Smiling Banana Leaf

I’m so happy that Smiling Banana Leaf exists. It’s one of my go-​to takeout meals. Admittedly, I tend to stick to the chicken pineapple fried rice and chicken pad thai, but both are so delicious and the portions are huge. I always have leftovers. The staff is always friendly.

I had to walk out on an incredibly disappointing meal I *Have **Had*** a good meal @ this place in prior years, yet I will NOT pay for cooked frozen vegetables, burnt spring rolls, arrogant management.; overall thorough disappointment! I will undoubtedly NEVER return to this venue! Save yourself from an epic disappointment!

Several of my friends have told me the Smiling Banana Leaf was their favorite Thai restaurant so I had to check it out. Walking up to the place, you can smell the delicious smells of garlic and Thai food. Upon entering, I was quite surprised by how tiny the place was. There were only 8 tables there. Luckily, we came right after a blizzard so no one was there and we were seated right away.
I ordered the Tom Kha soup, Pad See Ew with tofu and my husband ordered the Pad Thai with chicken. The service here was so quick; everything came out in no time at all. Possibly because there weren’t that many diners there. The soup was possibly my favorite Tom Kha soup of all Pittsburgh Thai restaurants I’ve tried. It was creamy and rich from the coconut milk, it was loaded with mushrooms, carrots and tofu so there was substance in each bite and it was perfectly spiced at level 4. The Pad See Ew was great, also with a lot of veggies. The flavor was sweet and salty: great balance. It was very much like Kee Mao that I’ve tried at other places. I usually don’t order See Ew but I would really like to try others to compare. My husband’s Pad Thai was a hair too saucy. When first getting the dish, it looked so plain because there was no garnish nor any greens. But the flavor was sweet with a slight smokiness that he really enjoyed.
Overall, good Thai food. Quick service but tiny dining room.

Had the green curry noodles and spice level was overshot with a 5 out of 10, but still delicious nonetheless. Awesome Taro spring rolls. Will definitely come back here if I get a chance. Service was great

Nice environment. Very friendly service. But kind of slow considering how busy they are. Tom yon soup is quite Americanized. Spicy fried rice is very good.

My family and I came here and had a wonderful time. The food was delicious and the restaurant staff was so kind.
My wife had the red curry, I had the pad kee mao, my brother had an eggplant dish and my parents got a special with shrimp. They were all delicious. We enjoyed two bottles of wine together (it’s BYOB) and had a wonderful night at a cute neighborhood place.

Delicious soup! It was hot, sweet, and spicy with plenty of fresh veggies. I would definitely go back and try another dish.

Stopped in to the Smiling Banana for lunch! What a great little joint! I ordered the Spicy Shrimp Special. They asked how hot I want it. I told the a 7 and the hit it right on. It was delicious. Perfectly cooked with a tone of flavor! I got Crab Rangoon. Very flavorful. Light and crispy out side. I would have to say the best crab Rangoon I have had. I also got the pumpkin custard. One of the absolute best deserts I have ever had!!!
My buddy got fried and steamed pork dumplings. I had one of each. Spot on!
Cashew Stir Fry. He said it was phenomenal! Nice and crispy vegetables and great great flavor !
Highly recommend this place.

Smiling Banana Leaf is just average. They are not bad but I think there are a lot of much better thai restaurants around Pittsburgh. Because Pittsburgh has so many thai restaurants to choose from there’s much more competition to be the best restaurant. It also makes me a little more picky when critiquing a restaurant because there are so many good ones to choose from around the city.
I started with the vegetarian spring rolls which I did not like at all. They were dry and tough and hardly any flavor. I also ordered the Tom Kha soup which was so good. And my entrée was the mango tilapia which was decent but a tad too much sauce.
I don’t regret eating there however I don’t think I’ll bother going back.

Having tried almost all the Thai restaurants in Pittsburgh, this was one of the few left on our list. The food was worthy of 4 stars — we had Tom yam and Tom kha soups, both very tasty and well done — possibly worthy of 5 stars! Our entrees were Kao soy noodles and chilli shrimp with rice. Both tasted great! But the chilli shrimp was $ 14 and only came with 6 regular sized shrimp and a ton of vegetables. A bit too few for the price. The Kao Soy had a generous serving of pork.
My 3 star review is based on the service we received. While it wasn’t bad, our server, a young girl, was not very warm or pleasant, which made the atmosphere that night feel very cold. I just felt very uneasy with the service we received — or waitress was also more interested in sitting down and playing with her phone right in front of the entrance rather than putting a smile on her face.
Overall, food is good, but I have had better overall experiences at other Thai restaurants in Burgh.

