UPDATE 3-8-2021: Zaap Kitchen opened at WestBend in Fort Worth on March 8. The fast-casual family-owned concept features fresh and authentic Lao cuisine and Thai street food. WestBend is the brand's fourth store in DFW and first location in Fort Worth.

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An acclaimed Asian restaurant concept from Dallas that serves two cuisines in one is expanding west: Zaap Kitchen Lao & Thai Street Eats, a popular family-run Greenville Avenue restaurant that serves food from Laos and Thailand, is opening a location in Fort Worth, at the West Bend mixed-use development.

According to a West Bend spokesperson, it'll go into the space previously occupied by Pop Bar, the ice cream bar shop, which closed in early 2020.

Zaap owner Tony Singharaj confirms that Zaap is in expansion mode, and aims to have the Fort Worth location open in fall 2020.

Zaap Kitchen specializes in serving Laotian cuisine alongside Thai street food. Singharaj and his wife opened their first location on Greenville Avenue in 2018.

Opening a new restaurant in 2020 is a challenge, but they proved their ability to persevere despite the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020, when they opened a second location in East Dallas' Casa Linda Plaza, which has thrived as an outlet for takeout, despite the virus.

Zaap makes everything to order, with the influence of the Laotian cuisine bringing a higher, bolder level of spice.

Their menu includes sizzling Lao sausage, heavenly beef jerky, crispy wings, dancing garlic riblets, and juicy pork shoulder bites.

Pineapple fried rice is a dish with ingredients both savory and sweet: egg, cashews, pineapple, raisins, peas, carrots, onion, tomato, and garlic.

There's Laotian fried rice with egg, white onions, green onion, tomato, and garlic, which you can get as-is or with chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or tofu.

Zaap follows a fast-casual service model, to make it faster for those who are on tight lunch hours, and its to-go business is brisk.

At the same time as Fort Worth, they're also expaning in Dallas with another location on Fitzhugh Avenue, which will open in September.

This will bring their total portfolio to four restaurants:

• 6107 Greenville Ave., the original
• Casa Linda Plaza
• 2325 N. Fitzhugh Ave.
• West Bend, the mixed-use development in Fort Worth

Singharaj comes from a restaurant family; his brother Boi owns a small chain called Sabaidee Lao & Thai Cuisine, which has locations in Dallas, Rowlett and Prosper, which opened in 2019.