It's Thai Time Cooks Up Something New On Orange Street

Abraham Perez Orozco Photos.

The scent of something fried and gently spiced hits the air even before the food is finished, and comes out sizzling from the kitchen. This is the pad thai with fried duck—fresh peanuts, rice noodles, bean sprouts, eggs, garlic and green onion all to deliver an explosion of taste and crunchiness.

Welcome to It’s Thai Time, New Haven's newest Thai restaurant at 181 Orange St. in the city’s Ninth Square neighborhood. While the space offers authentic Thai delights, it is not a typical Thai restaurant. Owner Brenda Jain is proud to be a Mexican American serving Thai cuisine. 

“Los tiempos de dios son perfectos,” Jain said, weaving between Spanish and English as she spoke. "Finding the perfect spot for our restaurant like we planned in downtown, New Haven is a blessing."

Her journey to business ownership has been a long one. When she was 17, Jain worked her first job in a Thai restaurant in New Haven while she was attending Gateway Community College. At first, she didn't think the food was appealing. She was also mistreated because of her race, she said. It made her want to create a place of work where everyone was seen for their personality and not their race.

Brenda Jain: "Finding the perfect spot for our restaurant like we planned in downtown, New Haven is a blessing."

Then she tried pad thai and yellow curry, and started dreaming about opening own Thai restaurant in the future. Thai food was also literally the way to her heart: it was a Thai restaurant through which she met her husband, Jorge Teutle.

Initially, she put those hopes on hold, working several restaurant jobs after her graduation from Hill Regional Career High School. After her first jobs at chain restaurants (she declined to disclose the names), she worked at an apartment rental complex and then as a licensed insurance agent. Then in 2011, she and her husband opened their own construction company. But she never let go of her restaurant dreams.

In January of last year, she came across the 5,000 square foot Orange Street location, which was previously home to the Peruvian restaurant Ceviche181 and, before that, a corner deli. At the time, the property managers told her it was rented out to someone already. But when she saw that the listing was still active several days later, she checked back in. 

It turned out that the other renter had fallen through, she said. By March, she had signed a lease.

The space “needed much remodeling,” she said. After months of work—some of which was done in-house by her husband—she opened to the public on Oct. 1 of last year. She has kept some of the business in the family: she and her husband run operations, and Arnulfo Tlacotia, godfather to her kids, is the head chef. She and Tlacotia met when she was working at a previous Thai restaurant.  

“I worked in a Thai restaurant before, and learning side-by-side from the head chef inspired me to learn more about the style of cooking,” Tlacotia said.

When Jain opened the restaurant in October, she worried that  people would criticize her for opening a  Thai restaurant, because she is a Mexican American chef. But so far she has hosted events for ESUMS, and Yale Chinese American Students Association and has also renovated the place to be more large and party friendly.

Since October, a lot has changed at Its Thai Time, she added. Jain builds on feedback from customers and coworkers, for instance adding gluten free items to the menu, or making substitutions in recipes for allergies.  She said that every day things change, and that they improve. “Change is always good,” Jain said. 

“The fact that no one knows about us yet, and people say marketing but financially it's not that easy,” she added.

Jain tries to be at It's Thai Time as much as she can, so she can keep things fresh and maintain cleanliness for her and her customers. “Quality, fresh food is my biggest triumph,” she said. She added that shs is proud of how much of the food is gluten free.

There are still struggles in opening a restaurant, she added. Customers often comment on her race, which frustrates her (“It doesn't occur to me when I go into a restaurant to say that person isn't the race of the restaurant, no” she said). It also took time for the restaurant to get its liquor license. Now, it is serving various drinks like espresso martinis, margaritas, blue Hawaiian, and "mango sunrises" that are a specialty. 

“I really enjoyed the drunken noodles, I feel like it’s a must try when going to a Thai restaurant,” said New Havener Edwin Tuxpan on a recent visit to the space. 

As she nears her first anniversary on Orange Street, Jain said she also has plenty of small business advice. She recommends lots of planning, budgeting, and information gathering for people who are interested in opening a food business. 

"Numbers are magical," Jain said with a smile. "Know your numbers."

This article comes from the 2024 Cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative. Abraham Perez Orozco is a rising senior at Hill Regional Career High School.