After a long, hot day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg we were ready to get out of the wall-to-wall crowds and wind down. We definitely chose the right place! Just walking into Emerald Thai Cuisine we felt the serenity of the space enveloping and soothing our frazzled nerves. The first thing you notice at Emerald Thai is the atmosphere. Greeted by two enormous salt water fish tanks and a smiling hostess at the hostess stand, we were seated immediately, directly behind the fish tanks per the shouted request of my youngest "I want to see the fishes!" The restaurant is decorated in every shade of green, from a light mint color on the walls to a sparkling jade green in the table tops. The chairs are unusual, very modern with tall backs and surprisingly very comfortable. The waitress brought ice cold glasses of water immediately and then withdrew to let us examine the menu which is extensive. As soon as we put the minus down she was back, answered all of our questions about the dishes thoroughly, and assured us that spice levels could be adjusted to fit any preferences. We proceeded to order Siam Beef, Yellow Curry with Chicken and kids Spring Rolls. The food came out quickly, piping hot and every dish featuring a nice personalized touch, from a pretty carrot "flower" on the children's plate to a heart-shaped mound of fresh steamed rice accompanying my curry. As nice as it looked, it all tasted even better! We ended up sharing bites of each dish around the table, so I know first-hand that the spring rolls were perfectly crisped, the Siam beef had the most amazing rich gingery sauce and the yellow curry was spicy but not too hot, exactly as ordered. The waitress was attentive but never intrusive, doing everything possible to help us enjoy our meal without hovering. She provided us little individual plates for our samples without needing to be asked. Kept the ice cold water topped up. Cleared the emptied plates immediately. Even had the bill ready and waiting as soon as I asked for it. Definitely a 5-Star meal in every respect! Given the quantity and quality o the food, it was a great value for money too! It's just around the corner from Busch Gardens near the Doubletree Hotel and the Kingsmill Resort. If you are looking for great food at a great price in this part of Williamsburg, I highly recommend you try Emerald Thai Cuisine. read more

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The food is excellent, the decor is simple an pleasant. Service was good, and the place was nice and quiet, so conversation was easy.

The eatery was clean, seating and tables clean and upscale, the food was amazing! Our waitress was super nice....and well it fulfilled Thai craving! read more

Good hot meal. We ordered red curry and sweet and sour chicken Both were freshly made and perfectly spiced. Great service. Also had fresh rolls where were nicely balanced fresh and tender Great place for a stop when in the area. Safe for Vegans! read more

Not the best Thai food but not the worst I ever had. However, the service was fas and friendly.

I'm from Charlottesville where we have a lot of great Thai food so I'm a bit particular but I thought this place was decent for the price. Good portion sizes. I got takeout basil chicken and it arrived fast but I've definitely had better. read more

Emerald Thai is the best Thai restaurant in Williamsburg. The food is fantastic, being both incredibly flavorful and very well prepared. They offer a lot of customization options, and they don't skimp on the portions. The service is the best part, though. Every time I go in I'm greeted with friendly faces and pleasant conversation. Miss May in particular is wonderful. She is the owner, and you can tell she puts a lot of love into the restaurant. It's a wonderful restaurant all around and my family and I always jump at the opportunity to go there. If you like Thai food, this is the place for you! read more

Great food and attentive service. Ambiance is on the quiet side which I like. The menu has a choice of protein with most of their dishes. There are many different curries. They also have a noodle section with pad Thai, drunken noodles and other dishes. A traditional Thai entree section as well as fried rice is also available. Appetizers are available. Try the steamed dumplings. Wine, beer, and cocktails are reasonably priced with a nice assortment . read more

Ordered the family Tom Kha soup. Brilliant flavor and large portion. I ordered the Pad See Ewe and it is done well. I enjoyed it . But the food came out after a long time and half of our party had already finished the food before the other half even received theirs. Two people ordered the Pad See Ewe and the taste was not consistent. read more

Emerald Thai Cuisine - Pad See Ewe without onions or scallions. - Thai Near Me - Williamsburg, Virginia

