Delicious food! Got the crispy rice salad and loved it! There is some heat to it. Watch out for the dried chilis, they'll get ya haha. The mango chicken was so crispy and tasty! I highly recommend it with a side of Thai Tea :) read more

My go to Thai joint is Hug Thai and I tried most of them so I wanted to try different spot. I saw good reviews and was excited to try different restaurant but I regretted as soon as I saw the food. I'm Asian and have been to Thailand 4 times so I know what's good. All of the food here were not edible to me. If you like Americanized Thai food, this is your spot but if you are Asian and knows what's up, this place is not for you. My favorite Thai place is Hug Thai and if I don't want drive to La Mesa, Bahn Thai on Park Blvd is another choice. read more

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Food was surprisingly bad. Tom Kaw was quite good, but things went downhill from there. The basil chicken was so salty that it was inedible. The mango chicken was made with what appeared to be a mayonnaise-based sauce and unripe mangoes. Service was fine, hence the three stars. No repeat here for us. read more

Colleague Y's pick for non-conference/resort food for dinner, a quick Lyft to Hillcrest after a full day of talks/sessions. Since it was evening and rainy the patio wasn't in use. Small indoor space. Several other groups dining, including one birthday celebration of all-girls. We did not make reservations but they accommodated our party of 2. Got one end of the big rustic wooden table which we could share with another smaller group if needed. I had the Thai iced tea, a cup of Tom Yum soup with chicken to start, Golden Tofu appetizer to share. I ordered the Panang Curry with beef and white rice, while YB got the three-flavor fish and one of the noodle soups. As an "Asian Kitchen" I understand that their menu covers Thai, Lao, and even Vietnamese (Pho) which might be a bit disconcerting at first, but the items we did order/stick to were on point! The waiter did not ask me to specify how spicy my curry would be, so I guess I got the default, which did give me the sniffles by the end...a good, authentic kick! Thank goodness for the Thai tea to cool me down. Everything was great, warm and cozy dining experience. read more

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We were so happy to have found this place! It's very cozy and warm for the indoor dining area. Outside dining area is very welcoming. We were seated right away when we arrived. The menu is very generous with options and there were some unique dishes that I haven't seen in other Thai restaurants. Which made my family and I glad that it wasn't the same old stuff we see in other restaurants. We started with gyoza which was delicious and perfection! My son got the mango chicken which I think was the best between all of our dishes. This is definitely my go to dish when we come here from now on. It's a big plate that comes with a side of rice. It's enough to share. I got the pad Thai with shrimp and it was delicious. I loved that the bean sprouts were fresh and not wilted down. My mom got the pineapple curry which was extremely spicy. She gave her level of tolerance which was a 2 and it was overwhelming. She had to trade dishes with my brother who got the combination seafood eggplant dish. He asked for level 5 and it wasn't as spicy as the pineapple curry. While both dishes were delicious, the level of spice didn't make sense. We told our server and he said that was how it was. Towards the end when we were almost done eating he came back to our table and said that the cook may have put too much spice. He asked us if we wanted them to remake it. At this point we were almost done eating so there was no point. When we were ready for the check, our server was busy on his phone. My brother finally got up with the credit card to get his attention but he didn't notice him. He stood there in front of him for a few minutes before the server looked up from his phone to realize my brother had been standing there waiting for us to get our check. Other than this everything was great. We will still come back because the food was delicious. While the service was not the best that night, it wasn't horrible for us to never come back again. read more

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My family and I have been coming to this restaurant for a few years now. The owner Shaun is very friendly and you can tell this is a family owned business. We had a couple of family friends visiting so we decided to come here. We made a reservation for 9 people on a Saturday night at 6pm. Everything we ordered was delicious. Spring rolls: these are your typical spring rolls. Nothing special but has always been one of my favorite appetizers to order at any Thai restaurant. 4/5 Chicken Satay: we always order this dish every time we go. The chicken is extremely tender and always pairs so well with the peanut sauce and sour cucumber sauce. 5/5 Glass noodle: we love ordering the glass noodle! We usually get this with shrimp and i love the variety of vegetables it's cooked with. 5/5 Red curry & green curry: we usually get green curry but because we had more people we also got red curry. I typically prefer green curry over red curry just because i like the flavors better but was pleasantly surprised by their red curry. We ordered this dish spicy and it was pretty spicy! Flavors were good and you have to eat it over rice! 4/5 Pineapple fried rice: we ordered this dish for the first time and it was delicious!!! Ratio of meat, vegetables, to rice was perfect. The seasonings and sauces were very flavorful. Usually fried rice is a very hit or miss and this was definitely one of our favorite dishes. 5/5 This location is located in hill crest area so it's very busy. Parking is pretty hard to find. They have a couple of tables outside which is nice! Interior is very clean and organized as well. Overall delicious restaurant and I would recommend this place to anyone looking for yummy Thai food with decent prices! read more

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We're looking for dog friendly restaurant in the area, Fortunately we found White Elephant! Pad Thai with shrimp was good not sweet just right! My husband ordered three fish flavors was also good! read more

Chicken fried rice was excellent. Pad see ew very tasty. Kanom Jeen curry with noodles and veggie delight were all very good.

