Nisa Thai Asian Cuisine has closed its doors at 118 S. Belvidere St. — and in its place, the original owners' daughter and her fiancé have opened Bangkok Boy, a seafood-forward Thai and Bangkok street food restaurant aimed squarely at the dense college crowd surrounding VCU's Monroe Park Campus.
The handoff keeps the business in the family. Nisa Thai has closed, and the original owners transferred the space to their daughter and her fiancé rather than selling it off entirely. As Richmond Times-Dispatch reports, Bangkok Boy serves regional Thai and Bangkok street food with a heavy seafood lean.
A Menu Built Around the Raw Bar
Bangkok Boy officially opened on July 9, 2026, after a public soft opening. That seafood emphasis shows up immediately on the menu: alongside pad Thai, curries, and noodle dishes, the restaurant serves river prawns, cocktail crab claws finished with a Thai curry cocktail sauce, and crab fried rice, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
The signature dish is Pla Neung Manao — a whole steamed fish doused in spicy garlic, lime, and chili sauce — served as tilapia or branzino, according to Bangkok Boy's own specials page. That same raw bar program includes $1.50 Virginia oysters during Thursday-through-Sunday happy hours and a $75 raw seafood tower loaded with shrimp, crab claws, clams, and oysters. It's an ambitious build-out for a storefront that previously specialized in more familiar Thai comfort food.
Lao Influences
The menu doesn't stop at Thai and Bangkok street food. Bangkok Boy also serves Lao-style beef soup and house cocktail sauces infused with green curry, blending in regional Lao specialties alongside the core Thai lineup, according to the restaurant's Instagram, while keeping vegetarian- and halal-friendly dishes on the menu for VCU's diverse student population.
The 118 S. Belvidere St. storefront is near VCU's Monroe Park Campus. Bangkok Boy pairs its seafood-heavy concept with a raw bar happy hour.
Part of a Busy Year for Richmond Restaurants
Bangkok Boy's debut lands in the middle of an active year for Richmond's dining scene. Richmond saw 54 new restaurant openings across the metro that year.
Thai restaurateurs in particular have been expanding into new formats across the city this month. Downtown Richmond also saw the launch of Tuk Tuk Philly Subs in October, founded by local Thai restaurateurs applying Asian street food sensibilities to cheesesteaks, as reported previously by Hoodline.
When to Go
Bangkok Boy is open Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday from noon to 10 p.m., according to the restaurant's own food menu page. The restaurant is closed Mondays. For a stretch of Belvidere Street that once housed Nisa Thai, the shift toward oyster happy hours and whole steamed fish marks a distinct new chapter for the family business.
