Tom Yum rice is really delicious, especially the rice. It has some shrimp and bellpeppers to go with but the main thing is definitely the rice. We enjoyed the balanced cocktails as well. The environment setting is nice and welcoming. Our waiter Alex was very intentive and helpful to us. Even gave us some suggestions for what to do after on a Saturday night! read more

Lovely place with great food! The meals don't look very big but they're super filling and I felt amazing after eating!

Surf and turf pad thai (5/5) Crispy pork belly (5/5) Picanha salad (5/5) Service was friendly, food was very flavorful, portions are decent :) read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Surf and Turf Pad Thai - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

Not as good as the Steven's Creek Restaurant. Menu was meh. Surf and Truf Pad Thai... money grab wasn't anything unique just expensive ingredient to charge more. 4 dollar for side of rice.... If I'm paying 4 dollar for rice it better be the best rice I have ever eaten. Rice was dry. Basically leftover Rice from lunch... served at dinner. Sad... ancestor rolled in grave. Signature Chicken Dish... all bone. No meat... Service was oka. Ambiance was nice cause it was empty. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Dry rice - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

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Very unique Thai food. Two of the dishes we loved: Rawang Curry was our favorite, and the Hang Leh Curry was also very good! The papaya salad wasn't our favorite, it's a traditional fish sauce that's very strong - probably good if you're used to the version in Thailand. Overall very gourmet and flavorful, definitely would recommend exploring the menu! read more

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Honestly one of the best pad Thai's I've had in awhile!!! The steak was cooked perfectly, the shrimp seasoned perfectly and all around flavor to sauce ratio was spot on. I'm so sad I don't live closer to this place!!! Staff super friendly and service was fast, cute atmosphere, they had indoor and outdoor seating and are in a really prime location. Absolutely get this dish!!! read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Surf and turf pad Thai - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

Great to see this new modern Thai spot near San Pedro Square! This is a stylish and moody space that feels elevated compared to some of their neighbors. Perfect for a nice lunch, happy hour, or dinner after work. They have an extensive menu that's perfect for sharing, organized by region, then within each region there's both smaller dishes and larger ones. My favorites were the ribeye pad Thai and the whole grilled fish. One standout is the great cocktail program and full bar, which you don't usually see at a Thai restaurant. Both drinks I had were great and I can't wait to try more. read more

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I've been to the original location before and enjoyed it. I was out with coworkers and got this take-out for dinner. Calamari (5/5): Comes with a spicy mayo dipping sauce and cumin seasoning. It was flavored well as it was perfectly salty. The sauce was paired well as well. Ribeye steak Khao Soi (5/5): I first have to say I was amazed by the steak. It was super juicy and flavorful. They definitely did not skimp out on the meat. The brother flavoring was good, but I wished there was more and it couldnt really fill up my bowl at home. I want to come back to dine-in read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

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I thought the food here was not bad! It's all a little too flavorful for me, but I am on the more conservative end when it comes to flavors. I would give it a try! Parking: - There is a garage by it that offers free parking for a limited time. Service: - They were kind read more

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So excited that Must Be Thai opened in downtown San Jose. Parking is easy with a nearby garage offering 90 minutes free, though it does not seem like they validate. The menu is slightly different from the original spot. The interior looks beautiful and the patio is nice on warmer days. I loved the picana salad and pad mee hokkien and would get both again. read more

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Reserved a table on Yelp, and even though the restaurant was busy, we were seated quickly. Service was fast overall. Two sets of spoons were dirty, which was disappointing, but the staff replaced them as soon as we asked. The restaurant is pretty small, but the tables are spacious and comfortable. The food was honestly just okay--nothing bad, but it didn't really live up to my expectations. Overall, it's a decent spot if you're nearby, but I don't think I'd specifically come back just for the food. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

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I was so excited to see a new restaurant open up in San Pedro. And Thai food is one of my favorites! I ordered the Bangkok Ribeye Boat Noodles along with a Thai tea. The noodle soup was so rich and flavorful. The meat was fresh and tender, and I think the portion sizing was just enough to fill me up. The Thai tea was delicious as well, it was quite sweet and I typically enjoy mire stronger teas. Service was great, our waitress was kind and attentive! There were so many other great things on the menu im excited to come back :) read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Bangkok Ribeye Boat Noodles - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

Food 4/5 Service 5/5 Ambiance 5/5 Came here to try this new spot in DT San Pedro. Excellent service and very nice location with yummy cocktail choices. I love the spice selections. My favorite is the Picanha salad, perfect flavors. The grill fish skin was too salty bitter for me, un-edible skin, but inside meat is flavorful. Desserts were delicious! The durian was very durian and taro is very nice too. Presentation was very pretty too. read more

