At this point, every new project from Nick Bognar feels less like a restaurant announcement and more like a citywide event. Between the precision of Indo, the ambition of Sado and the polished energy of Pavilion, Bognar has quietly built one of the most compelling restaurant groups in the Midwest, and (spoiler alert) our upcoming June issue is practically a love letter to the way he continues to shape dining in St. Louis. Now, the James Beard Award finalist is preparing to show diners an entirely different side of his cooking.
Bognar will open his fourth restaurant concept, Khao Soi Cowboy, in Midtown at 3224 Locust St. The all-day restaurant and bar is slated to debut in spring 2027 and will focus on what Bognar describes as “purposefully inauthentic” Northern Thai and Southeast Asian cuisine served in a casual, high-energy setting.
If Indo feels restrained and meticulous, Khao Soi Cowboy sounds like its rowdy afterparty.
The space is envisioned as an unapologetically loud Southeast Asian dive bar layered with Thai disco music, kung fu posters, glowing string lights and a playful tiki-inspired cocktail program. Bognar developed the restaurant’s branding and logo alongside tattoo artist Trevor Collis, leaning into a more irreverent, no-rules aesthetic that mirrors the food itself.
The concept will offer all-day lunch and dinner service, late-night dining, cocktails and to-go options, with walk-ins encouraged. Prices are expected to be the most approachable across Bognar’s restaurant group.
Despite the playful framing, the restaurant’s roots are deeply personal. Bognar says the idea has been years in the making, inspired largely by memories of his grandmother, Kun Yai, whose cooking shaped his understanding of flavor and technique from an early age. Her version of khao soi, the rich Northern Thai curry noodle soup, became a defining dish of his childhood.
That dish has already developed a devoted following in St. Louis through a series of Khao Soi pop-ups at Indo, where Bognar served variations topped with tofu or confit duck, a less traditional but distinctly “Nick Bognar” approach to the classic dish. The new restaurant will expand on those ideas with additional protein options and a broader menu of Northern Thai and Southeast Asian small plates, including dishes like a Sai Oua Corn Dog.
The concept also traces back to the pandemic, when Bognar began serving khao soi as a to-go lunch special at Indo and quickly realized the demand for a more casual format centered around the dish.
“I always wanted to open a more casual concept,” Bognar said in a statement. “We’ve always been playful and creative with our restaurants, but I really want people to experience the loud Southeast Asian culture and the boldness of our food, drinks, decor, music, service and overall vibes at Khao Soi Cowboy.”
He described the restaurant as a more personal reflection of how he grew up eating, with food that is “bold, a little funky, meant to be shared and not overthought.”
Khao Soi Cowboy will be led alongside chef de cuisine Mark Silva, who has worked at Indo since the restaurant opened.
For Bognar, whose restaurants have often balanced exacting technique with emotional storytelling, Khao Soi Cowboy feels like the volume knob getting cranked all the way to the right. Neon noodles, disco basslines, duck curry and late-night cocktails are heading for Midtown, and somehow, knowing Bognar, it still feels like an understatement.
