The Corner Store

This place is a diamond in the rough. You need to look beyond the basic layout of the space and strange signage to see what lies beneath. This is a family business, where the owners literally pour their heart and soul and life savings into it.
The rents are high on Willy St, so they cannot afford to be too fancy. Their focus is on the food. Try them out. Even if they don’t have what you want on the menu board, the cook will often whip up whatever you want with little notice.
I have been eating here almost daily for 2 years. It’s very good good served up by friendly, hard working people, and very reasonable prices.
Give them a try. You will not be disappointed.

Totally awesome thai food – for some reason they also serve mediocre tacos and burritos, the kind my mom 30 years ago, before we had ever dreamed of real mexican food.
Anyhow thats a tangent – they are getting rid of the shelving and turning the whole place into a restaurant.
Which is great – like I said the Thai food is totally awesome – by far best in neighborhood.

I keep wanting to like this place, but almost everything about it turns me off.
The closest way I can sum it up in one sentence?: Even though it lacks bars on the windows, the Corner Store feels like an inner city bodega from the 1980’s.
The reason I want to like it is that it’s run by a first generation immigrant Asian family who keep a pot of curry stewing at all times. This alone should contribute to an atmosphere of authenticity. But it does not, and the buck stops there.
The first thing that greets customers at the door is a ratty sign with a list of things not allowed inside: No Dogs, No Bikes, No Shirt No Shoes No Service. etc. Common courtesy requests you would expect to be a given in any indoor establishment. The mere fact that the Corner Store sees the need to reinforce these requests with a large glaring sign says a lot about both its atmosphere and its clientele.
The staff is friendly enough, making it all the more difficult for me to attempt to be polite when I go in and can’t for the life of me find anything to buy. This place has a fair amount of shelf and cooler space but doesn’t even stock the essentials. There are a few cans of this or that beef stew and corn chowder, some styrofoam plates, toothpics, a liter of pepsi here, and a roll of mints there. But it’s the epitome of hit-​or-​miss. Whether you’re cooking dinner and ran out of Ketchup, or you’re planning a picnic and forgot lemonade, don’t count on this place to have what you’re looking for.
There is a large hand-​painted sign in one of the windows that advertises a «Large Selection of Canned Ethnic Foods» This led me to expect something truly interesting or different. They certainly have the shelf space (and presumably the expertise) to offer the neighborhood a mini international food store. But as far as I can tell they don’t carry anything international beyond what you can find at Hyvee. Huge letdown.
As far as the lunch menu, I found it overcooked, overpriced, lots of cheap ingredients, and not that tasty. I know The Corner Store can do better, which makes the experience all the more disappointing.

As others have said, the Corner Store is an interesting convenience/​curry combo shop.
It’s easily overlooked/​missed as it’s got little more than an awning to distinguish it from the other buildings along Willy street. If you happen to find it, it does have delicious, reasonably priced curries.
I believe they’ve raised their prices since last time I was there, but it’s now $ 7.25 for what I believe is a 1 pint container, packed to the brim.
Very friendly staff; I was genuinely thanked for stopping by.
In summary, a great little curry place (I can’t attest to the rest of the menu), although their increased prices detract from the original charm for me; to my knowledge there’s no longer a sub-​$ 7 thai place around, except perhaps Rising Sons’ lunch special.

This place cracks me up. The convenience store-​half has a bit of an asian grocery store to it. The restaurant-​half has a deli feel, and serves ice cream, sandwiches, and curry.
When we were there, we got sandwiches and they have us samples of their three curries of the day. Turns out the curies were very good.

Convenience store combined great, cheap Thai food place open for lunch? I’m there!
They serve a variety of Thai curries (usually pick from four on any given day) and related Thai sides. They also have wraps and sandwiches if you’re more into standard fare stuff. All below $ 7 for good portions. This place is locally owned and run and the [Thai] family that owns it and cooks the food is incredibly hospitable and speedy.
Not really that much seating (maybe two tables for two and one table that might seat 4) so perhaps better for a grab-​and-​go.
I think this is a great alternative to Bahn-​Thai across the street — much less expensive and more tasty.

I regularly stop in for their homemade egg rolls, crab rangoon, and pot stickers. You take them home and warm them up in the oven yourself. They seriously beat out any of the restaurants in town.

This store was my dream when I moved to Madison two and a half years ago. I could pick up fabu curries for lunch and YumYum cookies for dessert. They always had a cold diet coke, as well as that red pepper garlic sauce that is so addictive. Also, cat food if I was really in a bind – and apples and bananas. The owners knew me when I walked it which is just what I needed after moving here from a small town.
When the Corner Store changed owners, I was heartened that the previous owners and the new owners were longtime family friends and had owned a restaurant together in the past. Surely nothing would change – and very little did. Same face recognition, quite a few more Asian ingredients (almost worth the price of admission in and of themselves), still cold diet cokes, and cat food. But then they quit using jasmine rice with the curries. The owner said it was just a glitch, but it kept happening. Maybe it’s changed now as I have moved and not been there in a few months. If not having jasmine rice with your curries doesn’t bother you, then this hidden gem may just be your place.