One of my top favorite Thai restaurants here in SLO. I ordered the drunken noodles with beef and got it Thai spicy. It was the perfect, smoky flavor just how I like it. It wasn't salty and the flavor were well balanced. And the spiciness was on point! Definitely recommend this Thai spot, if you're craving Thai food! read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Drunken Noodle with beef - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

So the fact is the staff at the counter is less than friendly - I mean how dare I step up to the counter and say "hello I've never been here before and I'd like to see a menu, please?" She pointed to the menu on top of her head, which is right there above the cashier, but I was standing so far at the back of the line which was at least 50 feet away, that I could not read the stuff on the menu that was over her head. But the point is that she wasn't even nice about it and said OK fine I'll give you a menu. When I finally made my decision, I asked her if I needed it to be on the other line or the line that she was standing at and she retorted - please give me a minute. There was no kindness. There was no common courtesy, just a matter of fact approach to really, an out of towner, tourist, who's just trying to give her restaurant's food a shot. I'm just really shocked at the rudeness. I proceeded to order the flat Thai noodles with mung beans and chicken. It came. It was fresh. But honestly, it lacks any flavor. Sorry. It was a disappointment. I'm from South East Asia. I know what I'm talking about. I would be generous to give them a 3/5. Sorry. It's not very good food at all. Which means there's nothing to say about this place other than - step up your Thai food game. Or be nice at least. read more

My spider-sense starts tingling with skepticism whenever I come across a Thai restaurant hundreds of miles from Los Angeles' Thai Town. But the hotel concierge raved about it, so I just had to try it. Street parking is hard to find at night, so we parked across the street in the 7-Eleven parking lot. We ordered the Thai fare we usually order: Pad See Ew, Som Tam (Papaya Salad), and Tom Kha Gai. For us, these serve as unfailing litmus tests of authentic Thai food. What a revelation! The Pad See Ew featured flat rice noodles that were comfortingly slippery with well-nuanced dark soy and oyster sauce, balanced by the crispness of the broccoli and that distinctive smoky char from a fiery wok that truly makes the dish. The Som Tam delivered a bright punch to our taste buds -- puckery tang from the lime juice, delicate saltiness from the fish sauce, umami from tiny, dried shrimp, and the crunchy texture of pounded peanuts, fresh garlic, and, last but not least, thinly julienned and cold green papaya. Then came the Tom Kha Gai -- an intensely flavorful broth of velvety coconut milk infused with fresh ginger and lemongrass. It was deeply satisfying on a typically nippy night in SLO. The cook behind these dishes has Michelin chops! I left Papa's Thai a converted skeptic. Great Thai food doesn't have to be near Hollywood Boulevard to be authentic. Tucked inside this small eatery is some truly outstanding Thai food. read more

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Just the place if you like really bland Thai food. I had the Kai Kua and had to search for the rice noodles - there were very few. Plenty of lettuce, however! So that's great if you'd rather have lettuce instead of rice noodles, but that's not my preference. Also, you have to ask for the hot sauce if you want to give your food a little more taste. They give you very short chopsticks, which make it harder to eat your food, as well. Overall, a very disappointing experience that wasn't worth $15 for the food. read more

So delicious!! This is our favorite Thai restaurant in SLO county! Staff I are always friendly and the food always hits the spot. Don't forget to ask for Thai chilies! read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Eggplant with beef - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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After trying nearly all the Thai restaurants in SLO and the broader Central Coast, I can confidently say that Papa's Thai is the best in the region. The staff is kind, goes above and beyond to make you feel at home, and memorized my favorite meal after only a couple visits. Everything is tasty, flavorful, fresh, and consistent with each visit. I've enjoyed the Pad Thai, Pad Sew Ew, Drunken Noodles, Basil Chicken, Egg rolls, fried rice, papaya salad, cucumber salad, and many more dishes. If you want great Thai food, this is a great family to support and the best place to go. read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Spicy Basil, Fried Rice, Pad See Ew. - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

I don't know why this place is not a 5 star, but yall have to try this place out no matter what. Ran by their family, this great couple knows what they're doing! They have a lot of space inside and some out. Its very casual and fast type of restaurant. A place you can come with anybody! Always have to stop by here whenever I'm at SLO. My favorite is pad thai no matter where I go, but nowhere is like this place where EVERYTHING IS GOOD. I always compare their pad thai to everywhere else I go too. Can't forget their pad see ew, vegetables have a nice chew and beef easy to eat. The flavors are just right. You can also adjust spiciness! Just let them know how you like em! Not going to lie, their thai teas differ sometimes, but still good nevertheless. If you like it strong, this is it! I highly recommend the green thai tea, a bit sweet than the coffee and regular ones xP. read more

