The sign for Le Thai restaurant sits at 523 Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet.
Site address: 523 Fremont St
Sign owner: Dan and Shauna Coughlin, Dan doubles as the chef as well
Sign details: The buildings original construction year was 1934. The restaurant opened in November of 2011, Le Thai offers a famous Three curry made by Chef Dan Coughlin as well as other traditional Thai food inspired by Dans grandma and mom from Thailand. They also have a beer garden behind their main restaurant. Dan was the owner to Mix zone cafe and is the son of the owner of the King and I (Nikki Bujadham). This building has a tin facade with a pull out canopy for outdoor seating.
Sign condition: 5- looks very new and in amazing condition
Sign form: Blade
Sign-specific description: The blade is mainly made of plastic that is backlit at night time, but has a dark steel border. At the top of the sign is a circle that has Le written in black cursive on the sign, and illuminates red neon at night. Also on this circle portion of the sign it states Downtown Las Vegas in a smaller print type font. This circle is outlined in incandescents, as well as the incandescents being surrounded by red neon. Below the circle there is a red curved arrow that states Thai in black letters that have a white trim, this font looks italicized and has little circles on a part of each of the letters, this makes it a very distinct font for them specifically. Underneath the Words Thai, the sign states Noodles & Bar in a regular white block type font.
Sign - type of display: Incandescent light bulbs and neon
Sign - media: Plastic and Steel
Sign - non-neon treatments: Graphics on plastic portion of the sign are backlit
Sign animation: Chasing:
Notes: incandescent light bulbs
Sign environment: In the East side of Fremont Street, located in between Las Vegas Blvd and 6th street. To the west of the property is the Dont Tell Mama Bar and to the east is Commonwealth. Currently across the street is the Therapy restaurant and the old Emergency Arts building.
Sign manufacturer: YESCO
Sign designer: Owners Shauna and Dan
Sign - date of installation: 2012
Sign - thematic influences: The font that they use for Le and Thai are quite different but it shows the blend of how their restaurant is and does make it more distinguishable since their font draws the attention of people walking by.
Sign - artistic significance: With the usage of both Neon and incandescent the sign really does pop out which is a similar trend to many signs over the age, particularly since there is a lot of pedestrian traffic in the region. The arrow is a great direction indicator, as well as it showcases the 1950s blade sign trend with the arrow at the bottom.
Survey - research locations: Le Thai restaurant website https://lethaivegas.com/, Assessor's page, and contact with Le Thai LLC
Survey - research notes: The assessor's page said the buildings original construction year was 1934 though there was no record of what it originally opened up as.
Surveyor: Emily Fellmer
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-15
Sign keywords: Graphics; Plastic; Backlit; Steel; Blade; Chasing; Incandescent; Neon; Back to back