I know you can not compare any Thai restaurants in the States with even the worst ones in Thailand, but this restaurant has to be the worst one I have ever had in the States. It can be because the typical demographics that live in Williamsburg, or the restaurant only intend to make money on one-time-tourist-visit. I ordered the two most popular-you-can't-go-wrong dishes: papaya salad and pad thai. The papaya was flavorless (only salty), the portion is so small, like a side salad that usually come with any entree. The price is also not updated online for this salad that is currently 7.95. How can Pat Thai be bad? Impossible!! But this pay thai looks and tastes like a plate of boiled Pho rice noodle placed on a bed of mix veggies that all have NO flavor. No any flavor that you wonder if you got a steamed rice noodle. I gave one star for the atmosphere of the restaurant and one star for the honesty of the staff, who did tell me they try to Americanize the dishes. She even said in Thailand they would cook everything differently. I get that, that would be true to almost all ethnic food, otherwise the American sweet tooth won't be able to handle the spices and flavors. But this restaurant has to be the one I can never forget how bad the food is that I had to write this review in the parking lot. I travel a lot, and I hardly get this fired up to write a review. Hope this will help anyone who is looking to eat good food, not just to fill the stomach. read more

This used to be our default Thai restaurant. However, since they changed management, the food emphasizes spice versus taste, in our opinion. Even when you order at the lowest spice level, it's till quite spicy. I actually like reasonably spicy food, but haven't found a dish that doesn't go overboard. Have had the wonton soup, the tomyum soup, the fried rice,as well as three other entrees, but the spice overwhelms the flavor. I'm. It sure if they still have dine-in, but i heavens seem anyone eating inside. On the positive side, the food is ready on time and the service is friendly. read more

The fact that it is one of the better Thai restaurants in the berg doesn't make it great. Ambiance and staff lovely. The food was meh.

I love this place! it is one of my favorite places to grab lunch because the food is delicious and they are always so quick and friendly.

This restaurant recently changed owners, and the new owner "May" is making quite the impression on the locals. A bright new menu with lots of choices. Pick your protein, pick your spiciness, anything from no stars to five star Thai hot. I issue a challenge to anyone that thinks the five star Thai hot is not absolute Flameflower. I stick with one or two stars at most. I like the menu, they also have a nice bar area and a wide selection of drinks, alcoholic and nonalcoholic. For sure my new favorite Thai place in the neighborhood. read more

After park dinner stop. We were only the second table there not sure why, the food was fantastic! The service was attentive but not pushy. The food was so hot we had to blow on it! read more

The restaurant closes at 9 p.m. we requested them for a table at 8.45 p.m. They cooked fresh dinner - Pad Thai, fried rice, drunken noodles, cashew main course - everything that we ordered was just delicious. Miranda was a great host. Wonderful evening. Couldn't have asked for a better private dinner. A BIG Thank you! read more

I am very surprised this amazing restaurant does not have five stars average. We've been dinning here since they opened. The food is terrific, the restaurant is clean, and the staff are always kind with great service. Highly recommend. read more

My friend recommended this place and it was a solid pick. Unfortunately we picked a busier time, so I think a few things suffered. The decor is nice, very 'emerald' themed, like the name. So, expect a lot of green in the decor. They have pretty tables with sparkly, glittery tops and well maintained fish tanks. On the down side, the chairs are spindly and a lot of tables rock. We had a rushed waitress who got our orders competantly, if not the friendliest. The appetizer Fresh rolls were 'ok.' They came with tofu skin, not pork or shrimp, and the sauce was watery and had so many nut chunks in it that it was difficult to get any of the sauce in the roll. My cocktail was ok, not that expensive, but easy on the alcohol. It came out in a plain glass with a straw, no garnishment or umbrella kind of things. My Tom Yum soup tasted very good... but my friend's Tom Yum noodle (an entree) tasted much weaker. I also ordered a Larb (minced chicken) salad not spicy. It tasted amazing, but it was presented on a crummy pile of lettuce with a boring plate. If I'm in the area, I would like to try this place again. The decor gives me the impression they care about the restaurant. read more

