The USA has a wealth of top-notch Thai restaurants turning out everything from tom yum soup to panang curry. If you're craving peanut-sprinkled pad Thai or papaya salad, read on for the very best Thai joint in your state.
Our selections are based on genuine user reviews, awards and accolades, and the first-hand experience of our team. They're also regularly checked and updated.
Phuket Thai Restaurant is a star of Huntsville's dining scene. It's owned by chef Tukky Phornroekngam, who was born and raised in Thailand and has won regional awards for her delicious Thai offerings. All the staples are expertly done, from fragrant basil chicken to kicking jungle curry, and the chef offers cooking classes too.
Alaska has a surprising number of top-notch Thai restaurants and Anchorage's So Thai is the best of them all. Favored dishes include larb, a northeastern-style meat salad that's also popular in Laos. Pictured here is the equally meaty and delicious neua sawan, Thai-style beef jerky with a chili-dipping sauce.
Phoenix locals love chef-owned spot The Wild Thaiger, which is known for its well-executed classics, daily specials, and fabulous cocktails. It's the brainchild of Olashawn Hasadinratana-Weaver, who you might recognize from TV shows like Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. When she's not on the small screen, she's whipping up typical rice, noodle, and curry dishes, and her crowd-pleasing green papaya salad.
This restaurant has been the go-to place for Thai food in Fayetteville for just over two decades. It's got a wonderfully traditional dining room, with sitting Buddhas, gilded mirrors, and heavy drapes, and the menu is just as classic as the decor. Standard options like the pad Thai and the tom yum hot and sour soup get high praise from diners.
Though it looks unassuming from the outside, this spot in LA has got a serious reputation. It specializes in turmeric-rich, southern Thai cuisine and it's got something of a cult following, with roots going back to the 1970s and a fan base that includes Ryan Gosling. Come here for pickled crab, the coco-mango salad, and punchy regional curries.
Though Denver's Aloy Modern Thai is relatively new (it opened in 2016), it was decades in the making. It's the vision of sisters Bo Bean and Arisa Chanchokpong, who grew up on the outskirts of Bangkok, and who moved to the US in 2006. The menu was also dreamt up in collaboration with some top Bangkok chefs and the result is a roster of artfully plated, contemporary Thai dishes. Diners consistently rate the spice-packed curries, especially when they're made with Kobe beef.
Promising "good food and great vibes", Orange's Mai Thai Restaurant looks the part, with a dining room that's all wooden beams, colorful wall hangings and leather booths. Happily, the menu follows suit, too. It's focused on Thai standards including aromatic spring rolls, pad Thai and tom yum soup, plus mango with coconut sticky rice for dessert.
Family-owned and run, The Bangkok House has been serving the people of Wilmington since 1988 – and it's stood the test of time for good reason. The vibe is laid-back and the sizeable menu is loaded with all the Thai standards you'd expect. Diners love the pad kee mao, or 'drunken noodles', in a spicy chili basil sauce.
Located in Miami's Brickell neigbourhood, NaiYaRa is a bit more plush and polished than your average Thai joint, and it's earned recognition for its contemporary Asian eats and craft cocktails. Thai street food is the inspiration here: you can taste dishes like sticky ribs with sweet and sour chilli, and green curry with seabass. Sushi and sashimi are on the menu too.
Atlanta's Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft is as hip as its name suggests. The venue is chic, with lots of wood, colorful oversized vases and twinkling string lights and the menu is delightfully modern too. Menu highlights include a selection of flavor-packed small plates, and the kai yang (pictured): marinated and grilled chicken is served with papaya salad and sticky rice.
A glossy spot in Honolulu's Waikiki neighbourhood, Noi Thai promises to bring "the finest in Thai cuisine to Hawaii". Here Thai chefs whip up elevated versions of the classics, from beautifully plated yellow curry and pad Thai with edible flowers to colorful desserts made with tropical fruits. There's a sizable vegetarian menu, too, featuring dishes such as fried tofu in a creamy cashew-nut sauce.
