Hats off to an owner who listens and cares! We returned to Top Thai and enjoyed a lovely meal. The food was as fresh and flavorful as ever. Service was excellent, right down to the time to pay the bill. No problems at all over the Monday Senior Day discount. It's refreshing to see that there have been measures taken to train the servers on proper procedures and the time taken to clarify what the discount applies to. This is one of the best little Thai spots in the area. Well worth the stop, give it a try. read more

Love this place. It's a charming little spot. The walls are adorned w/ authentic art from Thailand - apparently the owner's wife travels back and forth from Thailand on a regular basis picking up things for the restaurant. The staff is very attentive and the owner takes a minute or two to ask how you're doing/small talk. Food is yummy, prices are reasonable and even better - we noticed that they just upped their portions! You'll definitely be taking food home. We usually get the chicken penang, pad kee mao and tofu fried rice. If you're in the area and craving for Thai, definitely try this place out! read more

Top Thai serves food fit for royalty. I was taking my wife out for our anniversary. We had play tickets for a Marty Nemko directed play, Neil Simon's 'Broadway Bound' at the Castro Valley Chanticleers theatre and I wanted a fine local dining place to memorialize the event. A good Castro Valley friend referred me to Top Thai, so my expectations were high. Top Thai did the trick. Not pretentious, but the dining room atmosphere transcends the ordinary neighborhood outside. Way cool. It was like a mini vacation to Thailand, but better because it is a clean, well lighted space, and appointed with colorful cultural artifacts. Obviously, the owners designed traditional dining room settings in a tasteful way. The wait staff dresses in traditional garb, is attentive and courteous. I'm liking this and growing more eager to smell and taste the food. You don't want to be in a rush when coming here. It's best to give yourself ample time to absorb the sensations. I'd say 90 minutes is good. I got the strong sense that many of my fellow diners are regulars here, sophisticated foodies. In a separate dining room area, I saw bigger table arrangements and I a family with the kids joyously partaking too. We ordered the green papaya salad, tom kha chicken soup, red pumpkin curry, and cashew queen. Oh boy, I ran out of stomach. Fresh, wow. I'd pass on the salad in the future, but all of main dishes served were seasoned and prepared to my liking. They clear the plates and are pleased to pack goodies to go. Next time, I will try the duck or seafood as the chicken was a bit dry. I'd recommend this place as the number one spot to go if you're around CV. read more

My husband and I recently moved to CV from SF and we were on the hunt for a good Thai restaurant that rivaled those on Clement Street. We found Top Thai on Yelp and decided to try it on a Saturday night. We arrived around 8 and about half of the tables were occupied. Our appetizer order was taken promptly and arrived quickly. Crispy Spring Rolls and Papaya Salad were good. The two problems we encountered: the pumpkin inside my pumpkin curry was rock hard and there was lettuce in the Pad Se Ew. I sent back my pumpkin curry to be cooked some more but it came back still rock hard and inedible. Service was friendly and prompt, but I think next time, we'll try the other Thai restaurant across the street. P.S. I took the leftovers home, cranked up my stove for 10 minutes and then the pumpkin was finally edible. read more

I have been here about 5 times since I discovered them a few years ago. The place is a little small but it's very decorative and colorful inside. The waiters are very friendly, they seat you quick, and bring you waters and menus right away. The pricing for the food is very good for the amount they give you. I usually order the thai fried rice and they bring you a giant plate of it! The portions are very generous. I also tried some of my friends yellow curry from here and it was very sweet and spicy. It was a perfect blend and delicious over white rice. Parking is either on the street or in their lot but it is a tiny lot since they share it with a burrito shop. Location is right along castro valley blvd which makes it very easy to find. I definitely crave this place when I want some Thai food. You'll leave here satisfied for sure! read more

I used to come here often when they first opened, but the last couple of times that I've gone in, I've found a few disturbing new changes that are all pointing in the direction of new/lack of management/cutting corners to save some money. 1. The attitudes of the current wait staff SUCK. Some of the rudest, bitchiest ladies u have ever been served by. Might as well have thrown the food at me, for as well as they were treating our table. 2. The portion sizes are half of what they used to be. Literally, a small cup of veg/protein qualifies as your "entree." 3. If you have kids, stay the eff away from this place. They treat you like you have the freaking bubonic plague if you walk in with young ones, even if they're well behaved, then proceed to be even ruder than usual (which is pretty damn rude). They have ONE, yes ONE, booster seat for the whole restaurant, so if you bring more than one kiddo who needs one, they have to share, I guess. Or one will have to stand on the seat (what happened today). All in all, there are better places around town. Find them and eat there! :) read more

