OMG. O M G! Finally, finally I've found a Thai restaurant in the Bay Area that makes a proper Massaman curry. I haven't had a decent Massaman since leaving Los Angeles in the mid-90s. I lucked into finding this gem in a strip shopping mall, not far from a work location I visit daily. Last time I happened into this mall, I had lousy Mexican take-out from the place next door. Today, I saw Tiparos' special menu outside, and had a good feeling based on the offerings. Soooo happy I took the chance. Massaman is a stew, people, a stew...*tender* slow-cooked cubes of meat that you can tear apart with a spoon. Thai comfort food, a kind of peanut/coconut stroganoff, if you will. While other restaurants may get the sauce right, they simply toss in raw strips of tough meat and cook for a few minutes before serving, yielding rubbery tasteless meat. Tiparos is the ONLY one I've found that stews cubes of meat until tender and still flavorful (I had the beef). Kudos kudos kudos! Thank you! The serving size was ample (enough to take home some leftovers even for my one hungry self). I ordered it with brown rice (another unexpected bonus). The restaurant is one open medium sized room with a high ceiling and pleasant colorful decor. My server Rachel was excellent, taking time to answer my first-time vistor's questions. Only minor drawback was that they had turned off the AC on a hot day. But I was one of only two parties at 3pm in the afternoon, so I don't begrudge them their effort to conserve on their electric bill during the off-hours. I can't wait to go back again and try their other dishes. read more

Aka Sala Thai. We had been to this location a few years ago and enjoyed the food so we decided to return since we were in the area. Except this time we were met with major disappointment. Service was extremely slow! After ordering it took 30-40 minutes to get our food. Not acceptable considering the fact that the restaurant was not full. There were maybe 2-3 other tables. Even people who had ordered to-go left because it took way too long to get their food. Items we order: Tom Ka soup: horrible- the broth tasted like a can of coconut milk. Yellow curry: also horrible- the curry tasted strongly of curry flavored paste or powder aka not authentic. Pad Thai: I was disgusted to find a long strand of hair embedded in my noodles. What was more disgusting was the fact that the OWNER walked past me, saw and watched me pull out the long strand of hair and he saw me hold it up and he just walked away ignoring the situation. This shows that the owner does not care about his customers. Overall, this place has gone downhill. The food is not authentic, tastes cheap. Service is slow. And the owner can care less about you. Do not eat here. read more

The service has gone down hill over the years. The wait staff has become slow and rude. The owner and his wife are still (somewhat) enjoyable (the owner once asked my husband if he has a girlfriend. Like no honey my husband doesn't cheat, I workout, down there ;) ) anyway... they need to make better hiring decisions and hire more staff too. Last visit they started to clean while the restaurant was full. I'm talking vacuum, mop, etc. like gross .. The food is still pretty decent. So I'll deal when I have no other choices. Otherwise I go to another Thai place for my fixing. On another less serious note - love their fresh tofu roles, BBQ chicken, pineapple fried rice, and basil chicken. read more

I was hangry and craving Thai food so I decided to give this place a try. I ordered a Chicken Pad Thai and a Thai Tea to go. The service was good, my food was almost done by the time I got there. However the food was alright. I tried a lot of Pad Thai from different places and I noticed that everywhere makes it slightly different. Except here the Pad Thai was super bland and so oily. I just felt like I was eating oily noodles the entire time. It was not as good as I hoped for it to be. Maybe it was just an off day. The Thai Tea was alright it was too sweet to me. I'll give it another try next time. However the inside is very decorative which was cool to look at as I was there waiting for my food. read more

delicious but way over priced for the amount of food you get...Customer service goes on and beyond for their customers...nice first date setting read more

I use to eat at this restaurant when it was called Sala Thai, and I had no idea this place changed owners or name until I came here for lunch. Today was horrible! The food no longer taste like Thai and more like cheap Chinese food. Which is sad because I loved this restaurant when it used to be Sala Thai. What was more disappointing was that my pumpkin curry was terrible. The pumpkin in the curry tasted as though it had gone bad. I quickly returned the dish and the women asked if I wanted another one, but I didn't trust what else might have gone bad. To sum it up, beware of this restaurant and save your money because this place is junk. read more

First time back in a couple a years because I moved out of the area. It was a go to spot before and food and service are still outstanding! Love this place! Great owner and staff! read more

The food was good, but the service was extraordinarily slow. We got the tofu rolls, tom yum noodle soup, beef pineapple fried rice, and green coconut curry. The only flop was the overly sweet curry and watery tasting. The tofu rolls were very spicy. Despite the nearly empty restaurant we had to flag down the waitress to take our order and again to get utensils. She looked quite alarmed when we raised our hand. The wait staff tend to disappear in the back. One of them also forgot to refill our water halfway through; refilling two glasses and then leaving without filling the other two. When we asked for the check, they forgot to give us a pen. Out of the four of us, only two would come back. To be clear, the staff was polite, just scattered. The beef pineapple fried rice was really good though. Maybe takeout only? read more