A consistent favorite with Boise residents, Mai Thai Restaurant dishes up modern takes on Thai standards, with a focus on top-quality ingredients (such as jasmine rice shipped in from Thailand). The menu is thoughtful, with street-food-inspired plates like Thai basil (pictured): your chosen meat is stir-fried with chunky veg, a savory sauce and (you guessed it) loads of Thai basil.
The Windy City's Sticky Rice is a creative stop for Northern Thai cuisine, with a menu full of traditional food, plus imaginative house specials. Generous dollops of sticky rice are paired with warming curries, while delicious appetizers include spicy Thai sausage and crispy crab rangoon with dipping sauces.
Jasmine Thai's giant menu is packed with all the usual tempting Thai delights, from stir-fried noodles and basil-fried rice to kicking red, green, and yellow curries. Regular diners describe the place as a great "no nonsense" spot and rave about classic dishes including crab rangoon and tom kha soup, a creamy, coconutty broth.
The vibe at Iowa City's Thai Spice is wonderfully charming, with friendly service and a dining room decorated with patterned drapes, deep red paint, and bamboo. When it comes to food, it's just as traditional. You'll dine on red curries packed with juicy prawns, creamy satay dishes, and zingy papaya salad.
The simply named Pad Thai Restaurant offers a sleek and modern setting for traditional Thai cuisine. There's a tempting selection of signature dishes, with chefs doling out options like gang pet pad yang (skin-on, slow-roasted duck in a red-curry sauce). Scallops, shrimp, and squid are packed into a tasty yellow seafood curry too.
There are two outposts of this Louisville area Thai joint – one in Saint Matthews and the other in Middletown – and both focus on faithful versions of traditional dishes. They're a family affair, begun by Bangkok-born Chaveewan Santadsomruajkarn, whose great grandma earned her stripes cooking for the King of Thailand. Diners particularly love the dishes packed with pineapple, from curry to fried rice.
A laid-back restaurant in the New Orleans metro area, Thai Zaap Cafe concentrates on traditional crowdpleasers, plus specialties from the northeastern region. The pineapple curry, made with Thai basil, coconut and plenty of veg, is hailed as the house favorite, while "chef specials" include a spicy seafood stir fry and soft-shell crab whipped up with curry powder. Customers love the well-priced lunch specials too.
One of the earliest Thai restaurants in the city, Saeng Thai House has been satisfying Portland locals for the best part of three decades. It's not just about the food here, either – a dose of warm Thai hospitality is served up alongside the made-from-scratch menu. Foodie favorites include the drunken noodles and the crispy duck.
In this little restaurant, wall-mounted sculptures and paintings bring a taste of Thailand before you've even tucked into your dinner. And the menu more than matches up to the traditional setting. Many diners praise the yum watercress – deep-fried cress with seafood, veg, and a spicy lime dressing, as well as the pad Thai and the tom kha soup.
Head to the Boston suburb of Malden for one of the finest Thai dinners in New England. The homemade dumplings are a crowd favorite, but you can't go wrong with the pad Thai or the Thai-style chicken wings either. The home-brewed Thai iced tea is the perfect accompaniment.
This is a no-fuss, quick-service spot in Motor City, but the menu really sings. As the name suggests, it's all about modern, Bangkok-inspired street food here, with options like candied beef and sticky rice, crispy fried chicken with Thai-spiced aioli, and crab rangoon. The setting has a trendy, industrial edge too.
Naviya's has been a staple of Minneapolis’s Linden Hills for almost two decades. It deals in sophisticated modern Thai food, with a carefully curated roster of classics on the menu. Try staples such as pad Thai or papaya salad, or test your tastebuds with pineapple duck curry or red curry with wild cod. There's mock duck for plant-based eaters too.
A front-runner in Jackson's restaurant scene, Thailicious offers a sleek, minimalist setting and a menu of well-turned-out Thai delicacies. Diners wax lyrical about the pad see ew – fat rice noodles with soy sauce, eggs and veg – and the panang curry, with plenty of chilli and Thai basil. The service is first-rate here too.
