Finest Thai is a "hole in the wall" restaurant with flavors too bold to contain in such a tiny establishment, and an owner whose love for her customers is felt with a chance encounter from such a busy woman. It has definitely been a wonderful experience not only dining in, but working with the restaurants in hopes to provide their customers with good, healthy eats. THE DIGS: As with many mom and pop Asian restaurants, it can be easily dismissed when you're surrounded by larger chain eating establishments. However, this is not the case for this little eatery. There isn't anything flashy or fancy to draw in their crowd. The faded photos of food posted on the glass windows show exactly what you're getting and the interior décor stays humbly adorned with Asian embroidered table cloths and not much else. As simplistic as the restaurant presents itself, the food is flavorful beyond all measures, proving to be the star of their success. THE GRINDS: As a group, a couple colleagues and I shared various dishes amongst ourselves: Lemon Grass Barbeque Chicken: This by far is my favorite dish from this establishment for the following reasons: It's healthy (as it is a mere 132 calories per serving), It's flavorful, and it's packed with an attitude of spice that would shut anyone's mouth up... unless you opt for the lower end of the spice spectrum. The tender pieces of chicken have been tossed around in a stir-fry of shallots, a light broth of Asian spices, lemongrass, and shredded veggies that help make this a great appetizer or a meal. Which I have done for myself. (Yes I know, I'm such a glutton.) Tom Kha: I have never tried a soup so rich... blending the flavors of lime and coconut harmoniously in such a broth. In fact, the chicken and veggies were more of an added bonus. If you were to serve me the broth itself in a cup then I would be set. The presentation is just as elaborate as the flavors, as it is served in a copper pot with flames shooting out from the middle. Talk about making a bold statement. Chicken Satay: As with many Thai restaurants, the satay is a must. It's tender, grilled to juicy perfection and served with a side of cool cucumber and a thick dipping sauce as a wonderful enhancement to the overall appetizer. Fresh Spring Rolls: The spring rolls were fresh, light, and of course refreshing which was a complete contrast to the thick peanut sauce served as your dipping component. While the food is amazing all in itself, the owner definitely makes dining-in a memorable experience. This woman (with a story many Asian restaurant owners can relate to) not only makes you feel welcome every time you step into the restaurant, but she will remember her frequent diners and will also make you feel as though you're part of the family. The staff has proven to be friendly and patient with the needs of each customer and this is what I feel brings people back for more. Like any treasure chest you won't know what's in it until you open it, and at Finest Thai you'll definitely find riches fit for any stomach. read more

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Im not sure what has changed, but the food is not the same. I saw another review saying the pad Thai was spaghetti noodles and I was like no way, well turns out they're right, I've always enjoyed the pad Thai, but it was so salty, the fried tofu was way over cooked too! I'm kinda sad, this used to be one of my favorite places, but now :/ I don't think I'll ever be returning read more

Amazing food. Great service. Love their pad Thai. Thiai tea is amazing too Beyond the great food it's chill here. They are adding beer. No date as of yet. We've tried quite a few different things here.y kids love the pineapple rice with shrimp. For dessert you've gotta have the mango rice. The old lady who works here is the best. Always so kind. read more

Finest Thai - Thai tea - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

The spicy noodles with pork is so delicious especially when you pair it with the spicy fried rice! Game changer :)

Great food! Spicy noodle is some of the best around. 10/10 Also, very good service. Nice and helpful. read more

Tom Yum soup was a broth with about 200 mushroom slices. No lemongrass or cilantro or lime flavors. No herbs in the soup itself. Shrimp rolls were on the small side and the basil was wilted and flavorless. Pad Thai was pretty boring as well. I literally had 2 bites out of the whole dinner that tasted good. I really should have looked at the reviews here first. Even one of the four stars reviewed has a comment of food never received. So obviously an error. So disappointed. read more

Asked for no nuts no pineapple on the Thai Fried Rice. Got no pineapple WITH nuts and a box that says no onions. What??? nut allergies anyone? read more

Finest Thai - Asked for no nuts food allergy? - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Great Thai and fast service, been going there for a while, always hot, and great service

@@party of three for lunch @@ Food is as good as it could get, waitress who is the owner is welcoming ( and has a thick accent lol) all in all it was good. Choose spicy food responsibly! The environment is cozy , I liked the fact that they sell handmade table clothes ( gives an oriental non corporate feeling). Enjoy your meals! read more

Finest Thai - Penang curry - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

My son informed me that today we had to go to gamestop to pick up the lastest game. So we drive over to gamestop and I sneek away to Finest Thai for some take out,,,lol. I ordered my regular, spicy noodles lv5 with mixed meats. It was heaven. My son had a new expensive game to play with and I had my thai food. About an 1/2 hour later guess who was eye ballin' my food? yep, Mr. Gamer was looking at my thai. So we will be back here next weekend. While i was walking to my apartment with my food, our neighbor was asking what I picked up to eat. My neighbor said that they love this place too! They also gave me a few name of items to try. Next time i'm going to try coconut curry! I think the only downside would be the price. I think my bill for my spicy noodles was 12 something with tax. Yes it was great food and a lot of it too, so totally worth it! read more

