Thonglor Thai Bistro has reached legendary status with our party. We had lunch here and ordered a wide range of food: papaya salad, pad see ew, chicken satay, roasted duck curry, tom yum soup, spicy eggplant, etc. We also asked for it to be spicy, because we like spicy. The food was absolutely delicious! Fresh, flavorful, and definitely spicy. Interestingly, the papaya salad was the spiciest. We devoured everything. What really topped off our experience was the staff. The waitress noticed two members of our party struggling with the spiciness level. She alerted the chef, who came out and gave us a special, non-spicy soup. It rescued our two members and delivered the salvation they needed. When we asked what the soup was - so we could order it again - the waitress said it wasn't on the menu. It was just comfort food that she made for her kids :-D As you can imagine, this is why Thonglor has reached legendary status with us. The fact that the waitress noticed people from our party quietly struggling with spice is one thing. To bring out a custom-made dish to quell their intestinal angst is another. Wow. What fantastic service. If it was possible to give a place 6 stars, I think everyone in our party would do so. Thank you Thonglor! read more

Visited for dinner on a Friday! The ambiance felt very casual and authentic with the Thai television program playing on the TV and overall interior decor. Food came to the table quickly. Standouts were the chicken laab and tom yum (with shrimp). The thai papaya salad was also really good. Overall everything could have been a little less salty but we didn't order rice so that could have been more on us for eating methodology. Next time, I'll probably ask for everything to be less salty if I don't plan on ordering rice. Portions were very generous as well!! I'd love to visit again to try more dishes, but this is a great go-to place to cure the thai food itch. read more

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Ate lunch here on a Wednesday. Ambience is nice. Service is fast. Ordered pad Thai and papaya salad- it's ok. Salad was too saucy. Pad Thai was too sweet. Ordered the sweet rice and mango for dessert and this was good. read more

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My first visit to this restaurant I believe with new management or new owner. It is located in Downtown San Mateo. It was busy when we arrived and I was happy we got table without reservation. The restaurant is not large but has plenty tables. When I scan through the menu, couples dishes in the menu caught my eyes and I asked the person if the restaurant has any relation with Sweet Basil restaurant in Foster City and it is yes. It is under same owner. We order couple dishes : Pad Kee Mao, Kuay Teow Moo Tun, Tamarind Fish and Tomyum noodle soup. We also ordered Thonglor Tourist and Purple rain cocktail . Overall the food are yummy and drink are good. The highlight is Kuay Teow Moo Tun and Tamarind Fish. Both are yummy, Pad Kee Mao was good but I think it is average. The Tom yum noddle soup was ok. As only one worker at the restaurant that took order, server and bill, it was a bit slow but the service was good. Next time will try other dishes. I think they need to add more worker to serve. read more

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This was my 2nd time here. Enjoyed several dishes and all enjoyable. Portions are large in terms of entree. The fried tofu appetizer was a fair size for the price. The owner is friendly and checks in often. He shares insight into street foods in Thailand and takes time to converse with diners read more

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This was my first time at this particular Thai Restaurant and I'm was impressed that none of their food had MSG/Monosodium glutamate! I'm highly allergic and most Asian and Latin restaurants cook with it. Some restaurants even add MSG to ranch dressing! Waaaa So I was happy to hear there wasn't ANY MSG here! The service was quick and attentive. We walked in and were seated right away. Then as we ordered the Fish cake appetizer, that came out before we could order our dinner. Hahaha which was fine because we were both very hungry on that Friday evening. Hee. It was my first time EVER having a fish cake and I loved them! They had a little bit of a spice to them, then the sour pickled dipping sauce helped balance the flavors. I loved the pickled veggies within the sauce too! We also got the Satay Chicken skewers and that dish had the same delicious sour sauce too. Then we got the chicken pad Thai! Yummmmm I usually save some for leftovers, but the pad Thai tasted too good to save and I basically ate the whole dish! Hahaha oops! Oh and my Boyfriend got this delicious limeade with fresh mint leaves! Omg! That was soooooo refreshing I'd love to order one of those to go! The only thing that threw me off, was this particular evening it was maybe 80 degrees, which I know is odd for the peninsula. It was rather warm inside this restaurant, but we sat by the window and that helped. I truly hope the chefs in the back had their own A/C units, I could only imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for them to prepare our food with that random heatwave. We will definitely be back here to try more dishes! read more