Worst experience ever! Meet with expensive over priced food & bad attitudes! I went in for a take out, they don't have a lunch special, I was like okay that is fair for Sunday, then the waitresses keep pointing me to sit at a dark corner in front of the restroom and look over the menu from there. (wtf, no class.... & just wrong) I did sit there while ppl go in & out of the bathroom. When it is time for me to order, they didn't really care much and rush me through it. I was like okay, I can understand that takes out there are no tips, so you don't have to treat me nice at all. That is fine, too, but strike two me, if food is good, I will still come back. Here is the final blow, I waited 20 mins, for a curry, they bring it out to me in the small plastic container that you can find in Safeway, that is not a lunch special, but dinner price $9.15. I was blow away at first, I thought it was a mistake, then the waitresses all told me, yes, that is the dinner...... lead to a question, how small is if it is a lunch special? & how dare you to charge almost $10 for this small curry dish???????????? At this point, I will not ever return to this restaurant EVER! As I expected, I went home, tasted the curry, it was watery, few small piece of chicken, & just not worth $10 of food. Honestly, I can get the same dish at other Thai place for $5 and has better taste / larger portion then this restaurant. The only way for this level of restaurant to charge this price and justify is the restaurant is right next to a movie theater or in the lobby of theater. That is all I am saying. If you feel like waste some $$ and love watery food, this is place is your #1 choice. read more

Great food served by azzholes. They've managed to reach the perfect balance of spices in nearly every dish (that I've tried). The Tom Yum soup is superb. I'm not sure what they do to the wait staff during off hours; maybe lock them up at night in tiny little cells. They are angry little people! The short woman with the big eyes and rice bowl hair do, she's got more fire inside her than all the hot sauces in their kitchen!!! It's the Castro Valley version of the Soup Nazi. read more

I've been going to this restaurant for 2 years now. The food never disappoints. The service is an example of excellence. The restaurant's 's decor is unique with it's Thai Paintings & statues. The customer service is excellent as I ordered for pick up near closing time but they still accommodated me as my food was going to be done after closing time. It's a nice place for me to go to break the monotony or change it up form time to time as there are so many Thai restaurants in this area. However I got to say this is the best of all of them. read more

Its all in a name. While looking for a place to eat near my meeting, I found top Thai on my yelp app. Two things popped into my head. 1) A "top" Thai restaurant 2) A versatile twink gay bar I was fortunate it was the first of the two. The reviews are a lot of people claiming the food is decent yet service bordering horrible; I cant say I had the same experience. Upon walking in, the place is narrow and homey... with a larger side for I am assuming a dinner rush? I liked it. I love holes in the walls and you typically cant go wrong with Thai. The lunch menu was extensive, which made me happy as most places have your standard currys and noodles. Although I was eye-fking the TFC (Thailand fried chicken), I opted for the Thai roast duck with brown rice. My dining companion got the hot and spicy noodle soup with pork; again, standard. The duck was thinly cut and was served on a large bed of broccoli with bok choy with a side of sauce (tasted like a lighter, saltier BBQ sauce). Of all the duck I've had in my life (and I have had (A LOT) this easily falls in the top 5; Moist, meaty and perfect. The broccoli and bok choy were steamed perfectly with great flavor. I was also told that the soup was "okay" and not the best, which is unfortunate because I really enjoyed mine. all in all, lunch for two with a thai tea was around $20.... very reasonable. As far as the service, they were prompt, attentive and nice. There were about 5 people in the restaurant so maybe they weren't stressed due to a rush, but I really have no complains... easily above average. We were in and out in a timely yet unrushed manner... and FULL. Cheers top Thai for curbing my Thai cravings and not being whatever my imagination stirred up. *shudders* read more

Sooo good! When it's too hot to cook or just don't have the energy to cook. We order take out from here. Always consistent and always good! I can always count on Top Thai for take out. Parking is meh, but worth the parking stalking. read more

