Thai Elephant Express

Love this place! My go to place for Thai food. Reasonable price for the portion. Definitely a regular here for my Thai food fix. Only downsize is the space is very small

It’s like a Panda Express for Thai food, but all of the food is good. It’s especially good if you’re unsure what to order at a Thai restaurant as you get to see everything and possibly sample some. I had the Garlic Chicken and I thought it was really good.

A great spot to grab some quick «fast food style» Thai food without the fast food taste.
They don’t use MSG which is a huge plus!
I recommend the tamarind fish and shrimp pad Thai.
Green curry is also very delicious. Pricing is a ok and customer service is very nice.
Great mom and pop shop!

Customer service was pretty okay nothing bad about it. I Unilocaled this place before I came and wanted to order what I had seen but I got a to go item instead. The fish was good though I think it was missing something or maybe I just wanted it to be spicy but I liked it. The chicken was flavorful and spicy and the rice was on point. I will definitely come back.

Pad Thai, medium spicy is my go-​to here. I think it depends on who cooks it though because the spice level was different each time I’ve been here but I’ve ordered it exactly the same way each time. Strange. Still good pad Thai though. I would like to try their other foods cos they look good!
The pad Thai is juuuust under $ 10. Card transactions need to be $ 10 or you get charged 50¢ or 75¢. I can’t remember. But when they add the fee, my total comes out to over 10 something… Like why can’t you just charge me the $ 10? So be sure to have cash on hand if you don’t want an extra fee.
The ladies working are super nice and there are tables for you to sit and eat, even though your food is packaged to go.

Good price for lunch.
Had the 2 items combo ~$ 8: garlic chicken a coconut chicken. Ask then to pour the coconut sauce all over the rice, it’ll make it delicious.
Also got the pad thai shrimp. ~$ 11.
Lot of pad thai. These 2 meals can feed 3 people. You can mix the chicken into the pad thai to make it an awesome pad thai shrimp chicken wombo comboooo.
Parking lot is always crowded since its in the asian plaza.

This place is great!!! I believe the owners are Vietnamese so not sure how «authentic» the food is but what gives – it’s delicious!!! I can have Thai food all day, every day and they cater food trays!!! Great for large parties.
My only suggestion would be to offer brown rice.

For an express take out, this place is actually pretty good w/​large portions for their rice/​noodle orders.
I’ve came here a couple of times and these are my ratings based on the items I’ve tried:
— Basil chicken fried rice (⁴⁄₅)
— Tamarind Fish (⁴⁄₅)
— Green curry (⁴⁄₅)
— Yellow curry (3.5÷5)
— Pad Thai (3.5÷5)
— Pad See Ew (⁴⁄₅)
— Spicy Soup (³⁄₅)
— Thai tea (⁴⁄₅)
The spicy level here is not always on point, but majority of the time medium spicy is pretty spicy, so if you can’t take the heat, I suggest you do mild.
The owner is nice which allows me to return to support her business. However, she hired another lady to help for a few months now and she’s not the best. First instance, I ordered the Pad See Ew and she said they didn’t sell that… I was confused. The owner overheard and told her they did sell that… Second time I only ordered 1 item which came out to $ 9.95 and she told me she was going to charge me extra .40cents bc it didn’t reach $ 10. Seriously?!? I know the merchant service charges the business a percentage of their sales, but where’s the customer loyalty appreciation? The owner would’ve ignored the .05 cents difference. I even told her I’d just give her .05 cents and she gave me a snarky look and said «NO! Too bad» … And swiped my card away. Lol .40 cents isn’t a big deal. The problem was her unsympathetic personality.
Because I know that I would have to deal with her every time I come here, I had to give 3 stars, otherwise, it would’ve been a solid 4.

Ideal to grab a quick take out meal. I’ve been there a couple of times and we’ve tried their red curry, pad Thai, coconut chicken and the food has been spot on every time.
Panda Express concept, but a million times better than the food in Panda Express. Please, I am by no means comparing the food in Panda Express to the food here. Just the concept of ordering food is the same.
Prices are very very reasonable for the quantity. Only wish is that they’d offer brown rice as a substitute to white rice. But it’s no deal breaker at all.
There are a few tables and chairs if you wanna sit down and eat your meal.
Highly recommended this place to grab a good meal quickly at reasonable prices.

To be real, I’ve only tried one thing here and it’s their Pad Thai! It’s seriously so bomb and their spiciness is perfect! I think the first time I ate, I got it spicy and the second time was medium but I much rather prefer a spicy palette so spicy is the way to go!
Their noodle dishes are all made to order. They have a lot of hot foods available like their Garlic Chicken and many types of Curries! I haven’t tried any of those but I definitely will in the future!
Service is alright. Looks like it’s run by a small Vietnamese family with some Thai roots, but their Pad Thai is just. YAAAAAS!

THIS PLACE IS SOOOO GOOD.
We always get the spicy pad thai here (it’s pretty spicy) and pad see ew. Their curries are delicious. The Thai tea is decent too. Their portions were enormous but have sized down recently + price increase.
I constantly get cravings for their food. The owners are friendly.
You gotta try it!