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We came here on a Friday night for dinner and there was little wait and we were seated pretty quickly. The ambiance was lively as it's also in the downtown San Mateo area. Overall, the food was delicious! We ordered: - Vegetarian Egg Rolls - Crunchy and the stuffing inside was nice. - Pad Kee Mao with Tofu - it was not as spicy and I thought it would be but still delicious. I liked the noodles and veggies, but didn't really like the tofu as much. I think I'll try it with chicken next time. - Yellow Curry with Tofu - it was pretty decent Yellow Curry and the tofu was soft and delicious. - Prig King with Chicken - Honestly one of the best Prig Kings I've had! It was spicy and absolutely delicious and very flavorful. Will be coming back again for this for sure. I enjoyed my dinner here and will definitely be back again in the future to try more! One thing to note is that it closes a little earlier than other places in downtown (around 8PM). read more

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Located in downtown San Mateo, and it's a small restaurant. It has the best Thai food! And the items are pretty authentic and different. I stopped by because I saw they have Khao Soi! I haven't had it since my visit in Chiang Mai, since it's a northern Thai dish. They also have additional street food dishes like a variation Tom Yum. I love the mango dessert with sticky rice. I can't wait to try more food. It's pretty affordable for the price :) Food 5/5: -Khao soi: MY FAV food of all time. Curry soup with crispy noodles, chicken, red onion & other veggies. Very savory :) -Tom Yum Kway Tweo: delicious version of regular tom yum, a bit more spicy than regular tom yum soup. Portion is large! Good for 2-4 people -Mango sticky rice: love the black rice paired with ripe mangoes. They also made it into a heart. So cute. This is 100% better than the other Thai restaurant in Downtown San Mateo. Owners & workers are very friendly. read more

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Love this spot!! What a hidden gem. Everything we've ordered here has been delicious and is one of the best Thai food I've ever had. The staff are so kind and attentive and the portions are great. It does get busy on weekend nights but that is just a testament to how good it is! Ambiance is a little dark but clean. read more

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I've been looking for good Thai food and I've found it!!!! So gooood! Large portions, and the perfect level of spicy! We got pad Thai, fried rice and some chicken. Everything was so delicious, and I can't wait to get some take out again! read more

Decent local no-frills Thai restaurant for San Mateo. There seems to be a plethora of traditional street food items on the menu, so that was fairly exciting! Service was fine. It wasn't super busy when we first entered (only one other table was occupied), but it picked up a bit when we left. Dishes are fairly priced and I like how some entrees, like the green curry dish, comes with rice. Most places charge you an extra fee, but the waitress kindly informed us that it was already included before asking if we wanted to get an additional order. I'd like to come back and try other noodle dishes as I only ordered the pad kee mao. They didn't ask what spice level I preferred, so it seems like they might just resort to a default standard? However, you can always ask for the additional spices and adjust as you'd like! read more

I've passed by Thonglor many, many times and never went in. However, there was a recent Reddit post raving about how authentic it tasted (and came from a Thai person!). We decided to pop in on a weekday evening and there were plenty of tables. Food itself it pretty good and fairly inexpensive for the portion. There were also interesting items on the menu paying homage to tradition Thai street food. For a group of 3, we spent about $90 for 4 different dishes. The pad kee mao was decent and the string beans were pretty good too. We also ordered a green curry salmon dish and were quite surprised to find that it came with a side of Jasmine rice! The ony gripe was that the salmon was a tad overcooked. My sister ordered a khao soi dish that wasn't super heavy like it usually can be. You have to request the accompanying sauces, but they're instrumental in elevating your palette. I'd come back and try out more dishes, and love that they can make things veggie friendly! read more

I always love to go to Thonglor Thai-Lao when I have a Thai appetite!! The food is so authentic and delicious with lots of variety!! They have also a street food menu with more options to share with friends when you want to do family style, or you can just enjoy on you own the full dish for the food is rich with complex flavors! I always love to order the roti fried chicken as it always comes out so fresh and crispy!! read more

