#21 I recommend eating at Thai Cafe because it's not too busy, has nice employees and awesome food.But if you're too hungry I would not recommend it because they have slow service. One reason I think you should go is because they have awesome food and they have really nice employees. My favorite food at Thai Cafe is the padziuu, It is so good and If you eat there I would recommend it. One way that the employees are nice is because they have amazing manners! Now here's were some bad stuff comes in : their service is really really slow. You order and then it takes like a HOUR to come! That really sucks and I don't know about you but I get really uncomfortable when I am hungry. It's also not to busy. Reason one: it's small and not a lot of people come to small restaurants. Reason two: it looks old and not a lot a of people come to old restaurants. I have been to a lot of Thai restaurants but this one is my favorite !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Place is solid. There aren't many options for Thai food in Irvine. Price is pretty much the same as any other Thai place. Good service and good food, can't complain much. Parking can be a pain in the ass sometimes. This is one of the worse shopping centers, in terms of drivers. Oh wait... that's all of Irvine. read more

I've been here several times before and have always enjoyed the food. I don't know why I would consider Thai Spice (especially after the last experience) when this option is so much more worth it! This is an actual sit down restaurant with ample seating. I've never had to wait for a table, which is great. Food is really fresh and delicious! I tried the red curry here during my last visit with medium level of hot. It was perfect. Nice kick. I would recommend this to anyone. I can't believe I forgot the name of the chicken plate I had. Man, it was so good too. I also had the beef fried rice. I don't know what they did to the tomato to make it taste so good. Seriously. This seems like such a dumb thing to say but it really was good. Overall, I would recommend this place to everyone. It is authentic Thai food, good prices and good portion. Be aware though, that rice does not come with any of their dishes. Parking of course is a pain because there are so many shops in that plaza and I think every single Asian person in all of Irvine comes to this center for food. Sometimes I park in the 20 minute spaces by the restaurant. I've never seen a cop in there so not much of a risk. read more

Pros: * Decent lunch specials. For around $9, you get soup and an entrée. * The entrees are fairly large in portion, so you will likely have some leftovers. * Speedy on water refills. * The wide noodles were good. Cons: * The food appears to come out at different times. If you're dining with a group, don't expect to get your meal all at once. (Yesterday, it was the beef dishes that were running behind. I received my food more than 10 minutes after my colleague. The guy next to me had his dish come out about 8 minutes later.) * They appear to pay lots of attention to large groups. Great if you're in a large group... but not so great if you're a normal diner. * The service was 'meh.' Nothing spectacular - nothing decent. * Not the best pad see iw beef I've ever had. Don't think I'll be coming back. read more

Not the most authentic Thai restaurant but it's pretty good! Customer service is good and the food is fresh. We ordered... Chi Satay-delicious! Red Curry Veggie-pretty good. Sticky Rice Mango-good I wish they had small portion of soups. You have to order the large (family size). As I'm not a fan of left overs, I didn't get it. This was a nice meal. Am I looking forward to coming back? When I'm in the area...perhaps. read more

Love this place. We had a to-go and the food was yummy. And I'm usually pretty hard on my Thai food. I'm giving the place a "4" based mostly on service. The food and price were solid 3s. Regardless, definitely worth a visit. And a bonus, the place was owned by actual Thais. read more

I moved to Irvine about 6 years ago. Being a Thai food fiend I was in search of the nearest and best Thai restaurant around me. Long be hold Thai cafe was only 10-15 min away. I've always enjoyed the service i receive here whether that be for takeout or restaurant orders. They clarify any and every question you have and I always appreciate that. Now to the sneaky taste buds! Yes! So good. I've never been disappointed their food is never too oily and always sits well. They are not joking when it comes to spice, so be prepared! Don't think you're a hot shot and request medium spicy. Mild is plenty. Cheers to many more years here. read more

DO NOT EVEN GO TO THIS PLACE. This is my first 1-star review here. If I could, I will leave Zero star. Order 2 dishes after 10mins wait, waited for another 35 minutes, nothing, no one ever checked on our table. Will tell all my friends that they got the worst customer services. Truly disappointed. read more

