April 15, 2026

A new takeout restaurant and boba tea shop has taken over the kitchen at an east-side market.

Koala T Cafe, which opened in mid-March inside Neighborhood Market at 4301 E. 12th St., is the creation of Tony Choularath.

He’s still crafting the menu, but it features many Southeast Asian dishes like Lao fried pork, Lao sausage and fried chicken, all served with sticky rice.

There’s also Taiwanese popcorn chicken, papaya salad, chicken egg rolls and spring rolls with shrimp, chicken or pork.

Entrees come with a choice of traditional sauces like jeow bong, tomato jeow and sweet chili.

Last weekend, Choularath offered specials like khua mee, or Lao fried noodles, seen savanh, or “heavenly beef” jerky, and yat peeg ghai, or “angel wings,” which are chicken wings stuffed with minced chicken, glass noodles, carrots and wood ear mushrooms.

For drinks, there are milk teas, fruit refreshers, lemonade, Thai tea, Thao coffee and frozen chamoyada, along with a variety of bursting boba, tapioca pearls and jellies.

Delivery service is available through DoorDash, and customers also can place orders for pickup through the online service.

Neighborhood Market features Mediterranean groceries, along with  hookah tobacco and supplies. It’s in the process of replacing the gasoline tanks. Previous restaurants in the space have featured Iraqi and African cuisine.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except for Tuesday when it’s closed.

Find updates on Koala T Cafe’s social media channels: Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.