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    Galanga Thai Restaurant

    3.7 (380 reviews)
    ModerateThai, Noodles, Soup
    Closed 5:30 pm - 9:30 PM

    Order Galanga Thai Restaurant Takeout or Delivery

    Galanga Thai Restaurant Photos

    GALANGA THAI RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Quiet
    Outdoor seating
    Happy hour specials

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    Recommended Reviews - Galanga Thai Restaurant

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    Pork dumplings were a hit!

    If you're looking for reasonable priced & good Thai food with great customer service, this is the place! I for sure highly recommend this place for dinner or lunch! Come & try!

    outside of restaurant
    Samveda R.

    We sat outside with our dog, and the outdoor seating was very clean and aesthetic. There were no heaters though. We tried the vegetarian Tom Kha soup, it had a lot of mushrooms and soft tofu. Very tangy and creamy, would buy again. The fried tofu appetizer was crispy served with sweet and sour peanut sauce. Enough to share with a family of four. A little pricey but considering the ambiance of State Street it is well worth it. We parked at public parking down the street, with 75 mins free and then $3 an hour afterward.

    Beef Pad see ew
    Ken F.

    Have been looking for a new Thai restaurant in town or the area. Food here was good freshly prepared, but for some reason SB just does not have great Thai food. Many other Asian places as well as fusion restaurants to go to. I will continue to look.

    Kenny L.

    We were walking to the beach, looking what we found on State street.Thai restaurant wow, we stop by just to check, it has been here for 30 some years.We asked, the foods are authentic Thai? The waitress said yes. We like to try it, Tom Yom Cung spicy and sour 1 and pad see yu, they both were very good. Waitress was very tentative and helpful. Her name is Ram. Highly recommend it.

    Mango Sticky Rice
    Chuckles N.

    Came here while on an overnight visit to Santa Barbara in search of noodles to eat on a birthday. The owners were so sweet and so attentive, the portion sizes are perfect and the mango sticky rice had a super generous heap of mango! It made me sad that this place wasn't packed! We sat outside and enjoyed a nice breeze people watching and taking in the atmosphere as we ate. Would definitely come back if we're in the area again.

    Outdoor seating
    Anna O.

    Server was so sweet! The food was delicious, we got pad see ew with shrimp, pad thai, and the pineapple fried rice. The outdoor seating was especially beautiful! Highly recommend coming here for a late lunch or dinner.

    Loren V.

    $75 spent in about 4 plates of food. Not bad. Taste was decent clean healthy food but with the sauces I the food tasted even better than I thought. Yum. Really good. The service was good too, the customer service was sweet and the ambiance was nice tooo! We ate outside but the inside is very nice as well. So we had noodles, rice, wings, skewers. Pork and chicken. All good! People were eating here as well.

    Pad Thai (chicken), Yellow Curry (chicken), and white rice ($2 extra)
    Maria W.

    WOW! Galanga has been added to my list of places to revisit again and again. On top of the spectacular meal, the service was great; they were so kind, attentive, accommodating, and helpful. To start off, we had the crab cream puffs, which were incredible. Perfectly proportioned, with a crispy flaky outside and melt-in-your-mouth crab and cream cheese goodness inside. The sweet dipping sauce on the side was the ideal compliment. We also ordered the classic chicken sa-tay appetizer, which was amazing: grilled skewered chicken with a delicious peanut dipping sauce. Highly recommend. We then split two main dishes, one of which was the pad thai. It was in the top tier of pad thais I've ever had (and Thai food is my favorite!). It was saturated in flavor, bursting with delicious bits and pieces of egg and chicken, generously portioned (not filled up with bean sprouts like other places I've visited), and with great texture (not soggy or too dry). The second main dish was yellow chicken curry, my go-to dish. It was different than others I've had (a bit less creamy), but it was hearty and delicious all the same. I would reorder it upon returning to Galanga. I do wish both entrees had just a few more pieces of chicken, but it's a small complaint. A few notes: the food listed was ordered for two people and it was the perfect amount; we left feeling contently full, but not stuffed. Also, I've gotten the Tom Kha from here before (coconut soup) as a takeout dish and it wasn't my favorite; it was a bit too sour. But honestly, our experience this time around eclipses the last, and thus the five stars!

    Awesome outside seating area; very clean
    Alejandro P.

    Man oh man was the food delicious here. What better way to warm up than spicy food with an assortment of flavors and textures. The ambiance was warm & welcoming, and since this is traditional Thai food reimagined- believe the food was great! I started with lemon shrimp and as a traditionalist opted to try their Pahd Thai (house special) and was not disappointed. Coworkers had an assortment of crispy egg rolls, chicken satay and Tom Kah to everyone's content. The waiters were fast and friendly and this is definitely a place to stop by if you're near State Street.