I've been here twice and both times were for dinner. Once was for a birthday dinner. Another was with friends on a Thursday night. Since we were all coming from different locations, we decided on a central city, which was Castro Valley. The restuarant is easy to find and name is hard to miss since the sign is pretty big. However, parking is limited. As we walked in, we were greeted and seated right away. The restaurant isn't extremely large, but it has a cozy feel to it. The atmosphere is nice and it looks very authentic. The hostess was friendly and when she came by to take our order. We were so busy talking that we hadn't figure out what we had wanted. We all decided to do family style and when she came back, we were ready to order. We got the Pad Thai with Chicken, Chicken Fried Rice, Ginger Pork, and Yellow Curry Beef. Having the name Top Thai, I had high expectations for the food. The pad thai was tasty and had some flavor, but a little more would have been better. The fried rice was a little bland. I enjoyed the ginger pork and yello curry beef. I would come back if in the area. However it wouldn't be my first choice. read more

I'm a little surprised at some of the reviews here about the bad service or inconsistent food. Yes, we have experienced it being a bit slow but they have been slammed with dine in and to go orders. Anyone paying attention can see that. The other times we have always had great service, never felt rushed or treated rudely. I guess some of these reviews have never had an off day at work, been accused of being less than perfect, etc. Bully for them! We have been coming here for years and it's our go to Thai restaurant in down. The food is always good and never disappoints. The last time we went happened to be for a family birthday dinner. We didn't say anything to the staff but they asked because they say a gift bag. On their own they gave us a free dessert with candles, turned down the lights for the candle in the dessert to shine and sang Happy Birthday to us. Wow! So there is the example of the "rude" staff at Top Thai. Ignore the other reviews and give this place a try. You will be happy and get the pineapple fried rice. I crave that stuff! read more

The food here is a little inconsistent for me. Years ago, it seemed a lot better. Nowadays, it's a hit or miss. On the last few occasions, my food here were misses. Rice was soggy and everything else tasted very salty. My friend orders bottled beer that seems to always be flat. I've never ordered a Thai iced tea or coffee that I liked here. They don't bother to remedy this. It feels like they don't care, once you've paid. Parking sucks but I you could always park on the street or maybe at Rite Aid. The restaurant is tiny but they utilize every inch but that causes problems with getting in and out of there. The prices are standard for a sit down restaurant in Castro Valley. Lunch is fairly priced but a bit expensive for dinner. I do have to mention that I always order out so it could be better for people that eat there but I wouldn't know. I don't really like how cramped the seating is so carry out is better for me. The majority of the time, we have to wait for food, way longer than they originally said. On our last visit, we had to wait 53 minutes for an order of fried shrimp rolls and fried rice. I don't know why, but I ordered a Thai iced coffee while I was waiting. It was disgustingly sweet and watered down at the same time. We were glad to get out of there after we finally got the order but came to find out that they didn't even include dipping sauce, napkins or utensils. I opened up the fried rice and it only had a two pieces of each seafood and only one piece of shrimp. Wth? Anyway, I don't think this place is worth the price. I'd rather go to the other Thai place just down the street from this one. read more

Great food! Nice and kind stuff. Fast service! I recommend on the Tom Kah soup! And Thai Tea!

Our neighborhood Thai place! I like this better than the other Thai restaurant in The Village. Tastier food, friendlier staff. Parking is limited and can be hard to find if it's a busy night. We haven't had a problem since we always eat dinner fairly early. Our favorites: - Fried spring rolls - Pad See Ew w/ chicken - BBQ chicken/pork - Red/green curry (always a good choice, but would prefer a bit more meat) read more

THANK YOU! for staying open for us!! My friend in the city got off work late, and we all were starving (her from working from 6am til 9pm, us from walking around the city for 10 hours) and she knew of this Thai place. So we called to place an order for pick-up, knowing they close at 10pm, and then got caught in traffic and rain. So we called again to apologize, and they said, keep coming, they'll stay open for us - thank you! We made it there by 10:10pm, and there was the owner? and a very nice Thai women waiting with our food - they earned their tips that night!! When we got home and opened up our food - it was better than I expected (we are spoiled with some great Thai places in San Diego) - we all ordered the Pad Kee Mao, 2 with pork, 1 with chicken, and the servings were huge (though I ate the entire thing), and tasty. Great, large noodles :-) Prices seem to be average for Thai food. (=good) The only thing keeping me from giving this place a 5, is that the dishes were a bit too oily for my taste. read more

