Papaya Bay

The food is delicious! I have been going there since they were located at another location. very pleased with the food and price. Usually the customer service is good but the last time I went the waitress didn’t seem very attentive and actually brought are plates to another table ! Details are very important if they some of these new worker in line they’ll be back on track to 5 star service!

Best Thai food in the IE hands down! Come here often, food never disappoints. Pad Thai, green, yellow, red curry all deciduous! Don’t get me started on the sticky rice mango, best part it’s a hidden gem so it’s never packed!

We get takeout from here quite often and really love the curry. The portions are pretty big too! The service isn’t all that great, but it’s not bad enough to stop me from going. The food is always consistent and delicious and that’s good enough for me. I’d recommend this place for sure.

Got food poisoning from this place. Service was descent. They were friendly and food came out to our table promptly.

Reasons why I could not give all five stars:
–I sat in a booth and the first thing I saw was a dead mosquito on the seat.
–I asked for napkins and the top napkin was dirty, it had food on it. Ewww.
I ordered a Thai iced tea. I never got it. When I asked for the check, I politely asked for the tea in a to-​go cup. My server then remembered and apologized.
–I had water given to me in a wine glass and finished it, but, they never came back around to refill it. I was pretty thirsty.
Despite the drawbacks, overall, I must say, I really liked the place. I was hesitant to visit, but, I was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is pretty clean (minus the napkin and dead mosquito). I loved the décor. The service was friendly and prompt. The food was VERY good. One of my sons ordered chicken chow mein (no idea why he chose that). I tried it, and, to be honest, it was the best chow mein I have ever had. I had Pad Kee Mow, that was really good too. The tea was on point (once I got it). Our server apologized and actually brought us out two cups to-​go to make up for the delay. No charge for the second cup. Overall, I really enjoyed myself here. I will most definitely be coming back. I encourage my Unilocal friends to give it a try too.

Horrible service. Service doesn’t exist here!
Food was good.
Service was terrible!

Great place for take out. I have dined for lunch and thought the lunch specials could use some work, but the service was good. However, anytime I take out, I don’t have any complaints. The food is yummy and large portioned. I have all my co-​workers on the Papaya Bay train…
Dine or Dash? Dine by take out.

Others may not agree, but I have to say this place was better than Mu right down the street, which has been around longer and more popular. The wait was nonexistent, so we went after we were told there would be an 1.5−2 hour wait at Benjarong. Glad to say that we didn’t wait around. We got the shrimp appetizer, which was soooo good, especially with the sweet sauce, and surprisingly, BOTH the noodles and curries were good. Fried rice with chicken was finished to the last rice. We were all satisfied, we even got dessert to see if that would make our list, and sure enough, the fried bananas with ice cream is what I’m getting again. Servers were friendly too and the ambience is pretty nice for Redlands.

Came in here when Eureka burger was packed. So glad we did. Ordered three dishes, app and drinks for 60 bucks. Great deal! And the food was amazing. This will now be a number one choice.

I was passing through for business and just happened upon this place. It smelled amazing from the moment I got out of my car. And the food did not disappoint. I had the Napa burger and ate every bite. My friend got the Fresno Fig burger and was also raving about it. The fries were hot, the food was delivered fast, and the sever was friendly. I would definitely stop here again if given the chance.

I looooove the pad see ew! Orange chicken was good but portion was a bit small. Usually the fried rice is awesome, the rice was a bit over cooked this time but still good! Heart shaped sticky rice it a nice touch!

Good service and savory food! Even though my pad ti eu smelled like my dog’s breath, it was scrumptious and lunch specials are only $ 6.95 with servings more than expected :) Definitely coming back!

Went to this restaurant on a lark today. It looked nice from the street, so we thought, Let’s try it!
The first thing we saw that was a bit off was a bleach-​blonde Thai waitress. What was behind that decision, we wondered?
The restaurant looked nice and the atmosphere was pleasant. Too bad the food was so bad.
Our favorite Thai item is tom kha soup, so we ordered a hot pot. Prudently, we did not order any entrees before we tried the soup. At first, we were not sure they had brought us the right item. Instead of the rich, amber soup we are accustomed to, it was a sickly white. Digging in revealed that it was watery, had no spiciness and was devoid of flavor. The waitress offered that they had run out of the coloring that imparts the normal color, but it seemed to lack several of the ingredients that normally give this soup its unique flavor. It was also lacking in how much of the other ingredients it did have (tofu blocks and mushrooms were relatively sparse.)
To add insult to injury, the pot of soup cost a couple bucks more than the excellent hot pots we have experienced at places like Thai Kitchen in Grand Terrace.
When we told the bleach-​blonde that the food was lousy, she laughed. Kind of a strange reaction, but whatever.
When we left one of the other waitresses hollered something at us, perhaps lambasting us for only leaving a $ 2 tip, but we didn’t bother investigating. We thought the tip was appropriate for what we had ordered. My wife didn’t even want to leave one but since they served us well and kept our beverages full, that at least was worth something.
Bottom line: $ 18 for lousy soup and a tin of white rice that wasn’t even full.
If they can’t make tom kha soup properly, can they do anything else in a satisfactory manner?

