Chan Dara Thai Cafe

We were actually looking for the Mexican place in this strip mall. But then my hubby saw Thai and said why not have a take out of Thai instead. The babies just fell asleep, so he waited in the car as I placed the order. Ordered two lunch specials, pad Thai and eggplant. It was packed so well with the utensils and napkins, we hauled it on our way to the Safari Park. Everything was still hot when we got in the park. Everyone was looking at our food asking us where we got it because it was so good. Usually take out doesn’t taste as nice as when it’s served. But this tasted so good even 20 mins later. You can tell this place is good too because it was super busy when I came in for the order. I would definitely come back!

After eating here, I found my new Thai place east of the 78. For taste, price and location! Let me just say, they do not hesitate on the spice level, but each place does it differently.
My husband and I both ordered lunch specials– which they serve daily from 11−3pm– two things up! Pineapple red curry is my fave Thai curry– and it was on the lunch specials– had to order it! Chose spice level 6 with BBQ pork– it def got me sniffling & I usually order a 7 at other places– it was so delicious though! I could eat it for days, even the curry broth on rice: P
My husband order the pad see eww noodles with beef level 7, again they do not kid with the spice and my husband handles it better than I do! But another delicious dish!
Nonetheless, try this place out. It’s literally a hole in the wall and it will not disappoint. Will be back to try other dishes since I’ll be living in Escondido now! Place doesn’t seem crazy busy, but that’s a good thing –more for you to enjoy! And bonus points– their Thai ice tea is yummy and served with crushed ice! Kudos Chan Dara!

Probably our favorite Thai place in Escondido. I haven’t been disappointed by anything we’ve tried here. I also love that you can adjust how spicy you want your dishes.

Best Thai food around. I have been to others in surrounding areas, but they do not live up to this place. I could eat there everyday!

Had Panang curry with chicken lunch special. Portion was good, curry was spiced very well. Can’t speak to the ambiance, took it to go, but I will definitely return!

Absolutely love this place! Every time I eat at Chan Dara, my taste buds dance. I love the ambiance, the service is always great and food is ready quickly. I recommend this restaurant to anyone who enjoys Thai and even those who don’t because it’s that good! Lunch specials are great and affordable. I’m so glad this place is close to home!

Very Good food! I have never had anything bad here! The service is always friendly although at times it seems they are a bit short staffed. I will not hold that against them though as its difficult to find good Thai food in these parts!

Vegetarians welcomed! With a lot of options! Highly recommend if you aren’t even fan of Thai food, but like Chinese food. I enjoy Thai food for it’s flavor and spice. Here they offer both and for vegetarians. The staff was super friendly and there is ample parking.

Excellent! This is a comfy, clean and hidden jewel in Escondido. My husband and I ordered a Thai iced tea, fried spring rolls, Panang Curry with chicken and Mussaman Curry with chicken… And we honestly cannot decide which was the best. Everything, including the service, was hands down fantastic.

Chan Dara is CONSISTENTLY delicious. I always order the panang curry with chicken, spicy 5. Serious heaven. I always spoon up every bit of curry sauce, like a dreamy soup. I hardly use the rice, even though it’s yummy, because I love the sauce by itself. So good.
My husband always orders the garlic pepper with beef, spicy 5. He loves every bite…
We come here weekly. The staff is always kind and the food is ready quickly! So grateful to live near this restaurant

The food is downright tasty albeit somewhat greasy on some of their menu items — I steer clear of the fried things now.
Eating in or taking it to go, you’re always going to get service that goes above and beyond. I get more take outs here but have eaten in once before. While you wait for a takeout order, someone comes from the kitchen with glasses of water for each person in your party without hesitation (love the sweet gesture).
I get the pad Thai in heat level 3 or 4 (with additional dry spices on the side in case I want to add more heat) or the pad see ew. It’s always better to order under-​spiced with regards to heat level at a Thai place than over-​spiced so you don’t kill your tastebuds on the spices. Good going in and sometimes a pain going out. ;P

Very solid Thai spot, easily the best in Escondido. Love the spicy noodles and the Tom Kha, but I dont think you can really go wrong. Only gripe would be there are no smaller portions of anything for my 5 year old so I either have to share or take home an extra meal. Appetizers are almost the same cost as entrée so that doesn’t help

We have been thrilled with the food and service every time we’ve dined here. Took a survey of the ratings, here is what we have found: * 2, ** 2, *** 9, **** 20 and ***** 123. Even some 3 star reviews had a lot of positive feed back, maybe there was a glitch or two, but most would come back. I’m sure that the negative reviews serve their purpose because the owners read them too and are likely to make improvements. We are the lucky recipients of any improvements the owners may have made. After several visits we are looking forward to our next dining experience. What we didn’t spot in the array of photos was the desserts we enjoyed. The fried bananas and mango with sticky rice are excellent. Do yourself a favor and try them —— yum.
We will try to add them to the photo gallery.

