How can this place have less than perfect reviews?? 10/10 in my book everytime. Delicious, FRESH AF thai food. I have visited at least 30 times over the course of 4-5 years and am amazed by their consistent quality. Pros: -fresh, delicious, thai food -authentic, made with minimal additives -amazing to sit in the restaurant and watch the chef cook -consistent Cons: -tiny restaurant -cash only (I believe - this could have changed) -wait staff isn't exceptionally kind/welcoming but honestly I would put up with just about anything to eat this food read more

Three years ago, I was impressed by Thai Tom. It was the best Thai restaurant l ever had in USA. However, I visited again when I was in Seattle in 2018, I thought it was not amazing. This time, it was much more salty for fired rice and too sour for soup. It is not crowed during the lunch now. Cash only! read more

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Thai Tom best Thai in town! Best Thai dishes right here in Seattle at the U-district. Tom Thai isn't the largest restaurant here but it does offer the most tastiest Thai dishes I've had thus far. That's right. With a husband who goes gaga over Thai, I'd say I've had my share of Thai restaurant outings. When we're in a new town he usually likes to try local Thai joints and usually orders the Pad Thai. While in Seattle, his senses were craving this very dish. Came across Tom Thai with a few friends before we headed to the airport and journeyed our way back home to California. The place almost screams authentic with the dreary ethnic wall decor and the limited amount of space offered. I sat down on a wobbly stool which looked hand carved almost and was hammered together by a few nails. Their menu was hand painted on a wood slab which displayed their various dishes. Their chef cooks your food and is within eyes reach of watching him toss your noodles and veggies over an open fire. + Savory "Swimming Rama" (Stir Fried Bean Sprouts, Garlic, Spinach with Chicken or Tofu topped with Peanut Sauce) + Pad Thai (Rice Noodles Pan Fried with Bean Sprouts, Egg, Green Onion, Peanuts & Chicken) + Veggie Spring Rolls (Fresh!) + Thai Iced Tea (Oh my!) + Fried Tofu with peanut butter sauce (A+!) + Decent prices (All regular dishes $7.49, Appetizers $5.00) = A highly recommended place for you to eat at!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3/5 Ambiance - The mood, character, quality, tone, atmosphere. 3/5 Service - Helpful, accommodating, efficient, delivery and speed? 5/5 Food / Merchandise - Quality, taste, presentation. 4/5 Price - Reasonable, inexpensive, high priced? (Based on Irma's review rating rubric - http://static.px.yelp.com/photo/evXt-5kyL-guqoCwxaAxtQ/l read more

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Burnt pad Thai, water cup tasted like soap. Wayyy too spicy when I asked for only 2 stars. I'm disappointed, maybe next time will be better... read more

Thai Tom - Main counter and cook station - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Raw service. Undercook noodle. Over-salty food. And Cash only. Need I say more? Alright...Yelp do want me to type more. The service overall is raw. When I ask server for food recommend. She told me everything is good. I thought that's out of confidence, but it's not. Later the food came. I suspect they may intentionally make it very salty, so that you can mix it with the rice on the side? We had pai thai and spicy noodle. Unfortunately, the noodle for the first one was undercooked. And the chicken for the second one was overcooked. But these two becomes very secondary given the amount of salt they put in their food. read more

I have only been in Seattle for one month, this is my third Thai place but - I believe it when people say it's the best Thai food in Seattle! I enjoyed pretty stellar Thai food while living in Austin (Titaya's, drool) - but this place, oh my goodness. We went up to the U district this past Sunday and arrived around 2:30. We put our name on the list and ran a quick errand down the street before returning. I think all-in it was about a 30 minute wait and we were seated at the bar and had a front seat to "the show"! Spice - I love spice. At most places in Seattle I order the spiciest option and sometimes it still isn't spicy enough for me. Here we ordered 3 spice and it was perfect for me! BF and I were pretty hungry so we ordered the fried tofu starter, tom kah soup (with tofu) and the panang curry with chicken, all three star spice. Tofu starter - wow, cooked perfectly! And that peanut sauce! Tom Kah soup - mmmm perfect balance, so so so so tasty with crisp veggies and amazing broth. Panang curry - spicy, sweet, awesome. I dare say this might be the best Thai food I have ever had. Piping hot, amazing flavors: sweet, salty, spicy, sour, bitter. I can't wait to bring visitors here! The Service was fine - they were helpful, nice and while you could tell there was some urgency, I didn't feel rushed at all. Cash only, so bring yo' bills! read more