This has the best Pad Thai and Papaya Salad I've ever had in the US. The portions are also very generous, and their lunch menu is fantastic with great prices too. The servers are working nonstop at lunchtimes so not enough time to be that personable, but they do their job well and in a friendly manner. I only wish there were half portion options, because I usually want some salad with my meal but they only offer full portions, and the salads do not keep well as a take out for finishing later. One thing to know if you like really spicy food , is there are two spice level ranges. Regular spicy levels 1-5, and Thai spicy levels up to 10. Venture with each level after 5, if level 5 is still not hot enough. I've had a level 10, and although I did manage to complete my meal, I felt that level 8 was the super hottest sweet spot in my case. I fully recommend every dish I've had over the last 8 years, and will definitely continue to dine there. read more

Servers are alright but food is pretty decent. Not a lot of amazing Thai places in OC and this is definitely my favorite for 3 things: Panang curry, beef pad see ew, and Tom Kha khai soup. read more

Honestly the best Thai food in the area. Huge portion sizes at a great rate. My wife and I won't go anywhere else.

Their food is good, but their service is what sets them apart for me. They are an honest family business and they are really friendly and they remember our family everytime we come to eat! read more

I ordered what turned out to be an amazing lunch. Everything was tasty, hot, fresh and plentiful. The place was immaculate and the employees were careful about COVID-19 precautions. There are many popular Thai restaurants with lower standards for food, service and cleanliness, and I'm pleased that this one is a real notch higher in all areas. read more

This place is terrible. The service at this restaurant is pathetic. Unless you wish to be treated badly, you shouldn't venture here. We were a party of 9. We were forced to spilt even though bigger table was available. I think the server was racist. She kept saying she knows her job and is too busy to find a table for us. She scolded us a few times and pushed us several times to place an order quickly. She came with the order and shouted out the item we ordered and banged the plate on the table. If they are short staffed that's restaurant's problem not the customers. Food was ok. Nothing out of ordinary. We are a corporate company close to this restaurant and we have decided not to go to this restaurant. Very bad customer service and very ordinary food. Don't bother. Go somewhere else. read more

I went there with a friend around 8:15pm and even though the place was quite full, they could place us in a table immediatelly. Good quality food and great quantity in each plate (I was so hungry but I couldn't finish my Pai Thai, so they boxed it for me. It was actually the size of another full meal). Good customer service (I really liked that they were not the usual too-much asking waiters). Related to parking, there is plentu in the mall. read more

Thai Cafe - Pad Thai (enough for 2 meals or 2 people) - Thai Near Me - Irvine, California

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How do you judge a Thai (or ethnic) restaurant? Well, one way is to consider the heat you get when you ask for "medium spicy." This might score a little lower in L.A. since the competition's a bit more up there. The Tom yum gai soup (sour and spicy Thai soup with chicken) and pork Prig king (the Thai name for pork belly and yard long beans fried in red curry paste) both gave me a kick in the belly from some proper heat, not some American medium heat. :) Both of these were tasty, but I suspect came with a lil' sprinkling of MSG as I was parched for the rest of the evening, but no side effects that some folks get with MSG. Kim Y. mentioned the www.cheapirvine.com voucher which I also used to save me $3.50 off of my dinner. The two dishes above and one bowl of white rice set Samantha and I back $24 incl tip. A good value Friday night dinner. The staff were efficient and friendly, although I would've liked a little more guidance through the menu as it's huge, but each dish did come with a small pic to help (but actually confused me a bit! ;) ) Recipes: http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/tom_yum_gai.php http://www.thai-eyes.com/thailand/thailand-recipe-pad-prik-king read more

Holy Moly. I haven't had Thai food this good in ages. See my other reviews, but I'm super snobby with the Thai food. My friend got the pad thai. Had quality chicken and was nice n' orange. YES, I like my pad thai with lots of tamarind sauce. :) So FYI on that one. I got one of my favorite dishes. Note that this review is for their lunch special. I don't know the name but it's ground chicken on rice, with a fried egg on it. You mush up the egg and mix everything up and it's mega flavorful and full of nom. My friend reached over and tried it, and stared enviously for the rest of lunch at my dish. Holla at Thai Cafe, I will return. And I shall feast upon your tasty noms. I thank thee for such a flavorful experience. read more

Cute little restaurant. I experienced friendly, but annoyingly slow service. The pad thai was bland, yellow curry was average, tom yum was EXCELLENT, egg rolls were average, and mango sticky rice was delicious. Since I determine whether or not I will be returning to a Thai restaurant based on their pad thai, I probably will not be going back to Thai Cafe. Well actually....unless I'm craving only tom yum and mango sticky rice. read more

