Why We’re Rah-Rah for Buellton’s Na Na Thai

Why We’re Rah-Rah for Buellton’s Na Na Thai

Ashley and Nik Ramirez’s Globe-Trotting Journey
from Fine Dining to Southeast Asian Street Food

By Matt Kettmann | August 24, 2023

In a land where the culinary pulse went from mere murmurs to visible thumping in the span of a decade, Santa Barbara County’s raciest restaurant right now is located in what would usually be described as a strip-mall hole-in-the-wall just off 101. By turning that hole into a vividly decorated hotbed of heartfelt food and even friendlier cheer, the couple behind Na Na Thai is bringing authentic Bangkok to Buellton, and making the sleepy Santa Ynez Valley town a must-stop for Southeast Asian street-food fanatics.

Just a year ago, no one could have predicted this outcome. That’s when Ashley and Nik Ramirez started their Na Na pop-up aside Bar Le Côte on Tuesday nights when the Los Olivos seafood tavern — owned by the Michelin-star-snagging Bell’s in Los Alamos — was otherwise closed. But how these Thousand Oaks– and Maui-raised fine-dining veterans became moo dad dang and som tum specialists is a story that starts long before in a faraway place — on a soccer pitch in Romania, to be exact.

That’s where Nik, who grew up in Makawao and came to Santa Barbara City College for soccer, was playing professionally for FC Petrolul Ploiești, which served the team the same rotating lineup of weekly dishes. “I was so tired of eating the same thing every day,” he recalled. “I bought a burner and a sauté pan and tried to cook for myself.”