Chao Praya

Read good review, the spice level is way higher then what you ask for. The portions are not big. The prawn soup had 1 prawn in it. the chicken pai thai had hardly any peanut sauce, but a lot of ground peanuts. It’s person preference, but I will not be recommending…

I’ve only been to Chao Praya twice, and every time I’m a little put back by the smell. I don’t eat thai often, so maybe it just smells like thai food, but it kinda grosses me out… Go here and you’ll know what I mean.
The service is adequate in that our waitress was quick, but she was very short and cut us off a lot to say «okay» when we were in the middle of our order. The food comes fast though, so that’s what counts.
The restaurant is kind of dingy — it’s in a strip mall kind of area, so you kind of know it’s going to be dingy, but you never know… The booths are cracked and the inside definitely needs some kind of renovation.
Now, the food. The food earns this place it’s three stars and I almost wish I could give it a five just for the food. It’s amazing. My stepdad gets the chicken penang and I tried it — I’ll be getting that next time! It’s SO good. I got the yellow curry noodles and absolutely loved that too.
Outside of the fact that this place is pretty «meh,» the food is good enough to make me want to come back.

The food is pretty good. But the day we went in, the entire place smelled like a wet or perhaps deceased dog. Not going back.

Chao Praya is my absolute favorite Thai restaurant! Gang koa curry is amazing! I believe it is the #39. This place was an amazing find because its location isn’t the best but I’m so happy we decided to try it. Legitimate Thai food!

The freshest veggies you’ll ever have! Try the garlic or ginger tofu with extra veggies or red curry… you’ll soon be a frequent flyer — the ladies here have been owners of this business forever, they make the food, they pick out the fresh veggies and meat every day… If you’re GF… You MUST eat here. They cater to the GF peeps… Even use GF soy sauce IN the meal so you get the same great taste as every one else!!! People say it’s bland, I say… This ladies just won’t over whelm the natural flavors of the meal. The phad Thai not the best, but still freakin good. OK… I’m now leaving to get me some GF garlic tofu (fresh) w/​extra veggies… At Chao Praya!!! I love this place!!!

I WILL NOT EVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE! My mother told me to try their papaya salad. So we went in and ordered
Papaya salad and some larb gai to go.
The lady told us 15 min. There was no one
In the restaurant! 25 minutes later food not ready yet and the people
That ordered after us, left before us. I explained to the lady that we had been waiting for 25 min. She said the salad takes longer to make. I told her I’m Ok waiting just let us know it would take longer and I would have ran errands and come back later. Instead of just apologizing she made excuses how they are short one person and walked away with an attitude. She even told
Me she didn’t need our money. No good food is worth it if the service is completely poor. Just because u may be the owner or the family of
The owner gives you no right to treat customers rudely.

Large portions, I absolutely love the supreme fried rice and pad Thai. Really you an order anything on the menu and be fat dumb and happy!!!

We wanted spring rolls but they were out so we ordered the crab wantons and they were pretty good. I asked for a diet Pepsi and never got one. I ordered the thai peanut noodles and it was okay but not much flavor other than peanuts.

Love this place and their food! I have eaten here many times for lunch and it always delicious. Also, they are really good at getting the food out quicker during lunch times during the week. I have tried many items off the menu and have yet to find something I don’t enjoy. Really good food!

Kent, WA: Wish I could duplicate you and take you home!
Cute restaurant. Friendly service. Great food at a fair value! We try to stop in every chance we get when visiting the area.
FOOD
*Phad Thai, with chicken, full spice at level 5
*Phad Thai, with Tofu, at just 3 spice level
*Pad Se-​Ew, chicken, spice level 3
*Pad Se-​Ew, half chicken and half fried tofu with no spice.
We have been coming here for a number of years, prior to my becoming an active Unilocaler. The portion sizes are good, with a nice proportion of meat to vegetables. The consistently friendly service, fair prices, flavorful and not too salty style, fresh ingredients, and overall, decent good food, has made this our favorite Thai restaurant.
Parking lot in front, amidst a strip mall of assorted restaurants and a bakery.

This is one of my favorite place to get pineapple fried rice! The portions are large enough to share with friends and there is a huge selection of items. As with most places, the level of spice depends on the chef that day. I usually stick to a 2 and add if I need to. They serve a citrus flavored water and have always been attentive when I have been in by myself or with friends.

The only reason why they get a star is because they made my mother’s dish correctly and it tasted okay.
I was really craving Thai food, it’s my favorite! My mom and I came here for our first time and I ordered Tofu Phad See Ew and I ordered it with extra broccoli and ⁴⁄₅ stars. While waiting, I noticed how dirty this place was, their fountain drink that looks unused had a rotting mango, cut up lime, and extra junk that doesn’t belong near a fountain drink, and everything near their kitchen was cluttered. Their bathroom had no light bulb and there was a chair with a lamp and some clothes on the chair.
When my order came out, it looked amazing. When I ate it, it tasted so salty that I had to drink almost all of my water to get the taste out! I sent it back and the waitress started to question me and said I wanted ⁴⁄₅ stars and that’s what it was. I got upset because if it was spicy I wouldn’t have said anything, I told her I asked for four stars, not salty. She sent it back and when my order was remade, there was NO SPICE, it was eggy, and there wasn’t any extra broccoli. I asked the waitress why it wasn’t four stars and she says it’s because I said it was salty. I told her that I didn’t want it to be NOT spicy, I said I wanted it to be not SALTY. She looked mad and I just gave up. I wasn’t hungry anymore I was just upset that they couldn’t make my dish spicy or consider tasting or looking at my order before remaking it. I sent it back and didn’t eat anything except part of my mom’s dish which was okay.
Honestly I didn’t feel like they cared about the quality of the food or the satisfaction of the customer because they didn’t offer to fix it or apologize for the mistake.
Definitely not returning.

