighbor Shootz’s crispy, buttery, panko-crusted chicken and shrimp (not that you need to choose only one or the other here). Until its closure, we considered Kra Z Kai’s a must-visit for any Rodeo 39 newbie, and worthy of return visits, especially for the pork ribs, beef jerky, and sausage.