Thai Tom - This chef barely took a breath while we ate lunch, he is a cooking machine! - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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This is my beloved Thai place and I will never love another! I love the Phad Thai, the super high heat they cook at gives it all the fantastic texture and authenticity of Thai street food. The spice level is amazing so level down one more than usual. Bring cash and be kind. They're busy because they're good! Damn good! My boyfriend loves it too and they're always kind to him because he's a UPS driver. They always give him a little priority and that makes me love it more! Locals know! read more

Total hole in the wall. My friend & I came here on Saturday night (7pmish) and the waitress told us that we'd be seated in about 20 minutes..... no, it was definitely not 20 minutes. My friend and I waited one hour in complete starvation; my stomach had never hurt so bad before. I just wanted to stand & peer over a customer to make it awkward enough so that they shove everything into their face & leave. My friend & I barely had enough energy to spoon everything into our mouths. We devoured our pad thai/panang curries in complete silence. I watched the legendary straight up-Thai chef cook everything like a straight up Thai cooking beast in amazement....& overheard the lady next to me laugh & say, "this isn't a place to chat. it is a place to eat." This was the first time I ever finished Pad Thai. What an experience. read more

Thai Tom - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

3.5 stars for this restaurant over 2000 reviews.. things must have changed, because I can't understand why someone would give this place anything less than 4. This restaurant is FANTASTIC. That is the word I'd use to describe it. I was in Seattle for two days. I came here TWICE. Yes, I was here everyday while I was in Seattle. Both times, ordered the pad thai medium - best pad thai ever. The spice was perfect. The chicken and toppings were soft and delicious. But the best part - the slightly charred, chewy noodles. First time, we were sat immediately as we came in at about 5:30pm on a Saturday. Next time was about 6:30pm on a Sunday - had to wait about 20 mins to get seated. Not too bad for a small, hotshot spot. The man at the grill is a robot... he is so fast and spectacular. Definitely worth going to this restaurant just to observe this man do his thing. Service is super fast, so you'll be in n out really quickly. read more

This is a neat little place. It is tiny and at times has large lines, but you can sit up close and personal with the chef and be wowed by his mad wok'in skills. My mind was blown watching him prepare about three or four dishes at a time and how fast he was turning out orders. I have read some reviews before that this place was a little dirty, but I didn't think it was unusual for a city at all. I also thought the service was fine. Not warm and chatty, but down to business and helpful. The bottom line though: the best pad thai I have had and it was only $6. read more

I was so utterly disappointed with this place yesterday that I don't think I'd ever want to go back. After reading the amazing Yelp reviews, I headed down here with a group of 7. BAD IDEA. It is a tiny sweltering place with close to impossible group seating. We were asked to wait an hour so instead we decided to take everything to go. The deep fried tofu appetizer was horrible and we ended up discarding most of it. It was wet and soggy inside and greasy outside. The peanut sauce was spicy in a good way and the only saving grace of the entire meal. I had high hopes from the pad thai but it was disgusting. It was a dry sticky mess and flavorless. I have absolutely no idea why there was a big heap of dry tasteless white rice on top of the pad thai. It took up more than half the portion. The panang curry itself tasted pretty good but there was too little of it for the rice which was, you guessed it, dry and tasteless yet again. They changed our spicy noodles to a pad thai because apparently they were "out of it" and decided to totally forget about our swimming rama but ended up charging us for both anyways. I have never heard of a restaurant deciding to change your order and leave out an entire entree but still take full payment. I'm never going back here again. read more

