Burger shack from acclaimed Seattle chef will open in Ballard

The famous Asian fusion burgers from Ox Burger are coming to Ballard.

The popular Lao Burger will now be served at Fair Isle Brewing every Sunday (from 1-7 pm.) and Monday (4-8 p.m.), Fair Isle owner Andrew Pogue said last week.

Arguably the most talked-about smashburger on Capitol Hill, the Lao Burger is a Southeast Asian riff with garlicky, cold-fermented pork belly subbing for bacon, a jaew tomato sauce replacing the ketchup, and two charred patties with melted provolone. The jaew resembles more of a roasted salsa chutney, with roasted shallots, garlic, tomato, bird's-eye chili and cilantro.

This spicy, creamy, umami-rich sandwich is arguably the most distinctive burger in a city filled with copycats.

This East-meets-West burger debuted at Taurus Ox on Capitol Hill in December 2019. Burger hype generated lines so long that chef Khampaeng Panyathong and his business partners eventually spun off a separate restaurant, Ox Burger, to showcase the sandwich.

In Ballard, the Ox Burger menu will be streamlined to three versions: the signature Lao Burger, a standard cheeseburger and a deluxe with two patties, lettuce, tomato and American cheese. The kitchen also makes a plant-based patty.

After a trial run at the end of May, the Ox Burger team decided to use frozen fries in Ballard due to limited kitchen space. (The kitchen makes hand-cut fries at its original East Madison Street location.)

Beer geeks can pair the Lao Burger with Fair Isle's farmhouse pale ale, Bobbi.

Ox Burger shares the kitchen with another notable name: critically acclaimed La Marea serves Mexican seafood inside the brewery from Tuesdays to Saturdays.

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This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 4:55 PM.