First off, very thankful they are opened on Christmas Day! A very small, yet intimate eatery, staff are super amazing and while it was chaotic, probably due to the only opened spot, they seem organized. Food was really, really good, and portion size is quite hefty. Kudos and will definitely be back! Also, to note, it says 3.5 stars in yelp, and 4.4 on google. Google is probably more closer to the experience. read more

Ordered a yellow curry with chicken and a hot + sour soup! Food was ready quickly and the staff were friendly and helpful (both over the phone and in person). Wasn't a fan of the soup, though this may have been personal preferences. Overall enjoyed the experience and would go again. :) read more

A cozy and romantic little place with excellent service and the food is perfect after an active surf session. Jasmine tea goes down smooth. And I don't know what that shrimp broth is but omg is it delicious. read more

Craving Pad Thai lunch as an antidote to locked in COVID craziness and election stress. Thai Dara did not disappoint. I was given a choice for spiciness 1-5 on both the lunch and the TOM Kha soup. Both were excellently prepared and served within 5-10 minutes. I look forward to returning to try other items on their menu, and recommend Thai Dara for Patio or Take Away dining. TIP - There is a spectacular Ocean View park with tables just around the corner in front of the Marriott Cliffs with a sweeping view of the coast and harbor. read more

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Delicious Spicy Noodles, I got them at medium spicy and boy it does have a kick! The service was very accommodating and the noodles were stellar. Good quality and quantity as well! Will be back. read more

Thai Dara - Spicy Noodles with Tofu - Thai Near Me - Dana Point, California

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Thai Dara, and I have to say that it was one of the best dining experiences I've had in a long time. From the moment we walked in, we were struck by the efficiency of the service. The wait was less than 5 minutes, which was impressive considering it was a busy New Year's Day. Once we were seated, the service was lightning fast, with the staff being attentive and catering to our needs. One thing that really stood out to us was the restaurant's willingness to accommodate my girlfriend's dairy allergy. They were very helpful in checking the ingredients in each dish to ensure that she could safely enjoy her meal. We opted to dine in, and were struck by the beautiful flowers on each table (and even in the bathroom). It was a nice touch that added to the overall ambiance of the restaurant. The drinks hit our table in less than 2 minutes of ordering them, and our food arrived only 7 minutes later. I ordered the Panang Curry with chicken, which was delicious, and my girlfriend ordered the Pad See Ew, which she said was equally delicious. The portion sizes were generous, and the prices were very reasonable, providing good value for the quality of the food with enough left over to take home. The restaurant itself is located directly on PCH, and while there is outdoor seating available, we chose to sit indoors. The chairs were padded, and the decor was traditional and inviting. The seating was a bit tight, but the large mirror on the side of the room made the space feel larger than it was. The restaurant was clean and well-maintained, and the staff seemed to take pride in their work. Throughout our meal, the waitress checked in on us multiple times, taking a genuine interest in the guests at all her tables, asking them about their day and lives. She was friendly and efficient, and it was clear that she enjoyed her job. When it came time to pay, the process was smooth and seamless, with no issues or delays. Overall, our experience at Thai Dara was excellent. The service was fast and efficient, the staff were friendly and accommodating, and the food was delicious. If you're in the mood for some delicious Thai food, I would highly recommend giving this Thai restaurant a try. The location is convenient, with ample parking available, and the exterior of the restaurant is beautifully maintained, with a fresh and welcoming appearance. Inside, the restaurant is clean. The bathrooms are also clean and well-maintained, which is always a plus in my book. Overall, Thai Dara is a fantastic place to enjoy a delicious and surprisingly affordable meal, and I will definitely be returning in the future. In addition to the great food and service, I also have to mention the convenience of the restaurant's takeout options. Whether you're in the mood to dine in or take your food to go, Thai Dara has you covered. Whether you're craving a delicious curry, some savory pad see ew like us, or any of the other delicious dishes on their menu, Thai Dara is the place to be. In conclusion, I have to say that Thai Dara is a top-notch Thai restaurant that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for delicious and affordable Thai food. Our bill came to $33 (2 meals + waters) and I left a $10 tip. The service is fast and efficient, the staff are friendly and accommodating, and the food is simply amazing. Whether you're in the mood to dine in or take your food to go, Thai Dara has something for everyone, and I can't wait to visit again soon. read more