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Ambiance: perfect for a date night or nice night out. Classy feeling with dim lighting and fancy/upscale vibes. Outdoor seating felt looked a lot more casual. Two seater and four seater tables. Not sure if I'd recommend for large groups. Reservations recommended as it filled up fast. Service: servers were friendly and did regular checkups. Also gave great food recommendations. However, food came out slow. Do not come hangry. Food: - khao soi short rib: 3/5 very disappointed in this one as it looked the most photogenic. Meat was a bit tough and bland. Sauce had a nice kick, but was lacking a bit (maybe needs more salt or umami flavoring?). - Chicken curry: 4.5/5 good flavor, but a bit skimpy on portion size compared to the other dishes. - Pad thai: 5/5 would definitely order again. Large portion size and amazing flavor. Steak was tender and shrimp was large and delicious. Noodles had the tang you want in pad thai. Must try! Warning: restaurant name says "and bar", but they currently only serve cocktails. Warning 2: definitely a more upscale Thai place. Expect prices to reflect that This Instagram find definitely did not disappoint :) read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Short ribs and pad thai - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

Must be Thai is one of my favorite Thai restaurants because they offer Northern thai dishes. I was happy to see them open a second location here in DTSJ. This location is a lot bigger and more upscale. The decor is very modern. The menu appears to be a little different from their other location - much smaller menu and dishes range $20-$35. We ordered the Yum Som O salad, short rib khao soi, and crispy pork belly. The portions are decent, although the prices are slightly higher. The taste was good, but they overused the Thai chilies in my opinion. I am a spicy eater, but I found the dishes to lack balance and the spice level overwhelmed the dish - specifically for the pomelo salad. My friend is not a spicy eater, so the dish was almost inedible for her. It would be better if they could ask for our desired spice level. Because we were not asked, it took us by surprise how incredibly spicy the dish was without specifically saying it in the description. In addition, they were out of the short rib for the khao soi so they offered to replace it with ribeye for us. The crispy pork belly was very good - I loved the crispy garlic. However, this dish also overused the Thai chilies. The service was the most disappointing part for me. The service at the original location is very good and efficient. This was not the case at this location. The food was extremely slow to come out. The waiter forgot to give us water and they never refilled our water either unless asked. And given how spicy the dishes were, this felt like torture. They also didn't check back in with us if we needed anything. I would say the staff also lacked friendliness, they were not very engaging and need more training in my opinion. Given this location is trying to be more high end, they need to also provide higher end service. I will give them a pass since they are still in soft opening. But I really hope they work out all the kinks because they are good addition to DTSJ. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar on North San Pedro Street is a modern take on traditional Thai cuisine. It's not cheap but it's good. The menu and flavors are different than traditional Thai food but I really enjoyed it! We split the Surf & Turf Pad Thai and I got Thai tea. read more

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Came for a big group lunch and lucky enough ot was early so got most of service focused on us. Food tasted great, perfect size for each person at lunch. Excited to see this place grow as I don't think they have everything out, so let's see it:) read more

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I was excited when I heard they opened this up because the original restaurant is one of my favorite Thai spots in the Bay, so I was pretty disappointed that the food here didn't deliver. I expected this location to have the same standards as the original Must Be Thai, but the quality felt drastically different. The meat in the surf and turf pad Thai was really tough, and the noodles didn't taste fresh. The pad kee mao honestly tasted more like chow mein. Our server recommended the larb and curry, but those ended up being the most disappointing dishes. The larb was overly salty, and the curry tasted like instant curry. None of the dishes tasted fresh or authentic. When the food came out, it even looked like it had been sitting out for a while before being served. The total came out to around $180 for two people, which definitely didn't feel worth it for the quality we received. Maybe the kitchen was just having an off day, because the photos online looked much better than what we got in person. read more

4.5 stars. Fragrant and delicious Thai food. Order from their "Must Try" line-up on the menu if this is your first time here. Their Rawang Curry was an explosion of flavors. One of the best curries I've had from a Thai restaurant. Their Crispy Pork Belly had a slightly sweet flavor and the outer charred texture of this dish was nice, but the meat itself was tougher on the inside than I would have liked, and I wish the skin was crispier on the outside. Their Khao Soi Short Rib was delicious. One of the better versions of Khao Soi I've had in the South Bay, and I've tried this dish enough times at numerous Thai restaurants to make a good comparison. Relaxing vibe with indoor bar. Friendly wait staff. Clean and orderly interior. Nice outdoor patio. Located in the highly coveted San Pedro Square with many other restaurants to choose from. Why 4.5 instead of 5 stars? It's one of the pricier Thai restaurants in Silicon Valley. Not as expensive as fine dining, but I can think of numerous Thai restaurants with a similar ambiance in Silicon Valley where the bill was lower. However, I do understand rent is not cheap in this area and the flavor of the food is on point, so overall this place still gets high marks from me. read more