Bright and modern, Chao Baan is focused on the cuisines of southern and northeastern Thailand – the family behind the menu hail from Thailand's Yala and Loei provinces. Try typical delicacies like tom yum soup and panang curry, alongside surprising highlights such as beef nam tok: grilled steak with anchovy sauce, toasted rice powder, and oodles of herbs and spices.
Khao soi – a moreish egg noodle dish paired with house curries and crispy won ton – is the order of the day at this modern Bozeman spot. Thai Basil started life as a food truck and it proved so popular that it opened as a bricks-and-mortar location in 2018. The classic dishes are popular too: tuck into panang curry, drunken noodles, or spicy basil chicken.
A stellar Yelp rating is testament to the quality of this Omaha restaurant. There are few frills here, but visitors can expect a solid menu of failsafe Thai dishes like larb, papaya salad, and drunken noodles. The setting is simple but cheerful, and diners also describe the staff as "super friendly".
When in Sin City, head to Flamingo Road for your Thai fix. Led by Chef Saipin – whose northern Thai cooking is inspired by several family generations before her – the restaurant has established itself as a Vegas mainstay. Go for a chef's special: they range from deep-fried lobster with special garlic sauce to sea bass with green papaya and crushed peanuts. Note that the original location on Sahara Avenue is temporarily closed.
Daw Kun Thai is a simple place in a Manchester strip mall – but looks can be deceiving. This spot dishes up some of the best Thai food in New England, with diners commending the drunken noodles, the Thai coconut soup and the panang curry. Inside, it's a convivial spot with bright yellow walls and wooden booths too.
This popular New Jersey outpost began life as a (still operating) food truck and, now with a sizable permanent location on Verona's Bloomfield Avenue, it's gone from strength to strength. The menu is big and covers all the classics, including the highly rated red curry and crispy spring rolls. It also sells Thai ice cream from a roving VW camper van.
This is your typical Thai restaurant done just right – think friendly staff, a chilled-out dining room filled with traditional artworks, and a menu of tried-and-tested classics. You won't regret sticking to the standards here. Diners give top points to the massaman curry, the pineapple-fried rice, and the coconutty tom kha soup.
It's no surprise that a queue often forms outside Sripraphai, a 1990s-opened restaurant that's established itself as New York's go-to place for a Thai dinner. There are now two locations – one in Queens and one in Long Island – and they proudly serve more than 100 dishes from across Thailand. You're spoilt for choice, so start with the chef's picks: green curry, watercress salad (with shrimp and chicken) or drunken noodles.
This 2020-opened Asheville restaurant stands out even in the city's chock-full food scene. Owner Chef May has impressive credentials: he was trained at Bangkok's Royal Palace and he's worked alongside Michelin-starred chefs in Australia too. Now his focus is spinning out modern dishes at the Thai Pearl Restaurant, like chicken marinated in house brown sauce and butter. Since we're in Asheville, there's craft beer on offer too.
Operating from a cool, industrial-chic location, Sirirath Thai House opened its doors in 2020. It's a contemporary place with a modern menu of light, bright, fragrant dishes. There's plenty for seafood lovers, with an octopus salad, salmon with spicy red-curry sauce, and mussels with basil and garlic. The basil pork belly with the special homemade sauce is a particular hit.
This Cleveland restaurant proves that you don't need a fussy menu or a trinket-filled dining room to keep punters pouring in. It promises, very simply, the "best food" at "great value" with failsafe options like soups, pad Thai, and Thai-style fish stir-fries. There are Chinese and Vietnamese delicacies on the menu here too.
There are four locations of this choice Thai restaurant in Oklahoma, including two places in Oklahoma City proper. The affordable set lunch menus draw in the crowds, pulling together spring rolls, pad Thai, perfectly spiced stir-fries, and green and red curries. Here for dinner? Plump for the Evil Jungle Chicken Curry, which is packed with spice and veg.
Portland's Langbaan is tiny with just 24 seats, but it has a small-but-solid menu of northeastern Thai delicacies. Feast on delights like kanom krok, scallops with coconut cream, lemongrass and lime leaf, or chu chee nuea – New York steak with Thai cassia-leaf curry. The cozy venue makes for a buzzy vibe too.