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5 Star Thai Food! 5 Star service! 5 Star location! I'm vegetarian and enjoyed the lunch special of Pad Thai noodles with tofu. Super healthy mound of deliciousness with vegetarian egg rolls and salad. I had to ask for a to-go box! I don't know why they have even one.low rating, this is my new favorite!! Oh the vegetarian sweet and sour soup was amazing too!! Nice ambiance with outdoor seating as well! I'll be back! read more

The food is tasty here. A bit on the stronger side but really flavorful. The servers did their best for accommodating both dine in and take out orders when busy. Really appreciate the business for operating in Christmas. read more

Thai Dara - Thai Near Me - Dana Point, California

Love this little spot, perfect go to for a lunch date! Great food, great prices for the lunch, small interior not many tables but always seems to be room for lunch. Few Outdoor tables also. Thai iced tea is wonderful! Service is good when it's the younger male server, older female sever isn't very friendly or polite. read more

Thai Dara - Thai Iced Tea - Thai Near Me - Dana Point, California

Best Thai food in the area!! All the carry taste really good. I love their pad ka pow) chill and Thai basil. Tom Kha is phenomenal! Highly recommended!!!! read more

Reasonably good food, good service. Nice traditional decor and music. Parking lot is small. Will return. read more

Thai Dara - So good, finished all! - Thai Near Me - Dana Point, California

new favorite thai place! the pad thai, mango sticky rice, and thai tea are AMAZING!! love the ambiance inside. great service if you dine in or take out! read more

Pumpkin Curry is our favorite and is always good, 5 star! We don't live in the area so we try to stop and pick it up when we drive through town. read more

I've been here twice. Overall the food was good except the shrimp rolls. Those were hard and bland. Didn't have much flavor and the rice paper was chewy. I couldn't eat them. But what turned me off was one of the ladies at the register. Middle age lady, she was so rude and not friendly at all, gave me a bad attitude when I ordered my chicken satay and rice. I think she might be the owner, but her customer service was poor. The young lady that serves is really nice and attentive. read more

Consistently good Thai food, curry and cashew chicken are very good. Always great for take out

The Thai Cashew Nut dish was amazing. People were nice and so fast! All the dishes on the tables around us looked so good. Expect to wait for a table ...tiny and busy. read more

Great food! Just got take out from here for the first time. We had: Cashew Nut, Drunken Noodles and Panang Curry. Very fresh, light tasting food. Got first two mild and curry medium. Was pretty spicy but excellent with just the right amount of lemongrass taste. We saw a guy delivering fresh vegetables while we we there. No canned/ packaged stuff here. Also, often times after eating Asian food it can leave a heavy feeling. Not so here. Lady who answered phone and packaged our food up was very nice. Will definitely order here again. read more

We ordered take out from Thai Dara and the order was ready in less then 15 mins. We ordered Pad Thai, Thai Ginger, pot stickers and a garden salad. The food came with numerous sauces that were all awesome. We had the peanut sauce (which I can't wait to put on a bagel), a red chili sauce, their "famous" salad dressing and a soy based sauce. All were incredible. The Pad Thai had a nice spice level to it and the pot stickers were nice and crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. My wife enjoyed the Thai Ginger with chicken. This meal hit the spot. read more

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Food was great, staffs are wonderful! I am Thais and I would recommend this place I usually just browse through pictures of the food when others ppl reviews them...you can tell from the color of the food whether it's too Americanized or not. I asked for an original Thai flavor and I got what I wanted. My baby loves the Thai Fried Rice my husband is very picky he knows what's good what's not...We are definitely going back! read more

