Birdnest Restaurant

The customer service is horrible, I came during my lunch break and waited about a half hour just to have my order taken. The place wasn’t even busy, so there is no excuse. Won’t be coming back.

Great Pad Thai, but not great service. Sadly, this place is now CLOSED! We would put up with the slow service because the food was so good, but the last time we were there a few weeks ago, they said it was their last day open. The phone number is now disconnected.

So sad to report this place is officially closed for business.
Birdsnest has been my favorite Thai food place to go for about 3 years. I’ve never had Thai food like this, my best wishes to the family who owned this hidden little jem.

I wanted to like this place, really, I did. I’ve come here twice and the last time was worse than the first. First of all, it should have been a «Dead Giveaway» (insert Schmoyoho autotune here) that there weren’t many people having lunch to begin with. I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve been to Thailand, where the food is 100 times better than food here in the States, but I do have my favorite Thai places around here (i.e., that restaurant in Los Alamitos formerly known as Siam Palace, Narai in Downey, and Royal’s Taste in Bellflower).
I should have walked away when I asked for my meal and water (with lemon) and the water came back with the teeniest sliver of lemon that was obviously dry and old (should have taken a photo). But I decided to give them the benefit of a doubt. I ordered the mus-​sa-​muhn curry, and the rice was not even included at $ 6.95. I didn’t mind the rice, as I’m on a low carb diet anyway… I told the server I would eat it like a soup. When it finally arrived after a long 15-​minute wait (keep in mind, the place had like 3 other sets of customers there and there was one order besides mine), the mus-​sa-​muhn lacked veggies and chicken and was made up mostly of potatoes, curry powder, coconut milk, and very few peanuts. Nope, not a fan! Not only that, but the server didn’t bring it to me a soup bowl, even though I mentioned that I was going to eat it like a soup.
Anyway, I will not be coming back!

Hole in the wall. Food was good but it was Americanized. A Thai Restaurant that doesn’t serve papaya salad… Okay…
Price = Good
Service= Good
Not sure if we will be back.

I ordered the pad Thai because I had noticed a lot of the reviews raving about it. I have to agree, the food is GREAT! Very flavorful! I will definitely eat here again.

Have been coming here for 15+ years. We live just a couple of minutes away and pick up take-​out from here fairly regularly. It’s cheap and delicious. Their mango sticky rice, when available, is out of this world! The husband is addicted to the chicken and broccoli here and I have tried almost every spicy dish on the menu. Sometimes though, especially if I order a flat noodle dish, it can be rather greasy (almost to the point that it’s unappetizing), so I’m knocking a star off for that. When we eat in-​restaurant, the service is always very courteous.

My friend ordered everything for us. Every single thing we got was very very tasty and GOOD. Pad See Yewee *misspelled* with pork and chinese broccoli as good as the Mix Bowl’s in Montclair. Broccoli was crisp, black bean sauce not too heavy. Combination fried rice was tasty enough but the sweet and sour chicken was NOT too sweet and just right. Very simply served, no fuss no muss. I’ll go back, yes. Especially as I left my eye glasses there at 9:30 pm! I wish they’d turn the lights on in the dining room-​way too dark :-D

This place make the best spicy noodle and lad na. No other place can compete when it comes to their delicious spicy noodle. Yummy yummy, can’t wait to go and have me some more spicy noodle

Good place to eat. Bang for the buck, pretty tasty. This is a no frills Thai food eatery. Good food, had the hurricane soup, the soup hit the spot, I enjoyed it, and I left satisfied. I’m bringing my family for dinner, next time.

Good, inexpensive Thai (Chinese) food.
This is my 2^nd time eating from Birds Nest, 1^st time dining in and the experience was good. I would definitely come back again.
It is located in a rundown strip mall that is nestled along side the 5(NB) freeway off the Florence exit in Downey. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d miss it… a definitely hole in the wall. Despite its location, the restaurant is surprisingly large with a modest size menu, and family friendly. The auntie like ladies that work there are friendly and the food is tasty. (They speak limited English but they do speak Chinese, if you wanted to converse with them.) The portions are are also on the smaller size, but because of the price, I wouldn’t complain about it.
The description of the restaurant as «Thai, Chinese» is correct. From what I gather, the owner/​operators are Chinese-​Thai, therefore there is some Chinese influence in the Thai dishes. (NOTE: This is NOT a pure/​authentic Thai restaurant… which is okay, unless you’re looking for an authentic Thai restuarant.)
We ordered the Beef Salad, Pad See Ew, Thai Chicken Curry, & Mango Sticky Rice. All the dishes were sweeter than I’m used to, but good, and the Pad See Ew was more garlicky as well… I liked it, but I’m Korean. We ordered the curry «Medium +» because the «Medium» we ordered on our 1^st visit was mild, but the «Medium +» was barely spicy as well. So I’m gonna assume there idea of «spicy» is not like traditional Thai restaurants. So don’t be afraid to order «spicy» because they’re spicy is probably more like a «Medium spicy» compared to other Thai restaurants.
Overall, I’d come back again.

Stopped by for lunch with a client of mine a while back and we had actually dropped in right before their lunch special was about to end at 3. ALL of their tables were empty but they all had multiple dishes stacked on top as if we had just missed a massive rush.
After eating our food, we understood why the place had been so packed. I ordered a chicken with broccoli and it was SOO hot for like 10 minutes. which is a good thing, but it was a little uncomfortable when you burn your tongue 3 different times!
Yes, the décor isn’t the greatest and they don’t take AMEX, but it’s a great restaurant that’s definitely worth trying if you’re in the area.

