Pattaraporn “Patta” Lorwatcharasophon, the Seaside restaurateur behind Thai Me Up and The SEA Crab House, promised a tribute of 9,999 eggs — nine is a lucky number in Thai culture — if she could get a lease to expand into Astoria.

Lorwatcharasophon, her husband, Dacha “Kim” Pathumratanathan, and their children pulled up to the former Baked Alaska space on Pier 12 on Wednesday with a truck full of eggs to give away and an expansive riverfront restaurant they plan to open by Feb. 23.

The SEA Crab House and Raw Bar will take on the entire first floor of Pier 12, including a Cajun-style seafood restaurant like the location in Seaside, a beach-themed side bar and a raw seafood restaurant in the former pizzeria.

“The raw bar would be oysters, seafood,” Lorwatcharasophon said. “ … It might be a little bit of Japanese, but not sushi.”

Pathumratanathan handles much of the menu and employee training at the couple’s restaurants, while Lorwatcharasophon handles operations.

Kelley Shannon, a singer and employee at The SEA, is handling entertainment booking and said there will be live music daily.

Neither “of us were passionate about opening a restaurant,” Lorwatcharasophon said. “But we are foodies. We eat. We like to go eat different Thai food. We love to go out to like famous restaurants. Even in Thailand, pad thai is my favorite thing.”

Lorwatcharasophon emigrated from northern Thailand to Pennsylvania at 19 to be with her brother. She studied engineering for two years before going to work in restaurants, first in New York City and then in Los Angeles.

Pathumratanathan emigrated from Bangkok to Los Angeles, where his parents ran a Thai dessert shop in Los Angeles. He worked as a technician for oil companies, while waiting tables and delivering food on the side.

Lorwatcharasophon had a friend in Portland with a food cart named “Thai Me Up” looking to get out. The couple took over on a shoestring budget and started their careers as restaurateurs.

“I didn’t even have enough money to change the name,” Lorwatcharasophon said. “So I used whatever she had. I just understood that Thai Me Up would be a catchy name.”

Thai Me Up moved to Lincoln City in 2018 and in 2019 expanded to Seaside. Then the couple took over the former West Lake Restaurant in Seaside, turning it into Cajun-style seafood restaurant The SEA, and went from five to around 30 employees. They estimate that the new Astoria location could add more than 20.

Astoria has gone from zero to two Thai restaurants, starting with the Mai Tong Thai Food cart near Reach Break Brewing and later Curry & Coco Thai Eatery.

But Nalinrat Sahunalu, who runs Yellow Curry Cozy Thai, closed Curry & Coco just before Christmas and is undecided whether to reopen in March. Lorwatcharasophon considered putting a Thai Me Up on Pier 12 but said the buildout would have been too expensive. The couple is considering another location for a Thai restaurant.

Christopher and Jennifer Holen left Pier 12 after deciding they could not make the space work financially amid a pandemic that has severely limited indoor dining. They downsized to Nekst, a to-go space across the street from Pier 12.

Lorwatcharasophon and Pathumratanathan, having ridden the roller coasters of opening new restaurants on shoestring budgets, staying safe amid the coronavirus and surviving multiple dining shutdowns in Seaside, feel optimistic about the future in Astoria.

“I’m positive that we’re going to start indoor dining by (next) Friday,” Lorwatcharasophon said. “I’m very positive after tracking all the numbers … we’re almost done with winter. We’re almost over (the virus). The more people get vaccinated, the more they’re going to be living.”

“It’s not only for us,” Pathumratanathan said. “We have too many people we need to carry on, like employees. They need to have money to take care of their families too.”