Sala Thai

The food is great but the service sucks. We went around 1pm and there were three other tables with two waitresses. We waited over 10 minutes after we finished our meal (and the waitress walked by) before we walked up to her and asked for our check. Improvements are needed for this business to continue to operate.

I love Thai food! I happened to come across a groupon and decided to give this place a try. Not too busy on that street (as far as Parking) or even the restaurant for that matter. The restaurant had a old, weird odor. There were only two families there. I did notice there was a upper level as well. We ordered the calamari as a appetizer, which was probably best thing we ordered. I had ordered the pad Thai with shrimp. The sauce was too sweet for my taste. I did like their different types of hot sauces they provided. My son ordered the chicken and pineapple, which he said was ok. My husband on the other hand, is all about portions. He ordered the Pad pik king that contained beef. His was a nice size portion. I did not even have to ask him if he liked it. He had left a good amount on his plate. (That rarely ever happens) we all agreed the food was just ok. Not good enough to come back though. Service was good.

Their chicken pad thai is classic, just the right amount of spice, nuts, and sauce and quite delicious. Try to get seated on the riser side, closer to the window, it’s brighter and more inviting there. I had thai iced tea seated in the main dining area with my coworkers, and I probably won’t order that again. Their spring rolls are on point as well, lightly fried, crispy, with a great carrot ginger oil infusion that really sets it off. No duck sauce or soy sauce needed at all. There are real Thai women working there and it is conveniently located on the corner, down Del Ray. You can get a quick lunch and they have lots of menu items. The green curry rice looked quite tasty when my coworker ordered it — beware it features large slices of red bell pepper. Also, if you like chicken pad thai, be sure to specify chicken, because if you don’t, you’ll get a completely different dish, featuring stringy rice noodles, large pieces of bok choy and cauliflower, along with fried tofu. Sala Thai definitely trumps in the chicken pad thai category.

One of the worst experiences eating out. I hardly write negative reviews, but this place pissed me off. Awful service. A suggestion to management, hire people that can at least fake a smile or even greet customers without making them want to shoot themselves. Not to mention the auto-​gratuity they have for parties of five or more. It is now the law, that in the state of Maryland at least, that auto-​gratuity be banned from restaurants. We spoke to a manager and she claimed that they have always charge auto-​gratuity and the reason for terrible service was the fact that they were so «busy». Yet the restaurant was not even half full. This auto-​gratuity policy was not even printed on any of the menus nor were there any signs posted out front. Regardless, they should have stopped doing this a long time ago because it is against the law now. I had just gotten off from work as a server and to experience such terrible service AND get charged for gratuity for awful service is outrageous. Will definitely not be returning and advise others to avoid this place, especially if you are eating out on a special occasion. This place will just crap all over your day.

Very disappointed in this delivery. We often order delivery and the Mai Fah portion was ½ of what we usually receive. It’s usually in a large white styrofoam box but they only gave us the 5.5″ x 4.5″ amount.

TERRIBLE SERVICE. We came in a group of six on a Sunday around 7pm. The food here is decent, but the service was abysmal. As soon as we came in, we got seated quickly which was nice. It took almost 10 minutes for the waiter to come and greet us. «Are you ready to order?» Is the FIRST thing he said… No hello or friendly introduction. We ordered Thai tea and it was completely filled with ice. It took two sips to finish the whole thing! ANYWAYS, when we received our appetizers, one of the dishes we ordered (laab gai) came with absolutely no lettuce which it states in the menu that it come with it just like any other Thai places. The Tom Yum, didn’t come with mushrooms, which it also states in the menu that it did. So of course we asked if we can have lettuce with our appetizer and he goes «it’s $ 2 extra». Are you serious… We even had to ask for appetizer plates! As soon as the entrees came, we still had no dinner plates! So we had to eat off our appetizer plates. Ridiculous! Whatever, we just blew it off and continued our meal. No one checked on us. No one refilled our water. When the waiter finally came back around, he goes «are you done?» Uh I mean I guess… Wtf. So we pack up our food and ask for the bill. Bill comes out… whoopy effing doo! 18% gratuity. Of course I spoke to them about the gratuity and how it DOES NOT state that an 18% gratuity will be charged on a group of 6 (WHICH BY LAW SHOULD BE IN THE MENU IDIOTS) and that I’m not paying for such bad service. She refused to take it off, «you come here party 6, we charge party 5 gratuity». Even after I told her their service is complete trash.
I WILL NOT BE BACK, ALONG WITH MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. EVERYONE, YOUVE BEEN WARNED.

