Located on the corner of Riverside and Lankershim, Summer Canteen is a restaurant I used to drive past all the time, but never managed to stop in and eat at. I finally ended up here a couple weeks ago for my first time and I'm not in a major rush to come back. Although I thought the ambiance and service was nice, the food was a bit underwhelming and the prices were higher than expected. To eat, we ordered the pho ($19) and pad see ew ($21). While I'm happy I tried this place, I probably wouldn't go out of my way to return. read more

Summer Canteen - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

Interior - nicely decorated, modern, spacious and clean. Staff - friendly and attentive. We came just as it opened for dinner and it got busy quickly. Miang-gham - DELICIOUS. This feels like the perfect appetizer. It is refreshing, light, sweet and savory! Adding the small peppers also adds a nice kick. Spicy seafood - it was sweet, flavorful and had a mild kick to it. Overall, the sauce was just right and there was a good quantity of each protein in the mix Gra pow - This one was very good. The sauce was sweet and savory and the egg was fried with a crispy and cloudy bite. Lamb shank massaman curry - The lamb was tender Portion sizes were just right! read more

See all

I've been coming here for 15 1/2 years and the food is always consistent and delicious. read more

See all

The place was nice and clean quiet too , the service was good i was full so i really didn't have that much appetite to eat so i cant say the dood was great i bet it was.... Overall price range is ok too Wanted to try dessert oh well i guess there will be next time .... read more

My day surprise dinner planned by my daughter Loved the beautiful decor My steak was phenomenal and brought me childhood tasteful memories- like when my mom cooked carne Asada con leña. Service was great too. Parking- either you do valet OR parking street. Simple as that. read more

Been coming here for years. Service is always great. Restaurant is clean and spacious. Whenever I'm feeling under the weather I order their Tom Yum and it always satisfies! read more

A Hidden Gem: Summer Canteen - The Thai Oasis You Didn't Know You Needed! You wouldn't think this place existed, but there it was, tucked away in a shopping center across from Coffee Bean--as if it were playing hide and seek with our taste buds. Entering Summer Canteen felt like stepping into a secret paradise where the staff greeted us with such warm kindness that I briefly wondered if I had wandered into someone's living room instead of a restaurant. (Can I get a "Welcome home!" with my pad Thai, please?) The atmosphere of this place is hands down chill vibes and cute--like a Pinterest board exploded in a good way. Seriously, if you haven't taken your Instagram feed on a vacation here, are you even living? Now, let's talk about happy hour, which is basically the golden hour for food enthusiasts. From 5-7 PM, I felt like I'd stumbled onto a magical time portal where drinks were cheaper, and calories didn't count. We made it right at the start because who doesn't want to feel like a rock star sipping on Lost Coast Tangerine wheat beer? It was such a crisp taste and smooth--if I could bathe in it, I might consider that as my new self-care routine. We shared dinner plates that were so good, I consider them my new best friends. Honestly, I'm not sure if I was dining or participating in a culinary love affair. Each bite was an explosion of flavor, and I found myself in a committed relationship with their garlic stir-fry. Move over, Netflix; I have plans with my new Thai spot! So if you're searching for a place that feels like a cozy hug while serving up deliciousness, look no further than Summer Canteen. Just promise me you'll save me a seat--preferably during happy hour! read more

Summer Canteen - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

It's been many many years since I've been to Summer. I used to work within walking distance and frequented here at a point. I wanted to come back here to have some of their food again. I usually have homemade Thai food so it's rare I have it at a restaurant. I came for lunch and had the Massaman Lamb curry. I had it with brown rice and salad. The lunch set comes with soup or salad and veggie egg roll. The food is good like it always was. As times have changed so have the prices. This is definitely NOT a cheap lunch folks. read more