The food is pretty good but the surly, slow, inattentive service made for an unpleasant experience. We've been going here for some time, and the service has gotten steadily worse. We recommend the Veganic Thai Cafe instead, around the corner: better service, better tasting food. read more

Came across this place on Google maps when I was searching for a place to eat. I'm so glad I decided to give this place a try. I've been coming here for about 2 years and absolutely love several places they offer. Both of the sausage fried rice and crab fried rice are delicious. I also get the drunken noodle with roasted duck. The service is always great, and the atmosphere is always laid back. I highly recommend trying this place if you're in Hillcrest. read more

When the food came out, the smell reminded me of the tropics, its look and taste is what will have me come back again to try more items out. Service from the time of ordering to the time I left she was very courteous ,friendly, and prompt on helping. I set outside because I had my dog with me and it was relaxing for us both. read more

White Elephant - Mango chicken - Thai Near Me - San Diego, California

i ordered spring b rolls and a tom kai soup both were tasteless ....dissatisfied the peanut sauce is nasty the rolls are so chewy and the soup taste sour read more

We came here for dinner on a Thursday. I liked that it was a nice, small, and quiet restaurant with a casual comfortable atmosphere. We ordered the Pra Ram with beef and Pad Thai with chicken. The food came pretty fast. The broccoli and carrots in the Pra Ram were cooked just right. The beef was a little chewy. And the sauce was a little spicy though on the sweet side. The Pad Thai was also a little on the sweet side. But it was good. Service was very good. Even though it got busy, the main server was very good and efficient. Parking can be a bit challenging though. read more

Phenomenal food and great selection!! Consistency is key and White Elephant does not disappoint. read more

I chose this place for my work's holiday lunch, and while it is kind of hidden, the food was delicious and the ambiance was great. While there are lots of tables for smaller parties of 1-4, there appeared to be only one table for a party of 7 or more, which was perfect for us. We went on a Thursday for lunch and there were only two other parties inside other than us, so we didn't have to yell over each other or anything. Our food came out delicious, to the point where everyone cleaned their plates, except those of us who ordered the pad thai bc they gave us so much. Would definitely recommend this spot for anyone craving some good curry, pad thai, or mango chicken!! read more

White Elephant - Pad thai - Thai Near Me - San Diego, California

The food was very good. Had the papaya salad, fresh shrimp spring rolls and wings for appetizers. Entrees were red curry with chicken, basil chicken, pad see ew with beef. It was tasty and delicious, no complaints. Service was very good and ambiance was nice and quaint. Would eat here again. read more

I ordered the shrimp pad tai, spring rolls, and pineapple fried rice. (Spice level 4) I had it delivered. I received my food promptly. It tastes fresh and very delicious. I would definitely recommend this restaurant. The only downside is I wanted to order the sticky mango rice for dessert but didn't because I didn't know how it would be the next day. I'll have leftovers for a few days. I'll be baack!! read more

Been wanting to try this place out for awhile especially since they came up categorized as having Lao food and I wanted to venture out of my normal locals such as Sang Dao, Mekong, Baan Lao, etc. Especially being that it was in north park I was really skeptical on how Americanized they would water down the dishes to fit the American palate. They are also more on the pricier side I figured because of the area. They had just opened for dinner when we 1st got there at 5pm so there was no other customers there yet. A man with salt and pepper hair, I'm assuming who's the owner I seen commenting on here named Shaun, was sitting at 1 of the dining tables. We walked in and he just looked at us without greeting us so I thought we were too early for dinner so I asked him if they're open already. He said yes and quickly got up and brought over menus. We ordered the White Elephant noodle soup (commonly known as kao piak), seafood tom yum soup, waterfall beef, and LBP papaya salad. Where do I begin lol the only thing I didn't try was the tom yum soup since my friend got that. White Elephant noodles soup (kao piak) was actually ok. I like the texture of the noodles and they didn't break nor was soggy. It only had shredded chicken. I had to ask for chili oil but it was not bad. Waterfall beef wasn't bad either but it lacked something that I couldn't put my hands on. It was like it wanted to be a mixture of nam tok or yum neau but couldn't pick a side lol but overall it wasn't bad. Now ok. On the menu there is papaya salad and LPB salad. So basically 2 different types. We ordered the LBP salad and when it came out it had peanuts sprinkled on top and we told him we ordered LPB not regular papaya salad and he insisted on hearing just "papaya salad" so he took it back and it looks like all they did was take out the peanuts and added maybe some padek or crab paste to make it a tiny bit darker. My other issue is on the menu it doesn't state Lao or Thai style for the papaya salad so I'm going to assume it's Thai style based off the peanuts and because the area the restaurant is located and what people are accustomed to. So we as Lao people ordered the Luang Prabang style thinking its going to be papaya salad that is actually shredded using a peeler, not a shredder, the authentic LBP way. When he came back with the same salad it was pretty sad since we had gotten our hopes high thinking we were going to get the real LBP style. Overall this place wasn't bad but too Americanized for me to get my "Laotian" fix. read more

