Upon arrival, the restaurant had plenty of space and a friendly, booming owner to welcome us. We sat wherever we wanted, and menus were brought over quickly. We chose to order: - Imperial Rolls (chicken, shrimp, a lettuce, cucumber, cilantro, and bean sprouts in rice paper wrappers) with a delicious peanut-soy dipping sauce; - Tom Kha Kai soup (Coconut Chicken), Spicy 3 (1-10); - Chicken Pad Kee Maow (Drunken Noodles), Spicy 3 1-10). The food came out quickly and very fresh. The Imperial Rolls were tightly wrapped and stuffed well (albeit more like cigarillos than the larger egg roll size you'd expect). And they had 2 small shrimp in each, as opposed to the pictures in the menu which showed 3 shrimp lining the insides. Cuts happening everywhere. ‍ The Tom Kha Kai was well-blended (coconut and broth melded beautifully and creamy!), chicken, mushrooms, and white onion slices were perfectly cooked in a serving bowl and not the usual sterno-fueled soup contraption. It was mildly spicy and probably the best I've ever had! The Chicken Pad Kee Maow was different than others I've had. Sam Cafe adds in a little sweetness (Tamarind?), broccoli, chunks of cabbage (also slightly sweet), carrots, onions, red peppers, tomato chunks, and basil...along with the requisite large rice noodles and white meat chicken. Truly satisfying and delicious without feeling super oily, burnt, or lacking sauce. The entire meal was a great deal and an amazing find in the middle of the Central Valley! Next time I'm up this way, Sam Cafe is on my itinerary! read more

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Found this place while traveling. Food was prepared very quickly and it was YUMMY. We had Pad Thai and Pad Seew. Spice level 5 was really pretty mild, but great for traveling. Server was really nice and attentive. read more

Amazing Thai food! Great customer service. I met the owner of the restaurant and he truly cares the food is top quality

Amazing staff!! Great food!!! Only thing missing is better aesthetics. I love the idea of keeping the old style for the charm I don't think fully renovating is necessary but something about this place just feels very run down unfortunately. It is not dirty but because of the condition of this spot it almost makes me think it is. Definitely a most try place though their yellow curry and mango sticky rice is amazing and again, amazing staff! read more

The orange chicken made me sick and there sauces were mediocre.The prices are not worth it you might as well make your own and not get sick.This has to be the worst restaurant I have ever went to. read more

Honestly the best service, we had dinner here last week and I'm back again. I got spring rolls- so fresh and a pho so good! A side of sticky rice of course. They have a nice menu for the boba drinks. read more

If I could give 10/5 stars I would! Excellent service, excellent food, excellent vibes. Truly a great restaurant here in Merced. I would have added a picture of my food to my review but it was so good I ate it before thinking so here's a picture of my empty plate! read more

Sam Cafe - Pad See Ew remains - Thai Near Me - Merced, California

Last day in the area...had to try this place as coworkers said they'd already been and liked it. Located in a small strip mall, there is very limited parking. It doesn't look that appealing either from the outside...so don't judge this place on looks otherwise you'll pass up on some good food. We got there right at opening time (11am). No customers other than us. But they did have some to-go orders already moving. Really nice staff...I think our server was the owner! I opted for their combination Pad Thai. I like hot but also know that Thai hot can blow you away. So I opted for level 8 out of 10. It was definitely hot, but not enough to break into a sweat or to make me constantly down my water or overwhelm the taste. It definitely tasted good too! This place is right off the freeway. if you're passing by and are leaning toward some Thai food, I'd recommend this place in a heartbeat! read more

Sam Cafe - Thai Near Me - Merced, California

This was a DoorDash order. Any specifics I requested were done correctly. Food tasted fresh. Chicken satay, larb (they use tripe), som tum, pho, were good! We ordered more items, but those were our favorite. We will return again. p.s. this is not our first time eating Sam's. read more

You may question your choices when you pull up to this establishment, but let me reassure you, it is worth the stop. It is a quick stop off the freeway and has easy parking. Sam is great and his food is amazing. Food came out so quick...almost as quick as Sam's smile and service. Everything we ordered was yummy. I am so happy I found this place for my half way spot going south. It's a perfect stop for lunch or dinner. read more

The BEST Pad Thai in Merced! The BESTTTTT Pad Thai I've honestly everrrrrrr had. The service here is incredible. Sam (the owner) is incredibly warm, welcoming, and loving! They treat every customer like family and make you feel like you're having dinner at home. Best environment and experience every time we come here. Do yourself a favor and have a meal here, you won't regret it! read more

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Food is amazing one of the best places in Merced, customer service is perfect and food is very authentic

Delicious pad thai and tom yum soup. I still haven't found a Thai place that beats Sam Cafe.