In my opinion: avoid the lunch special! Worst I have ever had.

I’ve eaten here a few times and the food has always been really good. I’m a big fan of both the Seafood and Pineapple Fried Rice. The Panang Curry is delicious, however the portions are on the small side, even for dinner.

I was excited to try this place because my friend had gotten good delivery on a couple of occasions. However, I personally won’t ever be returning. We went in and the restaurant was nearly empty, not unusual for a Sunday night. We were promptly seated at a booth and our drink/​appetizer order was taken quickly. At that point however, we noticed that we appeared to be sitting directly under a vent, and there were tiny flies stuck to the wall beneath it. Pretty darn gross.
For some unknown reason, we decided to still give the food a try. The spring rolls were pretty bland and not really worth a mention. My pad thai was okay, could have used some more lime juice. But when my friend told me to try her pad see ew, we agreed the only flavor there was ‘burnt’. The service was very fast and there were constantly refilling drinks, which was just about the only positive quality of the experience.

Excellent food, went in and ordered carry out, was offered free ice water while I waited. Customer service is great, they really enjoy what they do. Carry out order wait was only about 10mins. Food was fresh and I was so happy they had papaya salad. I would definitely recommend this place.

My family and I came for dinner and everything was just average — from the service, ambiance and food.
We ordered our usual — dumplings for an appetizer, fried rice, chicken panang curry. My mom also got the rockfish that was on special. The dumplings and curry were okay, but I’ve definitely had better. The brother and dad complained that the spicy fried rice was too spicy, and we all have a high tolerance for spice. My mom really liked her fish and ate every bite.
As for the restaurant it was too dark. I normally like dim restaurants, but it seemed like they just didn’t have any of the lights on. Candles on the table might’ve helped. And for being in downtown Bethesda, I just thought it would be nicer inside.
There’s a parking garage a block or so away, but its quarters only. But it is free on holidays and on Saturdays and Sundays.
Overall, it was fine, I just probably wouldn’t go out of my way to come here again.

The beef dish I ordered at first had to be sent back because it smelled rotten. The wonton soup was bland and watery. The pad Thai was disgusting, bland, and tasteless.
The service was efficient, yet the food was off putting.
Having spent over a decade in Southeast Asia, the food didn’t compare in terms of authenticity or flavor. We won’t be returning here for Thai food.

DO NOT EAT THE CURRIES IF YOU DON’T EAT FISH. I’m a strict vegetarian and I always ask about this. In the past, I’ve been assured that the curries listed in the «vegetarian» section of the menu did not contain any fish products, but was informed (very rudely, I might add) this past weekend that they all contain fish sauce and shrimp paste. They need to indicate this on their menu.

All the things that I ordered including dessert either smelled like fish or tasted like it. This was for vegetarian menu… The server was pretty rude as well. No wonder there more folks working than customers

OK, why do I give this place 5 stars? Is it really that good?
The food, mainly the pad thai or pad see ew are very good. The appetizers are decent, nothing spectacular. I mainly give the 5 stars for the service. Being a somewhat-​regular, I am always greeted warmly as I enter and I see that they do the same for others as well. Water glasses are refilled promptly as well as the sodas which are all-​you-​can drink.
I have been coming here for over 15 years and they haven’t skipped a beat. Although it is a small chain, you feel like it is an individually owned place.

