HaiSous Continues to Deliver Joyfully Delicious Vietnamese Cuisine in Pilsen
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HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen has always been a special place — even before it opened. The Pilsen restaurant from chef Thai Dang and his wife, Danielle, who oversees operations and design, was born from what little they had left after everything else was taken away. The name HaiSous literally means “two pennies,” which is about all the couple had before scraping together an SBA loan and pouring their energy and passion into a second act that has become one of Chicago’s most celebrated restaurants.
Nearly 10 years in, HaiSous continues to build on that passion, while drawing in both new diners and those long enamored with Thai’s bold Vietnamese dishes, prepared with traditional and French techniques. The restaurant continues to gain attention, receiving multiple accolades over the years, including Michelin Bib Gourmand designation every year since it opened in 2017. Thai has received multiple James Beard Award semifinalist and finalist nods for Best Chef: Great Lakes, and the restaurant was nominated for a Jean Banchet Award for Restaurant of the Year this year.
But getting here wasn’t easy. Before HaiSous, the Dangs partnered on opening Embeya, where Thai served as executive chef, and in which they had a minority ownership stake after investing some family funds. The connection ran deep: the restaurant’s name itself came from Thai’s childhood nickname, meaning “the little one” (he’s the youngest of 10 siblings born in Vietnam to a single mother who emigrated with her family as refugees). Embeya opened in the West Loop in 2013 and soared quickly, getting named one of Esquire’s best new restaurants the year it debuted. But the dream soured when the Dangs’ business partners were accused of looting the restaurant’s accounts and fleeing the country. Embeya shuttered, and the Dangs were left with the wreckage.
“You think, ‘I’m hardworking, I can cook good food, make good cocktails,’ but that is only a very small part of operating a successful restaurant,” Danielle said of that chapter. “I feel like we got a PhD after that experience.”
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“Within these walls, we have and are a place that helps support so many immigrant families,” Thai said. “We empower our team and promote from within. By doing so we create an environment that makes our team love their job and bring on family members and friends.”
The building itself carries its own layered history. Built in 1888, it has housed lives and businesses across generations — including, at one point, a bowling alley of possible dubious legality. Danielle, a practicing architect who designed the restaurant, preserved elements like the worn plaster of those old bowling alley walls and the vintage Mike’s Tire Shop sign on the brick facade. The structural cast-iron columns are original.
“The elements that I preserved pay respect to those before us,” she said. The result is a space that feels both rooted and alive, where exposed history meets warm bamboo tones, with greenery throughout, copper accents, an open kitchen, and a dining room that invites you to settle in.
And settle in you do, as the food is really why you’re here.
HaiSous is built for sharing. Start with the crispy caramelized fish sauce wings (a.k.a. Dang Good Wings) — arguably the dish that helped put HaiSous on the map, and one that will never leave the menu, which Danielle made very clear. And that’s not the only one.“We could never remove the wings, the papaya salad, the eggplant or octopus salad, the whole fluke, the Vietnamese curry, the fried rice or the grilled eggplant,” she said. “There would be a revolt if we took those HaiSous classics off.”
Other not-miss dishes? The grilled oysters, named a 2022 best dish in America by the New York Times. Don’t skip the whole prawns, smothered in Thai chile butter, and served with baguette slices to sop up that fragrant sauce. And that whole fried fluke is a showstopper: a golden, crunchy fish served with fresh herbs and lettuce for wrapping, plus the house nuoc cham for dipping. These all deliver the bold, authentic Vietnamese flavors that are Thai’s signature. (For the maximum effect, consider coming with a group.)
HaiSous also offers a seasonal tasting menu — the chef’s grand tasting tour — for a deeper dive into Vietnamese culinary history. Thai uses it to explore specific regions and time periods, often when others occupied the country: the Chinese influence on Vietnamese noodle culture, the French occupation that gave Vietnam its coffee traditions, its banh mi, and its pâté. “It provides opportunities for the cooks and sous chefs to stay engaged, learn new techniques, and change up the monotony of everyday cooking,” he said.
The Dangs continue to build and create heat with their work. HaiSous has a popular happy hour that runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and has become a destination in its own right with its $10 cocktail and food specials. The restaurant’s beverage program is sophisticated and complements the food without overwhelming it. Think cocktails like the Green Theory with tequila and mezcal, green herbs, sweet and tart citrus, and a hint of heat from serrano peppers; or the Old So n’ So with bourbon, blood orange, ginger, and citrus. Plus crisp, refreshing white wines and lighter bodied reds.
Next door, the Dangs operate Ca Phe Da Vietnamese Café, featuring signature Vietnamese coffee drinks and those beloved Dang Good Wings — a sneaky way to get a taste if you can’t wait for dinner. Thai recently expanded his reach with Crying Tiger, a super-hot pan-Southeast Asian collaboration with Lettuce Entertain You in River North.
HaiSous is the kind of restaurant that reminds you why you love eating out: the warmth, the craft, the story behind the food. It is, as Thai puts it, exactly what they envisioned when they set out to build it: “To never give up and stay true to the craft, evolve, and be the light for our team.”
Almost a decade in, HaiSous still glows.
Ari Bendersky, a lifestyle journalist specializing in food, wine, spirits, and travel, is the author of Something Glorious with Ari Bendersky on Substack and the host of the docu-series Family Meal. Follow him on Instagram. Follow Resy, too.