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Food was ok... nothing special..... however service was terrible. We went there on Dec 22nd 2025. We were the first customers , around noon. We ordered papaya salad as spice level 3 out of 10 but it was too spicy that my grand daughter couldn't eat. I asked her to bring spicy sauces on side and lemons but she never bought them. My grand daughter only able to eat Pad Thai..... and she had to drink all her water and still finished my water... my face was even got red..... A server doesn't smile. She didn't bring extra bowls even after I told her we are going to share food..... I work as a server too so I know how I treat customers and make them happy. I don't know why she wants to work there or is their management won't do proper training for servers ??? So I won't come back here again.... Very disappointed.... read more

I have been meaning to check out this spot since it is so close and it did not disappoint! I'm already thinking about what to order next time I'm here and will definitely make this a go to eat any day of the week. It was pretty quiet as we were there about an hour before closing but service was super quick and our server was able to recommend a ton of dishes since it was our first time. I love spice so getting to decide how much spice is in your dish I loved. I did a 5 out of 10 for spice and k thought it was the perfect amount of heat especially with the sweet sausage in the rice dish. The portions are definitely shareable so order a couple of things and share a few different things. You can always call in an order to go and grab it as well. The patio area is dog friendly so anyone wanting their pups to join them for lunch or dinner. read more

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Really loved this place! My mom and I went to help my daughter move after graduation, stopped at this place right after we landed. The shrimp appetizer was so delicious! The spring rolls were fresh and our food tasted fresh and crazy savory! It hit the spot!! read more

I think this place has the best vegetable house fried rice! If you like lemon grass, the drunken noodles were amazing as well! Very clean establishment. Service was okay. Will definitely be back to try other items off the menu. read more

White Elephant - Vegetable House Fried Rice - Thai Near Me - San Diego, California

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Yummy food, cute restaurant, and good service! They were very accommodating with substitutions and spice levels.

Just no thanks suggest Bahn Thai down the block. McDonald's may not be a bad idea; after all we ordered shrimp pad thai, curry and spring rolls. Both my wife and I got sick. We came here twice before it turned into this white elephant and boy has it changed. read more

Love this place! Came here on a whim because I was searching random restaurants in my area and so glad I decided to give them a try. I'm absolutely in love with their duck drunken noodles and their crab fried rice. The rice has such a generous portion of crab. I highly recommend if your in the Hillcrest area. read more

Made a reservation day-of for a group of five. Resturant is super cute inside, not very crowded. Food was super yummy! Everything we got was good. They had labeled gluten free options. Cheap drinks also! We got the crispy calamari, shrimp spring rolls, yellow curry, pad thai, & sake! Everything we ordered was delicious. Service was a bit slow to start, but food came out fast after we ordered! Overall definitely recommend and will be coming back! read more

The food is amazing. It's always fresh. Duck larb and shrimp salad.l are my favorite ones. Will definitely come back! read more

DID YOU KNOW MANGO AND MAYONNAISE CAN GO TOGETHER? (3.3 stars) .... I didn't! Until I ate food from here. MANGO CHICKEN - think of honey walnut prawns minus the prawns but with chicken, minus walnuts but with mango. Because that was exactly what it was and tasted like. the mango and mayonnaise ODDLY paired well together to make this harmony of one of their most popular dish. I enjoyed it. Had left overs and didn't enjoy it as much. Eat this in one sitting. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Definitely judge a Thai restaurant by the execution of their staple dish Pad Thai. And so, I did. PAD THAI - I was looking forward to you until I took a bite. Their pad thai was very khaki looking and lacked flavor. The main item I looked forward to in this dish was the tofu, yes, tofu. The noodles were clumped together and hard to separate and mix, the flavor lacked a true authentic pad thai - my noodles barely had any coating on them, 2 small pieces of green onion, and where's the egg. Elements weren't there for me. I was disappointed with this dish. I've definitely had better pad Thai in my lifetime. I was so uninterested in this dish I didn't even take a photo of it. Until the next review... read more

