Begin

Often when I go to a new (to me) restaurant, I’ll order featured or highlighted dishes off the menu. I figure if they are promoting it, they must be proud of it. Right?
I noticed the «CHEF SPECIALTIES» section of the menu. Wide noodles, shrimp, tofu, fish ball, fried wonton & veggies were mentioned, and that is a combo I can get down with. «Yen Ta Four please!» I said to the waiter, and was warned that it was spicy. «Is that ok?» he asked. Hell yeah homie, bring it on.
What came next, made no sense. I was served a most perplexing bowl indeed. The fact that someone made this dish and thought to themselves that it was a good idea to share with me, the customer, is puzzling.
Mind you, it was visually stunning with it’s rich and suspicious looking pink hue. A color derived, I suspect from the chopped up «krab» sticks which were not mentioned on the menu. I also suspect the «krab» was a replacement for the previously mentioned fish ball, which was sadly missing from the dish.
The green vegetables were nicely cooked, but had taken on a weird minerally flavor. The noodles were significantly overcooked and basically mush. Totally impossible to eat with the provided chopsticks. The shrimp? There was one, and it looked wrinkled and scary. The tofu had zero flavor. The unexpected and overcooked… I think it was squid (?) added nothing, and the broth was sickly sweet with only a faint hint of heat.
So yeah, it was just gross. Beautiful, almost exotic looking, but not good at all. My lunch mate describe the entire meal as an «experiment in mediocrity» and I couldn’t agree more. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good either.
Service was more than courteous and friendly, and the quaint atmosphere was nice! Just a real bummer about the food.

Ordered here weeknight with my roomies after long day work and we were both too tired to cook. My Thai orders are predictable: wontons or something tempura fried & red, panang or massaman curry w a soup. I know my curries and this massaman was below average. Also they used standard yellow potato instead of sweet potato and not enough rice for the portion size. Crab Rangoon saved the day.
Won’t be back sorry, not sorry b

Working in the area, I’m always open to try the new places around besides the typical Hispanic cuisines.
I’ve ordered from Zoku and Manee Thai and haven’t been disappointed. Sorely disappointed with this place. The Pad Thai with chicken was mediocre at best. Like others that have said before, I will say it again, it is bland and had way too many bean sprouts for a Pad Thai. Also I have to mention the Thai Iced tea wasn’t what others have cracked it up to be; it was okay.
I placed the order for delivery and it was timely, which is the only reason they got 2 stars. The downside is they didn’t include any utensils or napkins or chopsticks at all.
Needless to say I will not be ordering from there a second time.

Sauces were way too sweet. I only had apps but the Spring Rolls were bereft of flavor except for the sickly sweet sauce.

Was starving on a Sunday in Logan Square and dropped in with some beer from the liquor store down the road and a friend for lunch. The place was empty, so we were served fairly quickly. The chicken larb and panang curry with chicken were delicious. The portions are fairly moderate, enough for one but not at all heaping, and the price was truly decent at $ 8-​$ 9 an entrée. The place is pretty cheesily decorated (read: fake daisies topped with glittery ladybug figurines), but if all you care is about wanting something good and filling in a casual atmosphere, Begin is just fine.
The waiter that took our orders and welcomed us in ended up eating his own lunch at the counter and watched television the entire time, but we were waited on by another more attentive person towards the end of our meal who only came out of the back from time to time. It’s casual and cheap, so as long as you don’t expect tremendous service or etiquette from the waitstaff, you’ll enjoy your meal and not hesitate to come again.

My boyfriend and I got carryout tonight from Begin. Upon returning home, he mentioned how clean it was inside and that it looked much nicer than many of the other Thai places we’ve been to around the city.
I still had my Unilocal page open after eating and noticed someone else posted a negative review about Begin because they had seen an «Integrated Pest Management» binder on the counter. I would like to add that it is a very good thing that Begin is practicing this. For those who don’t understand what IPM is;
I think that a person should research before bashing a place’s reputation. It’s kind of ignorant and unfortunate for them too because they threw out their food on top of it all. I don’t mean to be rude, I just wanted others to understand that IPM is a very necessary part of running a restaurant and it’s great that Begin is aware. In defense of the Unilocaler that left the negative review, that’s not something anyone wants to see or think about when they’re about eat.
On to the important stuff! We ordered the Panang Curry with extra veggies (no meat), Crab Rangoon, Gui Chai, and Tom Yum soup. Normally we wouldn’t have ordered so much for two people, but after reading fellow Unilocal reviews, I was concerned that the portions wouldn’t be adequate.
Well I don’t know what they got in their orders, but our entrée was good sized. Enough to feed both of us, no problem. The Panang Curry came in a 16oz bowl filled to the brim with a pint of jasmine rice on the side. I was full after eating half of that alone! It was very good, it had a nice kick, not too sweet, and lots of veggies! On to the (6) crab rangoons, they came with a nice sweet chili sauce, were crisp, and tasty. I ran out of room, but the BF tried the Gui Chia (chive dumplings), he said they were pretty good, but he preferred the crab rangoons over them. We were both too stuffed to get to the soup.
Bottom Line: Was it the best Thai food I’ve ever had, no. Nevertheless, it was very good and is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. The food was tasty and fresh. I wish I would’ve tried them sooner!

I have only ordered take out from here, but my husband and I both agree that it is amazing. The shrimp fried rice is to die for and they give you a good amount of shrimp. The main dishes with rice are great. We were more fond of the chicken than the beef. Definitely recommend.