The absolute BEST and most authentic Thai food I've ever had hands down! Sure, it's a hole in the wall with very limited seating, but I usually take it to go anyway. They have a family recipe that they keep to themselves. Ask them how they make it so good and they laugh. They'll never tell. And they don't mess around on the spiciness. Ask for a 5 star and the spicy smell of it cooking will send you running outside, eyes burning and nose running! If you're not sure what star level to get, I suggest the 2 or 3 star. You will not regret it. Be sure to take plenty of cash with you, as they don't take debit or credit cards. read more

Generous portions of ACTUALLY SPICY and delicious Thai food. My mouth was on fire but in a very good way. The restaurant is very cramped and always packed full (with a line waiting to pick up or get a seat). A serious hole in the wall - this place is all about fast and spicy Thai food. If you are obese, I recommend getting your food to go because your butt will not fit on their teeny tiny chairs! read more

This place lives up to all its awards they have up inside and on the windows! Came here for lunch last Friday afternoon after having just arrived to Seattle from Los Angeles (my hometown). I was visitng my bf who is here for the summer at UW. He's eaten here before he even found out how good the reviews were on Yelp so naturally I wanted in on it too! This place is incredibly small but the food makes up for it for sure! And my goodness, as we waited for our food we watched the chef, who was like some kind of robot on crack, cuz he was going at it pretty crazy in the kitchen! I guess that's how they got all their awards! My bf ordered the Pad Thai, with a 4 (on a scale of 0 to 5) and I ordered the Thai Fried Rice, with a 2. Both were sooooo flavorful and delicious! The rice was such a huge portion that I thought I was going to have to take some of it home but I ended up eating it all! I've never eaten so much rice in one sitting in my life...but it was THAT good! My dish was warm the whole time I ate it because the food was served hot off the pan. Such a big plus for me! The Pad Thai was incredible too! The noodles itself were a bit harder than I wanted, I'm into the super soft kind, where you don't have to chew and chew to really break it down. Other than that, it was so tasteful. I didn't have too much of it because it was way too spicy for me. The university students are pretty lucky to have this gem in their hood! It can get pretty crowded given that it's so small inside, so come at an odd time when there's nobody there haha. It's a CASH ONLY place so bring your dolla bills and an empty stomach!! read more

Thai Tom - Thai fried rice - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I love thai food and naturally I would make a beeline to the most talked about thai place in Seattle. We get here around 2.00PM on a Sat afternoon and are told our wait time in 35 mins, we decide to walk around U dist and come back in that time. When we get back in about 20 mins, the person who told us to come back in 35 is not ushering people in, so this other new lady says, we are going to close and can't let you in as the chef needs to take a lunch break. She however asks the chef as we tell her that they had saked us to come bck in 35. The chef agrees to make us our meal, I get the veg thai curry fried rice and thai ice tea and friend gets a chicken fried rice and we watch while the chef quickly cooks it infront of us. What we did notice that the chef used his hands to fill the rice into the bowls to cook, and the restaurant being as tiny as it is might not be as hygenic. but when you put one bite of food in your mouth, all your concerns are forgotten. The food is perfect! It's super delish and then I start dreaming of having this chef come and make me food everyday....ohhh! wishful thinking... read more

Thai Tom - Chef cooking up a storm - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Not too often will you find such a thing as a CASH ONLY restaurant, but I guess if you were having a scavenger hunt this would be a good thing. Therefore, have cash on hand. Pros: Tom Yum soup, has a beautiful array of exotic flavors, almost addicting. Could not get enough of it. It was cooked marvelously and like nothing we've ever had before. Pad Thai, also quite good, the noodles were chewy and soft and separated nice, not like it would glue altogether at some places. Cons: Since it's a small place, you will be rubbing shoulder to shoulder with the people next to you and if you're sitting back to back with someone, you'll end up being elbowed a few times. This place is very popular, hence the wait can get long. Mind you its Seattle, and if you end up waiting a long time in the cold and rain. Both pro and con: Sometimes, its nice to be able to watch as your food is being cooked, but it could also be a bad thing. Kitchen is fully exposed. Too close to the wide open, you can see as the vent from the stoves go overhead and into a vent just above the entry door. The fats, oils and greases are right there for your viewing displeasure. Overall I can't say it's the absolute best, I would say its great just to pick up and go because the food is cooked well. But as far as sitting down and having an enjoyable restaurant experience I can't agree with it being the most pleasant. read more