Went here on a whim with my boyfriend. We are Pitt students and wanted to go somewhere new. This place was perfect. It’s pretty hipster and small but the ambiance was fun and relaxed.
Our waitress was so sweet and helpful. I got glass noodles with chicken and boyfriend got chicken teriyaki. They were both so good!
I will definitely be back to this Thai spot. It was my first time going to a Thai place and I am nothing but pleased.
Dinner for two was 26 dollars too so it’s very inexpensive, which was perfect for two college students.
Highly recommend!

So I have been back here quite a few more times since my original takeout visit. Each time, whether for take out or dining in, service has been consistently polite and prompt.
Ive been here on a Sunday afternoon when Bobby and I are the only ones in the tiny place and I also stopped by last Friday night for dinner with my dad and Bobby. At 8pm, the place was stuffed full and a whiff of sweaty muggy people hit me in my face as I walked in the door. Definitely should have made a reservation. The host told me it would be about a 30 minute wait but offered to take my name and phone number if anything opened up sooner.
I stepped outside to decide what we would do and saw 3 outside tables not in use! With Pittsburgh weather the way that it is, it just so happened to be about 68 that night. I asked if the host would seat us outside and he agreed. Shortly after, the other two tables filled! Lucky us!
At this point I have tried many of their dishes — chicken rad na, yellow curry, pumpkin curry, chicken pad thai and I have had zero complaints. Bobby tried a noodle soup and it was uneventful. Really love Smiling Banana Leaf :)

Stopped here, for dinner on a Thursday night with a reservation. The place is quite small and gets really crowded, I saw a few people turning back since the wait was so long and hence a reservation is highly recommended.
We ordered the crab rangoons as an appetizer, and Thai red curry and cashew stir fry for for the main portion. I would watch the spice level here definitely and order a level lower. I usually get a 7 in Thai restaurants, but my dish turned out more spicy than my liking. That being said the food was extremely delicious. The cashew stir fry was so flavorful and heavenly. The red curry was delicious too. The crab rangoons were good as well.
Overall a pleasant and delicious dinner, and we will come back to explore other dishes on the menu.

My friend and I met for dinner last night and had a pretty enjoyable experience! First of all, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to find street parking nearby the restaurant (that’s usually something that I dread). Then they sat us at a nice table by the corner window, and we were the only ones in there for the majority of our meal. My friend ordered the fresh roll of the day (it was shrimp and was pretty good) and pineapple fried rice (spice level: 5). I ordered the crispy taro spring roll (which was excellent) and the pad see ew (spice level: 6). We both enjoyed our food, but it was huge portions so we needed to take about half home. Our food came out to us with record-​breaking speed, and both dishes had a lot of flavor. My only warning would be with regard to the spice level. I like spicy food, and I thought I was being safe by ordering a 6 (out of 10), and it was still pretty darn hot (pore-​sweating hot)! Overall, we had a very enjoyable experience and would definitely recommend this restaurant!

I had the eggplant+tofu with chicken over rice. It was *exactly* what I was looking for. A soft, well-​marinated tofu and eggplant slices that had fully absorbed the flavors of the sauce. Absolutely fantastic, especially for the price.

Holy moly I love it here. I want to live here and only eat Thai food from Smiling Banana Leaf for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It’s a very small restaurant but decorated so well and tastefully. The service was excellent and everyone was friendly. The food was the best thing about this place. Every dish we ordered, and we ordered a few (purposeful leftovers), was delicious and spiced perfectly. The flavors made you want to keep eating even though we were stuffed.
We also never order dessert but we did here and it was great! If we lived closer we would be back regularly.

My roommate and I tried out Smiling Banana Leaf tonight for dinner, and it was a really enjoyable experience! The Highland Park location was easy to find, and there were even a few cute tables and chairs outside in front. I love al fresco dining, so I’ll definitely be back when it’s a bit warmer. We walked in and were greeted by the friendly hosts and immediately seated. I loved the vintage looking chairs and eclectic décor. The whole space had a really nice flow to it.
We soon ordered, and the food came quickly. I got pineapple fried rice (carb loading for a marathon!) and my roommate got the mango salad. Both options were delicious! Everything was hot and perfectly cooked. The spice levels (3 and 4 respectively) seemed accurate. I’d probably get a 6 or a 7 next time for the rice, but for someone who doesn’t want spice 3 was perfect! I can’t wait to come back and try some of the other options here. Noodlehead has been my go-​to Thai place in Pittsburgh, but I wanted to find something other than street noodle Thai and Smiling Banana Leaf is perfect!