Came here for lunch on a Sunday and ordered family style. Didn't make any reservation. There is plenty of street parking. You order first a cash register before choosing your seat. We ordered the following: 1. Kao soi -- coconut milk based curry soup with chewy texture egg noodles). It had really tender chicken breast and well flavored soup that pairs well with rice as well 2. Shrimp pad see ew -- love how it's a dry charred stir fry; I love when pad see red aren't too saucy so this was exactly how I liked mine 3. Spicy basil chicken (hot) -- lots of fresh vegetables and basil which we love. It comes with rice. We ordered hot spice level; has a small kick but not too spicy in my opinion 4. Mixed vegetable -- fresh dish with good brown sauce. 5. Mango sticky rice -- green sticky rice I believe from pandan; very sweet and fresh mangos! They put the coconut sweetener sauce on side which is nice so you can drizzle as much as you like. Overall delicious The restaurant had lots of seating indoors and some outdoors. They provide takeout boxes and utensils so it's nice to be able to self serve and finish your meal without having to wait for anyone. read more

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Service meh. Food not the best. We ordered the pad see ew combo and fried chicken rice. Wouldn't recommend or come back for. My husband is not a picky eater and didn't like it but we still ate. read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Fried Rice chicken - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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I ate here every day that I visited SLO a couple weeks ago. It's SO fresh and delicious. The shrimp salad I would eat every single day if I could. Food comes out hot and quickly. It's an informal order at the counter restaurant so I didn't get too much staff interaction. They were cordial! Restaurant was clean and there's outdoor seating available. read more

I love this place! This is our favorite Thai spot in SLO. Not only is the food incredible, the service is wonderful and the staff are so kind and welcoming. Plenty of room at tables, clean, and love that they have copies of the local paper to eat, read, and relax. Not pictured are the fresh rolls and the red curry, both are amazing! Spice was accurate to what was requested :-) read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Pad See Ew with tofu and vegetables - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

Delicious, fresh to order and great friendly service. I will Recommend this place to anyone and definitely coming back! read more

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Papa's has officially ruined me--in the best way. This cozy little spot in SLO is now my gold standard for Thai food. I'm not even being dramatic when I say I now compare every Thai restaurant in Ventura County to this place--and very sadly for me, nothing has come close. I got the Pad Thai and it was the best I've had--bursting with flavor, perfectly saucy (not too dry, not too soupy), and topped with vibrant purple cabbage and crisp shredded carrots that gave it the perfect crunch and color. Every bite hit. Their Cashew Chicken is also elite! Rich, savory, and beautifully balanced (but tragically, unmatched back home). Their Pumpkin Curry is absolutely dreamy! Creamy, comforting, a little sweet, a little heat, and a total flavor bomb! I wish I had better photos to show off the goods, but the food was so good I blacked out and forgot to let the camera eat first--rare for me, which says everything. Everything tasted insanely fresh, cooked with care, and so full of flavor. No shortcuts, just really dialed-in, delicious food. This is 100% a must every time I'm in SLO now. Papa's please never change. I love having this spot to look forward to whenever I'm SLOme. read more

Great restaurant and the people are sooo nice! We go here frequently: I have the mixed vegetables with shrimp and my husband has tried everything on the menu and loved it all! Highly recommend! read more

Doordashed the wontons and received them burnt with so little amount of meat it was hard to see. Went into store thinking they forgot to put in the filling. Boy in blue shirt and glasses tore two open telling me that is how they are supposed to be made. I said ok. Girl next to him in the phone stated that is how they are made so no refunds. I said ok can i get new wontons since you touched them and ripped them apart. He said nope. I said but you touched them all. He said yep. I stated again but I'm not eating the food you touched, he said ok. As im leaving he yells after me" i hope you have a better day" i stopped and asked why he was having an attitude? Then He yelled after me that I'm a Karen. read more

I love Papas Thai. Absolutely love their food and the people who work there. My friends and I have been coming here for years. I have never had a single complaint with the food. My favorite is their chicken pad Thai. It's also amazing that they help support the local schools and community. read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Chicken Pad Thai - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

Food is acceptable when compared with the competition in town. Any adds are costly and reduce the meal value quickly. Today I came in to pick up a "web order for Adam". This is what I announced when the counter indicated they were ready. There was a misunderstanding and I learned through the interaction that the counter person was hard of hearing and both counter persons heard me say (Pad Kara?). Not certain as I am a bit hard of hearing as well but it certainly did not sound like "we order". The non-verbals from the staff were hostile. I commented and was asked to never come back. I replied I certainly would not and noted the female behinds the counter continue say something likely not nice based on the tone. Sorry you had a bad day. I was not rude nor did I raise my voice any louder than necessary to overcome the background noise and hearing disabilities. I can tolerate food that isn't great but I cannot tolerate staff like this. There a three other Thai restaurants within a walking distance of downtown and all have great attitudes. Response: I am sorry to hear you have been abused by your customers but you have me confused with somebody else. read more