Thai Tom - Pad thai n panang curry - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Everyday I walk pass this place and each time it was full and with a line out the door. This place is very small, counter seating and a few tables. I was elbows to elbows when i was seated. I was lucky to get a seat without having to wait. I get the phad see eww and it was good, not as good as I had in the past. My noodles where also very broken, each noodle was only about an inch long, I'm used to having it long enough to pair with the veggie chucks. The dish did have flavor but lacked the depth. I would try this place again if there was no line. read more

Thai Tom - Thai ice tea - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Pretty sure I single-handedly kept this place in business in my college years. I have been to every state in the union, and dined in the finest restaurants in every corner of the country, and there is only one place I ever want to go for dinner. It's always Thai Tom. Even though I go years between visits as I spend most of my time in the Midwest these days, the same host lady that was there in 2011 knows my name and my order with no more than a brief glance. Every time I ask, "wait, you remember me?" She just looks at me like I'm an idiot, like of course I remember you! If you could deliver nationwide I would rate 6/5. Don't doubt yourself any longer. Just go. Every trip to Thai Tom is a life-changing experience. read more

Eat the: 1) Phad Thai: what so many places do average, Thai Tom does the best. quality ingredients, great spices, and great texture with the noodles. give your mouth some heat and put 3 stars on it! Thai Tom is THEE BEST THAI PLACE ON THE AVE for its food. There are a lot of terrible Thai places on the ave. This is the one to go to. Come for the quality of food. Phad Thai and pad see ew is great. Don't be lazy to walk up to 47th because it's worth it. It's a small place. There's only seating for 2 seaters on 6 tables or seating at the bar to fit 8. Take out is available. Save your tip money, go to Safeway and get a Jarros mandarin soda for 79cents. Each dish is $7.99 or so and they only accept cash. Go eat! ~Jason read more

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FINALLY!!! A Thai restaurant that hasn't watered down the spices in their food to suit white people's needs!!!! This is my GO-TO Thai place. The levels of spicy are actually spicy and the food is always cooked to perfection. My only gripe is that they don't have beef but apparently they don't serve it because not a lot of people eat it? Lame.. I always get the pad see ew, swimming Rama, and basil chicken - level 4 spice across the board and they're so good. Keep in mind this place is cash only! read more

The food was good but the service is horrible and it's cash only which was not posted ANYWHERE on the menu or signage. There are also no prices on the menus and the format of the menu was very hard to read. Our server was huffy when I asked her if I could have a to-go box. I came with co-workers and a few of us were embarrassed when we pulled out our cards to pay only to be admonished by the waitress that they don't accept cards. Luckily I had a tiny bit of cash and my co-worker was able to spot me a few bucks to pay for the rest of my meal and tip. Several of us were there and probably half the group didn't have any/enough cash and would have stopped at a bank before coming in had that been posted. That said, the Green Curry I tried was good and the others seemed to enjoy their meals as well. Next time, I'd opt for carry out so as not to deal with a rude waitress. read more

I think part of the charm is the hole-in-the-wall atmosphere. The food was definitely worth the price, but the wait time is crazy long. I came with a group on a Friday night and my friends mostly ordered phad thai - and loved it. I got the chef's special - chicken & garlic and 3*s spice. I'm usually comfortable with spicy food and enjoy Sichuan food when I get the chance, but I think their spice scale runs hot! I had a to really strategize each bite with respect to my remaining rice and water. read more