See all

When you hear the word, 'summer'; positive imagery and emotions probably flood your brain. There isn't only because of the summer season but the conditioned idea of summer that is a serotonin boost. Compound the word 'summer' into a restaurant name and it is sure to be a winner, right? That's how I've always felt about Summer Canteen, a Thai-Vietnamese-Burmese fusion eatery in the Toluca Lake neighborhood; but, does this theory hold true? Summer Canteen has been a staple in the double-decker shopping center on the corner of Lankershim/Riverside for a solid number of years. You know the one: across the street from Arco with the Coffee Bean and Dr. Cleaners (my go-to dry cleaners but that's another review!). You can't miss Summer Canteen with its paunchy signage and corner real estate spot. A free lot and underground parking is available so rest assured that is not a stressor when visiting Summer Canteen: easy like summer! Being the sister restaurant to a handful of LA spots such as Gindi Thai (love them), Summer Buffalo in Burbank, Summer Summer and Summer Fish & Rice; the menu at Summer Canteen boasts Asian fusion goodies like satay, larb, curries, fried rice, noodle dishes and an extensive list of plant-based entrees using Impossible brand. This is also a welcoming menu for someone who is Celiac such as myself with gluten free options. So far, so good. My dining partner and I were celebrating my birthday with a casual dinner and chose Summer Canteen as the location. Upon entering we were pleasantly impressed with the interior which is modern, spacious with airy, high ceilings, lots of glossy wood accents, and green (fake) plants everywhere. Summer Canteen has a sort of Boho/Ikea/California feel that certainly fits right into Los Angeles. However, there was an immediate awkwardness as there seems to be a language barrier with the staff. I tried to make conversation with the waitress and also mentioned my birthday and she literally ignored me and didn't respond to anything. It was borderline rude. Again, I suspect a language barrier but this was definitely not a way to 'sell' a business. Trying to ignore this, we focused on ordering. I went with the Braised Lamb Shank in Massaman Curry (lamb shank and peanuts simmered in coconut spice curry - $21) while my dining partner chose Chicken Rice (poached chicken, steam rice, and cucumber - which he omitted- served with spicy ginger sauce - $18.75). The food arrived rather quickly but I was instantaneously let down as we eat with our eyes first. My Lamb Shank Massaman Curry was a small portion served in a huge bowl and was very one-note in color and mostly sauce. Not even a green herb was present. The Chicken Rice looked awful: white boiled chicken and white rice and that's it (granted, my dining partner asked for no cucumbers). It looked like hospital food served to a sick person and most definitely not worth the price. Maybe the flavors made up for this presentation? No. My Lamb Shank Massaman Curry had was devoid of any peanut or coconut flavor and simply tasted like Japanese curry while the potatoes were too large in size (they didn't give me a knife) and were insanely tough and hard. These were probably rocks versus potatoes and clearly weren't cooked long enough. The lamb was tender, at least, and the only redeeming factor. Regardless, not even close to being worth the $21 cost. The Chicken Rice was just as bland as it looked and was only made edible with the Spicy Ginger sauce that was tasty but more of a liquid soup than a sauce. Summer Canteen was not only a bust in terms of a birthday meal but in general, overall. It's a complete waste of money. There isn't much more to say about Summer Canteen. It isn't saved by having 'summer' in its name and is simply a 'no' with its poor customer service and overpriced food that would not be described as delicious, in the least. This is odd because its sister restaurant Gindi Thai is quite good. Summer Canteen is a bust and can be skipped! read more

See all

Place has gone way downhill. I've been ordering the same dish for years and tonight I sent it back. Empty restaurant and waitress sat me & my date at the smallest table. We had one knife to share between Time to find a new spot. read more

Summer canteen never really disappoints. Every time I'm back in LA. I make sure I come here. The drinks are awesome, fresh ginger always. Drunken noodles are great and so are the summer rolls. They are always very delicious and the shrimp are fresh. This was my first time ordering the calamari, it was just OK. That's the only thing I would NOT order again. The service was great and the ambience is always a chill vibe and you never know who you may see. I highly recommend Summer Canteen and can't wait to return. Note: they do close early - bummer around 8:30pm. read more

