Lao Der - Laotian in Chicago

I was eager to try this place after initially hearing about the opening from laikom and then his positive report. Titus also wrote about it on his blog.

From what I understand, there may be Laotian dishes here and there, but not an actually dedicated Laotian restaurant within the city limits.

I was in a group of 4 and we ordered a good portion of the menu. We enjoyed our meal and I'm looking forward to returning and trying some more things.

We had:
- Tum Luangphrabang (papaya salad with crab paste)
- Esan sausage
- Lau Der jerky (the spicier version of two offered beef jerkies)
- Nam khao
- Lab beef
- Gai yang (grilled chicken thigh)

We ordered medium spicy for the papaya salad and the lab. We agreed that both could have been a bit spicier so if you are seeking spice, I'd advise you to ask for it on the higher side (they asked when we ordered so it should be easy to specify).

The jerky and the nam khao were the standouts and I would absolutely order them again. Two of my dining companions were lamenting Rainbow's closure and that there was no longer anywhere nearby to get it (they live in Lincoln Square). This version was maybe a notch below Rainbow's but still very good. They immediately planned to come back to get it again soon.

The jerky was really well seasoned and had a great depth of flavor.

The papaya salad was a different style than I have seen in other SE Asian restaurants (larger slices rather than shredded). This was OK, but I think I prefer the texture of shredded papaya in the salad. I don't know if there was a ton of crab funk/flavor, but I would get this again in the future but might order it with a bit more spice.

The lab beef and gai yang were so so. I think I prefer pork or chicken for lab/larb, but we were getting chicken with another entree so we opted for beef. As stated above, I think this could have also been a tad spicier. I'll try that with the chicken next time.

I also was expecting a bit more funk from the Esan sausage since I figured it to be an Issan relative. These were still tasty but lacked some of the tang I might have expected.

I will definitely be back to try more of the menu. The soups look good and I'd like to try the sausage entree.

Lao Der
3922 N. Elston
https://www.laoderchicago.com/

We thoroughly enjoyed our entire meal at Lao Der tonight, the food and service were both delightful. Note it is BYOB.

Lao Der Is Chicago's First Sit-Down Lao Restaurant in Over a Decade

https://www.wttw.com/playlist/2025/06/2 ... restaurant

We went here maybe 1.5 months ago. The menu when we went was about half Laotian and half Thai. Funny hearing about the papaya salad as we ordered ours mild (my wife can't handle spice well) and it was pretty hot. Did you order it "Lao style?" That may have been the difference and what we ordered (with some crab paste or something). The taste at first may be a bit funky to those not familiar but found myself eating it again and again. Laos is known to be more aggressive than Thailand with spice so if you did not order Lao style and want spicy, I'd recommend ordering it Lao style.

I also had the Lao pho which was pretty great. A little different than the Vietnamese version but I liked it a lot. Would definitely order that again.

We didn't order it Lao style. We were offered a spicy scale and picked medium. Good to keep this in mind for the next time.

My friends also suggested that at another Laotian restaurant, the food was considerably spicier. So I'd guess "medium" spicy does not approach Lao style.