Thonglor Thai Bistro - Papaya salad and eggplant seafood - Thai Near Me - San Mateo, California

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I dined in with a friend and I thought the TOM YUM soup was the best dish that we had ordered that day. I pretty much finished the entire thing by myself. Simple yet full of flavor and the seafood was cooked just right. We also asked the waiter, Jeff (?) what his favorite dishes were and so we ordered the PAD THAI WITH CRAB (I never order pad thai but he said he was their best). I thought it was alright but mainly because pad thai is not my favorite dish so I should have just stuck to what I normally get, which is the PAD SEE EW. Oh well. At least, now I know. He also said the SPICY CATFISH was his favorite, so we ordered that. I thought it was a bit too salty for my taste. I only had a few pieces but my friend liked it and took all the leftovers home. Overall, I would come back to try other dishes. I've also ordered takeout for their tom yum noodle dish and I thought this was pretty delicous! read more

Great Thai food and if you have family with you on a Saturday night, it's a darn reliable placd to go for Thai dinner. Came in with my folks for a Saturday night dinner and the food was flavorful, fresh from beginning to end and tbh I would confidently say it doesn't disappoint. First off for a party of 3x the proce point with a Pad Thai at their range of $20 or so in downtown Sam Mateo was the right price as other Thai restaurants charge the same or more. Next onto the dishes we ordered - Thai Crab Fried Rice, Thai Beef Noodle Soup, Shrimp Pad Thai, Prawns in a Blanket, and Green Chicken Curry. To start - the Prawns in A Blanket - You'd be surprised that even in SF Bay Area not many Thai Restaurants make that dish often anymore and to add to it that it came out crispy, fresh, and flavorful and that the batter did not see too thick or over battered, it hit the spot. Next - Thai Green Chicken Curry with a Bowl of Rice. Where to start? Well, the Green Chicken Curry first off came in a hearty size portion tjat would easily feed a hungry working person in a solod grade capacity. We talking good chicken good amount of fresh vegetables to accompany it - and a flavorful curry. Next, we have Thai Style Crab Fried Rice that was delicious - good crab meat stir fried with some some eggs and on a fresh bed of tomato and spiced fried rice yummmm. The Pad Thai - lots of shrimp and flavorful zest in it's sauce, delish. Then we had a beef noodle soup - the beef stock w/ Thai spices was solid and aroma-ful - not lacking anything and with a good amount of beef and noodle. Overall great stuff, will need to come back and try more. read more

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Finally found some authentic Thai noodle soup in the peninsula. My husband tried the kway teow moo tun, which was the pork both with thick rice noodles, slices of pork, pieces of braised pork, and meatballs. The broth was homey and flavorful, like Grandma made it. The owner and chef were so kind and appreciative! They recommended us to try the other soups, specifically the Tom Yum noodle soup. We're making a trip back. read more

Thonglor Thai Bistro - Menu posted outside - Thai Near Me - San Mateo, California

This is our second time having thonglor and we love the bold flavors, their specials, and the freshness of their ingredients. The service is also so friendly and helpful with ordering. We will keep going back! read more

This was our first time here - the restaurant has been around for a while but there are new owners who took over in September 2025 and have been revamping the menu. We tried one of the specials - a delicious tamarind fish filet - perfectly fried with a light breading and almost creamy texture to the fish inside with a delicious tamarind sauce and some veggies. The duck soup is a standard on the street food menu - the broth was rich and complex, with some veggies in addition to the duck. Nothing much to the side of steamed veggies but a food way to enjoy a few more veggies with the delicious sauce and soup that we had. Service was very attentive. The restaurant is nothing fancy, but clean with a mix of tables for couples or groups. read more

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A-mazing service very attentive and speed of service was all good The food was spectacular 5 star very tasty I ordered chicken Tom Kha soup delish. Shrimp Pat thai was great. The star of the show was my mango sticky rice soooo good Be sure to leave room for it! A must! And the ambiance was good i found in enjoyed the music too read more

