Tropical Thai is our go-to spot for Thai food whenever we're passing through downtown on our way home. It's a true family-run restaurant, and you can feel the care and pride in everything they do -- the owners are always there, welcoming guests and keeping things running smoothly. The decor is traditional, and so is the food -- authentic, flavorful, and consistently delicious. We've been here many times and have never had a bad dish. Every meal feels freshly prepared and made with love. A friendly word of advice for fellow spice lovers: while we enjoy heat, "Thai spicy" really means Thai spicy -- it's no joke! Be sure you're ready if you order it that way! It's clear that this restaurant is a labor of love. We've heard the owners might have retired by now if their kids were interested in taking over, but for now, we're just grateful they're still sharing their wonderful food and hospitality with Sarasota. read more

This is a family thing no doubt. The wife and husband team with the husband cooking and the wife serving. The place is definitely dated but we r there for the food. We where the only ones in there for about 15 minutes until another couple came in. I will say we did order B4 them seeing how the weren't there when we ordered but some how they got their food b4 us and I kniw what your thinking but they did place their order at the table. Me lady and I ordered the sampler and I will say it was all frozen food from the store we didn't finish that. The owner is very personableb just not with us but the other couple of yea I know what u think they had never met I ask how do I know that she asked them where they were from. She did talk to us when she put her finger over or on our sampler appt to tell us about what was on the plate not that it was hard to figure out frozen egg rolls spring rolls soggy shrimp tempura and OOOOOO YES there crab Rangoon with real crab. That's true there is real crab in it with garlic and herb cream cheese and 1 bite in the middle will get it all. Honestly it's over priced and I did not get any spicy bite of Thai food what so ever. We will not be going back. All I can say is go out try something. You deserve it read more

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Really good, I chose very spiced and it didn't disappoint. Portion size was also very reasonable.

Very delicious food, the penang curry was perfect, and I enjoyed the soup and spring roll. The owner is very nice as well.

Ambience: not for date night Ordered Pad Thai and asked for it "Hot". Be forwarned that will be served as a 10 on the 1 to 10 heat scale. Next time I will probably ask for a 6 or 7 on the scale. It was good and served wet the way I like it, some places serve it too dry. Definitely be back to try some other dishes. read more

The rice soup was one of the best I've ever had. The broth, the rice, added some chicken.. mmm mm mm! I also had the ginger chicken dish was really good too. Real ginger pieces! It tasted healthier than most ginger chicken dishes I've had in the past. Less junk. Maybe it was because of the ginger pieces. read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - Rice soup with chicken - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

One of the best curries ever. Really wanted to lick the plate. Everything was great

Food was ok , overpriced and definitely I will never come back again , the place needs a deep cleaning

Amazing !!! Hands down the best Thai food I've ever had! Each dish amazing and the service so personal! Owners are wonderful and attentive! They have been in business 26 years! That's a rarity! Don't miss this Doesn't look like much from outside but you are in for a treat!!! read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - Owner ... Prawna! Suggested the Salt and Pepper Shrimp and Red Curry Chicken.. spring rolls too.. the best! - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

The ambiance is simple, but truly excellent food and service. Absolutely delicious Thai food that's like home cooked. Owner was very kind and helpful. Very nice experience. read more

Best Thai restaurant in SRQ! If you want truly authentic Thai food this is your place! Family owned ,successful Thai restaurant that takes pride in their business. Run; don't walk! This is just what you want! Best pad Thai in town! read more

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Great food and atmosphere!! I have eaten at alot of Thai restaurants from Florida to New York. This one is top notch! Flavor, prices and service were great! Anyone that did not give this place 5 stars does not know what authentic Thai is. And you probably have never owned a restaurant. This place is a gem. We will be back, probably tomorrow!!! read more

Family-run. Treat patrons like family. Genuine reliably Thai cuisine. Reasonable prices.

