Me: A hungry tourist looking for something other than meatloaf, turkey, hot dogs and burgers in Traverse City. Thai Cafe: The answer to a prayer. Thai Cafe really came to the rescue during my vacation in Traverse City. Don't get me wrong - I love a good burger - but the monotony of the food choices in Traverse City was really starting to wear on me towards the end of my holiday week in the area, so boy, was I glad to find Thai Cafe via Yelp on my iPhone as I was heading down Route 31. Pad Thai was huge and tasty (although slightly on the gluey side for me), the Tom Kha soup was excellent, and the green curry chicken was spot on. Atmosphere is bright, clean strip-mall, waiters are friendly and helpful, service is fast and efficient. All in all, a great find in an ethnic food desert. read more

A haiku, by GirlShawn. Thai Cafe Pad Thai You make my tummy happy Nom nom nom nom nom But they do not deliver, and that's some crap. But the pad thai is amazing, it's one of those hidden little strip mall gems of TC. read more

For a town with very few Thai options, this place does the job. The interior is outdated and a bit sad, but if the food is amazing who cares? The food is not amazing. Not that it's bad either. It's just... okay. Our server was nice but also seemed kind of annoyed with us because we were asking questions about the food. A huge family had just come in, though, with screaming kids and the whole shebang. So I'm cutting the guy some slack. If you don't want to spend a ton of money, this is a good place (portion sizes are generous) but don't expect to be wowed because you won't be, at all. read more

Umm, still yummy. Went with two other tonight, our attempted to visit Bamboo garden was a bust since they are now closed (others in our party saw the real estate agent taking pictures and posting the for sale sign). I didn't feel like rice or noodles, so I ate appetizers for dinner. It's a bad habit of mine, but so worth it. I had egg drop soup, chicken satay(4), and crab wontons (6). It might be healthier if you share that portion of wontons, but.... read more

I picked up from this tiny strip mall restaurant. I was still pretty much packed at 9:15pm on a weekday. They had run a bit behind on cleaning some empty tables, but what do you expect if it's busy and it's not a full-size restaurant. I had their peanut Pad Thai and ordered it spicy. The spice level was perfect. Nice and spicy without spoling the flavor. The dish was very good, but they didn't give me any silverware or napkin with it (you would think they would expect a lot of their guests to be people who stay in hotels) I didn't see a lot of other ethnic food places in Traverse City, so for being the only Thai place in town (??) this was a good choice. read more

The yum neau salad was really good and tasted authentic. The pad Thai with shrimp needed more shrimp, peanuts, cilantro, lemon grass, and sprouts as a garnish. I should have ordered the masaman curry as an entree, not a lunch. Not bad. I'd try again. read more

Yessss....they finally opened the 1st Thai restaurant in town! This is not a fancy place but at least people in town will get a chance to try Thai foods. I ordered Pad Thai the other day. It was good but not my favorite. But Pad See Ew is really good as well as Green Curry Talay. I can't believe they even put a Thai name in the menu : ) For curry dishes, you can go ahead and order "spicy" because it's still kinda sweet for me. Thai iced tea and iced coffee are the best! really! The taste are very close to what I had when I was in Thailand. read more

Great place...especially for us GF & Vegan folks! Although there was a mix up on our take out order... two days later they rectified it by offering a free entree of our choice made the way we wanted! Awesome customer service and friendly atmosphere. read more

I was craving spring rolls and decided to give Thai Cafe a call. I ordered 2 veggie spring rolls and the crispy egg roll (chicken). They were good, but for about $9, I would've expected a much bigger portion. The crispy egg roll was about the size of a spring roll and cut into pieces, and was laying on a soggy bed of iceberg lettuce. Spring rolls were hot and good. 2 side sauces were included. It was a light snack and nothing more, and I felt kind of taken advantage of after looking inside the takeout bag. read more

The new owners have done a great job with Thai Cafe. The food has improved a ton and the dining rooms has been cleaned up and is now a much more pleasant place to dine in. The Spring rolls are awesome, and the Mongolian beef is on point. I have yet to have a bad meal. The staff is fantastic too. They're always friendly and attentive. I highly recommend Thai Cafe. read more

First time eating here. Moved up here from metro detroit area where I was used to some really good thai restaurants. I was pleasantly surprised with the chicken pad thai. It had the perfect amount of sauce with great flavor and a nice kick with medium plus spice level. The curry cow pad was good too-portions are a little light but what isn't up here!? Overall good value and what I had was excellent, I will definitely be back for sure! read more

This place is delicious! The dinner portions are huge (which meant lots and lots of amazing panaang curry) and come with soup (egg drop or hot and sour soup). Service was friendly and fast and the food was fresh and just spicy enough to be delicious without completely killing my taste buds. They're also in the process of renovating their dining room (the spackle on the walls and the sweet note on the door explaining their plans were the tip offs), but it's noninvasive and I'm sure it will be lovely when finished. read more