Its sometimes the unexpected that garners the greatest rewards, and as many foodies know, its sometimes the hole in the walls with the tastiest dishes. You wouldn't expect something good to come out of a Thai restaurant in freaking Seattle, even if it does remind me of Shattuck/Gourmet Ghetto in Berkeley, and yet here we are, talking about it. Supposedly a line and a wait prevent people from immediately enjoying the food here most reasonable hours of the day, but since we arrived just before the dinner rush at around 5, a pleasant table beckoned. Though that may be a generous statement about the table. What do you order? I don't know, so the usual Thai favorites, a green curry and a pad see ew were ordered. The kitchen is immediately viewable from any seat in the house, the chef and his wok flaming, producing. Spicy level 3, please! I'll note here that level 3 (of 5) was fairly spicy, and wouldn't recommend the average person to go beyond 1 or 2. For those who can handle it though, it adds a measurable taste to the dish, and I found 3 to be a great combination between spice and flavor. Unlike some Thai restaurants focusing on the spice, I wouldn't expect the food to come out completely bland unspiced, a very good thing. This far into the review its fairly obvious what I thought of the food: if I lived in the area, I'd probably be a regular. It's flavorful, the short noodles have a great chewy texture, and they even make delicious midnight munchie leftovers. The curry combines great flavor with a healthy dollop of rice, its subtle yet kicking spices combining with its milk broth to smoothly satisfy. As far as restaurant-style Thai food goes, this might be my all time favorite; both dishes were ordered with chicken. Reasonable prices, expect a line, and great food. Oh, and just to note, it's cash only. Drats. read more

YUMMM, thai food. After hearing only good things about this place, I finally went to try it with friend. I've always found myself lucky, in that I've never had to wait to be served at establishments that are known for having ridiculous lines. But then again, who eats lunch or dinner at 4pm - kind of an odd hour, I know, but it works! There were only four or five tiny tables, and then seating on the counter by the "kitchen." I ordered the chicken and broccoli, 3 stars, and WHOA, I've never experienced 3 stars like this. It was actual spicy. It was spicy in an additive way, with the heat building after each bite. It was pleasant and not too overwhelming. LOVED IT. I left feeling full and satisfied. And I definitely feel bad that it's taken me this long to finally come here. I will be back soon :-) read more

Thai Tom is THE BEST and most authentic Thai food restaurant I've ever been to. The ambiance is legit.... you feel like you're in Thailand! For some, it may just look like a hole-in-the-wall but it's more than that, you get the ultimate dining experience as if you were visiting from out of the country. I loved it! You have a full view of the kitchen and all the action. Every dish is fresh and perfect. I had the spicy chicken & eggplant and my boyfriend had the red panang curry. The spice is amazing.. a little more spicier than usual, but still very good. It has been a whole year since I've been back to Seattle, but I remember this place being packed (when you're good, you're GOOD). Rain or shine, I'm sure this place is packed everyday/night. They don't take reservations so come prepared to wait (the wait is WELL WORTH IT). The venue is small so it's limited seating and doesn't have a lot of wiggle room, but I like the intimacy. I would definitely recommend trying it out at least once. Party in your mouth! :) read more

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I had heard good things about Thai Tom and was excited to try it - I thoroughly enjoyed it! Very small and intimate venue. The food was delicious and I loved that we could see the two hardworking chefs at work. As their menu is posted in the window, they took our order as we waited and food was ready shortly after we were seated. Something to consider when planning to eat in is just how small the restaurant is - we had a group of 3 and the chair was taking up the majority of the walkway. I would avoid bringing a party of 4 or more, but rather do a to go order. Additionally, the restaurant is cash only. Will be going back soon! read more

Thai Tom - Pad Thai, drunken noodles, and yellow curry - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

If you're looking for a spot to clear your sinuses, make you sweat, and sit extremely close to strangers, then this is the place for YOU! :D This is my FAVORITE Thai restaurant in Washington. Despite being literally a hole in the wall spot, I haven't been to a better Thai place yet here. The food. THHHHEEEE FOOOOOODDDDD! It's amazing. I don't know how many times I've been here but I've been here enough to always come back and never be disappointed. I love spicy food and depending on the cook you have the day you come, you have to think about the spice level you want in your food. Depending on the cook I choose between a 3 or 4 level of spice. Oh yeah, I want to sweat with the food I'm eating OH YEAH haha I've had almost everything on their menu and it's all really good. If you're craving Thai food, I HIGHLY recommend this place but be prepared to wait because there's always a wait since it's so small. If you can, sit in the front of the cook and watch the magic he brings to the plate. BRING CASH! The food comes out pretty quick after you order too. I would give this place 5 stars but in the time I've lived in WA, I've noticed that their servings are smaller and the prices have gone up slightly but it doesn't bother me too much because I always want to come back. read more