My friend Maria and I went for lunch. wow. We had great service, fast and the food was yummy. I had a Chicken Curry, I asked for spicy, and it was just the way I like it.
For under $ 10. Very good will go back!!!

We ate here a few years ago at the old location and really enjoyed the food. We used a
certificate back then and didn’t have a problem. This time we had a $ 100 for $ 50 certificate to use for the whole family. 5 adults and 3 kids. We ordered apps and drinks and when we started on entrees, we double checked with the waiter that the certificate would be valid. He said they no longer accepted them and that there was a sign posted out front. There wasn’t. He called the owner who refused to honor it. He changed his story to we USED to have a sign that said it. I asked since there’s no sign and the certificate has no expiration date, why can’t you honor it? He said because they cut ties a year ago but
kept issuing them. I told him I bought it 2 years ago, the date is on the paper. He tried calling the manager who still refused to honor it. All they could offer was 15%. The whole point is to bring bodies in the door and wow them with the food and customer service. What we experienced was terrible customer service and one thai tea on the house since we got up and left at that point.
Also, it was over 100° and the waiter said the air conditioner only worked on half the restaurant.
I’m sure they had already started the apps so they wasted that money. The waiter lost out on a decent sized tip. They lost future money on repeat visits from us. And word of mouth will include this story. There are plenty of great thai places in the IE. I’ll go to one that better understands how to keep customers happy.

Very nice clean place, I ordered Pad Kee Mao w/​chicken and it was delicious! Worth checking out I came during the week and there wasn’t many people there during lunch so it was nice. Good Thai iced coffee too

Good taste and cool ambiance. Price for portion value isn’t satisfactory though. Cute for dates. If you’re wanting to get full, make sure you order at least two dishes for yourself. Especially if you like curry.
Pad see ew tofu 3.5÷5
Panang curry ⁴⁄₅
Pad thai ⁴⁄₅
Sticky rice with mango ³⁄₅

We were in the area looking for some place to grab lunch. I knew Eureka Burger was in Redlands, so I set the navigation for there.
We pulled into the tiny parking lot, found a spot, and headed toward Eureka. However, at the last minute we turned right and chose Papaya instead.
I was a bit worried about the place since it was so empty. We were the only people there on a Sunday afternoon. Maybe the food’s not so good I thought.
But boy I was wrong. It’s pretty dang good and fairly authentic.
The pad thai comes presented as it does in Thailand, you mix in the ingredients on your own. It wasn’t too sweet, and it packed some flavor.
I was a bit disappointed about how little meat was in the pad prik king, but the disappointment didn’t last long. It’s the most delicious pad prik king I’ve had. So many flavors coming together perfectly, I had to try and not lick the plate.
Thai tea was good, a lot like the Thai tea in Thailand. Not too sweet, which unfortunately most places do over here.
Service was ok, I mean we were the only ones there.
If we lived remotely close to the area we’d come often.