Authentic and fast service. Not super expensive either which is always a plus. Will definitely be back. :) read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - grilled chicken skewers on a white plate - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

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We cruised around Sarasota during lunchtime on Sunday for almost an hour, hungry as hell, but trying to avoid a drive-thru. Absolutely nothing was open! Then, we figured it would be safe to head down Main St. because something was bound to be open. We parked in front of Drunken Poet, because they also claim to have sushi and their open sign was on. They turned us away after we walked in the unlocked door, saying that they open at 5:00pm. So, exhausted in search of something we walked on foot from there and finally found something. Yes, one place- Tropical Thai. The atmosphere here is: think Hawaii Five-O, but Thai Five-O. Like a tropical paradise from the 1970's with Tom Sellek in a button down floral shirt. But, instead of being served delicious fresh Thai food with fresh herbs and vegetables, he is served curry dumped out of a can. Based on the clientele here, they have been coming here since 1968 and the food is still the same. Their sign-out front claimed that they have sushi, which was something that I had been craving for about a month. So it sounded great. But, nope no sushi during lunchtime hours on the weekend. Their Thai menu is limited, expensive, and the items look really boring. You either have the choice of the same old coconut based curry, one of the three standard noodle dishes, or a stir-fry in pretty much all the same sauce. The waitress here is an older woman, that would appear to be the owner due to her lack of tact. You are not asked for a drink order, just order your meal and drink and appetizer at the same time fast because she does not have time for your shit. The steamed dumplings were actually shumai, but were made in-house and had a strange canned flavor to them. I think it was the use of canned mushrooms in the filling mixed with ground pork and pre-frozen small shrimp. Aside from the strange flavor they were a non-deep fried start. The complimentary house salad was a small bit of vegetables covered in coleslaw sauce- thinned sweetened mayo. If you can get past the fact that it is supposed to be a salad and treat it more like coleslaw, then it is not all that bad. The soup however, could not be saved. It tasted just like over chlorinated tap water and that's all. The Thai Iced Tea is only $1.50 here, and is very good, not overly sweet. The Tofu Pad Thai was lacking in peanuts, but was thinned with broth instead of oil, which was fine by me. I should have ordered a side of peanuts and steamed rice to give it more volume and add some peanut flavor. Overall, it was very bland. The Pork Fried Rice looked very strange, the entire dish was a pink-ish light gray color. But, it was heavily salted, so it tasted better than it looked. The free donuts at the end were a nice touch considering the lame $30.00 meal we just endured. There is a slew of excellent Thai restaurants in the Sarasota/Bradenton area, and I would definitely put this a the bottom of the list of places to try. read more

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On a rare cold Sarasota day I ordered the seafood Tom Yum soup and medium hot Panang Chicken Curry. Both were delicious. The owner is extremely friendly. Check it out for yourself. read more

This is not Thai food!! It's not even good food... I have no idea what it could even be called. We ordered two entrees, and both were disgusting. Avoid this place. Do NOT waste your money here. It was really garbage... which is where it promptly went. read more

I love this place one of my favorite sports in downtown Sarasota , The food and the services is amazing read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - I love this place , every time I'm craving for really good food this is my place too go , - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

I came in for lunch and didn't heed the reviews. My bad. The service was fine and the egg roll that could mean with lunch was fine. Unremarkable. Their soup was bland. I had the red curry with beef, hot. Sadly, the curry was covered in peanuts and they were stale. There wasn't enough rice to finish the meal either; but at that point I was done with the meal. The curry was lacking flavor and the beef was bland. Bottom line: Believe the reviews. It's just not a place I would come to again. read more

Dine-In Take-out Delivery! I've been coming to Tropical Thai for nearly 20 years! I love to peruse the wide menu but often choose a signature dish ~ Chicken Yellow Curry! Savory Flavors, Hospitable Owners and Serene Ambiance makes dinner a wonderful experience! #LocallyOwnedAndOperated read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - Chicken Yellow Curry over White Rice... Delicious! - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

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This place is the real deal! Authentic Thai cuisine! Thai owners prepare and serve delicious meals! The couple couldn't be nicer. This has become a regular for our family. read more

Lots of mixed reviews on her but if you're a Thai fanatic like my partner and I, and you want authentic Thai, this is the spot. Family owned spot for over decade, the dishes pop with flavor. Best Pad Kee Mao I've had on the east coast, great Rangoons and Dumpling Soup. read more

