Famous Lao Papaya - San Jose

We ordered Lao papaya salad, Nam khao, and Lao stir fried noodles. The foods were so so. I gave it a 3 stars minus one more star for the grumpy looking not too friendly waitress. Not sure if we will come back to try other dishes but if we do, I hope to seethe waitress with more positive vibes

Lao food is seriously spicy. I got the papaya salad, and after asking how spicy the food was the guy said it comes in 1 to 15 chilis. Ended up asking for 5 thinking that would be in the milder side of hot, but blew my taste buds off. I like to think Ican handle spicy food and have high tolerance, so unless you are masochistic ask for only one or two chilis until you know youcan handle it. Will rerate the restaurant after healing my taste buds. The fried chicken wings were good and not spicy whichhelped to manage the heat from the papaya salad.

Famous Lao Papaya is fantastic! My boyfriend and I tried the Papaya Platter and Nam Khao. They really nailed every dish in flavor, texture, and freshness. The sausages were incredibly flavorful and juicy. Papaya salad really hit the spot, the flavorswere authentic and spot on and definitely my favorite. Chicken wings were cooked perfectly also. I would highly recommend theplatter to get a bit of everything they have to offer. The Nam Khao was also a winner for me it had a great texture and touchof citrus and herb y freshness that made it super addictive to eat. There was so much food leftover for two people. I left witha very happy belly! This place is definitely optimized for to go/delivery since everything is served in compostable containers,but there are plenty of seats for eating in and the restaurant is really well maintained, clean, and newly renovated. Whenordering, they were incredibly helpful and helped us pick a spiciness level that worked for us if spiciness is a concern (or amust have lol), let them know and they can go as mild or as hot as you want. The menu is short (they're confident in what theydo and they do it well) and very clearly labeled with photos, ingredients, and name which feels super accessible to anyone newto Laotian food. They also offer add on options which is great if you wanna add a sausage or two in your dish. They also sellfrozen sausages and other goods you can buy and prepare at home. They accept cash and credit and the ordering process is reallystreamlined. Parking in this plaza can get hectic on weekends, but there's always street parking on the outer perimeter of theplaza. Come to this place (or order take out)! You will not be disappointed.

Authentic Laotian food. Just what we wanted!!! Kaopoon was delish!!! The restaurant is kind of hidden amongst all the other Asian restaurants in the plaza, so you really have to look for it. We went on a busy weekend and it was so hard to find parking.We parked far away and walked there. Water is self served. You order and pay at the register.. they'll bring your food out toyour table in a tray. Nice staffs. Small cafe type restaurant. Everything was served on paper/plastics.

Drove out of the way to just come here since our city back home doesn’t have any Lao food. Everything was so good! Definitely recommend.