Summer Canteen - Calamari - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

See all

Not what I would call a 'traditional' Thai restaurant. Maybe more Gourmet? I mean, when do you get a ribeye dish at a Thai restaurant? Well, here you can! Like the Ribeye string beans or the Ribeye Steak with Basil or the Nam Tok Neua made with Marinated grilled Ribeye. Yum. But that's just the Ribeye dishes. WHo cares right? It's a Thai Restaurant. Their traditional dishes are also delish: Pad Thai The CURRIES! Tom-Yum and Tom-Kha soups Nam Tok Neua Larb among other things like: Grilled Pork Butt Tofu Fries and Spicy Fried Rice I haven't tried the Frog Legs but they are there if you want them! It's not really a family style restaurant where you share the dishes - but you can. It's more like order a dish, get some rice, and dig in. It's all yours. It's a different Thai style of dining, but it doesn't not lack in flavor, variety, with both traditional dishes and unique dishes. Highly recommend if you're tired of 'traditional' and just want something new. read more

Really beautiful place. Easy free parking . Very clean , restrooms, modern and nice plating and friendly staff. read more

Summer Canteen - Super clean - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

See all

Good food, not cheap, but very good and tasty. It's been a while since, but I'll be there again soon.

Like the atmosphere, the service, and most of all the food. It's nice also to have convenient parking at that corner shopping mall.

The food is incredible here. I've been coming for over 10 years. Must try the crispy spring rolls!

My friend and I are obsessed with Rustic Spoon a few minutes away, but we go there so often that we finally decided to branch out and try a different Thai restaurant. Summer Canteen is a cute little neighborhood restaurant that serves up traditional Thai staples as well as a mix of other Asian cuisines (like the Burmese tea leaf salad and the chicken wings). I of course ordered the curry noodles (my go-to at Rustic Spoon), which combines my favorite Thai yellow curry dish with my addiction to carbs AKA noodles. The noodles were a little tougher than I like, but the curry flavor was mouthwateringly delicious, to the point that I found myself on the verge of licking my bowl clean. Haha. Anyways, while Rustic Spoon remains our favorite, Summer Canteen is a good alternative for a change of scenery, especially since it's pretty spacious and easier to find seating. read more

Summer Canteen - Curry noodles - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

Had the ribeye and string beans, Thai beef salad with noodle and mango and garlic shrimp! It was all delicious! My favorite was the ribeye and string beans. My son's favorite was the garlic shrimp! Thank you Summer Canteen for a delicious dinner! read more

Tom yum soup is good but super overpriced, nothing special in the soup by the way. I have only tried the Tom yum soup and I paid $12 but was in shock to receive a small sized deli tub... for $12!!! I took it to work and asked my coworkers what they thought and they were shocked too. Just ridiculous so can't recommend. read more

Summer Canteen - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

Food: we had the lunch special and it was the perfect meal! I had the Pad Thai and my husband had the Orange chicken. It was soo delicious It was the BEST noodles ever!! Service: They were so friendly and fast with the meals Ambiance: It was so cute and clean! I love how the have hooks for the purses read more

See all

Food is amazing and rich in flavor! Especially the pad thai! Service is always welcoming and attentive. A go to spot in noho.

Been here three times with a work group. Each and every-time I order different and always disappointed. The crazy amount of sugar in these dishes would kill a diabetic. This time I ordered veggies w garlic shrimp. Seemed safe enough.... Nope! If I had to guess I would say there's no garlic in it and about 4 teaspoons of sugar. Under cooked veggies and wine from three days ago. Staff is very nice, food presentation is nice but taste like I ate a candy bar i have a skin reaction to sugar and luckily had my meds with me. read more

Summer Canteen - Garlic shrimp and veggies - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

i like service and their food pad thai is good tom kha and tom yum are nice price wise and flavor wise good,also cozy overall nice read more