A Sarasota classic, established before Main St. became crunched and the town crowded in traffic. Well priced & full of flavorful options -- this is a wonderful family owned AUTHENTIC Thai restaurant!! Dishing up delectable family-style Thai for Sarasota foodies for 18 years, I am so glad they endured the difficult 2020/2021 seasons! I remember going to their original location on the corner of Main & Pineapple as far back as 20 years ago. Don't walk past their current cozy nook (1535 Main) where the friendly husband and wife team are going on 8+ years of serving up savory satisfaction! An unassuming, quiet, and humble little spot, still left over from old Main Street when it was quaint, before glutton-developers dropped too many sky rises into our small coastal town. I was encouraged by the (new grandmother) lady proprietor to stay and take my time as I had articles to read (I have returned to college mid-life to bolster my career). I write this review the following night, craving more from Tropical Thai, wishing I had ordered an extra entree to-go. This is a place that our dearly departed Anthony Bourdain would have settled into, made warm acquaintances, and given his sassy approval. read more

Bottom Line: 4 stars for service and food, 5 star location, 3 star atmosphere and value. We ate here twice during our 2-week visit to Sarasota, so clearly we would return. We love Thai food. For awhile I was obsessed with Thai food and was eating it multiple times per week. This place is in a great location: right in the heart of Main Street. Many restaurants, many choices. The only issue is homeless people in the area: sleeping on the street, urinating on the landscaping, blocking the sidewalks, panhandling. I can't believe Sarasota permits this to continue, it can't be good for tourism and business. Back to the review. Atmosphere is a bit fuddy-duddy, dated. Tables have glass tops, chairs seem low for the table, diners are a bit close together, not terrible. One server, clearly the owner, a sweet, charming person. On our first visit, at Christmas time, they played a loop of Christmas music that repeated every 10-15 minutes. So amateurish. On our second visit, no music at all, and this detracted from the festive atmosphere. Seems like a struggling family business, I hope they can stay the course. Menu has many offerings. We are non-meat eaters, and there were many choices for us. I happen to love panang curry, and the server accommodated my request for panang with fresh fish, in this case, local grouper. Others in our party had panang vegetables/tofu. Some had coconut soup. I had egg rolls on our second visit. And I had a Singha Thai beer. The panang fish was outstanding. Batter fried, served on a small bed of vegetables, with a remarkably tasty panang curry sauce, one of the best I've had. Food came out hot each time. Preparation time was normal, not especially fast or slow. The others in our party remarked that their food was ok, nothing great. But those of us who had the panang were super happy. Lesson to learn: if you stick with boring choices you will get boring food. On our second visit it cost us roughly $90 for three of us including two appetizers, two beers, and three entrees. I find this a bit pricey, although not unreasonable. I cannot make this panang fish dish at home and it's flavor is compelling, so I would definitely return and happily pay this price. I am amazed that this place has only a handful of Elite reviews, and the most recent was from 2010. This place doesn't seem to be on the 'hot' list, but we will be back. read more

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I love the yellow curry, it's the best I've ever had. Even my 1 year old agrees!!! They are very fast, consistent, and nice here.

Another great vegan experience added to my repertoire. I ordered a Buddha Bowl, and it was amazing. This is a dish that I have tried to recreate at home time and time again. Roasted sweet potato and butternut squash on top of fluffy quinoa topped off with some sauteed kale, baked chickpea and tahini. This dish has got a lot of great plant based protiens and nutrients. I felt GREAT when I left.. maybe even a bit too energizing for dinner, but it prepared me for a fun night out on main street. I wasnt so into the dessert though. It was some type of chocolate treat, but it was so rich! Maybe good to share with the table since you only need a few bites. read more

I Love the pad woon sen dish with chicken! Poura is very accommodating and helpful with letting us know what is in the dishes and spice level! This restaurant is always very welcoming. read more