Been here a few times now and always enjoy the casual environment here. It's clean, good service. I can't get enough of their pai thai & thai iced tea! Yum! ^_^ read more

This probably my favorite Thai place in OC. It's quaint and simple but nicer than a hole in the wall joint. It's also super clean too! The pad thai is a given and a must but the beef salad is also something really good as a meal or appetizer. It has quite the salty-tang-spice and interesting texture mix to it. The thai iced teas are also pretty strong (in a good way) and definitely complements the food. read more

Thai Cafe - Thai Near Me - Irvine, California

We tried this place because it was local...Meh... I'd rather drive farther to get better thai food. I mean the service was good and the staff was friendly, but the soda was flat, the tom yum soup was not that sour and the beef satay looked (and tasted) like soy meat. The saving grace tonight was the pad thai. It was pretty decent (could've used more crushed peanuts- I'm just saying ) I will add that we took them up on their offer to change out the satay for chicken but it still wasn't good. read more

Thai Cafe - Tom yum koong (shrimp) - Thai Near Me - Irvine, California

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Finally found my boat noodle soup in OC, and it's legit! Only thing is that it took a long time for our food to come out, but the portions were good and they packed up our leftovers for us! read more

Thai Cafe - BOAT NOODLE SOUP! - Thai Near Me - Irvine, California

Wow I dont know if it's new management or what but the food was spectacular! The service is always nice and attentive though. Went here a few years ago and thought the portions were small and overpriced. My mom wanted to go here again (craving Thai food) and so glad we did! The sizes are true family size, the ingredients plentiful and fresh....we will be back! read more

If you can't handle spicy, make sure you tell them no spice! We ordered all our food mild and it seemed to come out medium to hot, and we had to send back one dish. They were very nice about it and remade our dish. Despite the remaining spiciness, the food was honestly delicious and well seasoned. The service was great, and they were very good about refilling our water glasses. Lol. We will be back! read more

I'll come back to write a more thorough review some other time, but the main point is I LOVE THIS PLACE. Prices are good for Irvine, and food is just good! Plus the service is outstanding, the owner is super jolly and reminds me of my own dad haha. I love how close this is to UCI, the serving size is perfect I think. My favorite dishes: Pad See Ew- with chicken or beef, has chinese broccoli.. this dish always hits the spot from the sweetness of the sauce to the chewiness of the rice noodles. I always add some spicy sauce bc i need everything spicy. Beef Salad- delicious for those times you dont wanna eat too heavy. its sliced beef, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers and iceberg lettuce in a spicy lime sauce (can request mild) Fried rice- nothing extraordinary but delicious nonetheless and goes well with curries. Curries- they are okay, i've tried the red, green, and panang. I prefer the green curry with beef. Satay- yummy but pretty standard Mango with Sticky rice- I LOVE THIS DISH HERE, they drench it in the coconut milk and its only 4.95... ive paid double that with half the amount at other thai restaurants.. sometimes i go just for the dessert.. if you go you should atleast try this. And its mango season now so its more delish... GO! EAT! NOW! read more

My friend claimed that this was the best Thai restaurant in Irvine, so we decided to try it out. I got spoiled with great Thai food in Davis, so I was expecting awesome dishes here. The parking lot was PACKED, so finding parking was hard. With this many people getting dinner in that plaza, I thought our 5 person group would have to wait a while to get a table. Not the case at Thai Cafe! They seated us right away in the, what we called, "VIP room." They quickly handed us menus and brought iced water over. Our server even let us use the TV remote to pick what we wanted to watch. Alas, they didn't have much choices, so we ended up just turning it off. I ordered the Panang Beef Curry. The portion didn't look very big, but I had lots to bring home for leftovers! It had good consistency, and the beef was very tender. The boy ordered a Garlic Beef dish, which was really flavorful, but I felt like it was a little too garlic-y. But overall, pretty good Thai food! This place charges for a dollar for rice though. What? Shouldn't rice be complimentary!? (Just nod and say yes.) If I wasn't so full from dinner, I would've tried their Mango Sticky Rice! read more