    Pad Thai. Mediocre. 3/5. IG: @amei.eats
    Alex M.

    (Overall: 80% | B) - The restaurant is pretty appealing overall; the servers are friendly and the bathroom is reasonably clean. (Pad Thai: 75% | C) - This is on the minimalistic side of Pad Thai.. it tastes good and the chicken is not particularly dry, but the portion size is on the smaller side. The dish has room for improvement to make it pop as it seems like this dish is somehow a a bit flat compared to other pad thai. (Pad See Ew: 75% | C) - This is an interesting take on Pad See Ew that incorporates black beans into their sauce beyond the sweet soy. This improvised version of the sauce is nice, but is mixed unevenly causing parts of the dish to be bland and others to be saline forward. The noodles were also quite lumpy and broken, showing poor technique; however, the one highlight is that the broccoli stem is sliced very thinly which added some smart additional texture.

    Alex K.

    I'm kind of on the verge of rating this place with stars. Going between a three or four.... Not one to normally rate really low unless it was worth it. Four for rating. Of course it was a Saturday night during the long weekend. Trying to find a table somewhere was quite impossible in Santa Barbara without a reservation. We just wandered in looking for something and decided to just go with it. Well, it didn't take long to get a table. Service was slow as I believe they may have been short staffed or barely anyone staff. Either way.... We got seated. It did take a little while till we ordered. Starters came out with soup which was great, then we were waiting for the chicken satee that never came out. Told one of the waiters which they probably had to order it again. We ordered two but only one came out. Entree did take a while to come out. We get if it was short staff but two other parties that were seated after us both received their dinners before our table as were sitting there noticing it. Not long after, it came out but one dish at a time. There was four of us so we were hoping it all came out together. Based on the rating, food did the trick. We were hungry and satisfied the craving. Based on the that it'll be the four star rating. But service was slow, we were also still billed for the second order of satee that never came. Had to mentioned to the to take it off the bill. Overall, food was good, service is not up to par.

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    5 months ago

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    Thank you! We appreciate the recommendation and continued support!

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    1 year ago

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    Thank you Ms. A. for dining with us and the review!

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    2 months ago

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    Thank you for dining with us Ken!

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    3 months ago

    Consistently excellent curry and noodles for over 30 years. Very authentic, having lived in Bangkok

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    TJen J.

    Thank you Alex! We appreciate the many years of support!

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    1 year ago

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    2 years ago

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    Thank you Loren! We appreciate the kind feedback.

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    Thank you! We really appreciate your feedback and support.

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    2 years ago

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    TJen J.

    Thank you. We appreciate your review and support!

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    Thank you for the review and support!

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    Thank you for the review and support! We hope to see you again soon.

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    Thank you Jeffry for sharing your experience with us!

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    1 year ago

    The employees here are so kind!! I ordered the Tom ka to go and it was delicious and prepared quickly. Will definitely be coming here again!

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Delicious!!!! By far one of the best pad Thai chicken ever. It was so fresh and delicious. Thank you!!!

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    3 years ago

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    Hi Kate: Thank you for the review and support!

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    1 year ago

    beautiful night with beautiful thai food. people were so nice and welcoming. i loved the vibes yay galanga thai

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    Thank you Zhen-Ying for sharing your visit with us!

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    We were passing the area when we decided we needed some lunch. I found this place on yelp and…read moredecided to give it a try. It was an open layout that had plenty of seating inside the restaurant. The decor was moder, but not overdone. We were greeting and pointed to a table but that was it. We realized there was a QR code on the table and we could order our food on there. It took a little while to get our food even though no one else was there. I found it really odd to not even be told to use the QR code to order or be informed of anything. Stewed beef noodles with Ramen- 9/10 My husband ordered this and I tried some. The broth was delicious. Rich and flavorful but not overbearing. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the meat was tender. The bok choy was a needed touch. My husband ate the whole bowl and wanted a second because was so good. Certified Angus Beef hot pot- 8/10 I ordered this with the tom yum broth. I didn't know it was a creamy version of the broth until it was served. I'm not mad about it but it wasn't in the description in case others are dairy sensitive. The broth was flavorful and really delicious. I will say that the beef was tough and it a typical cut that overcooked very quickly in the broth. I'm not positive it was Angus beef grade. I just now realized it was missing the lotus root but gave me zucchini instead. I was also missing my quail eggs. If I didn't read the description to know I was supposed to have them, I would've missed that too. Overall, the food was delicious but the service was 1 star for sure. We were never checked on and the waiter only appeared if we pushed the call button. If you can overlook the lack of customer service, the food is really delicious.

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    Galanga Thai Restaurant - thai - Updated August 2026

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