Great place overall! The service is fast, friendly, and efficient. I've had my share of Beef Pad Thai and it's always either the food tastes great, but the portions are too small, or the food taste OK, but they give you enough to feed a small family. Finest Thai fulfills their namesake by riding this fine balance between flavor and quantity. If you're in East County, do yourself a favor and check this place out! read more

Finest Thai - Beef Pad Thai lunch special! - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Food & dessert was really good. Particularly liked the Lemon Crass BBQ Chicken. Hot Basil was good also, a little on the salty side though. Will definitely be back for more. read more

Terrible food. They used PHO meat for the Thai beef salad . Here's how you make the meat DIRECTIONS Brush the beef with a little oil and char-grill, barbecue, or pan-fry till cooked to your liking. (I recommend medium rare for this recipe, if you can handle a little blood.) Set aside for five minutes and slice it thinly. Place salad greens, onions, kaffir lime leaves, chili, cilantro, mint and basil into a salad bowl and toss lightly. To make the dressing, combine the soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Stir the dressing well. Place the beef on the salad and pour over the dressing. Serve immediately. read more

Came here this past weekend on my way back to LA and the food here was delicious. I was in the mood for Red Curry medium spicy and was impressed with the species, deep flavors, and ingredients. Nice generous proportions for a reasonable price. Side note: If your using a debit/credit card you will be charged an extra $1.00 if the minimum is under $10.00. I told the waiter I would have order a thai ice tea to cover that minimum next time. If I'm in the area again this will be a for sure stop. read more

Finest Thai - Red Curry - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

I am always in search of good thai food! This place was great! A cute little spot in a strip mall, it only had a few tables. I ordered spicy noodles and some springs rolls. Everything was fresh, hot and simply delicious. I got a free thai tea for yelping - love that - and it made my lunch awesome! I have already been back - this place is good. read more

Finest Thai - Spicy noodles - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

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I have heard good things about this restaurant and I ate here once and the food was really good. I came back again a year later. I wasn't very hungry & I was on a budget so I ordered just an appetizer, calamari. I was quite disappointed at the small amount of calamari for $7.95, and the calamari rings were sliced thinly (I have had calamari at different restaurants & the slices were a regular size). They also charged me a $0.50 fee for ordering less than $10 but did not tell me about the fee until it was time to pay. I asked the waitress about the fee & she said sorry, they have a notice about the fee at the cash register. read more

Finest Thai - Calamari - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

First time eating from here and they did not disappoint. Ordered in because I'm sick. The Pho hit the spot! We also tried the yellow curry....YUUUUUUIM!! On point! Now I see why its been ordered over 850 times (and counting)! My hubby was very impressed with the BBQ Fried rice. He expected that the meat would just be on the top when you initially start eating but it was all up in there!! Haha Very generous portions. Look forward to leftovers tomorrow! Their chicken pot stickers were delish too. Our 5 year old ate three of them! Haha Will be ordering from here again for sure! read more

Finest Thai - Generous amounts of BBQ pork = happy hubby - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

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I had the yellow curry and the pad thai. The yellow curry was some of the best I've had, and the pad thai was about what you would expect. Very nice service, I would recommend! read more

So sad that my first experience here, after being so excited, ended being a horrible visit. I ordered ONLINE and came in 5min before my order was supposed to be ready. Went to the cashier and she said they were having difficulty with their new website and hadn't even started the order. No problem, sat down and waited while others ordered. Fast forward everyone who ordered after me got their orders first. They also were not enforcing the proper use of a mask for their customers who came in to order. Last but not least wanted to charge me for something that their online website messed up despite the delay for my food in the first place. Customer satisfaction doesn't seem to be a high priority and it unfortunately showed through and through. read more

This place is delicious, the food is great but obviously only if u like thai. Anything above a 7 on their spice is very spicy so watch out. Isaiah our waiter did a great job he should def get a raise, came here for my 2 friends birthdays and Isaiah made it a lot of fun. read more

I have gotten takeout from here twice now and had problems both times. The first time, my boyfriend and I both ordered pad Thai and his tasted great but my noodles were bland, colorless, and lacking any flavor. Last night we were craving Thai food so we decided to give Finest Thai another try since it is so convenient from where we live. I will never get food there again. I called ahead and placed our order and was told it would be ready in 15 minutes. We got there in 15 minutes and waited in the restaurant for an additional 25 minutes until our order of only two entrees was ready. Other people that came in after us to pick up orders had already came and went while we stood there waiting. I finally asked if it was almost ready and it was apparently just sitting in the back of the kitchen while the employees at the register chatted with each other. I got home with our food (finally!) and realized my order was supposed to have chicken but did not contain a single piece of chicken. But I was starving by that time so ate a bit of it and then called to let them know. They said to bring back the order and they'd give me another one. I said forget it because I didn't want to drive back with my half eaten meal. So the manager said they would deliver a new one to my apartment. Well, it took an hour and 20 minutes to get the delivery and when it was finally delivered, I was told they needed a picture of my half eaten order without chicken. I thought that was ridiculous because it had been well over two hours since we got the original order so obviously I had eaten a lot of it! It was almost 8pm by that time! The driver leaves me with the new order and 2 minutes later knocks on my door again and asks for the brand new order back because without a picture of the old one, I was not allowed to have a new one. At that point I didn't care. I was over their ridiculous management. Horrible customer service!! Never going there again. read more