Thai Dara - Thai Fried Rice Pork - Thai Near Me - Dana Point, California

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Loved the food from a small quaint restaurant. I loved the sauce that went with the "crying tiger" dish. Highly recommend this for really good food. read more

Excellent Food! I prefer their chicken yellow curry lunch special with white rice, fresh salad and egg rolls. read more

Thai Dara - Yellow Curry Chicken Lunch Special - Thai Near Me - Dana Point, California

Not sure what's going on with food these days. We ordered five entrees at Thai Dara for take out. Maybe they were having a bad day or maybe they pre cook their food. The only dish that seemed fresh was the Honey chicken. The pad see ew was mushy and tasteless, green curry watered down, and the other two were meh. All of the chicken in the entrees was over cooked and tough. Disappointed to say the least. Won't be going there again. The honey chicken was very good. read more

Thai food for a Dana Point audience. Low quality and too sweet. There's no good Thai food in the area though so sometimes you just have to settle if you are really in the mood. read more

Order quite a few items I clueing Panang curry, spring rolls, a few noodle dishes, the bbq chicken... all were tasty, well balanced. It will be a go to for Thai food in the area! read more

It was OK. Not bad not great. Pad thai was flavorful and well presented. Pricey Tom yum soup lacked a brothy lemon grass flavor that I was looking for. It is sweet/sour style. Small inside eating and rather cold (November). Thai food is different every place but I'll keep searching for a lemon grass Tom a yum soup. read more

Everything about this place is amazing. The staff is friendly, and the food is so so good.

Delicious!! I love Thai food and am always happy with my dishes at any of our fine local restaurants. However, the food here is a STEP ABOVE!! I had my usual Thai Chili Basil with chicken. SO TASTY!! And the biggest surprise was my friend's Pad See Ew with beef. I have tasted that dish at other restaurants before and found it uninteresting. Here it was OUTSTANDING! Such complex flavors. The portions are really large and served in unusual, lovely dishes. Beautiful decor. It's a small place, just six tables so you might have to wait at busy times. read more

The service was fast and the staff were really friendly. I ordered pad thai with tofu and they made a vegan version that tasted great. It's a cozy spot so perfect for going out with a couple of friends or on a date. I'd really recommend this place! read more

Number one Rad Naah in OC county for Thai style. It hard to find the teal taste of this food. In addition the free tom yam soup so delicious served with lunch special. read more

Awesome staff with quick and friendly service. They are vigilant and the food is absolutely amazing!

Hate to do it but bad business practices need to be called out ! Went as a solo last Monday night al@ 7:15. One couple in the place so I felt good giving them some business. Ordered chicken Tom Kah soup ( bowl not cup), large salad and Green Jungle curry w/rice. Soup came. Not really coconut milk more like broth and the cheap mushrooms not the wizard hat ones that good Thai places have. It's ok still warm on this chilly night with their door left wide open. Then here comes the salad. Literally a half head of iceberg with a tiny amount of shaved carrot and cabbage, hard unripe tomatoes and 2 pieces of cucumber. It's ok when was the last time you were served a good tomato anyway? Here comes the chicken jungle curry. Really good curry, lots of string beans and bell peppers with bamboo shoots slivered nicely. The chicken was however scarce and dry. Kind of like the last piece stretched to make one last entree. It's ok , how much chicken do you need after having a whole pot of chicken Tom Kha? I asked for a menu to take with me as my office policy is free lunch Friday and I thought this would be ok. The owner handed me a menu ( piece of 8x11 folded). Then came the bill. Not one price matched the menu. Not the menu I ordered from nor the one she gave me to take. Everything was 20 %~30% higher. I brought it to the owners attention and she said," wrong menu". No " gee I'm sorry ", " my mistake let me correct that", not even a " our costs are skyrocketing so we raised the prices". Just " wrong menu" and skulked back to the kitchen. With 26 employees on Free Lunch Friday she lost $570 this next Friday and as far as I'm concerned at least once a month we would have eaten there. Plus my co- workers and their families being introduced there. She lost thousands by not having the decency to treat a customer with respect. That's... not ok ! read more

