Jitlada — Tui & Jazz Sungkamee's southern Thai (1989-2024)

Jitlada is a landmark Southern Thai restaurant at 5233 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles’s Thai Town, known for its uncompromisingly spicy, region-specific cuisine and a menu that once swelled to nearly 400 dishes ^[1][2][3]. The restaurant opened in the late 1970s, but its modern identity was forged in 2006–2007 when siblings Sarintip ‘Jazz’ Singsanong and Suthiporn ‘Tui’ Sungkamee took ownership ^[1][2][4]. Jazz, born in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, studied hospitality in Bangkok and moved to Los Angeles in 1979 with $200 ^[10][14]. Tui, the eldest of twelve children, began cooking at age five and built a mini empire of four restaurants in Pattaya before relocating to LA in 1996 ^[4][14]. Together they transformed Jitlada into a showcase for Southern Thai cooking, emphasizing turmeric, chili peppers, and fresh herbs ^[1][3]. Tui printed a separate list of untranslated Southern Thai specialties on the back of the takeout menu, which a food enthusiast translated for the LTHforum, helping to build a cult following ^[5]. Jonathan Gold championed Jitlada in the Los Angeles Times, crediting it with popularizing regional Thai cooking in the US ^[3][5][6]. Signature dishes include the Crying Tiger (grilled beef), yellow curry crab (a chef special), kua kling phat tha lung (a turmeric-rich dry beef curry that Gold called the spiciest dish in LA at the time), yum pak boong grob (fried water morning glory salad), khao yum (rice salad from Songkla), and the off-menu Jazz burger ^[4][5][6]. Tui died of lung cancer in October 2017 at age 66 ^[1][5]. Jazz continued running the restaurant with her niece, Sugar Sungkamee (Tui’s daughter), who now co-manages the business ^[3][11][12]. Jitlada earned Michelin Bib Gourmand awards in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, and Jazz was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: California in 2022 and 2023 ^[2][7][8]. The restaurant closed permanently in 2024; the exact closure date is not specified in the provided sources.