Thonglor Thai Bistro - Mango sticky rice - Thai Near Me - San Mateo, California

Food & service was amazing!!! I ordered this crispy pork belly dish which was so flavorful. The pork was crispy, tender, & juicy. The egg over the rice was a nice touch as well. Customer service was very good. I believe the owners name was Jeff, well he was very cool & took time to explain this dishes to us. Also, gave advice to my sister on how to make one of the dishes she really liked. Amazing restaurant highly recommend it. read more

Thonglor Thai Bistro - Crispy Kao Moo Krob - Thai Near Me - San Mateo, California

Just passing by the city of San Mateo. Has a quick errand in downtown of this city. Realizing I was in downtown I knew there had to be a good amount of tasty ethnic restaurants. I was on B street and discover a small couple of blocs length of door to door small restaurants that seemed to good to skip. Without even reading the reviews in found a free mini parking garage so convenient and I was already feeling lucky after I found a low price gas station. I stumbled upon a subtle Thai street food place called Thonglor Thai Bistro -the photos of street foot on its windows outside attracted me. I walked inside and I chose a seat by the open door and was seated greeted right away with the menu. I told the mister I love pork so he suggested crispy pork belly with vegetables and that was it. I added that coffee and it was great. The dish was something I have never had at a Thai restaurant, before I would just get the common chicken satay , green or yellow curries at Thai restaurants. I decided to be bold and different and eat pork belly. It was great with the fried egg and on top of the fried egg I put clear hot sauce with diced green peppers , it had 3 other sauces and all were good especially the red powdered condiment it was a great addition to the spice level . The Thai coffee was just sweet enough to help with the heat I put in. This is a family run and the owner was a great guy he asked I about my meal and we had a short brief conversation which was nice since I was all alone . I learned he was originally from east coast Connecticut state and his son still lives there and he misses it. Real nice guy and his Mom told me to come back and try everything else like seafood, I told her I will definitely. Place is unassuming and can be easily missed driving by. I'm glad I chose to eat here today. 11/8/25 read more

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First time here at Thonglor. New menu items. I like tum yum noodles. Mild is still pretty spicy. Big portion and delicious. Thai chicken rice is decent. Will come back again to try different noodles. read more

Thonglor Thai Bistro - Chicken Rice - Thai Near Me - San Mateo, California

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BEST THAI FOOD IN SAN MATEO. This place is located in the heart of downtown San Mateo. The neighborhood around us has great access to many stores around. I was craving Asian food and this place caught my eye first because of how delicious the food looked and sounded, so I had to go check it out for myself! Walking in the, the restaurant had such a warm and welcoming presence. If you are looking for a luxurious date on a budget, this is your go-to. The waitress was very attentive and even offered many sauces/side items I would usually ask for, but my waitress was already on top of it and I didn't have to ask for anything extra it was already given. Service is 10/10. I usually only order red curry however, the waitress suggested pumpkin curry and let me tell you, this did not disappoint. It had a perfect harmony of creamy coconut milk, sweet pumpkin, and bold spices, creating a rich, satisfying dish with layers of flavor in every bite. Its velvety texture and balanced heat made it irresistibly comforting and delicious, especially when paired with the jasmine rice! I couldn't stop eating it. Also ordered the mango sticky rice! The blue rice was a sticky sweet rice and mixed with sauce and mango. The contrast between the sweetness of the mango and the rich, slightly salty rice makes this Thai dessert simple yet irresistibly satisfying. Please eat here! read more

Thonglor Thai Bistro - Thai Sweet Sticky Rice with Sweet Mango - Thai Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Amazing food and great ambiance Service was terrific too I ordered Duck fried rice which wasn't on the menu and it was fantastic My wife got the special which was pork belly The portions were excellent and we had enough for another meal Thonglor deserves an encore :) read more

Serves us right for craving Thai but unable to tolerate a lot of heat chili and spice, we asked them to make everything super mild. They delivered exactly that. But it also lacked the oomph that makes Thai food do delicious. Not their fault. Everything was fresh and service excellent. Walking distance and convenient but free street parking difficult. Their purple rice with mango was absolute fire with not overly sweet and their iced tea terrific. Prices reasonable. read more