The spicy noodles with beef are a must! The way the tomato is cooked makes for the juiciest bite and the basil is full of flavor. The Tom Kha is delicious and i can never get enough. Happiness is ordering from Thai Dara on Christmas when everywhere else is closed and these angels stay open. Don't forget potstickers! read more

Pretty good food. Good variety and the service is quick. Pad Thai was good as was the Thai fried rice

I came today (Friday night) by myself and they were super busy but they were still very attentive. Kwan and Bow were my waiters checking up on me every once in awhile they're AMAZING!! I had the Hot & sour soup, potstickers and I placed an entree and dessert to go because I got full with the soup and potstickers cause I'm petite. The food was delicious and customer service was very good! I will definitely be coming back again! Thank you once again ladies for being so sweet & having amazing customer service skills! read more

Thai Dara - 2. Pot Stickers - Thai Near Me - Dana Point, California

After a long day I decided to treat myself and my family to a easy dinner. We ordered 4 items, at 6:12pm. Using Door dash to deliver. At 7pm my driver sent me a text saying he was at the restaurant waiting, by 7:20pm I was concerned about the wait time. So I called the restaurant, they said order would be ready in 10 minutes, 20 minutes later I called again. They said 10 more minutes. By 8pm my order was canceled by the driver, my bank card was charged by Thai Dara and they just said they were busy and hung up on me. Very unhappy with the customer service, thank you for wasting my time and charging me for food I did not receive. I will call my bank on Monday to fix it. read more

Long delays and RUDE employees, I will NOT be ordering from Thai Dara anymore. I used Doordash to place a delivery order for 2 entrees and 2 starters. The order was confirmed at 6:58pm with an estimated delivery time of 35-45 mins. After multiple delays from Thai Dara, the dasher arrived at the restaurant to pick up the food and was told it's still not ready. The driver sent me a text to let me know they were waiting. By now it's 8:30pm, so I call Thai Dara to ask about my order. The woman who picked up offered no "sorry for the delay", or even a reason. She literally just said "too busy, we'll get to it soon". Then... hung up. Yes, hung up on me. There was no back and forth, I only had time to ask about the order. Almost 2 hours after placing the order, the dasher arrives. I talked to the driver and she said the woman at the restaurant was rude to her also. She waited for my food for ALMOST AN HOUR! I felt so bad and gave her an extra $20 bill on top of the original tip. read more

The food and service were excellent! The kids Pad Thai was great, our 3yo loved it. Wife had the Green Curry which was delicious and you can tell them how spicy you want it from 1-5. Wife chose 3 which was perfect for her but almost too spicy for me. Highly recommend going here. Seating is limited and they only have one server but he was great and helpful. read more

We loved everything! Came back to the restaurant whenever we are in the area! Best authentic taste in SoCal! Serve very slow during the peak hour, it's worth the wait! Once you taste it you know they really cook from scratch, they took time to perfect the dish. Mmmm until till next time! Drooling read more

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Delicious. My go to!!! The pad thai is yummy and the drunken noodle is my favorite but that mango sticky rice is delicous

I am a Thai food fanatic, and Thai Dara started it. My sister and I go to both locations, Dana Point and San Clemente, depending on logistics and timing. We order Tom Kha soup, Basil Chili stir fry, papaya salad, and various curry dishes. All outstanding flavors and consistency every time we go. We always dine in, but so many people are picking up orders to go. They don'e need my review, and I want Thai Dara to succeed and stay in business. Restaurants are a hard business, and we appreciate them. read more