Quality/Quantity - Beef Pad See Ew - My daughter's favorite, except she got beef this time...? Chicken Pad Thai - Okay. Pork Eggplant - My wife's usual. I guess we are all creatures of old habits... Overall all the food was good. And they do not use MSG! Thanks. Atmosphere - Small local business, limited indoor and outdoor seating. Major street construction currently. We had to park a block away and walk around the construction. The construction also closed the major street to through traffic, which must really hurt business. Small shared mall parking, but we chose to NOT deal with the construction and walked. Open 6 days a week from 11am to 9pm, closed Mondays. Clean enough bathrooms, see picture. Service - Counter service, just like the previous business. I like the self-service to-go container area. It saves us so much time if we have left overs. But your portions are not big enough to need to go containers, lol. And we are light eaters. Price - $51 + generous tip. Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 2020. read more

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Our first time here today for lunch, immediately drawn in by the delicious smells wafting out to the patio. Lots of seating including a tall table for 8 which was perfect for our group of 7. A bit stuffy inside but preferable to the heat outside. Staff was helpful and friendly. We ordered -pad see ewe with chicken, -drunken noodles with chicken (my favorite, yummy vegetables, and medium spicy) -red curry (good flavor, comes with a small bowl of white or brown rice) -sautéed green veggies with tofu (asparagus, snow peas, so tasty!) -tom yum soup (the chicken was a bit over cooked and the flavor a bit heavy compared to others I've had but still good) -veggie fried rice (okay, a bit bland but I appreciated the broccoli florets) Overall a super satisfying meal and we would come back if we lived here! read more

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On our central coast college tour, I appreciated that this Thai place had the following five spice levels: --Mild --Medium --Hot --Thai Hot --Extra Thai Hot Plus a nice little Buddha Shakyamuni with offerings. read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Buddha Shakyamuni statue with offerings. - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

Best thai food in town ! no doubt ! David and his wife is amazing! great environment , for sure will be back ! read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

There's tons of good Thai in SLO but this place has been my go-to for years. They are particularly dialed in right now, all 3 things I got tonight were literally perfect; spiced as instructed, perfectly cooked, flavors phenomenal. Compliments to the chef. read more

In the mood for Thai so tried out this place and we loved it! The food was fresh and tasty! The service was great and the ambiance was nice and welcoming. Couldn't wait to eat so I took a pic towards the end. read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Snow peas and Asparagus & Snow Pea - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

Always great food and friendly staff. Plenty of seating. Egg rolls are light and crispy and garlic pepper chicken is tasty and a good sized portion. read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Egg rolls - crispy, light and flavorful - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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I love papas thai cafe! Conveniently located by my house, i am a frequent customer. Food- the food is consistently good, when i'm sick, i always order the yellow curry with chicken as it warms me up and is so comforting service- service is always good, they do their best to make any/all modifications! food comes out fast ambiance- the ambiance is nice, nothing extraordinary but does it's job read more

The food was good but the service was horrible! The employees were very good but it was the owner that was bad. I don't care if food was good, I will never come back again. I walked in, asked worker at register if they had a bathroom and he told me, "No bathrooms, they have bathrooms next door". So I went and then came back to order. My partner had already ordered and told me they had bathrooms and she went. I asked one of the workers and they told me they do have bathrooms for customers. I told her she needs to let the man at register to specify that you need to order to use bathroom. He heard me and said he was the owner. I told him even more so to better his customer service. He cut me off speaking and told me he had people in line. I wasn't rude at first but when I told him that wasn't good customer service and he should have said, "we have bathrooms for customers" he became short and rude. He really needs customer service 101. read more

This place has a charming vibe not so far away from the downtown of SLO. A longtime friend of ours and the owner, David was quick to greet us with a smile even though there were guests before us! He was open to make suggestions and even stated that some of their options are seasonal from where they source ingredients (mango sticky rice currently) which is awesome to see a restaurant focused on that kind of quality and consistency. This trip we just grabbed some little appetizers, the egg rolls and streamed dumplings. The dipping sauce for both completed them well and the flavors were fresh and authentic. We could tell they we're just freshly made! We will definitely stop by again on a more empty stomach to try more of their tasty options! We're so proud to see how successful this business has become read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Steamed dumplings - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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We're on our way home to SoCal and we happened to stop by and have lunch at this place. It's our first time and we're hoping to at least be satisfied. We were wrong. This place was more than we expected. Every dish we selected was awesome! We love Thai food and one thing for sure to know if it's good is to try their Tom Yum and Pad Thai. Both were delicious! We tried their shrimp rolls and they were savory and delicious! My son loved his Thai fried rice. It was aromatic and flavorful. The star was the Pad Prik King! Super delish! Service was quick! As soon as we ordered at the counter, I see their chef started to do his magic. Food came out hot and fresh. We absolutely enjoyed our lunch. Inside was simple and clean. Parking is available on the front and back of the building. They outdoor seating as well. I highly recommend this place for your Thai food fix! Now, the problem...food coma and I have to drive back to LA...smh lol! read more

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Love this restaurant! The food is amazing and the staff make us feel like family. Best Khoa Soi ever! Lots of vegan and vegetarian options.