I am transplanting my original review which I posted on the previous location of this restaurants Unilocal page, in December 2014, with an update:
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
The owner of Papaya Bay is the same owner of Elephant Thai on Mission Inn Blvd in Riverside. The menus are identical. Two and a half weeks ago I had Pad Thai lunch special at Elephant Thai, a good portion of noodles was served, a few days later I ate at Papaya Bay in Redlands for lunch. I was looking forward to another good lunch special and a plate full of great thai noodles.
At Papaya Bay I ordered Pad Kee Mow with Tofu, spicy thick rice noodles with thai basil, for lunch special of $ 6.95, served with soup, salad and white rice. The soup was a tasty variation on Tom Yum and I woukd have liked more. The rest of the lunch comes served on one plate which looks nice as long as the entrée serving is the main item on the plate, not the side salad and small rice.
That was my issue with what came next, specifically the amount of noodles in this Pad Kee Mow noodle dish. It looked good, tasted good and right on with bell peppers, onion, thai basil and spicy peppers, tofu, the chef also added some other veggies that are not usually in the dish… but then I noticed underneath, Where The Heck Are The Noodles??? I swear there were like 4 — 5 mouthfulls of noodles and that was it! The chef must have used only one strip of noodles from the package, maybe half a strip!
I could not believe it, especially after the lunch at the sister restaurant in Riverside.
I used to work in a Thai restaurant and i would purchase these noodles. They are fresh and soft in a 2 pound sized bag, the noodles are pre-​cut and in 7 or 8 strips, the retail price used to be around $ 3.
The owner needs to get on his cooking staff here and get them cinsistent with the other restaurant and make sure they serve a proper portion of ingredients and not try to skimp. A noodle dish should have a majority of noodles in it. Not this small amount.
The new interior is nice, not as good as the previous, different layout. Food tasted good.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
Update:
I came back again for lunch about 3 weeks ago and again ordered Pad Kee Mow for lunch. I was with my friend James Christopher, who ordered Pad Thai with tofu.
This time I pointedly asked the older Thai lady waitress to make sure there were a good quantity of noodles in the dish. The dish came with what I would say based on my vast experience was the appropriate amount of noodles this time.
The dish was tasty and so was the soup. My friends Pad Thai lunch special was good portion size with plenty of noodles. He liked it and ate it all.
When the bill came I noticed that I was charged for $ 1.00 for extra noodles. I flagged down the white male waiter and he told me honestly that they only put in ONE STRIP OF NOODLES for this dish at lunch and if I want more I have to pay. This confirms what I wrote above. Obviously the owner does not read reviews or does not get it.
Attention Owner: Food consistency, good portion size and quality control will INCREASE your business and give you MORE MONEY. There are to many Thai Restaurants around for you to be so lax. I suggest you get in here and work serving your customers and pay attention to whats going on in the Kitchen…
…and don’t serve people a half strip or one strip of soft wide rice noodles and think that you are giving them a good deal or enough food to eat!
Kup Koon Kup!

I’m pretty sure they keep changing locations to trick locals and visitors. Third place (that I know of) in as many years. I don’t know if it’s the curse of that location, or they are just getting worse. I will say that several years ago I tried their food when they were at their first location across from trader joes. Then it was just overpriced average food. It was hot at least and edible. My trip this time ended in ²⁄₃ dishes being disgustingly inedible and one being palatable but average. The one thing we could eat was deep fried and there are only a few ways to mess that up.
To begin with, though, if you’re going to pretend to be upscale and charge upscale prices, clean your friggin linens. Their tables are covered with far too long of cloth linen under glass. I know for a fact they must rarely wash them because my side had a giant stain and some food still in the middle. We sat far off in the corner to avoid the sunlight pouring in so I’m hoping this area isn’t frequently used. I absolutely hate linens that drag on your legs when you are seated, worse when they are filthy.
Second, we ordered veggie tempura as a starter. When it came it was hot but had baby corn, cucumber, and eggplant along with more traditional carrots and onions. Cucumber. Who the hell deep fries cucumber? It ends up this was the only thing we would eat all of.
Next, I refused to order anything else because my hand brushed against the dirty table cloth and I was so mortified I lost my appetite. My fiancé ordered crying tiger beef and pahd see ewe with beef. When crying tiger arrived I almost cried from laughter. It was seven slices of overcooked beef, a dressed salad, and side of rice. The beef was overcooked yet mealy. This means it was frozen and smelled old. Their sauce was a mixture of siracha and sweet and sour. The salad dressing was canola oil with spices in it. The rice was edible but was cold and hard around the edges — meaning it had been sitting out quite some time.
The final dagger in my heart was the pahd see ewe. The beef was warm on the outside and cold inside. Reheated pieces of beef??? The noodles were not cut to even lengths. One was 13 inches long and another a couple of inches. The noodles were overcooked and chewy. They smelled foul. The rest of the dish was a mixture of hot and cold, literally. The broccoli was hot and the rest was cold. When I flagged the server down to send it back he asked if we wanted anything to replace it and I politely declined. He asked again and another time before the bill came. They are obviously coached in trying to get people who return food to sub something else.
The wait staff was friendly but four people were just sitting around in the dinning area to longingly thank us for eating there and invite us back. No. No that won’t happen. Avoid this entire eating area. Drive a little further from the freeway and get your money’s worth. $ 16.01 for barely edible food we only really ate $ 7 of. Plus tip.
Check the photos.