I don’t understand why this place gets good reviews. This is one of the worst Thai restaurant I have been to. The food is low quality and the service is slow. Maybe people has a thing for hole in the wall but there are better restaurants out there. Thai curry is delicious everywhere. I have not been to one thai restaurant that doesn’t have delicious curry … it’s like burgers and fries always taste good and you cannot deny it. But whether it’s good FOR you, that’s another story.
The dish that testify the cook is vegetarian and odd ball dishes. There is no flavor in what I have ordered, tum yum soup. I’d rather have it too sour or too spicy than a pot of hot water…
I am sorry my Asian homie
FAIL

Have now been back 3 more times. Service much better. Food good but not 5*.
I give it 4 stars for the better service and the consistency of the food served.

Definitely a hole-​in-​the-​wall, definitely delicious.
Our usuals:
Pad See Ew: Get it with beef. I love that you really get that barbequed/​smokey flavor with every bite. They give you a good amount of meat/​noodles and don’t try to fill the plate with garnishes or veggies. I do have to say that the broccoli is cooked perfectly so there is still a nice crunch to it.
Coconut Soup: Get it with chicken. As with most places, it comes in a huge flaming pot. See my photos for reference of Jaime P almost getting his eyebrows singed. It has a lot of flavor and I recommend ordering it on the medium side. We’ve ordered it hot before and I looked like I just watched the last episode of Six Feet Under and was balling my eyes out. (anyone?) It’s got a kick. Medium is just perfect and you can ask for some additional chili sauce to bump it up to the temperature you like.
Beef Panang: Again, order it medium. This also has some nice heat to it. The beef is tender and the sauce is rich with spices. It’s not fragrant like some Thai places; I’m glad, because I hate that flavor. It comes in a small bowl, but believe me– a little goes a long way.
I’ve had:
Egg Foo Young: Not usually a fan of this, but it was really good here. Crispy and full of veggies. Get it as an appetizers and share it with friends.
Chinese Sausage Salad: Nica H ordered this and I didn’t know what to expect. The sausages came out and had a purple tint to them. I thought I was going to die– but they were great. I wouldn’t order it on my own, but again– if there were a few people to share some dishes, I would definitely throw this into the mix of food items.
Duck Salad: It was good and the duck wasn’t overly greasy. It has a lot of flavor and they actually give you a lot of the bird. Again, recommend if sharing with friends.
The service is great and really attentive. It’s a small operation so sometimes there is a little bit of a lag in serving, but it’s worth the wait. They are usually super busy or super slow, I don’t think there is a medium– just one or the other.
Just a warning, there is a $ 15 minimum for credit card purchases. But if you eat like a pig like we do– that isn’t a problem.

Kind of a strange location, next to a Boxing place but what the heck. The food is good and that’s what matters. This isn’t a shirt and tiedate place, but the prices are very good, selection of Thai Food is good and nice friendly service. We ordered the Yum Woon Sen Thai Salad, Tom Yum Koung Soup (a signature dish), Pad See Ew Noodles and Ka Nah which is like Chinese Broccoli coated with Oyster Sauce. All were done very nicely.
This restaurant is a little hard to find, but because its good it fills up fast for lunch. You will like this place if your GPS works.

Finally got a chance to try this place since im a Thai food junkie and had a day off during the week. Ususally want to go on sundays to places but this one isn’t open that day. Go figure? The food overall was good. I ordered:
Pad See Ew with Chicken
Tom Kha Soup with Chicken
Chicken Satay (For my daughter)
Vegetable Fried Rice
Prig King with Chicken
Panang with Chicken
The Tom Kha Soup was great, Way better than allot of other spots. Great lemon grass taste to it. Pad See Ew reminded me of this spot i ate alot cause my friends family owned the place. It hit the spot. Panang was Awesome the way its supposed to be. Allot of places fail when it comes to this. It was like eating stew. Prig King was spicy the way i like it. Fresh String Beans is the ticket for this dish. You’ll be suprised how allot of places used canned crap or frozen kinds. Chicken satay had great seasoning. My daughter ate half of the plate. and last but not least was the fried rice. Hard to mess that up. It was very good.
So overall meal was AWESOME & this will know be one of my regular Thai spot to eat at.

Very pleasantly surprised! Don’t let the place fool you, this is hands down some of the best Thai food around. The place is a small mom and pop kinda restaurant but the food is amazing!
This was my first time there so we stuck to the basics. We had the pad thai and yellow curry. Both were to die for! Definitely worth a drive out there!
Highly recommended.

Top notch quality, start to finish. Place is very Mom-​n-​Pop; Kathy (owner) was amazing and very helpful. Coconut chicken soup (Tom Ka Kai) was unreal and beef noodle dish was fresh.
**Add to bucket list: Mango Sticky Rice… seriously, it’ll change your life**

Very slow service. Painfully slow… I think its like a husband/​wife operation. Husband cooks and wife serves… I think it took me about 40min for my food to come out.
The lady was very nice, however… Oh and this place is F’ing FREEEZING. Like SERIOUSLY. Bring a couple jackets with you.
Tom Yum Soup: Spicy and delicious
Beef Salad: Boss says its very good, one of his faves yet
Chinese Sausage Salad: It was tasty
Pad See Ew: Waaaaaay too sweet. Almost syrupy. Had potential…
Thai Tea: Strong and so yummy…
Overall, The food in my opinion was okay. From looking at their menu — this was one of the most ‘americanized’ thai restaurants Ive been to yet… I heard I have to try their Egg Foo Young and Im down for it… My experience here was decent. I think its the Tom Yum Soup that saved them for me haha. Just gonna stay away from the Pad See Ew…