First time here and it was great!! Meant to post a review about this sooner. But here I am 3 or 4 months later. When walking up, there was a line. We did not have to wait long. We waited for about 15 mins. Oh and it is CASH ONLY. Walking in, it is a really small place. Tables fit 3 person per table. They do have the kitchen bar area where you can sit too. I personally did not want to sit at the bar kitchen area because it was so hot and the heat from the cooking was intense. We sat more towards the back but it was still hot then. We had the chicken pad thai, panang curry and pad see eww. We had spice level 2. For me, the spice level was perfect although they do make it a little spicier than a lot of restaurants. So if you can't handle spicy, just ask for no spice. The waitresses there were nice. Constantly filling up my water cup. That is a plus in my book. They only thing I didn't like was the portion size was small. Wish it was a little bigger. I honestly don't mind the loud music. I will definitely come back here. But not with a huge crowd. read more

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one of the great thai foods that i have ever eaten so far; even if its super spicy and super tight corridors might hinder you from coming back for more... this is definitely worth the wait. The pricing on food is awesome... spend less than $10 on two meals... share with a friend and ur done! the chef is an entertaining dude so u have a free show as well. Advise to the wise... come after lunch around 1ish or 2. Lesser crowds and u can hog the waiter for more meals! Oh bring cash! we ordered the ff ( Panang curry beef--yuummy... came with rice Pad thai--super spicy kick to it.. came with rice Pad See Ew--love the combo sweet and salty flavor with garlic and cilantro read more

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Best thai food in Seattle. Classic small joint so the waits can be long, but this is super authentic. Hot pans over open flames, one cook shooting off the hip, and then serving super hot plates. Chicken phad thai is probably their most popular dish (and rightly so) since it's more on the savory than sweet side. I usually pickup the basil chicken AND the Thai fried rice because that shit is delicioso. Thai tea is a must as well. Heat ratings depend on the chef! CASH ONLY read more

Food is still amazingly delicious. Especially the Pad Thai. (I've never officially eaten any other entree by myself though so I can't speak:/) Place is still small, crowded and busy but I STILL don't get why people COMPLAIN about this? I'm pretty sure that you saw the interior before you actually headed in. Generally speaking, I've never received any bad service. The chefs were super cool and talked to me a bit when they're less busy. The waitress were usually polite and nice although they do get rush and a bit mean in rush hours. But that's business, right? You want to get as much people in and out in the shortest amount of time. read more

I was quite disappointed with Thai Tom. I've been coming here since I was in college and their food was top notch. But today, the noodles were barely stir fried and the flavor was faint. I don't really post anything and was going to let it slide, but there was a nice and crispy fly in my pad see ew. I noticed it when I was about to take my last bite. As I'm reading the other recent reviews, I totally understand when they mention that their quality and service went down. Not sure if there was a change in ownership or management, but this is unacceptable. read more

Thai Tom - Zoomed in picture of the wok stir fried fly. - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I finally came to Thai Tom after nearly two years of living in the Seattle area. There is usually a line here partly due to the tininess of the restaurant - it fits like 10 people max... The chefs cook in front of you and it's cool to see the hot flames shooting up from the stove. They are so fast at cooking! I got the yellow curry and the curry tasted good - a bit on the sweet side. Their hotness scale is 1-5 and even a 2 was a bit spicy so proceed with caution. I liked that the yellow curry had eggplant in it - I never see eggplant in Thai curries. The potion was a bit small though - there didn't seem to be enough rice for the dish. The dish was only $7.50 so pretty cheap. I don't think I would wait more than 15-30 minutes for the food, but the food was pretty good. read more