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I eat here a lot during the two convention I attend in the area. This is one of the only restaurants in walking distance of the double tree and they stay open until 9:30-10:30 depending on the day of the week. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The food is good. My favorite thing they have is the red curry. I wasn't a fan of their pad Thai, but their red curry is delicious! read more

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This is the only Thai restaurant I will go to in the entire world. The red curry is seasoned perfectly and the steamed tofu is divine. The drunken noodle dish is made to perfection. The service is wonderful and you feel like a part of the family with a family run restaurant. The pad Thai is out of this world! I could go on and on about their dishes that my entire family has tried, but don't forget to try for dessert the sweet sticky rice with mango! read more

Grabbed carryout: fresh rolls, jumbo shrimp tom yum soup and pineapple fried rice. Fresh rolls and tom yum were amazing. Fantastic sauce for the rolls and the tom yum had so many tasty mushrooms! The pineapple rice was ok, it was just savory, hardly any sweet which I wasn't expecting. We still ate it all . Very friendly staff, would definitely return and recommend!! read more

We recently moved to Virginia and we are lucky that our new home is near this Restaurant. We went there to eat yesterday it was storming and thought we would try some great Thai food. We were not disappointed it was very good We had two appetizers and my husband had Tom Yum and I had Tom Kha. It was very clean and pleasant atmosphere was very inviting. The service was fantastic. We will definitely make this our go to restaurant from now on. The variety of food was great. Thank you for being in our neighborhood. We will recommend it to our friends and neighbors. read more

The service is exceptional. The food is delicious. The zombie cocktail is thirst-quenching. You will not be disappointed. read more

Emerald Thai Cuisine - Queen. - Thai Near Me - Williamsburg, Virginia

We decided to go into this place before heading into Bush Gardens in Williamsburg. I'm giving this place 2 stars b/c the server was very nice, however the food was uneventful. We ordered tom yum soup, papaya salad, ginger beef, and ofcourse pad thai. My soup was very runny and my pad thai was pretty much noodles drenched in pad thai sauce w/NO garnishing AT ALL. The pad thai looked like something I could have cooked up at home w/a pad thai ready made kit you can buy at the grocery store. The decor inside was also very interesting. The walls were neon green mixed with a touch of yellow and then off to the side there was a cantina-looking bar that had a bamboo looking awning of some sort. The design inside has absolutely nothing to do with the name of the restaurant "EMERALD". There's nothing "emerald" about this place, lol! read more

Emerald Thai Cuisine - Thai Near Me - Williamsburg, Virginia

The food was pretty good, the service was okay, nothing too special here. The portion sizes were a bit small and the prices were reasonable. read more

Went for dinner and the place was hot; no AC at all just fans. We sat down but after a few minutes we had to leave. We did order take out however. I wish they said something when we walked so we didn't have to waste their time setting up a large table for us. That being said the people were very polite about the whole thing and understood our concerns. They took our orders and got it out fast. As far as the food, I wasn't too impressed. The finger rolls had really no taste to them at all. Mainly lettuce and if there were herbs of any kind in there (mint or basil) they were not detectable. The Massaman curry was ok and I think I should have asked for a little more heat. read more

Best spot in Williamsburg. Great food, great people, and great environment! Can't go wrong with anything on the menu

Don't order the drunken noodle if you love drunken noodle. It was very wet and there was nothing in there except peppers, my choice of meat, and the weirdly wet noodles. read more

I'm a fan of Thai food. and we went to this restaurant couple of times when we visited the Water Country USA. We are vegetarians and once I ordered Green curry with vegetables and they brought me Green curry with chicken. I almost ate it but stopped as it smell differently. The manager was full of apologies and later I got the curry with vegetables. He waived the charge for the same. The food is good and also the service. read more

Emerald Thai Cuisine - Thai Green Curry with vegetables and tofu - Thai Near Me - Williamsburg, Virginia

This is my favorite Thai Spot in Williamsburg. It's been open forever as far as I can tell, and I have been coming here for years. I love everything from the aquatic theme with the glittery green tables to the best Tom Yum soup I have ever had. It is never crowded, the service is always quiet and unobtrusive, and the food is always fantastic and reasonably priced. read more