Top Thai is, without a question, my favorite Thai restaurant that I've ever been to. For the appetizer, I usually get the Thai spring rolls which are similar to traditional egg rolls. They're always hot to the touch whenever they come to the table, so I like that it's fresh and right off the frier. My usual entree is the chicken Pad Thai. They give huge portions when you dine in, so I'm always left feeling super full. Their noodles aren't too greasy and it's a perfect combination of noodles, chicken, and vegetables. It's the best Pad Thai I've ever had. Of course, mango and sticky rice is a must for dessert when eating Thai food. The rice is made extremely well--it's not too sweet and it oddly has a sort of savory taste to it. The mangoes are always sweet and delicious. It's the perfect dessert. One thing is that the service isn't always friendly. Some days I'll go in and have a great waitress who is really kind. Most days, I feel like I have a waiter or waitress that has a bit of an attitude and doesn't want to serve my table. The great food, though, outweighs any negative experience. It's an affordable price for Thai food and it lives up to its name. read more

Top Thai is truly the best Thai food I've ever tasted. I have been to a number of Thai food places all over the Bay Area and none compares to their quality, consistency, price, customer service and above all incredible taste. Try it- you'll be hooked! read more

After checking out the reviews of this place on yelp...I finally decided to take a dive into this place. I met up with a couple of friends the other day for an after work dinner. Although this place is small inside, and the parking isn't readily available (you'll have to park on the side streets), the food here is great. The wall decor and colors inside reminded my friend of Thailand. We ate family style, the three of us bacame fans of the Pad See Ew. Bonus about this place: you can order take out. read more

I had high expectations of this place since all the reviews were positive. Sadly, it was disappointing. Kept it simple since it was my first trip here and ordered the papaya salad, red chicken curry, and shrimp pad thai. The papaya salad was flavorful but had absolutely no heat. A little spice would've been nice! Maybe I was being presumptuous in assuming that Thai dishes would come standard with some heat. Moving on, the shrimp pad thai had literally 3 shrimp in it. I'm not saying it has to be full of shrimp but the name is a little misleading I was expecting at least a minimum of 5 shrimp. The best dish I had was the red curry. It had a nice flavor and just enough spice hence why I gave this review an extra star. Since I took my order to go I don't have thoughts about the service but since the food didn't win me over I might not be returning anytime soon. Sorry, I really wanted to like you top thai. read more

One of my favorites Thai places in the area! Quick, big portions and decent prices. Yum! Don't change. Love the food here,- everything is GOOD read more

See all

Always a pleasure Top Thai! My favorite dishes include their Pad Thai and Panang Curry. Food is almost always an A+. As for hospitality, there was one instance where I believe they might've forgotten about our order, but when I brought it to their attention they made it up to us in complimentary thai tea AND rice. So yes, I forgive you Top Thai and here is an additional 20% tip. (: read more

Top Thai - Thai Tea - Thai Near Me - Castro Valley, California

My boyfriend and I have been getting delivery from here ever since we moved to Hayward six months ago. Their chicken satay is consistently fantastic AND they deliver! They are reasonably priced and the delivery man always remembers us. It's definitely worth a try! read more

The fried banana dessert is the best. Found it while looking for a place to eat with a friend.The decoris name and the food is not bad either.. Arti read more

Ive had a lot of Thai food in a lot of places and this place was a pleasant surprise to me in terms of ambience and service, the food, not as much. The owner and the servers are very friendly and try their best to serve their customers. The place is nice and clean. However, its the kinda place you wanna go too on your lunch hour on a weekday. Lunch is served with a fresh salad and ice tea. I love the fact that this place also serves Brown rice for an extra buck. I ordered a beef with spicy red curry and ground chicken with long beans. I personally thought that the food was ok, but ive had better. The Red Curry lacked spice and the thick "gravy-like" texture its suppose to have. Maybe, they're just trying to cater to a certain crowd by keeping the spices lower but I just love orignality. Verdict: ill go back for a quick lunch with my work buddies read more

