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Westwood Blvd is lined with restaurants and sometimes it can be difficult to pick one. I will make it easy for you. Head to Emporium Thai. Family-owned and operated since 2000, Emporium Thai specializes in Southern Thai cuisine and is a special find in the middle of Westwood. Many people know this already. Emporium Thai has been awarded Most Favorite Thai Restaurant 2016 (L.A. City Guide), L.A.’s Best Thai Restaurant outside of Thai Town (Los Angeles Travel Magazine), Westwood’s Unmissable Restaurant (Thrillist), The Hip Side of LA 2015 (The Culture Trip) and the People Love Us on Yelp Award 2015, 2016 and 2017.
I have very mixed feelings about my experience at Night + Market in Venice. I have read and heard great reviews. After all, chef and owner Kris Yenbamroong was a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation in the Rising Star Chef category and the James Beard Foundation's Best New Chef West award. Los Angeles's Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jonathan Gold praised the restaurant and named it 24th best restaurant on the 101 list. Arriving at the Venice location, I knew the space would have a hipster vibe. It was packed, lively and energetic. The decor has a playful cheesiness to it with pink strands and colored lights hanging down in front of the windows, neon lights and posters all around. 
Same Same......but Different. That is the name of the Thai restaurant tucked in a strip mall on Sunset Blvd in Silverlake. Locals know the place as Rambutan Thai and while the kitchen and food remain the same, the front of the house is different. Now the name makes sense, right? Same Same but different Adam Weisblatt of Last Word Hospitality and his partners Angus McShane and Holly Zack are what is different about Same Same. They were on a mission to find a small, established business to buy and take over and create a Basque wine bar. They found Rambutan, a 13-year-old family business in Silverlake. However as Weisblatt shared with me, as they were looking to buy the place they noticed how customers were drawn to owners Katy Noochlaor and Annie Daniel. So instead of buying the place, they decided to collaborate.
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