I absolutely love chao praya, If I want Thai food this is where I go ! The portions seem to be getting smaller and smaller over the years ! I usually get to-​go (just the time and place I don’t have time to sit in) but this place isn’t the best looking, but the peanut sauce doesn’t taste watered down, even though the service isn’t superior, what do you expect from a family owned restaurant? I love this place and tell everyone about it !

I’ve been going here for 15 years and I have noticed gradual decline in the last year or so. Today for lunch I had the worst food experience ever for this place. Supreme Fried Rice was very bland. They used to be the high bar to compare to other Thai food establishments.
1÷20÷15
Tried again and they have improved but still not as good as they used to be.

I have only dined in a couple of times here; I usually order take-​out. And I usually order the same thing, which is the Jungle Fried Rice, and it is tasty enough. Haven’t dined in enough or tried enough on their menu to give more or less stars.

Best Phad Thai ever must try, it comes with fresh carrots & bean sprouts & lots of peanuts. I always order a side if peanut sauce because there’s is the best & I like my Phad Thai extra saucy!

Chao Praya. Your food was an unexpected M. Night Shyamalan twist. Your service… not something of put pen to paper about.
I enter into this building, a small building, and wonder where my party of three was going to sit. It’s a small restaurant. I imagine it seats…*thinks*…probably about 28 people. You can see the kitchen and/​or prep area from just about anywhere you sit. That would be cool and all if it there was something relative to iron chef going on. I don’t need the host. Just mad dash cookery in an open space. But then this place would probably only be able to seat 12. Anyway…
Once seated, in an area that overlooked the restaurant, we received water that had the very faint taste of lemon. It was the kind of faintness that… Hmm, you know how when you’re almost done with one flavor of drink and add more of another and you can still taste a remnant of the first? That’s what this water tasted like. Remnants of what was last in the pitcher. Later we saw a lemon wedge in the pitcher and determined that it was the evening wedge grown to last for at least 5 hours.
The service really only comes down to having your water re-​filled. This is when you’ll see your server the most. There was only one waitress this evening and the restaurant was almost packed. Two things stood out about her: when acknowledging anything you wanted, you got a huge smile and nod with a small repeat of your request. Also, her legs moved faster than Usain Bolt’s. This woman acted like she was taking care of an entire restaurant. Because she was. Maybe someone didn’t come in to work. Maybe that’s just how they do it at Chao Praya. Either way, it doesn’t seem like the most efficient mode of business.
As stated earlier, the food was unexpected. It was good. Really good. I ordered the menu items «Crab Delighted» (appetizer), «Thai Iced Tea» and «Swimming Angel» (main dish). The Crab Delighted had a folded kind of half-​bow shape I wasn’t into but the taste more than made up for it. The fried portion was very lightly crispy and there was plenty of filling to go around. Didn’t feel like I was just eating fried shell. The swimming angel, which consisted of a bed of spinach covered with chicken and topped off with a generic but still delicious peanut sauce, lacked presentation but also made up for it in taste. The Thai Iced Tea tasted like Thai Iced Tea. And that’s…about all I can say about that.
Nothing about this place screams, «Ooooh, pretty,» but they seem to make up for it once you take that first bite. My only real food complaint is that when I order four and five star spice on my food, that it be mixed in more with the meal versus just setting an unbalanced tone due to uneven placement. Some bites were really hot and others lacked spice completely. I asked for a four spice meal, not a one through four spice meal.
Chao Praya doesn’t win any awards for being Chao Praya. However, where they get it right is understanding that they are a nice stop-​in restaurant surviving off relatively strategic locale and that Monday to Sunday Thai craving transposed across the city. It’s a humble restaurant and I can appreciate that. I’ll go back. I’m still curious.
Go to Chao Praya if you’re in the area and like to eat in an intimate setting.
Don’t go to Chao Praya if you like fresh lemons or eating somewhere bigger… Like your dining room.

Hmm… I was hungry and it satisfied.
Pros?
–Quick
–Peanut sauce is tasty
–Pretty good size portions
–Very «decent» food
Cons?
–Not very clean
–Poor management
–Staff seem to have a «don’t give a rats ass» attitude

Chao Praya has been our family’s go-​to for Thai for years.
The staff is very friendly and whenever we eat in, they’re attentive to the table.
The restaurant isn’t huge, but it’s not super cramped. I was close enough to hear some douchebag talk about his new job, but far enough away that my sister and I could secretly make fun of him.
I always get the phad thai (3 stars, with tofu). My mom always gets the pud see ew (chicken or tofu, no stars), and my dad and sister order based on their moods.
It’s a fairly good location to pick something up on the way home from work, as it’s right by the freeway. There’s ample parking in front, as it’s part of a strip mall.

We had a great meal. What I liked about this place was the ability to order family style so 5 – 6 people were able to try various things. It made the evening interactive.
Try the the Thai Beer — it was actually very tasty.
Our group had a salad, a couple of appetizers (spring rolls, and chicken satay), a few main courses Pineapple Rice with Prawns, Chicken Curry (Yellow), Pad Thai, and a few other dishes that escaped my mind. The food was great and the service was excellent.
The décor was lacking and the location was in a strip mall.
We had a very interactive meal allowing many to try several dishes and have a little culinary delight. The bill did not break the bank so rate this as a good value buy.
Enjoy!