When the Marion House of Thai closed, an opportunity opened for recent immigrant Padee Phimolmas.

Last month, she and her twin sister Tammy Keyes launched their own Thai restaurant, Cilantro, in the same building. 

Cilantro solved two dilemmas for the Wareham sisters.

Through her husband, Keyes learned that the House of Thai owner was looking forward to retirement. But he didn’t want to leave the building vacant.

“He came to us and said this restaurant needs to stay open. So we sat down and tried the food and talked about it,” Keyes said. “He wanted to retire and [Phimolmas] wanted to start a business.”

Phimolmas immigrated from Thailand to Wareham a year and a half ago for her children’s education. Her kids, 7 and 11 years old, are enrolled at St. Margaret’s School in Buzzards Bay. Also, Phimolmas wanted to be near her sister, who moved to the U.S. eight years ago.

Cilantro is the first restaurant Phimolmas has owned. For advice, she’ll be leaning on Keyes, who owned a Thai restaurant in San Diego for several years. Recipes from Keyes’ previous restaurant appear on Cilantro’s menu, and when it comes to a signature dish, the sisters say there is something for everyone.

“It’s hard to say,” Phimolmas said. “People have different tastes.”

“We like them all!” Keyes said.

As an untested owner, Phimolmas admitted that the first few weeks after opening were tough.

“The first day that we opened everything did not go smoothly,” Phimolmas said. “I want to say sorry to the customers.”

“We were slammed,” Keyes said.

In addition to the large crowd, a plumbing issue and new staff member training slowed down service.

Cilantro also closed for a few days after town officials discovered it was operating without a common victuallar’s license. The licenses are required for all eateries.

While navigating the application process, Phimolmas said she was grateful that town employees walked her through each step.

“They helped me with everything,” Phimolmas said.

Selectmen scheduled a special meeting for the afternoon of March 6 to approve the license. Later that evening, Cilantro reopened.

With those problems behind them, Phimolmas and Keyes hope customers associate the word “sour” with a menu item, not the service.

“Please come and try us again,” Phimolmas said. “I try to do the best for my customers.”

Cilantro is located at 374 Front St. in Marion. For more information, email cilantrocuisine@outlook.com or call 508-748-2700.