This place never fails us. The atmosphere make you feel like if your at home and treat you like you're part of the family. Food is always 10/10 and portion size is great for the price. If you're trying Thai for the first time they can definitely help with recommending different items on the menu. Also, they were doing a soft launch on their boba today 8/10/25 and offer us a free sample of any flavor and topping off choice. This is definitely a hidden gem. read more

The exterior has plenty of parking and the interior was spacious. We have a party of 7, so I was a little worried we may have to split table, but they have a few large tables suitable for large party. We were greeted by the owner upon arrival and pick our table. The server came by to take our order and answered any questions we had. We ordered fried rice, papaya salad, calamari, beef larb, panaeng curry, chicken pad thai, laht nar, and mixed veggies. Our order came fast and the food was delicious. My favorite are the beef larb and panaeng curry. The service was excellent, food arrived fast and most importantly it was delicious. Highly recommended for anyone in the area looking for Thai food. read more

Great customer service, was greeted once we walked through the door. The food was hot and fresh. Will definitely be coming back.

Best Thai food I've ever eaten, service is great, water glass never goes empty. Also they recently made some interior upgrades, nice and open feeling. Been eating there for over 20 years. read more

Shows extra price in the receipt which is much higher than in the menu. Avoid this scam restaurant! The menu is 11 for all items, they also charge for rice for curry? The room is extremely dark, and I cannot see anything. Extremely bad experience, Stay away! read more

Sam Cafe - Thai Near Me - Merced, California

Service was great! Food was great! Unfortunately I ate my food before I remembered to take pictures.

I love their foods. Very great favorites and spicy if you want. My favorite is the chicken Pad Thai spicy level 7. Freaking delicious and their chicken fried read more

Good food. I like to pick up or order delivery cuz it's kinda sketchy neighborhood. Sam like so socialize.

*Limited indoor seating as of June 21*. Call ahead during busy hours (Friday or Saturday night). This ambience was a bit unexpexted as I walked in. It was dark inside a large space with quite a few tables. Per the owner, they are currently seating less than 5 tables in the entire space. Food deserves a valid 4-star. Several dishes tasted like Chinese and Thai fusion to my "well-eaten" palate. We enjoy spicy food, and 5 out of 10 on the spicy scale was perfect. *Egg Rolls were nothing special, filling had radish and celery and taste homemade. *Gaeng Keow Wahn, aka Green Curry ($8.95, 4 stars) - The green curry sauce is super green and tasted strongly of basil. It was not the most authentic green curry, but it was surprisingly delicious. I highly recommend getting it with fried tofu! *Prah Lard Prik ($12.95, 4.5 stars) - Bite-size pieces of battered and deep-fried white fish covered in a sweet and slightly spicy chili sauce. The sauce especially taste Chinese, kind of like the black bean sauce. Highly recommend! *Peht Yeang Sam ($12.95, 3.5 stars) - Sam's version of Roast Duck. The duck was very red (like Cantonese Char Siu), but tender, moist and did not have too many bones. Overall, food has great flavors. Sam came to say hi and check on us after the food arrived. Also, per the menu, you can request Thai/Southeast Asian dishes not on the menu. My only complain was one of the owners was talking loudly on FaceTime with her family for a long time. She was sitting at the booth not too far from me. But it was Father's Day after all, so though unprofessional, it was cute to hear them catching up with their family. read more

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I LOVE SAM! We stumbled upon this little restaurant on our way to Yosemite. We came in pretty close to their closing time, but they were still willing to take our order. The restaurant is very cozy. Food was authentic and delicious, even though the portions are on the smaller side. Sam was so nice that he even offered to come up with a dish that is not on the menu for us because we were craving beef! Overall, it was a very pleasant experience eating at here. I would recommend this local and family-owned business :) read more

Sam Cafe - Veggies with garlic - Thai Near Me - Merced, California

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Years after graduating from UC Merced we're back to visit a college favorite: Sam Cafe!!! Their pad thai is still as delicious as ever. I got the chicken pad thai spicy level 1 and the boyfie got beef pad thai spicy level 10. He crazy. But he looooved it. Great spice and great flavor. There is a good amount of meat and the noodles are drenched in that yummy pad thai sauce. It was good to see Uncle Sam and his wife again still working the restaurant. Nothing but best wishes to them! And of course the kitchen staff. Try their pad thai if you haven't it's pretty great and flavorful. read more

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Inedible Pad Seew due to mushy noodle, chewy beef and limp veggies. Super salty to boot. Small portion of panaang with the smallest tofu pieces I've ever seen. Egg rolls could not have been homemade. Really disappointed given recommendations of locals. EG Eats read more

Sam Cafe - Thai Near Me - Merced, California

The fresh spring rolls used to be good here, unfortunately they are mainly lettuce and the shrimp was old and fishy. Sad the food and service has gone down hill. The chicken pad Thai I had was also not very good. I used to love this place for food but I won't be back. The table was so dirty and sticky from all the oil on it that has not been cleaned correctly. I had never had that happen there also before. So sad read more

Wonderful complex dishes with abundant alternatives and kid friendly options. We enjoyed the masamam curry with sticky rice and larb salad. Sam came recommended by a Merced local. We appreciated the hidden gem! Here are photos of a few other dishes we ordered. read more

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Delicious food. But they keep raising prices. And portion sizes are keep getting smaller and skimpy on the meat.