Thai Cafe - Panang beef curry - Thai Near Me - Irvine, California

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There's one dish i come here repeatedly for (WHENEVER I'm in the irvine area): THE TOM YUM NOODLE SOUP. It's hands down one of my favorite foods of all time and its not made as good as it is here at Thai Cafe. The noodle soup is the same concept as pho I'd say. Theres rice noodles, broth, and a couple of different types of meat (chicken & shrimp). The broth here is super good and definitely opens your palate. The flavor is very complex and balances out with the plain rice noodles. The broth permeates inside the noodles making it super good and unlike any other tom yum noodle soup I've tried (and trust me i've tried a lot from a lot of different places). The other thai food here is really good as well, such as the pad kee mao, pad see ew, and phad thai. the noodles are chewy but not hard, and the flavor is always there. Sometimes the phad thai's sauce is a little too watery but it all depends on the cook the day you come in i think. There is literally nothing at this place that i didnt like. everything here is good, if not great. Last time I came here, I came with other people and we ordered extra noodles in the tom yum noodle soup for 2$. There was less broth because we did this so we asked the waiter if we could get more and we did! service, in this aspect, is great! My recommendations: pad kee mao, tom yum noodle soup, and the pineapple fried rice (which is a little on the sweeter side). The only reason I ranked this place 4 instead of 5 stars is because the wait for your food after you order is SO LONG :(. its probably because theyre understaffed, but i usually have to wait around 20-30 minutes after I place my order (even when its not super busy). But, this does not stop me from coming here all the time. the food definitely makes the wait worth it. If i could i would rate this place 4.5 stars!!! (instead of 4) WILL BE COMING BACK AS I ALWAYS DO WHEN IM IN IRVINE. BEST SIT DOWN THAI SPOT IN ALL OF SOUTHERN CALI!! read more

Thai Cafe - Pad see ew !! - Thai Near Me - Irvine, California

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2.5 stars....maybe we got the wrong dishes? Roomie and I came here for dinner on a weeknight and we got the following: 1. Chicken Satay - SUPER SUPER salty. The satay sauce wasn't very flavorful. The meat, however, was very moist. 2. Green Curry with Chicken (you can switch meat upon request) - Mediocre. DOES NOT come with rice ($1.00) 3. Papaya Salad - I asked for spicy and it definitely delivered! Sweet and sour with plenty of papaya shreds and peanuts. Prices were not the most wallet-friendly - the above costed us $32! I've had way better (way better) Thai food for half the price. Nice, clean place with nice staff....though not sure if I'll return anytime soon since their food is just whatevers. read more

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I had moved to Cypress Village from another area in Irvine, and was hunting down a decent dinner spot one night after i got tired of unpacking. I saw Thai Cafe and thai food sounded good so i thought I would give it a shot. I walked in and was seated right away. The place is a little on the older side, as i noticed the booths were taped together and everything was a little worn down in general. It was clean tough so I could live with it being on the older side. The waitress was very friendly and took my order and brought out my food quickly. I went with a thai iced coffee, the coconut milk soup with chicken, and veggie spring rolls. The coffee was good, the spring rolls were tasty, and the soup was ok. I have a couple fav Thai spots where the soup is awesome, so i tend to compare. The soup here just lacked flavor. While not horrible by any means, it definitely wasn't top 3. Overall not a bad little spot. I will return in the future to try other dishes. read more

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Excellent tom yum noodle soup and yellow curry. Service is sometimes good and sometimes meh. It annoys me that they don't have to go menus so I took pictures today of the ENTIRE menu. read more

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Thai Cafe has amazing food. I've been going there for over 14 years and am always satisfied. My favorites are the rice with salted fish, Penang beef, basil chicken and Tom Kha Gai soup. The staff are friendly and the service is great. read more

I couldn't tell you what the food was like cause I never got it. Went there on a sunday around 4pm. Door was locked. Lady inside was saying to come back at 5. There is no sign saying they are closed at that time on a Sunday. So if you want to try this place just make sure they are open like the sign and website says read more

I don't know about customer service bc we ordered delivery and the food was delicious! Flavorful and fresh. The vegetables cooked perfectly with a nice crunch. Ordered 4 dishes and I enjoyed all of them! read more

** Review is for a to-go experience ** I found this place on yelp after spending the day in Irvine and we wanted to grab some good food before we went back to the hotel. The workers were all nice and inviting, especially the one that was taking our order. She was super patient as we were looking through the menu and didn't rush us at all. We both ended up ordering the pad thai with tofu. The food came out relatively quick and stayed hot for quite some time. (I was able to wait until after we got back to the hotel, got settled in, and take a shower and my food was still warm!) The portions they gave us were ginormous! We kept eating out of each of our to go boxes, but we felt like we weren't even making a dent! The food was absolutely delicious and was extremely filling. I'll definitely have to keep this place in mind whenever I'm up in Irvine. read more

