NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — At International Market, you’ll find some of the old mixed with some of the new.
“My mom had moved to Nashville in the 70s and met my dad here and she just was like 'there’s no home cooking for me here,'" said Anna Myint. "So she’s like ‘well I’m going to open a restaurant.’”
For Anna and her brother, Arnold Myint, the original location was more than just a restaurant.
“Like everyone would go home and have home cooked meals. I would come home from school and go to the restaurant, and that’s where I did my homework and that’s where I ate my dinners,” she said.
But after 40 years of serving Thai food to Nashville, the location closed its doors in 2018 — until the siblings recently brought the restaurant back to life, just across the street from the original.
“He’s in the back, I’m in the front and you know I do the numbers, he does the cooking,” said Anna.
At the new location, you’ll find relics of the past mixed in with the present.
“So we have a lot of the original recipes but then also my brother, who is a chef, has brought in a lot of new," said Anna. "We’re also using a lot of fresh, organic, local things, local vendors, local meats — that’s different than before. We’re just trying to keep it as local as possible.”
For now, International Market is in a soft opening as the restaurant is feeling the pinch of supply chain and worker shortages.
Still, the new generation of owners say it’s all about keeping the tradition going for a new generation of customers.
“I’ve heard a lot of stories coming from people who’ve been coming in being like ‘my parents brought me here and it was the first taste of something not fried chicken or not meatloaf that I ever had and now I’m bringing my children here,'” said Anna.
The restaurant is set to fully open by the New Year. For hours of operation, click here.