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I recently went to this place with my friends, and the experience was nothing short of amazing. The food and attentiveness of my server and the other staff in the building were beyond my expectations. The person serving me was Audrey, who was sweet and attentive. She also recommended so many delicious items to us. The runner Thinh was quick and made sure everything was nice for us as well. It was nice seeing a runner explain the items as they came out. I believe the bartender was named Georgie or something close, and he made pretty drinks that were tasty. There was another server named Andrea who also improved our experience. Overall, a great place with amazing staff who definitely deserve recognition. Definitely give it a try, and enjoy the experience. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

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This beautiful Thai restaurant in the heart of San Jose downtown stole my heart. Impeccable interiors and delicious food and their drinks menu is totally worth it. We are so happy this modern cool place opened up . Service was great with attention to detail. We are definitely going back to try out other items from the menu. read more

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It's been quite some time I've set foot in San Pedro. It's nice to see new restaurants in the area. We came for a team lunch on a Tuesday. You can either be seated inside or outdoors, there's a nice patio area. We decided to sit outside. The menu isn't what I'm usually familiar with at Thai restaurants. This Thai cuisine is apparently Northern style, I'm use the Central style. There's a good variety for everyone's taste. For starters, we had the dragon balls, picanha salad and the sausage. The dragon balls (chicken) and sausage were pretty good, flavor was there, plenty of herbs. The picanha salad (beef slices) was not my favorite, the flavor was confusing. It was a combination of zesty, lime, it was overpowering. For my entree I went with the Bangkok ribeye boat noodles. I was craving something warm, and noodles. The food took some time to come out. Everyone got their food at different times. When my dish came out, it wasn't at hot as I expected. The broth was barely hot enough to cook my meat, which is okay since it's beef. The flavor was good. The meat was tender and the meatballs were delicious. The broth was packed with flavor. The portion was decent, small bowl. I looked around at other people's food and they all looked pretty good. Everyone liked their dish. The fried chicken, pork belly, pad mee hokkien all looked good. The service was average. Our server (Alex) was really nice and professional, he was recommending different dishes, all his favorites. I'm sure it was tough because it seem like he was the only server taking care of the outside section. We had to get our own water refills, the food came out at different times, they ran out of diet coke/coke zero. All understandable for a newer restaurant, always room for improvements. Overall, it was a decent lunch. Food was good, service was okay. I would be a 4 star if it wasn't for the service experience. I would come back to try other menu items. read more

new must be thai location! This one feels more modern, with a much smaller menu that leans more innovative/fancy. Unfortunately I think the valley fair location is much better. What I tried: - picanha salad: The grilled picanha itself was great, but overall way too salty, and the garnishes/herbs on top were practically inedible - yum som-o: pretty weird salad tbh. It comes with one giant river prawn and pomelo. The prawn was delicious, but there's so little of it, and the pomelo is literally just pomelo - lamb shank massaman curry: I liked this curry, but it definitely leans sweet, and I wish it had more depth, spice, and flavor. The lamb shank was well cooked - super tender and falls off the bone, but it's a pretty small portion. Also, the jasmine rice was stale and hard. - cocktails: maybe there's a reason they're called "must be thai and bar" bc the drinks are better than the food imo. All super interesting with unique Thai flavors, and pretty strong too. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - picanha salad, pomelo salad - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

I recently visited Must Be Thai for a Mother's Day celebration, and honestly the experience was disappointing for the price. The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated with a modern and cozy atmosphere, which made it feel promising at first. The presentation of the dishes also looked nice. However, the food quality did not match the price point. Almost every dish we ordered was overly salty and dry, especially the pork belly and beef salad, which are supposed to be some of their best-selling dishes. The beef salad portion was also surprisingly small. The only dish we actually enjoyed was the Pad Thai, which had a better balance of flavor compared to everything else. For a bill over $200, I expected much better taste, portion sizes, and overall value, especially for a special Mother's Day dinner. Unfortunately, the food was not worth the cost, and the seasoning really needs improvement. Great ambiance, but the kitchen still has a lot of work to do. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Pad thai, legendary dragon ball and pork belly. Salads... - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

papaya salad is so bad The flavor of all the vegetables cut into large pieces is lacking; you can't taste the flavor of a good papaya salad. no cup or spoon for kids read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - The flavor of all the vegetables cut into large pieces is lacking; you can't taste the flavor of a good papaya salad. - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