You pay first and then sit down to order. Their pad Thai was super flavorful. Their pineapple fried rice was good too. Outside seating was so nice read more

Papa’s Thai Cafe - Chicken pad thai - Thai Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

All I can say is wtf. I was shocked at how this random place we chose for dinner made it to my top Thai food experiences list. I am incredibly picky about Thai food, particularly panang curry. It's my favorite dish, and most places make it way too watered down and throw in the tofu like a sad afterthought. Not here! The curry was delicious, ordered to my preferred spice level, and the tofu is crinkle-cut and fried separately before being added in. I was ecstatic. We also got some fried egg rolls and a pad see ew. Hot, fresh, crispy egg rolls with a nice dippy. Very nice start to the meal. I can never turn down a noodle. I'm not even sure why I got pad see ew instead of pad kee Mao, which is arguably my favorite Asian noodle dish ever... probably because it's easier to mess up drunken noodles and I didn't want to be too disappointed. This pad see ew was great! Again, killing it with the tofu, the veggies were not soggy at all, and the noodles were sticky without being a glob. I wish I had gotten the other noodles, too... but this was one of those rare times I was being "good." Stupid restraint! You order at the counter and everyone is friendly and efficient. Grab a number and pick out your table - they bring it to you, but you do grab your own utensils and takeaway boxes. I really wish this place was closer to home so I could go again - but I'm looking forward to making the detour on our next drive through SLO! read more

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I love this place. Everything that I've ordered has been deliciously on point. The Eggplant dish and Pad Thai noodles are awesome. I've gone back to it many times now and had become my fave go to Thai place in SLO. read more

Out of this world. I was taken back, truly. The food... phenomenal. The staff...incredibly welcoming. I felt like I should've played double the price for some of the dishes. You really can't go wrong here. read more

Amazing Personal Service! Clean Safe Atmosphere! The Best Thai Food in SLO! Completely Exceptional!

A great spot for some comfort thai food! The food may not be flashy but it's absolutely delicious. The inside is also pretty simple with a minimalistic, industrial feel and the staff was really kind and checked in on us throughout our meal. read more

Finally tried this place on Monterey...got street parking right across the street. Bright, clean, fair amount of outdoor and indoor seating. Service is quick and friendly--order at the counter and they bring it out to you. I had the panang curry, which was piping hot and just the right spicy. Nice portion, good flavor. Hubby had the pad see ew--good portion, lots of flavor. Definitely will be back! read more

So good always. I ask for a recommendation every time and it NEVER disappoints. My favorite so far is the Green Curry, but still making my way through the menu. Fun vibe inside to eat in as well! read more

My son attends Cal Poly so we've been coming here for a couple of years. Never disappoints!! Everything is fresh and very very tasty. We've been here for many lunches. The cashier is always friendly. We came in yesterday for lunch and one of the ladies took our order, once we got the food the cashier that's always there came by and said hello, nice to see you! It's always nice when people remember you. Highly recommend this place. It's always busy but food comes out quick and delicious! read more

drunken noodles pineapple fried rice thai iced tea and the owners are scrumptious as well! i have lived in the 805 for over 40 years and this is by far the best thai experience in the county!!! love read more

I love this place so much!! The staff are very friendly and accommodating especially with the range of spice levels! My friends love their Pad See Ew with Tofu $13.85 for the amount of veggies, tofu, and flavor!! Another favorite is their Yellow Curry $14 for the softness of potatoes and carrots. It's such a warm filling meal for this autumn weather!! My Personal Favorite is their Pineapple Fried Rice $15.50 because it has both chicken and shrimp, perfect for those that are indecisive. I love the flavor and portions of sweet pineapple chunks to cashews, meat, and rice. My second favorite is their Shrimp Pad Thai $13.85 for the perfect seasonings, noodles to meat ratio!! My boyfriend loves their Beef Fried Rice $13.85 for the portions and overall meat to rice ratio!! For something warm and off menu, I have been loving their Hand Pulled Noodles with Pork Soup $18.50-- ITS PHENOMENAL! They don't have it often, so ask if the chef is making it but it's delicious with flat long noodles and a spicy warm soup base, topped with choy sum greens and tender grilled pork! The combination of spices, greens, meat, and hand pulled noodles reminds me of home. My favorite drink of theirs is the Thai Iced Green Tea $3.50! It's a must-try with floral notes and Thai tea kick of caffeine! read more

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