Love this place so much ummm~~^^ My favorite menu is shrimp pad see ew. I tried many different places but here always have great taste and good portions. Thank you. read more

Really good! Came here on a whim because the KBBQ place around the corner we planned to visit had a really long waitlist. We ordered vegetable soup, chicken fried rice, beef pad see ew, and thai bbq chicken. Vegetable soup - AMAZING. Strong lemongrass and cilantro flavors with wonderfully cooked veggies and tofu served in a boiling pot heated from underneath. Would come back just for this or to try their other soups. Chicken fried rice - AMAZING. So buttery and smooth, rice was cooked perfectly and not overly salty as I normally notice. Honestly, I wasn't too excited for this one but it was a definite hit. Beef pad see ew - GOOD. Very good flavor on the sauce, noodles cooked perfectly. Needed some acid to break up the richness of the sauce, though. Thai bbq chicken - OK. But to be fair, I was not at all excited about this one. The dipping sauce was way too spicy for us and the chicken itself was cooked well but just not really my thing. Overall, we will absolutely be back! $60 for 3 people with nearly 50% being taken away as leftovers is a steal these days! Our server was polite and our waters were kept full the entire meal. The restaurant has a very cozy feel - although it was full the whole time, we felt very comfortable and welcome. Thank you! read more

It's the closest Thai restaurant from my home that I hoped it was decent. Tried twice but unfortunately not good enough for my opinion compared to other Thai restaurants. read more

The food is good.. like really good! The downside to this place? Every employee has mastered the resting bitch face (RBF). Would it really kill you to smile just ONCE? It doesn't even have to be a big one.. maybe just enough to know that my existence in this restaurant isn't ruining your day. Service is also slow. You really have to advocate for your water refills. Don't be disheartened if they ignore you once or twice. Third time is always a charm :) +3 stars for the amazing pad thai, curry plates and fried rice. -2 stars for the impressive, but unappreciated RBF. read more

I've had a lot of thai food and gone to many places from LA to SD, but this is one of the best i've had! Tum Yum Noodle Soup, never seen it anywhere but here. its not typically sweet/sour tum yum, its more like PHO on Steroids! Great flavor and mix of ingredients. i prefer it with the thick noodles. A MUST TRY! Pad See Eww, best i've had! great taste, not grease. get mix of veggies. i recommend it with beef! Pad Thai, most tables have this on their table when i'm there, but i've never had it. seems to stereotypical to get at a thai food place. Pad Mee Chew, or whatever its called in Thai they are drunken noodles, great mix of spicy and minty! i've had them with beef and chicken, both are great! great mix of flavors, not bland what so ever! thai tee, like most, its good! yellow curry chicken, i'm getting it next time i'm there. looks and smells amazing! mango with sticky rice, is a great way to finish off your meal! bottom line: i love it, you can order your food as spicy as you want, the server asks, you "how spicy do you want 1-10" just beware, sometimes you order it a 8 and the cook is angry and you get it a 12, but whatever, the mix of flavors are amazing you cant help but eat it anyway, besides wash it down with a cold thai tee or Singha Beer, that will take care of it! read more

It's about time I update my review for this place after 7 years! I tried this place back in '09 and hated it. I tried it again last year and have visited pretty often since. This is the closest and yummiest Thai restaurant from my house. Here's what I usually order: -Pad Thai: I love Thai Cafe's pad thai. It's really flavorful and not dry/boring like others I've tried. One time the chef made it too ketchup-y though. Most of the time it's good. -Panang Curry & Green Curry: YUM. Both are so tasty and smooth. Only issue is it can get pretty spicy even if you ask them for mild. I wish it came with rice. -Tom Yum Soup: This might be an acquired taste, but I love it. Sooooo tasty..makes my mouth drool. The chicken in it is super tender too. -Spicy Chicken Fried Rice: Sounds boring and usually wouldn't pick this off the menu, but my friend ordered it once and now we can't stop ordering it. IT'S SO GOOD. and spicy. Trust me, it's not normal fried rice. Service can really be a hit or miss. The staff gets stressed out when it's "busy" so the food can sometimes take really long to come out. I put quotes around "busy" because Thai cafe pretty much never has a wait, compared to other restaurants in the neighboring plazas. read more

Thai Cafe - Spicy chicken fried rice - Thai Near Me - Irvine, California

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