I had experienced Thai food a long time ago as a child but it wasn’t nearly as memorable as what I had here.
The food was delicious! Portions are huge which makes it a good bang for your buck. Very shareable or you can eat it for lunch and save the rest for dinner which is what I did. Tastes even better the second time around.
The place is super clean. I looked at the steam table and was impressed there were no food splatters or crusted over food particles and no grease dripping from places (can you tell I’ve seen some pretty bad steam table restaurants?). Cute white tables and chairs pop with the orange colors and makes it look really modern.
So, I had the two items plus steamed rice. I chose garlic chicken and I guess what was coconut chicken (someone might’ve called it sweet basil chicken, not the spicy one). It tasted sweet and had great coconut flavor. The garlic chicken had great texture and also was sweet with a nice garlic flavor. The coconut chicken was the only dish not labeled.
There is nothing better than having some steamed rice with delicious sauces on top so this is my kind of place!

CLOSED MONDAYS. They do take card (there’s a 40cent charge if your meal is less than $ 10 before tax) but they prefer cash.
This is my favorite fast thai food! I think the owners are thai/​viet though. Lol I used to go here so often that the lady memorized my custom pad thai order. Ha!
They have ready made hot foods on the steamers but all their noodle and fried rice dishes are MADE TO ORDER. How many fast food places can say they do that?
You can ask for mild, medium, spicy or extra spicy. I usually stick to spicy because that already gives you a really good kick! Extra spicy is just chopped up fresh chilies.
I usually get their chicken pad thai, no bean sprouts –spicy (comes with lime and a generous amount of crushed peanuts!) or pad kee mao. If I get a combo box, I’d get garlic chicken (sweet glazed lemongrass flavor with fried basil), tamarind fish (fried fish filet with a tangy/​sweet tamarind sauce) with white rice. If you ever get their thai curries, they ask you if you want some extra curry sauce over your rice, yes! The thai teas are good too.
1 item + steamed rice $ 7.25
2 item + steamed rice $ 8.75
Pad Thai $ 9.15 –lightly chewy noodles!
Pad Kee Mao $ 9.15
Thai Tea $ 2.75 –creamy!
You can also get single items in plastic containers togo instead of combo boxes. Water, plates, napkins + plastic utensils are all self serve unless you are getting togo –the lady packs everything for you.
I recommend the pad thai, pad kee mao, yellow curry, garlic chicken and tamarind fish! I love this place for my togo food and will always come back.
*i found hair in my pad thai once, so my BF brought it back up to the cashier and they took it back immediately. A man came out, who I think is one of the owners, and he sincerely apologized. He gave us a fresh pad thai AND $ 10! Wow. He also said that all his employees wore hair nets so he didn’t know how that happened but he was really sorry. That’s great customer service! Things happen, so it’s all about how you handle the situation.

My boyfriend mentioned this place after we determine we were craving Thai food. I was kind of hesitant to come here because a lot of the food establishments in the plaza that this place is located in aren’t that great. But I decided to give it a shot!
The place itself is pretty small, but CLEAN! That’s definitely a whole star in itself in my book. The set-​up is like a Panda Express but with Thai food. The dishes are piled into your one item, two item, or soup plate. We ordered the chicken curry with rice (1 item combo) and the pad kee mao. We asked for the pad kee mao to be made spicy! My boyfriend was struggling with the spice, but it didn’t seem that spicy to me. I say just order it regular to be on the safe side. The curry was actually pretty good! They weren’t being stingy on the portions as well. Both dishes came out to $ 20 after leaving a tip. Pretty decently priced. I would come back here again if I was in the area!

Thai Elephant Express never disappoints me!
What I love about this place is their pad thai. I’ve had plenty of pad thai from other places but I’ve always came back here as my favorite place for it. One of the things I love about it is that I can change my spice levels to make it extra spicy! I’ve always had a problem with other restaurants that make their pad thai too sweet with no kick to it. The pad thai comes with noodles, eggs, shrimp, chicken, bean sprouts, tofu and lemon wedges for around $ 9 – 10 You get a bunch in a take-​out box that would make you super full.
Some other things I recommend are the tamarind fish and the coconut soup! The tamarind fish is tilapia fish with delicious sweet-​sour tangy sauce all over it. The coconut soup is rich and flavorful with some mushrooms & tofu in the soup. Yum!
Since Thai Elephant is a fast food place, wait times for the food are really short. There are pre made items that are scooped and ready for take out such as the tamarind fish and coconut soup but never let out to be cold. All items stay warm!
Be sure to bring cash if you’re planning to spend under $ 10 because there’s a $ 0.40 charge for every card usage. American Express is not accepted and they close on Mondays!
This will always my to go place for pad thai!

