Gene and Jay Potchana opened Royal Thai in July of 1992 for many reasons, but mostly their mutual love of authentic Thai food. Before then, Gene enjoyed working in management while Jay thoroughly enjoyed cooking. He spent 12 years working for others in the restaurant business before finally deciding to take the plunge on his own - looking to his mother, Boonroam, as his culinary inspiration.Before coming to Dallas to help get Royal Thai off the ground, Boonroam cooked in a high volume eatery outside of Bangkok that specialized in exotic Thai food. Jay used many of his mother's recipes and fused them with other culinary instincts from the streets of Thailand. This led Royal Thai to become a neighborhood favorite in Dallas Texas, at a time when Thai food was relatively unknown.