This place was hopping on Saturday night, but the service was still quick and attentive, and the noise level wasn't too overwhelming. Everything we ordered was delicious, some standouts were: ~Fresh spring rolls! So yummy! Minty and balanced with just the right amount of tofu. ~Tom Kha Soup was fresh and not tooooo spicy, but still had a bit of a kick. ~The pad see ew noodles came in a generous portion, and tasted fresh and nummy. ~Pumpkin curry, I love the sauce, but could take or leave the texture of the pumpkin itself. It provides a nice sweetness to the curry and chicken, though. read more

Its fun that Castro Valley has 3 Thia restaurants - one even across from the other.. and Top Thai is one of those. This spot offers a tasty lunch value that I really enjoy. The Clay Pot is amazing full of flavor and the special comes with a drink and very friendly service. The dinner menu is just as good. and vs the other 2 Thia's in the hood - this one is up there with great service and food .. Vmedia read more

This is a staple for my wife and I. We love the place and the staff. In fact, when my wife was just about to give birth to our daughter, she asked if we could stop at Top Thai as "her last meal" and we had some soup, Kee Mao chicken and then we headed right over to the hospital and 20 hours later she gave birth to our little girl! They're expanding to the spot next door, and hopefully they don't lose their personal touch or food quality! I personally now have a favorite dish here, but beware, it's full, full, full of garlic. It's the Lemon Fish and it's on the specials menu. It's a steamed sea bass covered with minced garlic and limes (yes limes). It's a very tasty and light fish dish, but you won't be getting a kiss for about 24 hours. Seriously. More garlic than they serve at the Stinking Rose up in the city. read more

Top thai, So much to say! Classified as my favorite place in the world!! I always order the number 1 which is Satayed Chicken with peanut sauce, rice, and a cucumber salad. I would only go for lunch though because after 5 they raise the prices. And they also Deliver!!! I love top thai!!! read more

This place is fantastic! I dare say, the best Thai joint in the entire bay area. My fiance and I love it so much, that after moving to Oakland we kept going back. Now that we have moved again, this time to San Francisco, we still make a point to make the journey to Castro Valley on monthly basis. The food is simply to die for, just like I have tasted in small villages of North Thailand. I went as far as getting Top Thai to cater my office's party, people loved it, nothing was left! read more

While I feel EVERY restaurant has areas for growth, I feel this one is pretty awesome. The service here from day one has been stellar, the food has always been fresh, flavorful and in abundance. Our glasses were never empty, the food was delicious and had huge portions. My server (can't remember her name) was such a gracious hostess! She checked on us multiple times, and this appears to be a regular habit for her as she's done on EVERY SINGLE VISIT! Not to mention, the prices (during lunch especially) are amazing and very reasonable! You should definitely try this place out! I will continue to be a loyal customer because I get treated well, get served great food at reasonable prices, and they always stay consistent! read more

Very poor... Very sweet, very bland and the sauces were quite viscous with corn starch. We were most unimpressed. Not a great selection for vegetarians. Try Lime Leaf Thai in the Castro Village or go to Thai Garden down the road in Hayward for better Thai. UPDATE: The owner has contacted me several times to try and get me to change this review. They even offered us a free meal, I assume in exchange for a better review. Sorry but we don't roll like that. It seems he or she now offer a vegetarian menu so we will try it again but not on their dime and if the sauces are still too sweet, you can bet were still going to pan the place. Dumping sugar into everything is 90% of what's wrong with food in this part of the world. I call it like I see it and mention how much I dislike over-sweetened curries, even in the places I review more favorably than this one. Stay tuned for more Thai food drama. read more

So my 1995 Saturn was recently stolen for the FOURTH TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think it's gone for good...:( Groceries have been difficult to get and I was sitting here on a lazy Sunday, thinking I had about had it with Chinese delivery food...and remembered Top Thai! Their food is GREAT and I have never had greasy dishes here (as some other posters have experienced). The food came within half an hour. Woo hoo! Now, if only they would deliver a new car to me.... read more

4.5 stars! Decided to drop in right before closing with my girlfriend and it was better than the last time! ordered the pumpkin beef curry and pineapple fried rice. Both dishes were steaming hot and delicious... I swear you have to give this place more than one shot...the second time was better and this time better yet! Hopefully, they can get down the consistency and make it great every time! read more