The 5 stars is for their inside-rightside front door handle. The ultimate in accessibility, their handle works for kids, wheelchairs, gnomes and giants (though giants might have to stoop to enter.) This door handle is like something out of folk mythology, and it totally blows away door handle from The Pressroom one street over. Pressroom handles are more Marvel Avengers and Must Be Thai handles are more Lord of the Rings. **** Food-face-off between Must Be Thai's fried chicken, and Popeye's Louisiana fried chicken: Popeye's fried chicken: Crispy crust. Popeye's dark meat tasting like Smart & Final's First Street chicken, as like with KFC's chicken tasting like Walmart's Perdue chicken. Must Be Thai's fried dark meat chicken had a faint whiff of fish at first. The skin had more spices and little batter, compared with the heavily battered Popeyes. The chicken meat was less like L&L's, but more like Lee's. Must Be Thai's chicken was similar to KFC's original recipe in the way that small parts of the bones were cooked well enough to be eaten, which might be good for getting calcium into the diet. The Must Be Thai chicken was not the best chicken downtown, but it takes people backwards in time to the days before San Jose bulldozed city blocks downtown; back to the days when multiple family Vietnamese and Mexican eateries were established where high-rises are now; and where you could once smell this type of chicken being prepared, as you approached each restaurant from downwind. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - The Must Be Thai inner door-handle: Good for anyone from 3 feet to 8 feet tall - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

I came here on a Friday night for dinner with my friends and the vibes were amazing. I had a reservation for 7:30, but we came a little early and they seated us within 5 minutes of our arrival. The Friday we went happened to be on the same day there was a watch party for the FIFA World Cup (USA vs. Paraguay) happening so there usual wait time was going to be 1-2 hours. We ordered their Tom Yum Fried Rice, Veggie Curry Puff, Ribeye Surf & Turf Pad Thai, and three cocktails. All which were fantastic. At the end we ordered their Taro Sticky Rice and Durian Sticky Rice which were both delicious since they weren't too sweet. Our server Alex was a hit that night. He was very accommodating and gave us fantastic recommendations on what to get as well. We would definitely come back again for both the food and the service. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Dessert - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

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I came here on a weekend night with some friends of mines. The ambiance was amazing. I had Thinh as my server, he was very attentive and friendly and gave us some amazing recommendations. Our table had the Rockfish and the Pad Thai Surf & Turf. The dishes were incredible and paired well with the drinks. As for drinks, I got the Raindrops in Bangkok. As someone who doesn't really like the taste of alcohol this was a perfect balance for me and the presentation was great. Overall amazing experience and would highly recommend to everyone. I'll definitely be coming back. read more

I was just enjoying spending a day off from work out here in San Jose when I came across this place. it's been in the works for a couple weeks now and I would pass by to see when they would open. I love Thai food and there isn't much around San Pedro St. so I was excited about this place opening and luckily today I stumbled upon their soft opening. The food was amazing unfortunately I am unable to type all the satisfaction I felt when I ate here today. Anyway, Talk about melt in your mouth. The two items I got from the menu were the Tod Mun Goong Donuts which were crispy Thai shrimp fritters shaped like a golden donut which was served with a sweet plum sauce and omg the flavor,the taste, the texture, the crispiness the appearance, ugh gold star definitely would recommend from the appetizer section on the menu and for the Entree I chose the Pla-Aua which was a Northern Thai Herb-Steamed Fish and talk about steamed to perfection the texture the flavors and the taste it was amazing for as simple as it looked it was packed with so many flavors and you were able to taste each and every one. The service was amazing and so attentive my servers name was Rai and she was so friendly and made sure I was taken care of. The look and feel of the place is soft and warm. Will definitely return. Good luck on your grand opening tomorrow everyone!!! read more

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6/21/2026 After attempting to go to Dr. Funk after they were closed for whatever reason and a bar to eat and drink with someone under 21 with them attempting to charge acover. Lol. We came here. There was was 4 people inside and maybe 6 outside. I wonder why? A sign by the waitresses had stipulations. Spend $30 per person to eat outside or $50 to dine indoors because the area outside shows WC games. We weren't there for that. What tourist trap BS is this? So we took our business elsewhere. read more

I really enjoyed this place. The food was absolutely delicious, especially the Lamb Shank Massaman Curry the meat was so tender it literally melted in my mouth. The Ribeye Surf & Turf Pad Thai was amazing as well, and the cocktails paired perfectly with the meal. I'll definitely be coming back (: read more