This was the worst Thai food I have ever had. The pad Thai looked like slop on a plate. The calamari appetizer was so greasy that the batter literally slid off of the calamari and the plate was covered with grease. We ordered hot Sami and it was barely luke warm. We asked the waitress to warm it for us and she brought it back barely warm again. We sent our entire meal back and they charged us $85. We left without eating anything it was that bad. I've never written a review like this. Horrible. read more

I popped into Tropical Thai for their lunch special. They have a full menu and the dishes start at $7.95. For that price you get your entree, a vegetarian clear soup (pretty bland) and a vegetable spring roll. I ordered the garlic and pepper tofu with veggies. The tofu was crispy and the veggies were fresh. The sauce was flavorful. You could definitely taste the black pepper. They did have quite a few vegetarian dishes on the menu, and the ones that aren't vegan could be modified to be. Overall, the lunch price was a good value and the portion was filling. read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Best Thai food I've ever had. Great service. Friendly and courteous. I don't know what else Yelp wants me to say. It doesn't let me post my rating unless I rant more... I guess I'll just rant and waste your time. read more

The owner is a nice person, this is a small business that's trying hard. But their new space is cramped, and the food is OK but not great. We tried phad Thai with shrimp and yellow curry with chicken. The phad Thai was too sweet for my taste, and just not very interesting. The yellow curry was OK, but not great - the sauce just didn't seem to come together. Given the lack of appeal of the facility, the food really needs to be good. I found it disappointing. They need to up their game. I hope they succeed. Better ingredients would help - and their prices are so low that they could afford to raise them if the quality improved. I wish I could give it a better review - Sarasota could use a good Thai place downtown. read more

I came here the other day with a couple of friends for dinner. We ordered the sampler appetizer. It was good and had a good variety. I ordered the pad thai for my dinner, which was good too. If I was downtown I wouldn't mind stopping in again to try something different, however I don't think I would make it a point to go there though as there are many other thai restaurants I enjoy more. read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - pad thai - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

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Do not order from here. They won't take your order because your a tourist in this city. With having different area code , these people will not make your order till you pay them over the phone , which I never ever in my life heard of. The lady was so rude and she didn't care at all. She barely understood English, and on top of that showing me an attitude that I should go elsewhere to order food. Such a horrible place. Avoid this place save yourself some headache call them. read more

Best thai food I've ever had and I've lived in major foodie cities like NYC and Los Angeles! The owner of Tropical Thai is so sweet and welcoming. Prices are VERY reasonable and you get such amazing quality for a low price. The food is D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! My favorites are the Thai Coconut Soup (I wish I could bathe in this stuff!), Chicken Amazing (Holy Moly. So good.), Thai Donuts (pillows of heavenly goodness) and the Yellow Curry (best yellow curry on earth). I wish I could give Tropical Thai more than 5 stars! Keep up the amazing service and mouth watering food. read more

After reading positive reviews, we went for early dinner today. Amazingly delicious and affordable. Excellent service. We each loved our meals and rank as maybe the best we have eaten in Florida. read more

So good I forgot to take a photo when it came out! Most authentic Thai I've ever had. Will be back soon! read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - The pad Thai was incredible. No to go box needed - we scarfed it down! - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

Moved here from LA and let me tell you, one of the best Thai restaurants I've been too. Super flavorful. Thai family tuning a Thai restaurant. Authentic, delicious with clean flavor! read more

Best food I've ever eaten. I never had curry before I came here, so I didn't know what to expect, but it was everything I ever wanted in food. Please don't ever stop making this perfection on a plate. read more

Tropical Thai Restaurant - Yellow curry - Thai Near Me - Sarasota, Florida

So here's the thing.., everything we ordered (red curry and pineapple curry along with appetizers) was good both the flavor and the portion but nothing was great, with remembering our causing me to want to go back and if you want to succeed in Sarasota's hot restaurant scene in downtown on Main Street you have to be great, especially when there another that place a few doors down and another one across the street and down a bit. Meh is my opinion read more

Delicious food, pleasant atmosphere, attentive staff, & quick service. They have the best springs rolls I've had in Sarasota. I have tried the coconut soup, crab meat soup, Amazing shrimp (peanut sauce dish), and the ginger beef-- all of which were very good! read more