Thai Cafe - Thai Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Food was ok. Pretty standard Michigan Thai. My husband had the general tso and I had the lomein, chicken with extra vegetables and extra sauce. Why in the world did I ask for extra sauce?! I don't even know ... It came out completely smothered in soy sauce. It was so salty I couldn't hardly eat it. Did not know that would happen when I asked for extra sauce. Thought it was going to be the traditional brown sauce. The fresh rolls were pretty good. Mine completely fell apart, which has never happened to me before; but still decent tasting. Anyway, the waitress was friendly and attentive. The decor was nonexistent. Besides the strange garage door, and very confusing set up when you walk in. Just meh. read more

We just came here for lunch today I ordered the peanut curry pad Thai and it was really good. The ambience is not too great but the food compensated for it. Prices are very reasonable. read more

I love the food, as evidenced by my habit of weekly takeout when working my second job. But the prices went up this week 30%. Unfortunately, my disposable income has not increased at the same rate so I'll need to find a new bad habit. Maybe Dominos? read more

Delicious pad see ew! One of my favorite places in the area. Very consistent dish.

I really wanted to give this place more stars because of the cheap food and huge portions, but the food was just okay and the service was very meh. Our server barely greeted us and shoved menus in our hands, and hardly said anything to us as he briskly took our order. He dropped off our checks right after we got our food, before we all even got to try anything. The food was okay, though all of the flavors were off-- not necessarily in a bad way, but the pad thai didn't taste quite like pad thai, the curry noodles were too sweet for curry, and the fried rice had an interesting taste as well. Not bad, just different. I will say that I really liked their egg drop soup! Instead of the thick yellow goop that most restaurants serve, their egg drop soup was more of a broth with vegetables and eggs, which I really loved! If I could go back, I would just order a bowl of the soup with a side of rice and that would be a lovely meal. read more

Thai Cafe - Veggie curry pad thai - Thai Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

I've had Thai all over the country as it is one of my favorites, and I was so happy to find this place. I'm very picky with the coconut soup, and theirs is in my top 3. The service is amazing, always super friendly, and the food is consistent. I usually order the same few things but I couldn't be happier I found this place after moving to TC. The chicken egg rolls are great too! I think they're individually hand rolled. love this place, should have reviewed a while ago. A+ food and service! read more

My husband and I dined here last night for the first time in about a year. Right away we noticed it was different but we proceeded to go on with our usual order. The waitress was very impersonal and didn't really seem too knowledgeable of the menu. The spring rolls had more grease than anything. There was literally grease pouring out of them. Our meals arrived after about 20 min. My husbands noodles were almost ice cold. The noodles of my dish were all stuck together in a pile and it was hard to eat. We decided to take it to go. Upon paying we asked where the old manager was because he was actually what made Thai Cafe enjoyable. Well apparently the old manager was embezzling money... At least he was friendly, put your food in your box for you, oh and the restaurant wasn't filthy when he was around either. Maybe ya'll should of appreciated him and paid him according to his worth. We will be going to Thai Kitchen from here on out! Clean your restaurant! The spiders are more comfortable than your guests! read more

The Pad Tai was great and one of the better deals in TC. Lots of food, plan on sharing. Go to www.2319291303.com for the menu read more

This place was pretty busy. A lot of carry out orders. Seems like there aren't many Thai restaurants around so I am glad they are busy. The food was average. Nothing crazy good but decent. If we are in the area, my husband and I will def go back. Staff was nice and place is clean. read more

I tried again and it was the same result. Got the veggie/tofu noodle. I asked for mild, with a side of sriracha. They forgot the sriracha and it had NO SPICE at all. Too sweet and it was 90/10 noodle to veggie. Stick with the Thai Kitchen on S. Airport...I will. read more

And the winner of the worst Thai food to date is now Thai Cafe. Tom Yum soup contained seafood that was inedible. What the heck happened to this place? Service was a joke with the waiter leaving the dish in front of me. I am now retired from eating Thai in TC. Best description would be "gross". read more

Terrible service. They gave me a cup of water that had some sort of peanut butter on the cup. When I gave it back to the waitress she didn't even apologize or offer something for the inconvenience. The soup was doused with salt as if that were the main flavor. The Pad Thai was okay but the whole experience was not very good. Change your system or you'll go out of business. read more

Pros & Cons. The shrimp tempura was good, fresh/hot. Great curry flavoring but we did not get a decent portion. The curry broth was only enough for one person, like a small soup bowl, $16 during a dinner visit, should be a decent two people dish to share, it wasn't. Thai tea was watered down, but I've tried two other places in Traverse, it was watered down as well. Can't seem to find an authentic Thai place to enjoy with the family. Hoping maybe next time it will be a better experience. read more

I've been here a handful of times and now make it a priority to stop and eat here whenever I'm in town. I wouldn't have expected to find a place like this in TC but here it is and it's great! read more

Went yesterday for the first time. Will not go again. The place was dirty and did not smell of "food"...spent over 3o dollars plus tip for 2 very small to go dishes of food that were cold and the 2 tiny pieces of eggplant in my eggplant dish were inedible as was the tough beef in hubby's noodle dish. The curry sauce was like water. Hot and sour soup was cold and tasted like cornstarch and beef broth. Got my nerve up and called to complain and the manager said they hadn't had a complaint like mine in monthes....I said people don't complain the don't returm! He did not apologize or offer a fecund or discount on future visit just made excuses on their favor. So sad for our "foodie town". read more