Best Pad Thai in SJ, hands down.
I’ve been to this joint since high school, and let me tell you, it’s never disappointed me. Their portions are HUGE and I always end up over eating, which is a bad thing. I guess if you really want to be smart about it, you should portion it so you only eat half haha.
The Pad Thai comes with everything from tofu, to chicken, to eggs, to bean sprouts. The flavoring of the Pad Thai is fantastic. I usually go for medium spicy since it gives it just the right kick. The noodles are perfectly broiled and everything just comes together really well. Also, the wait is never long! I usually get it within 5 minutes of ordering.
Today I returned to Thai Elephant for the first time in a while and also got to try their chicken yellow curry. I’m not a big fan of curry, but I gave it a try with my mom. A portion of curry + rice comes out to about $ 8 or so and its pretty darn filling. The broth of the curry is super creamy and smooth. It’s not spicy, so for all of you crazy people out there who don’t eat spicy, go for the curry! Everything in the curry was perfection. The potatoes were cooked perfectly. They weren’t too hard or too soft, and kind of just melted in your mouth.
Customer service here is great. They usually greet you and help you out right away. I can’t say much else than that since it’s basically a serve yourself kind of area.
It’s pretty small, but I’ve never had an issue with getting a table or anything of that sort.
Try it out!

No matter what Thai places I try, I always end up still loving the one closest to home. This place isn’t the best looking or 5 star service, but the pad thai here never disappoints me! It’s always flavorful and cooked to perfection. I think the thing that makes it a little different than other places is that it’s a little more saucier than normal pad thai which is what makes it more flavorful and delicious. You can also tell because the color is a little darker orange than other places. The pad thai can be ordered without spice, mild spice, or spicy. The spicy is really spicy though, so beware! All three ways are still good though. I always call ahead of time, just because it takes about 10 minutes to make, as opposed to how some of their other dishes are already made and ready to serve to you, panda express style. The parking also takes forever to find, so calling ahead of time definitely is worth it. They do have the option to dine in, but to be honest it’s usually filled with high school students… I mean when I was in high school, I was one of them here all the time!
I have also tried their crab fried rice and pineapple fried rice which were also delicious! The pad sew ew however was okay, not as flavorful as I would like, but really the pad thai is what stands out at this place and keeps me coming back for more. These 3 dishes were also made to order and fresh, not made beforehand to serve.
They charge for card, so try to bring cash! It’s not only for you to save that extra 40 cents or so, but it also helps out the restaurant. Since it’s a mom and pop shop, simply using cash helps them out a lot.

Finally stopped by this place for lunch with a friend! Seen a lot of Unilocalers post a lot of delicious food pictures and I had this place bookmarked for the longest time! Funny thing is I been to this little plaza a few times for boba/​milk tea/​other viet food, but never really noticed this place — it’s sort of next to Tapioca Express. Well parking here kind of sucks cause there’s so many little business with little parking spaces for such a busy plaza!
Anyways, the food here at Thai Elephant Express was delicious: D Walked in here and it smelled amazing — we took our food to go and everything still smelled yummy in the car. Well it took us a while to decide what to order and the lady at the counter was nice and helpful too! I ended up getting the two item: yellow chicken curry & garlic chicken (?) + steam rice for about $ 9! Damn the lady was really generous and really puts a lot of food in your box! To be honest, I actually ate everything in one sitting and really food coma-​ed afterwards, but no regret, at least my tummy was happy! :D I just couldn’t stop eating, everything tasted delicious! Even my friend said she loved it! I will definitely be back to try more food — really want to try the pad thai next time! Also, there’s a few tables inside if you wanted the food «for here» :)
Overall, I definitely recommend this place! Service was fast and food was tasty, but parking sucks. *Take note they accept card, but if it’s less than $ 10 they charge a 40 cent fee!

Came by for lunch the other day and it was surprisingly a decent experience. Parking in the private lot is somewhat tight. With that said, street parking might be a better option.
Thai Elephant Express is a hybrid Thai Fast Food and cooked-​to-​order order-​at-​the-​counter with seats and tables type of venue. The surprising aspect is that there was only a very small portion of each entrée to ensure that each entrée remains fresh.
Ordered the Pad Khee Mao Chicken and it was very good. The noodles had a nice kick to it and the dish was flavorful. They used white meat chicken and beef is a $ 1 surcharge.
Thai tea was okay with a large cup.
~$ 12.5 after tax for lunch. They do accept credit cards for $ 10+ purchases.

Think of Thai Elephant Express as the Panda Express for Thai food. It’s our go-​to place for to-​go food when I have the craving for thai food without having to dine in. Big difference is that the people cooking the food are actually Asian!
Our favorites are the crab fried rice, pineapple fried rice, pad thai, pad see ew, and pad kee mao. The food we order is always made-​to-​order so comes out hot and fresh. Since it’s still pretty mom and pops, they try to keep their prices down by preferring cash and taking cc only above $ 10 which isn’t terribly difficult.
Parking can be challenging now that the complex is getting more crowded and there are plenty of terrible drivers so watch out. You might as well park on the streets on the weekends since people stalk people walking to their cars like black friday.
If I could give some advice to the owners it would be spend that extra 2 cents and give customers better plastic forks! The heavy/​sticky rice noodles are not match for their flimsy ones they have now.