Was sat right away. Friendly staff. Got their Thai iced coffee. And their lamb curry lunch special with a soup. Lamb was so tender. Good and calm music not too loud. Came here to study my lines. I'll come here again :) read more

See all

This is our go to spot for amazingly fresh and well prepared Thai food. The service is outstanding and the food is excellent. The ambience is always family, friendly and never too crowded for good service. read more

This is one of my favorite go-to lunch spots in the Universal City area. If you're looking for a Thai/Asian fusion cuisine this is the spot. The staff is very friendly and the food is always consistent. Here's a list of some of my favorite items on the menu: Isaan Sausage (extra grilled) Summer Rolls Summer Fried Rice (with unmilled brown rice substitute) Spicy Basil Minced Chicken Salmon Teriyaki Drunken Noodle Curry Noodles The ginger lemonade pairs really well with each item and is very refreshing! read more

Summer Canteen - Summer Fried Rice (with Unmilled Brown Rice substitute) - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

This has been my favorite Thai place for years. The lunch special is so delicious and worth the price. Over the years the menu has changed but the food remains excellent. I really like the lamb massaman curry. All the curries are good. The ginger lemonade and Thai tea are the best in LA. Can't wait to try the Thai tea creme brûlée. read more

Modernistic glass building houses busy kitchen with great aromas rising with the sizzle behind the counter. Elegant presentation of old favorites: pad Thai and green curry with tofu which were delicious. Iced or hot green tea. Very reasonable prices, Interesting offerings like Braised short ribs with vermicelli and lamb shank and peanuts in mussamun curry. 10 minutes from Universal Studios Hollywood. read more

Summer Canteen - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

I love this restaurant right around the corner from our place. Great Thai food, a nice outdoor seating area (though small) and excellent Thai Iced Tea, along with alcoholic drinks. The banana dessert is excellent as well. Specifically, I love the summer rice, the spring rolls and the pad Thai, though everything we have had is good. read more

My boyfriend and I love it here! We e been ordering take out from them for years and occasionally pop in to eat in person in their cute space. The food is fresh and delicious always. Some of our favorites I'm rotation are the Not So Ordinary Chicken, Chicken Drunken Noodles, Spicy Fried Rice, Fried Tofu (extra sauce!) and the Pad Thai. We've had many of their noodles all delicious. Definitely give this spot a try if you live in the area! We're so happy Summer Canteen made it through the pandemic! read more

Ordered some food to go, friendly service. Easy pickup. Crispy egg rolls were tasty and very crispy. Pad thai was yummy, generous portion. Will return to try more things! read more

One of the best pad Thai I ever had! The noodle was perfectly chewy and bouncy and season. For a small little restaurant, I thought it was very cute and a great place for lunch. Their service was also great! My friend forgot her credit card and the server came running into the underground parking lot to find us . read more

I've had several tasty dishes, but the curry noodle is my fav. If you like yellow curry, I highly recommend it!

Zero expectations going in. My friend decided on Thai and this was the only place in this area. Surprisingly, Summer Canteen is now my favorite place for beef panang in the entire valley. Yes, this place is in a strip mall and yes, the gentrified Toluca Lake/NoHo area has become a pricey place even for lunch, but the service was attentive and friendly, the gastropub of a place was clean and inviting, and most importantly, the food was that good. I was seriously blown away by how good the curry was. The menu is extensive with Thai staples like tom yum, larb, beef noodle soup, and chicken satay. For the more adventurous, you can even order up some frog legs. There's even a decent wine selection and beer of course along with simple cocktails (no full bar though). The lunch specials are few but hey, beef panang and the pad Thai were available! I'm not normally one for pad Thai, but after trying my friend's dish, the noodles had a wonderful texture (not overcooked or too chewy), and the sweet and sour flavors were mixed perfectly. Now the beef panang is where it's at. It consisted of large slices of tender easy to pull apart beef that had so much flavor. I took my entire dome of rice and mixed it in because the sauce was so rich and tasty without being overly spiced (which is how I feel about a lot of Indian curries). Plenty of seating if you're here for lunch, but just in case, they also take reservations. Parking might be a pain but there's an underground lot as well. If you're around, this is it for Thai. read more