I came here to have dinner and catch up with a few friends. We love Thai food, and we have tried almost every Thai restaurant within a 5-​radius of Shadyside – except this one. So, of course, we had to try this place out before we graduate to the 10-​mile radius and beyond (gas prices and traffic be damned, we want our fill of Thai goodness!).
Anyway, I arrived first, and the waiter (manager? owner? Sorry I can’t be sure, but he’s the one with the French accent) greeted me warmly and sat me down first. I told him two more people were going to arrive soon, so he quickly got me three glasses of iced water, menus, and silverware. After my friends arrive, he comes to introduce himself and the restaurant, and asked if we would like any beverages. One of my friends orders some tea, which he gets for her in no time. After perusing the menu for a few minutes, we order our food. I ordered the Green Curry Noodles with Tofu (spice level: 4), and my friends ordered Pad Thai with Shrimp (spice level: 0 [she doesn’t do well with spicy food]) and Pad See Ew with Tofu (spice level: 3). It wasn’t very busy at this time, so our food came out within 10 – 15 minutes.
My Green Curry Noodles with Tofu looked great. It had rice noodles, bell peppers, green beans, broccoli, eggplant, and Thai basil. I took a few sips of the broth and tasted really good and had a nice kick to it. My friends also really liked their respective dishes. Halfway through our meal, the place really started getting busy. It seemed like between each bite/​sip of my food, a table or two became filled. By the time we were ready to leave, the place was packed. Nevertheless, our waiter never failed to refill our glasses with water and ask if we needed anything. When we were done, he got us a few take-​out boxes for our leftovers and the check. Because of the good food and excellent service, my friends and I decided to give a generous tip.
Overall, a very good place to have a nice Thai meal. Although it wasn’t the best I’ve had, it does rank pretty high in my personal list of Thai restaurants. I will make an effort to come back again to try their Pad Thai, which is one of my favorite Thai dishes, and their desserts. Honestly, who could resist Pumpkin Custard or the Sago & Black Bean with Coconut Cream? Even though I’m allergic to mangoes, I’ll even try their seasonal Sweet Mango with Sticky Rice (with 911 on speed dial, of course!).

Food is delicious, I would give it a 3 stars due to service. This place is BYOB and no additional fee for corking — definite bonus in my book. Their waitress was new and it was a bit difficult to get someone’s attention. It wasn’t overly busy when we went on a Monday night, but it took multiple tries to get the attention of the waitresses.
First impression is that the place is very cute. Has a very hipster rustic feel for being a Thai restaurant. The interior has a good mood lighting — nice atmosphere. It was pretty cold though. Granted I went on a freezing day but we were seated right by the window so it was way more draft than I would have enjoyed.
TOFU PARADISE –
Wasn’t sure what to expect when I ordered this but I was surprised. They used a former tofu and cut into bite size pieces. I thought the cabbage was the best part to be honest because it had a little sweetness but not so sweet as the peanut sauce. It was a bit too much for my tastes, but slowly grew on me.
YELLOW CURRY NOODLES –
This was surprisingly good. A healthy (huge…let’s face it it’s not really good for you), portion of yellow curry, noodles, bean sprouts, chicken, red onion, and topped with fried onions. I got a ⁶⁄₁₀ on the spicy scale and I will give it to them — it was pretty spicy. I think next time I’ll go with a 5. If you’re not good with spicy foods I would urge you to opt for a 1 – 2. The broth was really well made and flavored. And there was such a big portion I could have taken the rest to go and had left overs with rice.
My friend got the pad Thai which I did not try, but I thought her portion was rather small for the dinner price. I expected a bit more. Compared to other Thai restaurants I am inclined to say their portion to price ratio is smaller.
Their menu offered a pretty wide variety of appetizers, rice, noodle, and other dishes. I will be back to try them.

I have to agree with Ran L. about the food here being just average for Thai. I stopped by with a friend on Sat. evening to get take-​out. I ordered the pad see ew with shrimp (spice level: 4), and she ordered the ginger chicken (spice level: 3). I’m not sure if they accidentally transposed the spice levels, but her food was so spicy it was inedible to both of us. My food, on the other hand, had about the amount of spice that I like.
In addition to the shrimp, my pad see ew came with what appeared to be small pieces of chicken. I was a bit surprised by the paucity of shrimp – but then again, I’m not super-​familiar with this dish, so they could just be an add-​on. The flavor was okay, but didn’t wow me. The vegetables were well-​cooked and not limp, which was nice. The two dishes came with a side of rice, though it was unclear which dish it went with, which we ended up splitting. Because of the inedibility of the ginger chicken, my friend and I ended up splitting the pad see ew – fortunately, there was enough to do that.
I should mention that my friend, who lives in Morningside, is a frequent customer of SBL, and has ordered the ginger chicken (in addition to other dishes) many times before. As such, she was surprised at the inconsistency in the spice. One level up shouldn’t have been that much hotter!
I tried the ginger chicken and didn’t care for the dish’s flavor, so when my friend offered the rest of it to me, I declined. I did take the rest of the pad see ew and finished it tonight, but was debating not doing so. Ultimately, a combination of hunger and being out late got the best of me, though. With so many other great Thai options in PGH (like Nicky’s, my fav), I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back here, based on my experience and the extremely small seating area (it really is tiny!).