I only can here because I got the voucher from Living Social. Thank God I didn’t pay full price because my dining experience here was the worst I’ve had in a very long time.
First of all, the waitress gave me a dirty plate for my appetizer and when I asked for a clean one she just took the dirty one and sat behind the bar. After 5 minutes, I had to go ask her for a plate.
Secondly, the food is below average. We ordered the chef’s special and a King Pad with chicken. The chef’s special was super super spicy and not even flavorful and the chicken in the Pad King was dry as hell. The rice that came with these dishes tasted like the rice from cheap Chinese takeouts. There’s a great Thai restaurant called Thai Arroy in Baltimore. The prices are about 50% lower and the taste is heavenly compared to this. They give you soup or salad with an entrée or lunch as well.
So, back to this place. During checkout, I gave the waitress my phone with the voucher on it and a credit card. After she gave me the receipt I circled the tip and was ready to leave. She stopped me saying that I haven’t paid. Apparently she didn’t charge the rest of my bill on my credit card and said that the minimum for using a credit card was $ 10. Ok. Can you do anything right? It’s not like the restaurant was busy. There were only three other tables of customers.
That’s it. Not coming back.

Headed out for a quick drink & saw the «Live Jazz Music» sign in the window, so I popped in.
I wasn’t expecting the Hostesses to tell me there weren’t any tables available due to previous reservations being made. After a few seconds of banter in trying to get her to tell me yes or no that reservations was necessary, I left. I came back to grab a Take Out Menu & she said she had a table for me… ok, round two.
I sat by the window right next to the 2 Person Band & enjoyed the music for a few minutes before TiTi my server arrived. She was full of energy & with fast service. As quick as I ordered my wine, she was back with it & asked if I wanted to order my entrée. Told her no, I wanted to start off the Veggie Spring Rolls. They came pretty fast too & were very fresh & cooked well. Not greasy or flaky & the veggies were crisp.
TiTi was on me like every 5 minutes to see if I was ready for my entrée. & after a few more «not yet’s» I was ready to order & TiTi was no where to be found, classic, LOL!
I had the basic… Veggie Pad Thai w/​o the peanuts & didn’t have a long wait for it to come out. Great preparation of fresh veggies & sauce with a pretty good portion.
Nice little outing with live music & tasty/​quick Thai food for an early Saturday night bite to eat that hit the mark.

This place is fantastic for the food, service, and entertainment. A delightful place for a Friday or Saturday night date.
Jea, our sweet and attentive server, made excellent recommendations when we were debating between two dishes and kept our drinks filled all night. Our food came quickly and was hot & delicious.
For dinner, we took a Unilocal recommendation of Mai Fah. Delicious rice noodles stir fried with shredded black fungi, pork, and egg. Perfectly cooked and flavorful. The profile of this dish is similar to how fried rice would taste, but with rice noodles.
We also ordered the hot and spicy catfish and duck. The duck turned out to be mostly fatty bits and skin which we won’t order again, but the catfish was fantastic. Perfectly fried filets; no breading just the way I like it coated in a lovely, flavorful red sauce. An abundant amount of sliced hot peppers hit the pan and added texture, freshness, and heat to the dish. Beautifully decorated with peppercorn and basil leaves.
We ended the meal by enjoying music from the Jazz band. A very nice touch to our Friday night!

I went here a while back to order to go. I was happy to know there’s a Thai restaurant right down the street from where I work, but was disappointed after I placed my order. This was around late afternoon. I ordered pad thai with beef and a thai coffee to go. It took them literally 20 minutes to get me my pad Thai. Now, if the place was busy I’d understand, but it was not. AT ALL! The pad Thai was super salty and watery, I could not finish half of it. The coffee? It was the WORST Thai coffee I ever had. It was super sour!!! I don’t know if they made it wrong or it was rotten. Either way it was gross!
I have not been back since and will not be back.

This establishment is opened at 11:30am, not 11am as indicated on Unilocal and google. I’ve had better, but I’ve had worst. Based on past Unilocal reviews, I decided to try the tofu pad se ew and vegetarian green curry today.
The noodles and vegetable were cooked perfectly in the pad se ew. I had initially chosen to adding some heat to this dish; however decided against it since the server insisted that the dish would lose it’s flavor with the addition to any spice. I dreadfully regretted this decision after trying this dish – any addition would have saved this miserably bland, flavorless dish.
The vegetarian green curry was «good», but nothing to rave about. I ordered this meal «spicy» but believe it was mildly spicy at most. The green curry was a good effort in trying to mimic the better curries I’ve had; however, it also lacked depth in it’s flavor. Otherwise the variety in vegetable was good (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, string beans).
All in all, the staff was courteous and the establishment has a good atmosphere; however the food is mediocre at best (eatable and acceptable; however far from being great).