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In A Nutshell: -Thonglor is a famous area in BKK (Bangkok), which what this Thai restaurant is named after. -I really enjoyed the warm conversation about Thailand w/ Lek. -The food portions are very generous using the best ingredients. -The Spicy Eggplant & Papaya Salad were so good! Overall, if you are in the mood for delicious Thai food, this is the place to go read more

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Delicious food - it's great to have more variety to downtown San Mateo! Thai street food that you can't find anywhere else

This delightful downtown Thai restaurant has long been one of our favorites. It's recently changed management and updated its already extensive menu with nightly specials (photo attached). We thoroughly enjoyed one of their signature dishes - spicy catfish, flavored by a variety of green pepper, not available in stores, and fragrant mint leaves, which made for an exquisite experience for our taste buds. Next was wonderful Roti & Fried Chicken, served with homemade roti plus yellow curry sauce and cucumber salad. Dessert was a heavenly presentation of Purple Sticky Rice w/ sweet Mango, complemented with coconut cream and roasted mung bean. All 3 dishes were beautifully prepared and delicious. The restaurant's regular menu is extensive and includes many Thai standards. We were very pleased with our dinner and plan to return soon to this neighborhood gem. read more

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We loved the food - they even have a cool street food menu! It was very toddler friendly as well and the manager was very friendly. Come support this restaurant! read more

The service was great and nice. The Kai Teow Kai Chicken soup I had was super delicious, and they put extra chicken in it. I loved it. The atmosphere was pleasant, quiet and peaceful. The price was reasonable as well. I'll definitely will go back again to try something new in their menu or the same soup I had. I'll recommend it for you to go and try it. read more

My husband and I ate here and it was awesome! We had the khao soy, ka prow and the cashew nut chicken and it was all sooooo good. The khao soy in particular was fantastic and we were basically scrapping the bottom of the bowl. The service was lovely as well from Jeff and we really enjoyed our meal. We will definitely be back! Great addition to the San Mateo food scene! I highly recommend anyone to come eat here! read more

Happy to see this Thai place has new owners. We walk by often and noticed the crispy chicken sign out front, so we decided to give it another try--and we're glad we did. Great service and fresh, authentic Thai food. We chatted with the new owners, and it's clear they care about what they're serving. The noodle soup was spot on, and the fresh spring rolls were perfect. Ignore the old reviews--new owner, new chef, great food. We've already been back again just a week later and are looking forward to trying more dishes. If you like heat, be sure to ask for true Thai spice level. read more

Jeff, the owner, provided us with wonderful service. The food portions were large and absolutely delicious. Would definitely recommend the place. read more

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Super authentic, amazing tasting Thai food. Highly recommend. We had the crispy chicken with roti, pad woon sen, bbq pork salad and purple sticky rice with mango. All the flavors were out of the park delicious. Best Thai food I've had in the peninsula. Must try! So excited to come back and try more dishes. read more

I came as a party of two tonight, soon found out we had arrived close to closing. I enjoyed pretty much everything except the Duck Curry seemed off according to my taste buds (have had better elsewhere). I felt rushed and ushered to inhale my plate in the end...after noticing the waiter take in the signs from outside and collect our empty dishes off our table and then presenting us with the bill. There were no other diners except my partner and I. A daughter-father duo had just left before us and not too far apart was the family of 2 toddlers who apparently dined with their parents. Definitely gave me the quaint and traditional vibe (the interior design gave me that feeling). I would recommend this place to all to try at least once and judge for yourself!. read more

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Great food, good service, and reasonably priced! We ordered the pork leg w/rice and yum woon sen and both were tasty! As a Thai person, I'm usually picky with my yum woon sen but the spice and flavor were on point! Will be back to try their other dishes. read more

The food was pretty close to original Thai food in thailand. Calm vibes as well. Great for spice lovers.

Such a great place for nice authentic Thai food! The services were amazing and food came out fast. Perfect ambience for a group friends/fam dinner or intimate date night. 10/10 :) read more

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Wow! Delicious authentic Thai food! The crispy pork....sooooo good. Panag curry was excellent as was the Tom Yum Kun. Happy this place is under new management!! Yay! read more

This was a great experience the food was authentic Thai Now the mango sticky rice was a great surprise on how delicious this desert was. Would come back to see Lek again. Thank you very much. read more