Made a pit stop on our way home and decided to eat before everywhere closed l. Don't be deceived by how the surrounding area looks. It's super sketchy, but this place is a hidden gem. We had the thai fried rice,pad kee mao, and imperial rolls. The pad kee mao wasn't the best I've had, but it was very flavorful compared to most places. The thai fried rice on the other hand was phenomenal me and the mrs couldn't get enough of them. Their imperial rolls are ok I wouldn't order them again they didn't fill the entire roll with shrimp just 1 on each end. The restaurant is family owned and operated and the service was great. Each of the staff was attentive and very kind and generous. The waiter kept topping us off on water because the pad kee mao was just a tad spicy for me. The restaurant itself is a bit cluttered but I wouldn't let it stop you from eating good food. Overall, I would recommend Sam's and will definitely stop by whenever we come through town. read more

Visiting from Las Vegas where good Thai food is plentiful. We stopped in for dinner on Sunday night and there was no one here but the staff. We were treated very well and the food was really, really good. Im not sure why this place isn't packed. read more

First off, great food, we weren't expecting to eat such authentic Thai food in a small town of Merced. It was freshly prepared, flavorful and clean ingredients. We had chicken satay, red curry with chicken and everything tasted great. The portions are not super huge - which is great. We like places with sufficient portion sizes but tasty food. The owners are pleasant and great hosts. The place is a little too old, so if you're looking for ambience you might consider a take out. read more

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Ordered couple of things Food tasted delicious but sucks I barely even got any , I got more broth more than food . read more

Sam Cafe - Thai Near Me - Merced, California

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Food is always amazing. I asked if they had Praram as it wasn't on the menu and they made it special order for me. It was delicious. Husband had the Pad Thai which is always great. Highly recommend. read more

Must-visit Cultural Institution of Merced! This restaurant provided affordable delicious thai food while i attended UC Merced and it is still a favorite among college students. The owner Sam is delightful and always works hard to make delicious food and make everything right with your order. Best combo pad thai and best thai lemonade i've ever had! You can personalize your dish from not-spicy to as much spicy heat as you want I just visited for the first time in years and was happy to catch up with him. Excellent man, excellent food! read more

Sam Cafe - Owner and operator Sam of Sam Cafe - Thai Near Me - Merced, California

Sam is the best of Merced as a person Food is always great- a staple of Thai in Merced read more

Pad Thai is always on point, absolutely love it!!! Can't wait to go back. Friends that have never tried Thai food really like the chicken Pad Thai, with a 1-2 heat index.. read more

Yummy Thai food in Merced! Definitely get the pad Thai. It's fantastic! The Tom kha soup was good n rich and I really loved the cashew pineapple fried rice. I want to try their Laos som tam instead of the Thai one next time to compare. I though it could use a bit more lime, but overall was still quite good. I'll definitely order from Sam Cafe again! The owner and staff were really nice and even though we ordered for pick-up, the inside looks like it'd be a great spot to have dinner and watch a game on the TV. read more

We ordered from this place because it was the only Thai place that was open on Door dash today. It was disappointing for what we paid. I will never order from here again. Total $79 0 stars - The chicken pho, I'm sure other restaurants use tap water but this one tasted like it, the broth tasted like tap water, dumped it down the sink couldn't even eat it. 0 star - Imperial rolls...(from the menu it sounded like spring rolls) ughh they are spring rolls with onions...A LOT of onions. I don't even know why they would add it..or at least list it on the menu so you can ask for the onions yo be removed. 1 star - Chicken chow mein, it had all of the right ingredients but no flavor...just ehh. 2 stars - Chicken fried rice....barely any chicken but it did have a good flavor. 3 stars - Chicken pad seew, tasted great but considering everything else was disappointing...I wonder if it just tasted great because it was edible. ‍ read more

Sam Cafe absolutely never disappoints. The pad Thai is my favorite and it has the perfect amount of sauce.

Guys... please do not miss out on Sam Cafe. This is the absolute BEST that it gets here in Merced. I mean it. Not just because of Sam -- btw, Uncle Sam if you're reading this, I hope you remember me from HackMerced :) I miss you every day and hope you're doing well!!! The food here is FANTASTIC. Best in Thai Food Merced hands down. Call me basic but I highly recommend the Pad Thai. You can never go wrong with it. It's always packed with flavor and they really do not skimp out on the toppings which bring everything together. Noodles are always perfectly cooked, and the sauce isn't too overwhelming like most in the area. The interior may not be up to date but the food is absolutely worth it. I left Merced after graduation two years ago and every single time I think about Thai Food back at home in San Diego I yearn to come back to this place just to be eating the delicious and tasty tasty TASTY food here. I'll let you guys in on a little secret... I hosted HackMerced, an annual hackathon serving a couple hundred students over a weekend, for three years. Sam was and is always more than willing to help students out, even at his own expense. I wouldn't be surprised if he broke even or even lost money when supplying HackMerced with food. He absolutely cares about the education and wellbeing of all of the students and treats each of them like family. Sam has always treated me like his own son and I'm sure he will treat you as his own too. Please pay him a visit! He's a legend! read more