A new restaurant has taken over the sports-bar-style space that once housed T. Smith Asian Bistro on State Road A1A in Crescent Beach, bringing a menu that spans Thailand, Vietnam and Japan along with a full bar and 150 seats. A1A Asian Kitchen opened at 6975 A1A South after husband-and-wife team Carlos and Phet Valotha purchased the turnkey operation from previous owner Tommy Smith and his partners in June.
Veteran Restaurateurs Take Over a Familiar Space
The Valothas are not newcomers to Northeast Florida's dining scene. According to the Jacksonville Daily Record, Phet Valotha has owned and managed Asian restaurants in Northeast Florida since 1996, including the former Thai Room in Jacksonville Beach, Galangal Thai Restaurant near Nocatee, and Lemongrass Restaurant in Jacksonville's Baymeadows area — all of which have since closed. Carlos Valotha, who is from Laos, serves as chef of the new venture, while Phet runs the front of house.
The couple's most enduring project has been Lemongrass Thai Bistro, founded in 2003 on Old St. Augustine Road in Jacksonville, where they built a reputation with curated wine pairings and signature dishes like Massamun beef short ribs, according to Arbus Magazine. They also co-own Libby's Thai Bistro, which Phet named after her daughter, in St. Augustine's Westgate Plaza on State Road 16, per The Restaurant Times St. Augustine.
A Menu Built on Three Cuisines
A1A Asian Kitchen specializes in Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese cuisine, according to the Daily Record, and the menu includes crispy whole snapper with a pineapple-infused red curry sauce, lobster kao soi ramen, kiew wan curry, Thai BBQ pork ribs, and sushi and sashimi. The new owners have retained some dishes from T. Smith Asian Bistro even as they layer in the expanded lineup. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and dinner on Saturday, but stays closed Sundays.
Happy hour runs 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, and the restaurant still has the full bar it inherited from its predecessor. The Valothas announced the rebranding on the restaurant's Facebook page in early July, ahead of the official opening.
Inherited Amenities and a Beachfront Backdrop
Before the rebrand, T. Smith Asian Bistro operated as a sports-friendly Asian eatery with 18 televisions, a full bar, $5 happy hour appetizers and regular live entertainment, according to the Restaurant Times St. Augustine. The site continues to double as a community gathering spot: Visit St. Augustine notes the venue hosts live music and weekly West Coast Swing dance nights organized by the St. Augustine Rug Cutters on Thursday evenings, a holdover from the property's earlier run of live music and trivia nights.
The 5,000-square-foot restaurant sits directly across State Road A1A from Beacher's Lodge Oceanfront Suites, a condo-hotel that has offered oceanfront lodging on Crescent Beach since 1986, per Beacher's Lodge. That steady flow of seasonal visitors sits just steps from the restaurant's door, and the property, known as Crescent Beach Plaza, also houses neighboring businesses including Tony's Pizza and O'Laughlin Pub, according to a LoopNet listing. Property records show the site is owned by Crescent City Plaza LLC.
Why the Space and Location Matter
Florida law requires restaurants seeking a 4COP-SRX special license — which allows full liquor sales without a costly open-market quota license — to maintain at least 2,500 square feet of service area, permanent seating for 150 patrons, and to draw at least 51% of gross revenue from food and non-alcoholic drinks, according to Waiterio. A1A Asian Kitchen's 5,000-square-foot footprint and 150 seats clear that bar with room to spare, letting it keep the full bar it inherited from T. Smith Asian Bistro.
The restaurant sits less than a quarter-mile south of Florida 206, which crosses the Matanzas River as one of two primary bridges connecting Anastasia Island to the mainland. That access point feeds a coastal corridor where tourism dollars are climbing: St. Johns County collected $2.23 million in monthly tourist development taxes in mid-2025, driven largely by vacation rentals and short-term condo stays that have outperformed traditional hotels along the coast, according to Jax Today. The county levies a 5% Tourist Development Tax on those short-term stays, revenue that funds coastal tourism promotion through the county's Tourist Development Council.
Whether the new multi-country menu wins over the old T. Smith sports-bistro crowd or draws a fresh wave of beachgoers from across A1A remains to be seen, but the Valothas are betting their three-decade run in Northeast Florida dining will carry the transition.