Love the sala potstickers and the drunken noodles. Had hoped to try their spicy basil chicken but unfortunately the person who took my order misheard me and a completely different dish awaited my arrival. As hungry as I was I didn't care to wait for the correct dish to be prepared. I didn't care much for what I had but they did offer to rectify the situation and I declined. Have never dined in but would like to try and perhaps finally get my basil chicken. read more

My family and I go there often. It is my mom's favorite thai place and we go there for every birthday and Mother's Day (in addition to going there just because we want Thai food). They have great prices and the food is delicious! My mom loves the pumpkin curry, I usually get pad see ew or pra ram long song and my dad loves the bbq trio. The plates are very large if you get them a la crate to share. We like to get them with rice and one order is plenty to fill you up. Highly recommend Sala Thai! read more

Ever since the new owners took over from what was Sala Thai, this place has been fantastic -- consistently. My wife and I eat here nearly every week and the food is always wonderful. Fresh vegetables, quality meat, perfectly cooked fish and seafood. Thai is a cuisine that is often adapted to the American palate by making it overly sweet. We find this is dialed back in most of Tiparos dishes unless it is really intended to be sweet. They will also take you at your word if you say you like it spicy! At some places I order food "hot" and I suspect they peek out of the kitchen and decide to make it ":white boy hot", which is not as hot as I like. There is no capsaicin discrimination at Tiparos! Our favorites: Beef Larb, Mango Trout Salad, BBQ Trio, Thai Dumplings (what magic is in those bundles of joy), Sala Pot stickers, Seafood Basil. My wife took a 50 spring rolls to a small party and they only lasted 10 minutes before they were gone! If you have room for dessert (we rarely do) the fried bananas are great and the sliced mango is love on a plate. Plus the owners Tip and Nadir are really attentive and welcoming and they hire like-minded waitstaff. read more

I used to work nearby and would crave Thai food so my friend who lived in the area recommended this place. I never dined in so I cant really comment on the service, however the food was mediocre at best. When I try a new Thai restaurant I always order the green curry with chicken. The first time I tried it I had takeout and I got back to work and noticed my green curry was not even green but looked white. I couldn't even eat the flavor was bland. I basically went hungry thhat vcd afternoon. Weeks later I decided I'll give it another try. The 2nd time it was a hint greener but the flavor was still bland. Needless to say I didnt go back. The Thai iced tea was good though. read more

For being located in a small plaza in Richmond, I did not expect Sala Thai to deliver as it did. I've had food to-go and sit down. Service is decent, food is good. Adequate seating. Charming decor. Pumpkin/salmon curry, sweet bbq pork, beef and veggies, fried chicken over fried rice, mango sticky rice, there's something for everyone. Food is reasonably priced. I love Thai food and this place did not disappoint. read more

Yum! A group of 5 went for dinner and chit chat and had a great meal... We ordered and ordered and ordered and with tax and tip left only $30 lighter. The standouts for me were: 1) pad Thai, super delicious 2) garlic green beans 3) calamari 4)pot stickers 5) Tom young soup 6) fried banana with pineapple ice cream Service was great and we were not rushed out, we were there for over 2 hours and had a great evening. I will crave the pad Thai until next time! read more

Service from Dave is 5 stars. Food is good. I will return. read more

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I wish I could give them a zero rating. I order from them for my company pretty consistently and usually it is ok. The food has never been great but there is not much around here. Today I just ordered for myself and went to pick it up. First off I ordered pad thai tofu and there were only 2 pieces of tofu in the whole thing. Second, there was a chicken bone. I didn't care about the lack of tofu as much but was really grossed out about the bone because I do not eat meat. When I called to tell them, they kept switching between people and then they would cover the phone to talk to eachother and I could still hear them. When I told them about the bone one lady said it was not a bone. I assured her it was, was splintering and did not look like a chili which is what she said it was. I was then hung up on and had to call back and they didn't even offer to give me a refund. I asked for one and they said they would have to come pick up the food, verify it was a chicken bone and then give me a refund. I declined and let them know I would no longer be frequenting their business and would reach out to other consumers. read more