Very tasty! We are visiting Traverse City and found Thai Cafe with YELP. Hubby had Pad Thai (He's Vegan) and I had the Red Coconut Curry upon the recommendation of a very friendly waiter. It's very small and a bit hard to find, but worth the effort. read more

I've tried the majority of their curry dishes, and as a connoisseur of curry, it ranks top in traverse city for affordability and taste. MSG is included in most menu items, but you can ask them to hold it if you want. I mostly order take out here, but I do agree with many of the reviews regarding wait times, dirty tables, etc. They simply don't have enough employees, and the ones they do have rarely stick around. The interior environment isn't really suitable for a dining experience IMO, I think more people order take out anyways, so by their logic they don't improve it for that reason. The times I did eat in house I had no issues with dirty tables, wait times, or inexperienced staff, but I am rating this business solely on food production. The taste and affordability is there, and that's why it's so popular among the young and old alike. If they stepped up and gathered more local ingredients and improved the interior a bit, I think they could really have something. All that aside I'll still go here when I'm too lazy to make my own curry, or when an out of town friend is looking for the cheapest decent tasting asian/thai food. For a few more bucks I'll take Georgina's all day long though ! read more

Let me just say that this is not really Thai food. The complimentary choice of hot and sour soup or egg-drop soup, while appreciated in 50F weather, aroused my suspicions. I had the chicken vegetable and while the portions were large, the bell peppers had the odd texture of being refrigerated and the dish was very heavy on the sauce, which sloshed around my plate. I agree it is worth its price ($10), the staff were hardworking and friendly, and that it is likely the best Thai food in town. Still, if you've had really good Thai food elsewhere, you might be disappointed. read more

Had take out. Hot and sour soup was excellent. Entrees were great. Nice portion size. Really enjoyed

Pretty good Thai for TC but beware the MSG! You can request no MSG for all dishes but the pad thai.

I measure a Thai restaurant by its Tom Kha soup and Thai Cafe ranks as one of the best. Delicious fresh coconut milk broth with a good bit of bite....mmmm. I've had the Gang Ped with red curry and pineapple twice now and it was quite delicious. Today I tried the peanut pad thai and that, too, was fresh and delicious. read more

C'mon haters. You have to admit the food is good. Green curry and Massaman curry, yum! Ask for green papaya salad- it's not on the menu. This place can get crazy busy during peak times as it is tiny but they do a good job. read more

For the record my brother and dad now order take out from here on a weekly basis. They're hooked!! Super quick for lunch too, take out never takes more than 15 minutes which is impressive, in my opinion. read more

Any port in a storm is what I was thinking as I rolled through TC with a jones for some thai and came across Thai Cafe. Here was an honest to goodness Thai restaurant, not the usual Chinese/Thai hybrid that you usually find up north. Now, it's a regular stop whenever I'm in town. The food is always very good; Massaman Curry, Gang Kali, Pad See-ew, Pad Thai Curry etc... I've tried them all. All very tasty, good portions, fresh vegetables and tofu, good service. The hot and sour soup is also tasty, but a little heavy on black pepper in lieu or that true burn you get from red. In all honesty, it's more of a 3.5 star than a 3. The only thing holding me back from a 4 is the amount of spice. Getting a dish "hot" here is more like a Motor City Mild at my usual Thai places downstate. read more

Don't let the strip mall location, small size and plain decor of this excellent Thai restaurant put you off. The food here is outstanding, the menu extensive, portions are generous and prices are more than fair. Our only small criticism was that the egg drop and wonton soups were way to peppery.-hot. read more

I was skeptical from the other reviews but overall I am really impressed. Everything was delicious and exactly what I ordered. I'm very picky about Thai iced tea and this one was perfect. The employees were really nice too. I will definitely be back soon. read more

This is the first time we have been there and would not come back again. Our server was using her phone in plain sight when we walked in, had her purse and belongings on one of the tables, and was eating a cookie from Dickey's. The walls and ceiling vent had visible dust and dirt on them, and my napkin had food residue on it, and the first table we sat down at was poorly wiped. The egg drop soup was essentially a basic vegetable soup with egg, the Tom yum soup was relatively flavorless (bland vegetables in soup rather flavorfully combined), and our two different dishes tasted the same. We shouldn't have been surprised by the last fact considering that almost all of the menu items are cooked using "Mama's sweet brown sauce." Overall, the quality was equivalent to that of a relatively inexpensive Chinese takeout restaurant (which are sometimes just what you want), but our experience did not quite meet our expectations for a sit down lunch experience. read more

We stopped here for a meal after visiting the Dennos Museum. Yelpers, you really let us down on this one!!! Reviewers keep saying that it's decent to good Thai food in Traverse City--but it's NOT. We tried several dishes. DH thought they were tasty-for-Traverse-City (a different and much lower rating scale!) but I didn't think they were acceptable, especially the curry dish. The sauce was all wrong, the flavors were wrong, and not spicy. Disappointing. read more