Used to come here often when it was a Phở restaurant but it has been apparently been sold and converted into a Thai restaurant. Been to this place quite a bit with my family and I have to say that this is really good Thai food. I always opt for their Pad Thai because the tamarind sauce is perfect, not too saucy and not too sweet. The mark of a good Pad Thai is also the consistency of the rice noodle. The texture has to be firm and elastic at the same time. Moreover, many places are good with this one day, but not another. This restaurant has been consistent with their sauce and noodle texture since the first time I came.
They also let you customize the heat level of your dish. I always get the 8 or 9 level because I love my food super spicy. I highly recommend this place as it won’t disappoint. The service is always good here.

I have found our new Thai haven. Tucked away in a plaza on felicita and esco blvd. The bbq pork pad thai is to die for, full of savory flavors my tongue had yet to taste at other thai locations. This place makes every other thai place in the tri city area seam sub par. No joke. Their roast duck option is only a $ 1 more and some change. We also ordered the roast duck fried rice which was cooked to perfection. The dinner was flawless. Definitely a 5 star restaurant. They found a loyal customer and I found my new favorite thai place. Win, win in my book.

Easily as good as it gets in Escondido anyway. Service was delightful and the food was outstanding. I ordered the Panang Curry with pork and my dining partner ordered Spicy Noodles with shrimp. For an appetizer we had an order of dumplings with garlic on top dipped into a yummy semi-​sweet soy sauce… Terrific food that filled up this big boy!
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Stacky’s Best of Escondido™ Thai Food

Thai food… it was amazing when i first discovered it but after working in a kitchen that served only thai food i became really tired of it. However i am a great thai food critique. Ive seen this place before it even opened but like i said thai food isnt at the top of the list for me, so we finally came in.
I have to add we came in around 3pm for take out (we have wierd eating hours) (well any hour is a eating hour really…)
The restaurant was completely empty, but i was attended to in a timely fashion. The lady was super serious but that was understandable, she didnt speak much English. The menus were kind of confusing.
As I waited for my food I had some time to look around. I went to the bathroom which was a surprise! First thing you see is that the urinal is closed off with a black hefty bag (would look better fixed don’t you think? I mean im sure they make enough that they can fix it) The bathroom was dirty and badly lit. There was no soap! There was only hand sanitizer! What in the world?! It got me thinking that the cooks dont wash their hands after using the bathroom.
When I walk out of the bathroom there was an employee just laying down on the hallway. Ok wierd but I dont judge bruh…
When I sat back down I was asked by the nicest little girl if I would like some water while I waited. Very nice of her but I dont thing she is even close to being old enough to legally work.
Our food came out pretty quickly. Im gkad I checked for forks and napkins. They didnt put any.
The portions are very big on the Pad Thai, I don’t think this is a good thing. Too much of something, even if good, will make you tired and sick of it. Have you noticed the small portions at expensive fancy restaurants? Same reason.
The piece of romaine lettuce they put as a garnish was actually black on the edges. It was old and shouldn’t have been on the plate.
I wanted to like this place since its close to home, but I will make the trip somewhere else.

I came here for lunch with my wife and kids after seeing the great reviews.
The food was all very good! I ordered the Panang Chicken Curry and asked them to do spicy level 10. I like VERY spicy food. I have an iron stomach and taste buds and after reading a few reviews that said the actual spice level was lower than the perceived spice level, I figured asking for a 10 would get a me a 7.
I got an 11.
Holy crap. Maybe I deserved that. Still, I liked it a lot. Service was friendly. Restaurant was clean. I think they close in the afternoon so make sure you make it there before they seal you in ;)

One of the better Thai places in North County.
If you’re looking for typical «Ketchup based sauces» found at other North County Thai restaurants than this probably isn’t your place. Flavors are a little more subtle here. Ingredients are fresher too. I had Pad Thai which had an enjoyably light flavor. I sampled a few other of their offerings and they were all great. I’d come back here for sure.
— Fresher flavors, lighter sauces.
— Plenty of lunch specials.
— Soda can was past the expiration date. Who knew soda cold expire?

Pretty impressed! Obviously I will be back!
I drove past and saw the Grand opening signs and said to myself I will try it. A new Thai place in Escondido, why not. And why not indeed.
I only had the pad Thai lunch, that was fantastic, plenty portion size and very good pad Thai!
I can’t wait to see what other great entrees they have but I’m going to find out, watch my check inns lol :)
Happy eating!!!