Since it opened in 2020, Soothr has consistently been one of our top Thai restaurants. The East Village spot perfectly balances the illusion of chaos with actually excellent service, and their noodles—like the khao soi, and a dry ba mii pu that tastes like a warm, crabby hug—have always been worth the fight for a reservation. With their second location in Long Island City, that fight is no longer required. Soothr 2.0 is big enough to throw a charity benefit. It’s glittery too, with decor inspired by Bangkok’s Chinatown—and though it’s missing some of the squished intimacy of the original, there’s still plenty of chaotic yet controlled fun. Dinner here is like being at a loud wedding banquet, but with gigantic tiger prawns and bouncy crab noodles instead of overcooked chicken breast. The menu is bigger too, and we like to lean into the more Thai-Chinese, exclusive-to-LIC dishes, which are mostly made for sharing. Whether you’re here for a Friday catch-up with friends or a family dinner, ensure that either the Yaowarat roast duck or the Dungeness crab karee are on your table. They’re big enough for four people to share, and they make a meal here feel like an event. So do the cocktails, like a clarified Long Island iced tea, which comes with a cute jelly mahjong tile. It’s also totally fine if two drinks stretch to three, because while dinner here isn’t exactly slow, unlike the original location there’s no 90-minute rule in effect. Plus those drinks are very helpful when you need to shout over the rest of the groups here, who are all also doing the same thing.