Sala Thai - bone in my food - Thai Near Me - Richmond, California

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Came in here with my family Tuesday evening when searching for a good Thai place near Pinole for my family to try. Service was fast because they weren't too busy when we walked in, our server was very attentive to us and gave us good recommendations. We ordered the Sala Potstickers as a starter and they were amazing! As entrees we had Shrimp Pad Thai, Beef Noodle Soup, Thai Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup, Tom Yum Seafood Noodle Soup, and the last dish I can't remember the name but it was a spicy lamb dish. Everything we ordered tasted amazing and very flavorful and my family loved it, as well as our server being great. I can say we'll be back for dinner here whenever I'm in town visiting! read more

Update 2018: after. A few years as Tiparos, they've reverted to the original Sala name. I'm not sure if this implies a change of ownership. Still excellent. This is probably the best Thai restaurant in our neighborhood. An attractively if somewhat busily decorated room, with tables spaced well apart. Small three-seat bar; happy hour 3-5 PM. Service (probably by the owners) was fast and friendly. On our most recent visit we tried chicken satay, pad thai with beef, and spicy eggplant with pork--all excellent versions of Thai classics. A note on finding the place--although Sala moved out of this space around five years ago, the illuminated sign on the exterior, confusingly, still reads Sala Thai. read more

update: OMG. The potstickers!! They are a MUST TRY. SOOOOOOO GOOOD! I've been going to Tiparos Thai during my lunch breaks from work... the service is fast & friendly and well, the food is good. Here are the items I get: *Appetizer Combo --yum-- they have this dumpling/flower/curry ball thing... don't know what it's called, but it is g-o-o-d. *Drunken Noodles --yum-- *Pad Thai --yum-- To top off the food, get a Thai Ice-tea. :) read more

I don't get the glowing reviews for this place-is Richmond lacking in good, authentic Thai food? That must be the reason. My friend and I were really excited to try this place due to the excellent Yelp reviews-was such mediocre Thai food. Everything was just too sweet and not spicy AT ALL to appease the non-Thai/foodie palates? We started off with the spicy chicken wings. No spice. Just a lot of the sweet thai chili sauce smothering the wings. The Tom Yum soup tasted too acidic, very tomato-y. Didn't taste like Tom Yum at all. I got the Drunken noodles-that it was not. Just tasted like blah stir-fried noodles. Not spicy, it wasn't bad, but nothing to write home about either. My friend got the yellow curry over rice-too SWEET and no spice or curry taste. Overall, a disappointing experience. And while the servers were nice, the intuitiveness was sometimes lacking and we had to practically wave them down. read more

Really good food. Super cute. We were there on a Sunday midday though. I wonder how crowded it would be on a Friday night. Might be worth the drive up if it's not too long of a wait. read more

Love this place. Seafood Basil is the bomb. Fried tofu nice and crispy. The owner is hella cool. Service is on point. Usually busy because the food is delish. Sitting down here is the best because your food comes out sizzling and fresh. Consistent. Fresh spring tofu rolls are refreshing. read more

Had the garlic wings they're OK you could tell it was not freshly fried chicken, but refried chicken and then sauced. I had the Pad thai it was okay not the best I've ever had not the worst. Won't be frequenting this place will still make the drive out to Berkeley. Here's a tip Freshly cooked food is important!! read more

Love the interior here... not strip mall-esque at all! The service is very friendly and sweet. They always remember us and if my mom is not with us they send her a "hello" The potstickers are a yummy way to start the meal. Can't go wrong with Pumpkin Curry or the Pad Thai. read more

I really wish I could leave a better review, because I love their food. Unfortunately, their service is absolutely the worst. If you're lucky, your server will check on you once during your meal. And after that, good luck trying to get them to come back with the check. Today, I waited 25 minutes after ordering for my food to come out. And I was by myself. I had to ask for a to go box and just take it with me. I LOVE their curry, but I won't be going back until they get it together. read more

Not the best Thai food Ive ever had but this place does not let me down. Everything tastes great, the price is just right, and customer service is on point. This is the only Thai place I would go to in the area. read more

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As Thai restaurants are popping up left and right. This is still my go-to for good Thai food. Sandwiched between a burrito shop and a UPS store, it's easy to overlook, but don't miss out on a hidden gem. My standard is the pad thai, which is always a hit. My wife loves their barbecued chicken and pork. The chicken potstickers are also divine, you would be advised to order 2 servings as one is just a tease. It's rare for the restaurant to be busy, so getting a table quickly shouldn't be a problem. Finally, the wait staff is attentive without hovering. My only complaint is that it isn't closer to my house. read more

Best Thai food in the area by far. Great service and always quality food whenever I decide to have lunch here. Everything I have had here has always had great flavor. From the soups to the rice dishes or the Currys. Highly recommend this place. read more