Philly's Italian Market might seem an unlikely place for some great Thai food, but you'll find Kalaya Thai Kitchen and its associated market in this part of town. Locals and visitors alike descend on the restaurant, opened in 2019, to dig into specialties like steamed, Thai-style shaw muang dumplings. Or pictured here is pla sa tia, slow-cooked mackerel with soy sauce, ginger and plenty of spice.
Modern by name and modern by nature, this Providence locale serves a contemporary Thai menu in a cool space (think pendant lights, bright orange chairs, and lots of wood). There are fresh takes on classics like massaman curry and fried rice with Thai basil, and diners love the Thai pork sausage with lemongrass and dill, and a round of sticky rice. It's BYOB too.
Taking a "traditional approach to Thai cuisine", this South Carolina restaurant serves a recognizable menu of seafood stir-fries, spicy curries, fried rice dishes, and lemongrass-filled soups. Coming out top is the vibrant noodle salad, with rice noodles, lemongrass, veggies, and a side of fish sauce.
You'll get the real deal at this Sioux Falls standby, which describes its typical Thai dishes as having "strong aromatic components" and "a spicy edge". They're perfectly prepped in-house, and the menu includes all the usual mainstays, like Thai-style teriyaki, larb salad, and an array of curries. There are also other Asian dishes on offer, from orange chicken to pho and gyoza.
A funky, modern spot for Thai street food, this Music City restaurant typically operates a food truck alongside its bricks-and-mortar location. The interiors of the main restaurant are splashed with murals and the menu is just as colorful. You'll tuck into bowls brimming with rice and aromatic curries, and noodle dishes piled high with beansprouts and coriander.
Pineapple-fried rice, green curry, tom yum soup, and pad Thai: you'll find a comfortingly familiar menu of Thai delights at this down-to-earth restaurant in Houston. Or if you fancy something different, chef specialties include a Thai-style pepper steak and soft-shell crab with stir-fried garlic. It's locally owned and run too, and customers praise the friendly staff and service.
The recipes at Murray's Thai Spoon have been passed down for generations, and they're built around what they tip as the four flavor profiles of Thai cuisine: salty, sweet, sour and spicy. You'll get this full gamut of Thai flavors when sampling the restaurant's menu, which features everything from pad pra ram (a stir-fry with homemade peanut sauce) to battered meats with rich chilli and garlic sauce.
Burlington's Bangkok Bistro in the Alley isn't your traditional Thai joint. Instead, it's a loud and lively spot that draws a hip crowd with its street-food-inspired menu and craft cocktails (look out for the weekly specials). If you're in luck, the "flight of curry" will be on the menu – you'll get a selection of red, yellow, and green curries, plus jasmine rice.
Elephant Jumps has been going strong for more than a decade and it offers a considered menu with traditional dishes that can be spiced to order. Get your teeth into appetizers like the Thai-style shrimp flatbread, and follow up with reliable entrees like the chicken satay. Pictured is the delicious-looking spicy pork noodle soup.
The brains behind Vashon's May Kitchen + Bar make a special promise: you'll find the Thai spirit here, without the airfare. You'll dine in wood-clad, art-filled surrounds, and discover a menu that updates the Thai standards. Diners can't get enough of the classic offerings, but leave space for dishes such as yellow curry with kabocha squash.
Sumittra is at once modern and true to tradition, with dishes that place emphasis on local and organic ingredients. The carefully curated menu is a little smaller than at your average Thai place, though the usual delicacies are featured. The roasted duck curry with lychee is a creative addition and the restaurant serves endlessly popular bubble tea too.
A pared-back and casual place in Milwaukee, Sweet Basil offers both modern Thai and Lao dining, done very well. You can choose between street food bites, Thai curries and noodles, with unusual spins on classics (like buffalo chicken rangoons). There are also family platters if you're up for sharing.
The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort at Teton Village is the best place to find great Thai cuisine in Wyoming. Teton Thai is named for the mighty mountain range that it's tucked into and it's got a menu of traditional Thai dishes that'll warm you after a day on the slopes. Beyond the usual dishes like pad Thai and green curry, try the meaty dumpling soup, packed full of garlic, pak choy and beansprouts.