So the chef's name is actually Tom. Chef, singular, because there's literally just one man making this hole in the wall a foodie gem of Seattle. The wait was physically painful. It took us 20min to get seated and another decade to actually get our food. Honestly, I'm not quite sure if this 5 star rating I'm giving is imagined because the food here revived me from starvation or if it was actually just that good. I'll give Tom the benefit of the doubt because his one-man cooking show is really something else. We sat right by the bar near Tom's kitchen so we really felt his blood, sweat and more sweat. Their spiciness ranges from a 1-5. I had the pad see you again at 3, the first 70% of the dish was amazing and had the perfect blend of sweet and spicy - the noodles were perfect. The remainder of the dish seemed to have too much sugar settled, and got too sweet for me. I had bites of their pad thai, which were SO. GOOD. The only reason I'd consider putting myself through the physical pain of waiting is to have this as my entree. Their panang curry was also one of the best curries I've had, A+. Get their Thai iced tea; it was delish and would make a nice prelude to your fatal hour-long wait of food. The Thai Tom experience is some kind of sweet Thai torture that you have to try if you're ever around the area read more

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Just got the worst phad Thai I have ever had there today. Would pick anywhere else next time.

Thai Tom is one of the most famous restaurants in in the Seattle area. It truly is a hole in the wall, but draws hordes of people and lines 1+ hr long in peak times. The waitresses / service is VERY rushed. Do not expect to have a waitress' attention for more than a few seconds. And watching the chefs work the wok is a work of art. They are FAST. So if you've stayed through the long wait and put up with hasty service, the food is great. Everything. From the top of the menu to the bottom. I'm a particular fan of the pad thai and the mango sticky rice for dessert read more

Thai Tom - Chefs hard at work! - Thai Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Not sure what all the hype is all about. Service was slow. I didn't find the staff particularly friendly. Place is cash only which makes you wonder why the price is still a bit higher than most Thai restaurants in town. I ordered a Pad Thai and it wasn't good, but not terrible enough to warrant a one star. The flavor was very different, almost like a hit or miss. read more

The Good: Food The Bad: Service The Meh: Cash Only My fiancé and I went here on a not very busy weekday around 2 pm for a late lunch. Let me set the scenery for you: For a usually packed house place, Thai Tom was, for once, surprisingly pretty barren -- like maybe 5 people in the whole place. So we were seated within minutes of arriving. Our waitress hurries us to our tiny, two-seat table and quickly asks us if we know what we want within 2 minutes of us being seated. Okaaaaaaaay... A little weird to be so pushy in a more than half-empty restaurant, but whatever. Geez, lady, we're not slot machines. You can't just pull the lever as soon as we get here and expect an answer. We both order the shrimp pad thai, watching from our seats as the Thai chefs heat hot oil over a wide carbon steel wok. Their hands quickly moving the fresh ingredients into the hot wok and stirring and flipping with such crazy fast precision. Our food arrives not 10 minutes later, all piping hot and fragrant with spices. A little bit of bean sprouts, some preserved radishes, scallions, tamarind paste, fish sauce, chili peppers, scrambled eggs, and about 5 large shrimps all mixed in with medium-sized rice noodles. So incredibly delicious. So tangy, sweet, sour, and a touch salty all at once. *DROOLS* Needless to say, we devoured it in a few minutes flat. Before we even finish our plates though, our waitress comes by and drops the check. I look around the joint and see that this tiny 20-seater restaurant is still rather empty. We wait a few minutes to finish our food, and then pay the check. As soon as we pay it, our waitresss comes back, picks it up, and is cleaning our table as soon as we get up. I mean, I am all for efficiency, but hurrying customers in a very empty restaurant is not cool. Not cool at all. Seriously, girl, you need to chill the frick out. And let your customers enjoy their darn food and experience. One less star for their less-than-exemplary customer service. 4-stars for the great, quick Thai food. read more

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Love this place! Worth waiting long line. Tips: call ahead if you're planning for order to go (take away). read more

We went there because we had been seeing lines out the door for the past few weeks and figured it must be good. Plus bonus points for it being a hole in the wall type of place. We ordered the Pad See Ew and the Green Curry. As we were sitting at the bar, we kept getting hit with the heat from the grill which was only a few feet in front of us. Also noticed that only Asian looking people there were the people working not eating. The pad see ew was came out sweeter than it should be with much smaller noodles than would typically be found in the dish. The green curry was pretty standard with less veggies and meat than I expected. Also the place doesn't take credit cards, which is not advertised anywhere. I asked why there is no signage and all I got was that there were no signs advertising that they did. Ship this place is you want authentic thai food in a nice environment. read more