The usual take-out order: Green curry with steamed salmon, accompanied with broccoli and eggplant; side of brown rice; stir-fried silver noodles (not sure of the name) or pad thai noodles. So good! I love the way they make the salmon curry dish (specified as steamed) and, more importantly, the food here seems and tastes healthier than other thai restaurants-- it's less greasy and less intense in sweetness/tartness, which is well-known in classic thai cuisine. This is a good place to go if you're looking into a quick, tasty, asian meal, and wanting to stay in the CV area. read more

I love this place!! Well, let me start off first by announcing that I LOVE Thai food and I almost always order one of 3 dishes: pad see ew, pineapple fried rice or pad Thai. With that said, I know if those 3 dishes are of good quality or not and this place is definitely AWESOME. The first time I came here, I ordered to go because I was on my way to work. I ordered my pad see ew with chicken and then I was told to take a seat while I waited for my food. The waitress was really nice and brought me a cup of tea too, so that I could drink it while I was waiting. It didn't take too long for the food to finish cooking and I was on my way. Let me make it a point to say that these portions are huge! I could barely even finish half of my pad see ew when normally I would finish the whole thing! I brought the leftovers home and ate the rest of it at night. (still good!) During my next visit there, I went with the boy and found out that we get a free drink with our lunch entree as long as we dined there. I missed out the first time because I got it to go! This time we got pineapple fried rice and pad see ew to share. (See how much I love those dishes? xD) we also got thai iced tea and another tropical sounding drink. I forgot what it was called but both were verrrrry good. Again, the food came in gigantic portions and both of us had trouble finishing our lunch. The pineapple fried rice had large pieces of pineapple in it, which I LOVED and pad see ew was absolutely delicious again. I absolutely love this place and would like to come eat here every weekend but the boy would probably get annoyed at that so I only suggest this place every other weekend. ;) The staff here is also very very nice and tries to take care and please all their customers. The atmosphere here is very friendly and helpful. I think I'm in love. read more

Thai food? Yes please! I'm always down for Thai! I always hear things about Top Thai so lets try this place instead of the usual Pad Thai across the street. "Never leave someone you love for someone you like because eventually they'll leave you too!" True in this case! Food: basil fried rice - expected it to be better from the reviews. Fried chicken wings - crispy with a nice spicy honey glaze. Beef pad see ew - looked good but pretty bland, beef was chewy and cut waaay to big. Beef salad - pretty tasty with a nice kick of lime. BBQ duck - probably a bigger slab of meat than Pad Thai Cuisine, but broccoli was lacking flavor, practically blanched vegetables with duck and a side of dipping sauce. Dessert - which is my favorite part of a meal. Ordered mango sticky rice. Seriously? 4 itty bitty pieces of mango with unequal amount of rice! Boooo! Sweet tooth was not satisfied =[ Drinks: waitress forgot our Thai teas and we had to ask for it. Finally got it half way through our meal. Ambiance: better than I expected. I thought it was a hole in wall place but inside is not bad Service: 50/50. Some waiters were very fast and for others it seemed like some forgot we were there. They even boxed up our dessert because we asked them to box our leftovers. Ummm, we actually planned to eat it there, buddy. Maybe it was a bad choice of food on my part, but still, shouldnt everything you serve be good? Sorry for cheating on you Pad Thai Cuisine =[ Please don't leave me! read more

Was visiting from Seattle & decided to try Top Thai per the Yelp reviews. I had the Pad See Yew with chicken & a Thai Iced tea. They didn't ask how spicy I wanted my dish, so I asked for the spice tray to spice it up. Loved the Thai Iced tea! Oh & the chicken seemed fine in the dish even though other reviewers complained. I did like that the service was attentive & the decor was nice. I visit this area often so I would probably visit again, maybe try another dish. read more

While in Hayward, I checked out Top Thai. I had the Vegetarian Tom Yum and the Pad See Yew. The Tom Yum was a little watery and not as tangy as I'd have liked. But the Pad See Yew was nicely made -- both the chicken and noodles were nice and tender. I'd come back if I'm ever back in the area to try their fried rice. Someone at another table ordered it and it smelled delicious. read more