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I was super excited for this new location in djsj. Food was amazing and service was 10/10. Alex was so attentive! Get the Picanha salad and Singhal chicken curry! read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Picanha salad - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

Love their location by Westfield but loving the vibe at the new location The menu is definitely elevated as was the flavor We literally were not talking to each other bcs the food was so tasty which is a first for our family. The staff were attentive and the place was pristine Next time I'll be taking advantage of the outdoor area! read more

Only have been here for lunch with colleagues twice. My second trip... I love how they have real spice so definitely check with waiters depending on your spice tolerance. A HH menu would be a great gateway for the work crowd nearby. ALEX our server was on point with recommendations, kind and overall welcoming vibe. For this visit we ordered: * Picanha Salad - spicy, fresh and thin sliced tender meat. BURSTING with umami flavor * Singhai Chicken Curry - I can taste the depth of flavor and the veggies but prefer the massaman curry with lamb :( they have since swapped out with chicken. * Pad mee Hokkien - love the pops of veggies in this dish and the al dente noodle, the dish wasn't overcooked. Although wish it had a little more flavor. There are more affordable options but it seems you get what you pay for in terms of food quality and service. we needed a good Thai place in downtown so glad Must Be Thai is here. Looking forward to lounging in their patio this summer. read more

I had a lovely dinner at Must Be Thai during a work trip to San Jose. Just randomly walked in because the menu looked good and authentic. Audrey was lovely and recommended a few items; providing next solid service. Food was outstanding and ambience was what I needed for a solo dinner. Yes, there is out for a seating. It is a bit pricey so if you're looking for cheap basic Thai, this is not the place for you. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Kaeng Kua Short Ribs - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

I love Thai foods and Thai foods never failed me, but this restaurant was one of the worst Thai I have ever been too, and I have been to Thailand twice! It is upscale modern Thai compare to the one near Valley Fair but the one in Valley Fair is way better! We came here with reservations for party of 10 on Friday night, the foods took forever to come out even thought it wasn't a full house. The portion of the foods was like a baby plate, it was so small. The prices were ridiculous high compared to the portion, it is like a joke to us! There were no papaya salad, what Thai restaurant had no papayas salad so we order the meat and the pomelo with prawns salad, both salads was bad no Thai flavors at all and salty! Thai flavors are consist of sour and spicy. The pad thai was overly sweet, the funny was part was the sour soup hot pot with one prawns, it was just sours and salty nothing else flavor to it, super small portion like a baby bowl of soup! The chicken curry was super salty, the grill whole fish was also salty! The rice, it was hard and dry, steam rice is that hard to cook? We order almost every items on the menu but none of them stand out or even taste like average! I don't even bother to take any pictures as I usually do with all of my foods but this restaurant just upset me with the portion, flavors and prices, it is like a joke! All of my friends agree, this is like the worst Thai restaurant we even been to, sorry to say but everything just bad, Prices, portion, and services! read more

The food was good however the curry is SO spicy! I went through probably 5 cups of water from just two bites and the spice lingers on for a very long time! I went on a sunday night and my family and I sat outside, it is SO loud because of the DJ music from next door. The prices are definitely more on the higher side compared to the size of the dishes. It's understandable but it was around 16 dollars for maybe 8 pieces of calamari. I think it's a nice place to try but maybe later on when there are more reviews about the restaurant to help choose what to eat! read more

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Food was super tasty and the service was impeccable. Will definitely be back again :) read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Khao Soi Short Rib and Chicken Pad Thai - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

The food was fantastic! Our server, Georgie gave us great recommendations and checked in with us frequently. Great place to meet up with friends. read more

Must Be Thai and Bar - Thai Near Me - San Jose, California

I'll preface this by saying, I love Thai food. I've tried Thai restaurants from SJ to SF to Dallas to Sydney to London. For 20 years, my favorite Thai spot in San Jose has been a longtime favorite among locals....Until now. This is now my new favorite San Jose/South Bay Thai restaurant My first time to this location and WOW WOW WOW First, the staff is very friendly and greet you upon arrival. It was 2 of us and we were offered a table or bar seats so we took a table. Our server greeted us upon seating and our entrees came out in about 12 minutes. The interior volume was a perfect balance. They do offer outdoor seating when not reserved for events. My date and I shared the Sesame Chicken, Garlic Eggplant, and white rice. The food is prepared fresh. The smells and the flavors were absolutely amazing. Our total bill, for a Friday night, $51. Without tip. I will definitely be back!! Thank you to the team! read more