Som Dee is heading for the heart of downtown. Owner Orrapan Botthaisong is planning Som Dee Signature for Larimer Square at 1442 Larimer Street, complete with a basement tasting room and a separate, reservation-first multi-course menu. It will be the brand's third Denver outpost, and Botthaisong estimates the space could be ready by August 2026. More than a decade after moving from Thailand, she has grown her business from a single food truck into multiple brick-and-mortar spots across the city.
According to The Denver Post, Som Dee Signature will take over the Larimer Square address and add a basement dining room that serves a separate fixed multi-course menu in a fine dining setting. The outlet reports that the downtown restaurant is slated to be a more polished, upscale version of Botthaisong's other locations, with some specials from Som Dee Thai Kitchen expected to carry over to the new menu.
What Som Dee Signature Will Serve
Botthaisong named Som Dee after her father and La Mai after her mother, and she intends the Signature spin-off to highlight elevated, authentic Thai dishes in a more formal environment. Som Dee's Uptown menu has earned attention for items such as a ribeye finished with a toasted sticky-rice crust, and the Larimer Square project is expected to build on those hits as part of a split-service setup in the building, as reported by Westword.
Botthaisong opened La Mai in Edgewater in 2022 and followed with Som Dee Thai Kitchen at 1598 East 17th Avenue in late 2024, a run that local business writers framed as a quick climb from food-truck roots to multiple storefronts. The Larimer Square lease marks a different kind of bet, centered on downtown foot traffic and a higher average check that the owner and local analysts see as a deliberate next step for the concept, according to BusinessDen.
The Space And The Neighborhood
The Larimer Square spot at 1442 Larimer Street previously housed CRÚ Food & Wine Bar, opening up a familiar downtown address for the new Thai project, as noted by Westword. CRÚ still operates an outpost inside Denver International Airport's Concourse B, according to DiningOut, and the brand shuffle downtown leaves a pedestrian-heavy space that lines up neatly with a reservation-first tasting format.
The Denver Post reports that the kitchen is set to be led by a chef with about 20 years of experience cooking in Phuket, a hire Botthaisong calls central to delivering specific regional flavors. The outlet adds that the planned layout separates the main dining room from the basement tasting room so the restaurant can run both à la carte service and multi-course seatings under one roof.
How It Fits Downtown
Larimer Square has been leaning into intimate, high-end formats, from basement omakase counters to tightly curated chef's-seat dinners, and Som Dee Signature seems poised to plug right into that scene. DiningOut has spotlighted omakase experiences in Denver that are small, reservation-heavy, and tailored to serious diners, while 303 Magazine has covered a whiskey bar and handroll concept that leans into tight, chef-driven service. Taken together, those kinds of openings suggest downtown guests are seeking out intimate, reservation-focused nights out.
Permits, buildout, and final menus still need to be locked in, and Botthaisong's team says more details on seatings, pricing, and the tasting-room program will roll out as the project moves forward. For now, Som Dee Signature stands as another example of Denver chefs and owners nudging downtown toward more diverse, reservation-first tasting options.