Came here with my S/O for a late lunch, and I was impressed with the service and quality of food! We started out with the fried calamari, which was very crispy and went well with the mild chili sauce that accompanied it. My all time favorite is the Massaman Curry, which is on the mild but flavorful side. Everything from the generous serving of tender cubed beef, carrot, peanut and onion that melted in your mouth and excellent gravy that was not too hot or too sweet. My lady friend had the Pad Se Ew, which was cooked perfectly and totally full of shrimp, chicken and generous portions of veggies. All in all, it was a great lunch, which we ended with the coconut milk sticky rice with fresh mango and a huge cup of coffee. Best Thai food I've had in the Bay Area!!! read more

Found this while passing through the area. The food was really good and the portions were great for the price. Service is super casual but the atmosphere is nice. I'd definitely go back if I'm in the area. read more

Sala Thai - Thai Near Me - Richmond, California

The service is absolutely terrible! There was literally 3 table including mine which is a total of 5 people dining and it took what felt to be forever to just take our order and refill our waters. Neither of the waitresses came over to check on us and I had to wave someone down to refill our waters. Pure laziness... The food is great though. A bit on the sweeter side but other than that, it's delicious. Everything tastes fresh and the portions are pretty big also. read more

While the food was average, the service is too slow. In August, I placed an online order through Yelp's Eat24 service. My husband went to pick up the order and they lost the order. My husband waited for about an hour for our food and then they charged him a second time. My husband is the classic absent-minded scientist and forgot that we already paid in full through Eat24 (seeing as he already waited for an hour and was hungry). Anyway, a month and half later, when I was balancing the credit card, I saw the duplicate transaction. So, I filed a dispute with my credit card company, which took some time to reverse. Edited 12/21/15: I increased the number of stars to 4 stars since the restaurant reversed the duplicate charge. I didn't give 5 stars because of the wait and credit card headache, but the food was very good and tasty. read more

Really great tasting Thai food, and I've lived in Thailand for seven years. Although some of the food items at Sala Thai doesn't taste 100% like it does in Thailand (heck, nothing is as good as it is in-country), it's pretty damn close. My wife and I are huge fans of the Pad Prik King, Papaya Salad, Larb, Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, Spicy Bamboo, and Panang Curry. The owner is really nice and very accommodating, and the people that I've observed working in the kitchen are actually Thai (a huge plus for me). This place can get busy at times, because the food is so good, so be patient if you order take-out and it isn't ready right away. read more

Never disappoints. Usually get the fried Chicken over rice and the Sala potstickers. Whether we eat in or do carry out it's always really yummy! read more

I love their crab fried rice! So much that I will drive from Pittsburg to have it! Pot stickers are amazing along with their pad thai! Love it! read more

I'm a regular with my family and we love the noodles. The drunken noodles and pad Thai never disappoint! The waitress with the blonde hair is so sweet and always gives great customer service. Don't forget to have their Thai iced tea. read more

They grandfathered the Itsy Bitsy! They were already so awesome when they were Sala Thai...Tiparos Thai Kitchen just made it a little better. The price is more affordable! Love the Fresh Spring Rolls! read more

Sala Thai - My ultimate must have. Fresh Spring Rolls! - Thai Near Me - Richmond, California

The food tastes great, but the customer service is a 1 star. If you plan on dining in, I highly recommend ordering for pick up. Pick up orders are prioritized here and come out quicker than if you dine in. On one occasion, we attempted to dine in and wasted 15 mins to receive a menu, another additional 30 mins for staff to take our order and waited another 45 mins still with no food before deciding to eat elsewhere. read more

In response to the comment I received from the restaurant that delivery is always offered, On Monday, April 18, got out of the eye doctor after scratching my cornea, having my eyes dyed and dilated, and waited for 3.5 hours to order delivery in the time frame listed on the website (2-8pm M-F) instead of ordering pizza or something. I had to order delivery because I could not see and was locked in a dark apartment trying to let my eyes adjust after the dilation. When I called at 2:30 in the afternoon, I was told delivery was no longer an option at the restaurant. This is the second time this has occurred, although my wife managed to order delivery in between. May 25 another attempt at delivery was made. According to the Yelp page, Which the manager ASSURES me is kept up to date, they deliver. The person on the phone who claimed to be the owner said delivery is not an option, in spite of the fact that both Yelp and their own website claim it is. The owner also seemed indignant that I would be displeased that delivery is not an option. That is not consistency.... So, Nadir.... You should probably stop lying in response to bad reviews and fix the actual problem. read more

I travel a lot for business and get to enjoy Thai food throughout Northern California. Fortunate for me this is the closest to my house and I just love the quality of food and service. To me this is the best Thai restaurant around. Great menu and you can choose your degree of spiciness on each dish. My girlfriend and I cannot get enough of this place. read more