Great food and great service. I was really impressed with the pat thai, the service was super awesome and after checkin in I received my free thai tea. The spicy levels were in increments of 1/10 which was kinda surprising but super helpful. 3 = mild and I agreed. Over really happy read more

Finest Thai - Pat Thai with tofu - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

We have have had a pretty good experience the times we have ordered take out from here. Their food is always pretty constantly delicious and flavorful. The staff is always ready with our food at the counter, they are kind and courteous. The place is very easygoing if you sit in at the Resturaunt. Very nice overall. read more

My girl friend and I were out and about doing errands. Was in the area and figured to give this place a try. It's pretty good food, but I prefer Thai Time over this. Would still be back, but this won't be my first choice for Thai food. But I do have to give it to Finest Thai, their mango with sticky rice is much better than Thai Time. read more

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Best Thai in East county. Servings are a good size and prices are fair. Spice levels are consistently what I expect.

My wife and I in town to visit our son and grand baby. We stumbled on this establishment because we are avid Yelp users. Nice place and atmosphere for a quiet meal. Place is very quiet and peaceful with some awesome patrons. Service staff are awesome as well. Our waitress is awesome!!! Thank you for treating us so special as we celebrating our 27 anniversary. read more

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Omg! So good! Love it they serve brown rice. Try the lemon grass barbecue salad. I can't say enough Go!!! read more

Fresh vegetables, chicken is always tender, Honestly the best Thai I have had in San Diego.

This is the best Thai food I have ever tried in US. If you have been to San Diego, you must try. It's Super yum yum!!!!!!!! Also, I had a wonderful time with my friends. :) read more

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Came here with my family of 7. There's a small dining area but we loved it We ordered the Chow Ming (egg noodles w/veggies), Tom Yum soup, Orange chicken, sat and pepper chicken. Everything was delicious, the waitresses were so kind and attentive. Def will be coming back. read more

Horrible place to eat. Food was nothing close to what one would expect. The soup was burnt broth and the noodles were clumped together like. Don't waste your time with this shithole of an establishment. read more

My favorite Thai place in the area. Their curry dishes are excellent, the beef salad is a classic, and they also make exceptional Pham Thai that my kids will eat (they're incredibly picky). The one thing I wish they did better was if you order wonton soup take out, it cooks too much in the hot broth as you are taking it home and the wonton noodle gets very mushy/soogy...they should offer the broth in a separate container. read more

Very good food and excellent customer service. I strongly recommend pad se aw. They made a big portion which is good for 2 people. read more

Finest Thai - Pad won sen - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Shined us on utensils. Pad Thai was lame. Came a little late, but nothing crazy. Wonton soup was good. Fresh spring rolls were a joke. No sauce given...I guess it used to be rad... read more

Ordered a bunch of food for our first try and everything was delicious. Cant remember it all but we got pho, tom kha, panang curry with shrimp, fresh spring rolls, crunchy spring rolls, fried rice, and two types of noodles. I loved it all and will most definitely order again soon read more

I have NO CLUE how my food looked sooo different than some of the pics on here. I ordered via uber eats, so maybe delivery food isn't as good as what they serve for dine in. But JEEZE LOUISE, the Tom yum soup was literally a vat of sodium and just mushrooms. Maybe a few pieces of chicken. Where is the onion, tomato, lemongrass, kaffir lime etc? The "crispy egg rolls" were just mini soggy frozen egg rolls you could get for like a dollar at a grocery store. The pad Thai, although I sometimes enjoy a thinner noodle I found it very dry. And the beef... did not look bueno... like I'm pretty sure it's old beef. I wouldn't eat it after two bites. Needless to say... all three times on this one. read more

This is truly a fine restaurant, The name matches the service, food And very tasty price adequate Restaurant. They are very attentive and caring about your eating experience. No I gave it a 10 and a very picky eater. read more

The name says it all. This is the best Thai Food I have ever eaten! Do yourself a favor and order something NOW! I had the Pad Thai and the Pad see ew. Delicious! read more

I love this place wonderful food great atmosphere they have great vegan vegetarian options I recommend this place definitely read more

Finest Thai - Thai Near Me - El Cajon, California

The best thai food in El Cajon, hands down! The spring rolls are delicious and their Thai Tea is perfect! However, The red curry is the best I've had from any where in there U.S...no lie!Great prices and awesome service! read more