Emerald Thai Cuisine - Thai Near Me - Williamsburg, Virginia

I have been a local customer since Emerald opened. I find the food to be very good and a nice selection. I must admit I often order the same items while dinning in or takeout. I like the Panang Curry, Larb, Spicy Fried Rice, Drunken Noodles, Sizzling Beef, Basil Beef and Steamed Dumplings.. All spicy, my preference. I have been to many different Thai restaurants with many different menu choices in other areas. Some expensive, some more reasonable. I find Emerald to be well priced with nice size portions. I honestly am never disappointed. read more

Great thai food! Loved the service, the workers were nice. The decorations throughout the restaurant were beautiful. I'd love to come here again. read more

Best Thai food in the area. I'm not kidding. We got panang curry, pineapple fried rice (not something we'd typically get, but it sounded good) and pad thai. Each dish was perfect. The AC wasn't working that day, and I still enjoyed every bite despite the heat. They were also extremely attentive and great with small children. read more

Had the pad Thai with shrimp and Beef Siam. We were seated right away, the waitress was very attentive and the food was very good.

Any review that isn't 5 stars should be 5 stars. Me and my family went on vacation here and we were hungry so we decided to get some food. We saw a restaurant that we liked and it didn't work out for some reason. But then these wonderful people right next door came outside and told us that we could come in even tho they were closed. We had a great time, we ordered drinks, got takeout and more. We got to know the employees really well too. At the end of the day. This restaurant is definitely the best restaurant in the whole state. So if you go here, please be sure to leave a huge tip, have a wonderful time, and have a magical time. read more

Horrible experience today. Ordered online and waited over 35 minutes for food once I got to the restaurant. Thai wonton soup had zero flavor - tasted like dishwater. Asked for dressing on the side and instead it was on the salad. Ordered an appetizer that was going to add to wait time. They offered a side salad instead, which I took, although the two weren't really comparable. The server was nice, obviously flustered and busy - not her fault. I wish I hadn't ordered online and given a 15% tip ahead of time. Definitely not worth $40 for 2 soups and an entree...oh, and a side salad. read more

A few of us came here on a friday evening to have dinner before we went to Busch Gardens. It was pretty empty which I was surprised to see. My guess is this might be busier during lunch or later in the evening. The good thing about an empty restaurant is the service is fast. I got the pork pad sea ew, it was pretty good, I got a thai iced tea with it, also good. I don't think I've ever had a bad thai tea. Everyone I was with liked their food, from what I saw they do not make anything spicy, the server will give you a tray of spices to add to your dishes if you want. I'm a wuss when it comes to spice, so I like this set up. Pad sea ew is not supposed to be spicy, which is why I usually order it. I'd definitely come again. If you have passes to both water country usa and busch gardens this restaurant is conveniently located in between the 2 parks. read more

We (all five of us) absolutely love this place. No it's not the most trendy decor, but the service and food have always been exceptional. The Crispy Duck and Red Curry are two of my very favorites. read more

I came back for lunch this week and had a much better experience. Our server was friendly and easy to communicate with. I had a big bowl of what was essentially a Thai version of Chicken noodle soup. It hit the spot. My two dining companions both seemed to enjoy what they ordered, even Jordan who had the same dishes I wasn't a big fan of last time I went. Note to self to come for lunch- prices are a few dollars cheaper and it's the same amount of food! read more

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Hands down, the best Thai in the area. I used to go here all the time for lunch when I worked in McLaws Circle and I went back for the first time in years the other day and it was still as tasty as I remember. The food is all cooked to order and comes out a perfect eating temperature. My favorite is the Emerald Garden with chicken lunch entree. The brown sauce is nice and light and the food doesn't weigh you down at all. It comes out at a perfect temperature and tastes so fresh and light. The basil dish is another really good one. It's a spicier dish but not the burning spicy. It's more of the warms you up spicy. Again, fresh and wonderful tasting and nothing has an over abundance of salt. Please, please go here and try everything. :) The prices are more than fair and the service is good. I hope you enjoy as much as I do. read more