White Elephant - Close up of Mango Chicken - Thai Near Me - San Diego, California

We stopped by on our way to the airport and ordered wings and a couple of entrees along with a fried rice. The wings were a little bit over fried so the meat was dry but the flavor was good. The standout was the garlic pepper beef which is Finley sliced beef, breaded and fried, then topped with a sweet and spicy garlic and pepper sauce, it was great with some white rice. The flavor of the fried rice was also good, but as you can tell from the photo., the rice was a bit too wet and sort of clump together. The basil eggplant is my go to order and the fried tofu was nice and soft on the inside and well fried on the outside to soak up the sauce. It hit the spot and definitely beat airport food. read more

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Cozy & comforting Thai food in Hillcrest. Their portions are generous, service on point, and ingredients taste fresher than other Thai spots I've tried in SD. My go-to dishes are the fresh spring rolls (with extra helpings of their delicious peanut side sauce), crispy calamari, pad see ew and panang curry. Lastly, be conscious of spice levels!! read more

We came here on a date night with another couple and all four of us had a fantastic time! The service was excellent and our dishes were all so delicious. Lovely atmosphere and ambiance. We will be back soon! read more

Had wanted to try for awhile and wow do they do Asian fusion right. We tried Chicken Thai Basil and Yellow Curry Chicken and some Spring Rolls. Everything was fresh, sauces were on point, meats were tender and all was skillfully prepared. The order was on time and with friendly staff. Next time we will dine in and take advantage of their full service. We will be back for sure. read more

The dishes we ordered (beef jerky, tom yom soup, crispy rice, yellow curry with pork), were all delicious and presented beautifully. Service was solicitous but not pushy. A great value for the amount of food. We'll be back! read more

I LOVE this place. I was nervous to try it because it's vaguely called "Asian kitchen" and I was worried it would just be a confused nothing place. It's a Thai place. An incredible Thai place made of delight and deliciousness. I go here almost weekly now and I have yet to try a dish that isn't absolutely divine. They have varying levels of spice to accommodate any preference from mild to melt your face off and the flavors and textures are amazing. Don't skip the mango sticky rice! Sometimes I make a trip just for that! So cravable. The staff are friendly, quick and knowledgeable. I so recommend this spot. read more

We wanted to change cuisines so we opted for Thai. Found a place with decent reviews, but later regretted this :( (My take is that, this place being so close to an university campus makes it prone to inflated reviews... But it's possible we also got a mediocre outlier experience.) Anyhow, long story short - at least in our experience, most of the food wasn't that great at all. The steak dish was alright - though the meat was a little chewy, the flavor wasn't bad. But the fish, the pad see ewe, was just alright. Honestly, I was a little disappointed but at least we gave it a shot. read more

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I got the crying Tiger and it was delicious. The sauce was tangy and a little spice but it give it so much flavor.

Still love this place, it's a much needed family run business in Hillcrest where I can trust the consistency in quality and service without the bar crowds. I picked up a takeout order of curry pineapple fried rice and it was tasty and the portion was generous. I will have lunch leftovers tomorow! I'm a picky eater and they customize for me and do it with a smile. The crispy duck salad is still my favorite thing I've tried in my handful of visits. I like to add a side of rice to make a rounded "meal" out of it. It's insane though. read more

We stopped in for lunch on a whim and were pleasantly surprised by the experience. We ordered across the menu and everything we had was delicious. The server explained some of the items that were unfamiliar to some of our guests and was very attentive to our table. The restaurant was still decorated for the holidays during our visit, but it was subtle and elegant. read more

Super cute spot!! Very nice indoor and outdoor seating. Food was fabulous and the service was quick. I dined in with a few friends. We saw a lot of people pop in to pick up takeout orders. I got the pad Thai and it did not disappoint. Everything was spicy, which I like. This spot was spicier than most Thai places. I'll definitely be back read more

The BEST Thai food I've ever had! We were visiting from NY and the customer service and the flavoring of the food was unlike anything I've ever tried before. The must try here is the pineapple fried rice. The aroma and taste is beyond what words can describe. And all for an affordable price and great portioning too! This was our best meal in San Diego and would definitely come back if ever in the area again. read more

White Elephant - Thai Near Me - San Diego, California