Summer Canteen - Beef panang (lunch special) - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

It was so tasty, and they were fast too. I ordered the drunken noodles and I was sold. Coming back again. read more

Always spot on from the egg rolls to the ribeye and string beans. Thank you summer canteen for helping us erase a horrible lunch experience at a other place today. You never disappoint and the Thai ice tea is just so great. So goood read more

I can't believe last night was the very first time I tried Summer Canteen. I used to live just down the street, and used to work at NBC UNI just blocks away! I used to always drive to Sherman Way in NoHo for Thai food, when I could have gotten a better dining experience at Summer Canteen! Dang, I've been slippin all this time. Some Yelp Elite. Anyway, let's get to it. Summer Canteen is open during these Covid times, with outdoor dining on their super nice patio, which has really great ambiance at night, offering a great view of cars driving down Riverside (I'm serious - for people like me who like people watching/car spotting, I like facing the street) and the historic Barris Kustoms across the street, which is the place where the original Batmobile and many other movie cars were created. At night, they have strings of lights hanging outside, which makes the patio look really inviting, and there's even a nice breeze blowing through the patio because of the way it's shaped. Awesome. Good place for a date. (I wasn't on a date though. I was just with a female friend. Lol ok ok TMI) THE FOOD If you've ever tried Burmese food, you know how amazing the BURMESE TEA LEAF SALAD is. I've been looking for a place in Southern Cali that had Burmese Tea Leaf salad for years. Whenever I go to the Bay Area, I always go to Burma Superstar in Berkeley or Oakland for the Tea Leaf Salad, and I was pleasantly shocked to see that Summer Canteen had Burmese Tea Leaf Salad on their menu... Anyway, we ordered it last night and IT IS SOOOOO GOOD!!! It has a perfect blend of their flavorful homemade tea leaves with the crunch of peanuts, cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dried shrimp, tomatoes, fried garlic, sesame seeds, and lettuce. Damn, just thinking about it makes me want to go back there today to order the salad again. Honestly, the Burmese Tea Leaf Salad is so good that I didn't want to share it. Next time I'll order one just for myself. We also ordered the "SUMMER BUFFALO WINGS" in Garlic/Black Pepper flavor. Whoever wrote the menu really undersold this dish by not explaining to customers how delicious it is. The chicken wings are super super crispy, but soft on the inside. It made me wonder if they double fried them. The wings are super flavorful, thanks to the combo of black and fresh garlic, served with fresh green onions and soft, stir fried garlic on top. SO BOMB. We also ordered BEEF PANANG CURRY, which was awesome. Super soft big chunks of beef slow-cooked in spicy coconut milk curry with your choice of rice on the side. It is amazingly flavorful. We also had MANGO & STICKY RICE, which was good, and the waiter also surprised us with a free cup of COCONUT ICE CREAM to share. Such a great experience. I can't wait to go back to Summer Canteen again. read more

Summer Canteen - Burmese Tea Leaf Salad. YOU MUST TRY THIS!!! - Thai Near Me - Toluca Lake, California

My favorite Thai food in LA. The best sour chicken soup. The quality of ingredients are very good and fresh. The people who work there always nice and welcoming. I will definitely recommend this restaurant for every person who likes Thai food. read more

The food has always been very delicious, and the portions are generous, too! The service is the best though! They are so kind, and I helpful to my boyfriend and myself. Who are both blind. Love this place! read more

I'm updating this review three years later to say that Summer Canteen is still my favorite Thai food ever. I used to live down the street from it, but now I just have to go a little farther. The mild yellow chicken curry is my ultimate comfort food. I ordered last night and it was perfection. read more