Bahn Thai

Very Delicious food, the flavors are very authentic. The price is a little high for being served on paper plates but it’s forgivable when the food is this good!

I love this place so so much. I had beef pad thai, chicken satay and thai tea for my lunch, and they were delicious. My ‘medium’ pad thai knocked me down but i still love it. Nina, the girl who took my order was very friendly and cute. Definitely come here if I plan a trip to San Diego again.

This place is always so delicious. We’ve been coming here for over 2 years and it’s always very tasty food. We always have to get their;
#13. Drunken Noodle (Spicy Noodle)
Flat rice noodles stir-​fried with basil leaves, bamboo shoots, tomatoes, onions and house spices.
#23. Garlic
Your choice of meat stir-​fried with house garlic sauce, broccoli, cabbage and green onions.
#25. Bai Grapow
(Best with ground chicken)
Your choice of meat stir-​fried with basil leaves, seasoned with garlic and toasted chili peppers.
#14. Red Curry (Medium Spicy)
Traditional Red curry stewed with
bamboo shoots, sweet peppers, co– conut milk and Thai basil and your choice of meat.
You have to try this place if you love thai food

I was pretty impressed by this place. They keep it simple and prices are fair.
The drunken noodle and pad thai were amazing.
Of course we got them vegan.
Thumbs up, the pad thai was the best I’ve had in a while and the drunken noodle was very savory.

Bai Grapow was Amazing choice and went great with Brown Rice and it is perfectly healthy food and Tasty.
Spring rolls was hot and yummy. Fried rice is yummy too, Quantity is too large. Thai Ice tea was great too.
Finished with Jasmine Black Rice pudding was out of the world.

Let me start this off by saying that finding a decent Thai restaurant in San Diego is like finding money on the ground– hard to find and always a delight.
This place is pretty damn good for the following reasons:
1) The food is GOOD. I ordered their chicken pad thai with extra peanuts and lime last night. The noodles had the perfect bite; my «medium» had just enough heat without making my tongue burn; the peanuts added the perfect crunch; the big chunks of sweated, green onions provided just enough bitter/​spice without the overwhelming (yet what I bet would still be delicious) flavors of a raw onion. Deeelicious. I’ve also had bites of their yellow curry and it was rich and deep in flavor; big chunks of potatoes and carrots played nicely with their generous servings of chicken. They place the entrée on the same paper plate as your rice, so no fuss with multiple containers.
2) It’s a hole in the wall! Seating is outside, prices are super cheap, staff is extremely friendly.
I don’t know how much more genuine a restaurant could get. It felt like I was at a friend’s family party being asked to take home leftovers (b/​c of the paper plates). A super casual place to eat and catch up with a friend or two over great-​tasting Thai food. What more could you ask for on a weekday (my personal suggestion on the best time to go)? =)

Unilocalers, thank you again. We Unilocaled this one and went with another couple for our food adventure.
WOW! We loved it, it is one of those places that as long as it’s not raining your going to always see a line out of there little building. Their restaurant is a cute, clean whole in the wall shop and it is WONDERFUL! We loved everything we got and made sure to get take out menus to order out sometime. Yes, it’s small with very little seating, But so get over it. It’s worth it! Great prices, Awesome Food! Cool and helpful staff.

I cannot even believe this place has a 4.5 star rating with 1000 reviews. It is shocking to me. I mean, I don’t even know where to begin with how many times they’ve disappointed me time and time again. I go back each time hoping to get a better experience but to no avail. Banh Thai is consistently inconsistent in their quality of food.
We are blessed to live in southern California with a plethora of great cheap ethnic food options. Thai food is frequently inexpensive and fiercely competitive in urban areas such as San Diego, LA, etc, meaning that they ought to step up their game. I’ve seen Side Street, Amarin, even Bangkok Spices do that. Enough with the theoretical rant, let’s break this shit down.
Why I’m mad: food spicy as fuck despite insistency of low level spice. Last 3 times I’ve ordered curry take out with a Level 3 spice, I couldn’t even stomach 3 bitefuls with a bowl full of rice. I guarantee you they fucked up (or wanted to fuck with take-​out folks) and increased that spice level to a 8 – 10. Came out the other end worse (if you know what I’m saying) the next morning, mind you. Yes, I could have returned it, but Banh Thai is always packed to the brim, and by the time you’re home with your takeout, you mostly just want to throw it across the dining room when it’s that horrible. This has included yellow, red, and massaman curry.
Pad Thai– the «holy grail» of Thai food… has anyone else seen brown Pad Thai other than at Banh Thai? Brown! Anyone else confused by this? The noodles are stiff. The chicken is dry. It’s inedible. My dog spit it out.
Pricing– should be changed from $ to $$. You’re not paying that much cheaper for this craphole of food. There is maybeee a $ 1-​$ 2 difference compared to the rest of the Thai food in the area. You’re paying $ 1-​$ 2 per plate less to eat brown Pad Thai, spicy as hell curry, and sit outside in the freaking cold (if you decide to «dine-​in»).
My suggestion? Please, for the love of god, try Amarin; if you want to stay NP/​Univ Heights local– Plumeria! Bangkok Spices! Side Street. Or, if you’re reading this Banh Thai, step up your goddamn game.

This review is long overdue as I have gone to Bahn Thai several times now.
I usually get the Panang curry (extra spicy), most Thai places I’ve eaten their spicy levels are just not spicy enough for me but Bahn Thai is and the portion is super filing. I always have left overs. This time around however I got the yellow curry and it was alright, the curry was too thick and it wasn’t spicy as I hoped it to be. I also ordered Crab Rangoon to go which is just your basic cream cheese wontons. One bite and you are just overwhelmed by the cream cheese. Although this time was not so great I am usually satisfied when I eat here, and it is my go to place for Thai food.

Ambiance (³⁄₅): It’s an extremely small restaurant, pretty much a kitchen, counter where you order, and maybe 3 tables that can seat 2 people. The rest of the tables are outside. They are limited so do keep an eye out when people are finishing their meal. I will say I find it pretty nifty that they serve everything on paper plates. Very no thrills to say the least.
Service (⁵⁄₅): I am almost certain that this place is family owned, you definitely get the very homey vibe when your there. They will personally serve you your food wherever you end up sitting, rather than make you walk to the counter and pick up your food. Plus they are super nice and check in on you from time to time if you need anything.
Food (⁵⁄₅): I personally tell my friends that thai food is literally the same at every restaurant. Boy, I was wrong. This place is the bees knees. Not only do they pile your paper plate with as much as they can, but this place is relatively quick — the longest I waited was maybe 10 minutes with this place extremely packed. The curries are rich in flavors, the noodles make you yearn for more to slurp down, even the fried rice has its unique flair. There were many times after eating, I would order to go so I could have another meal for the next day.
Whenever friends visit me in SD, I always take an effort to take them here. Definitely worth trying. You won’t regret it.

Definitely the best Thai food restaurant in all of SoCal. It’s one of those hole-​in-​the-​wall type of location. At times finding parking can be even harder than finding a table. It can get pretty busy on the weekends, so plan on ordering ahead of time to avoid the wait. Every time I recommend this place to one of my friends, they have instantly fall in love with this place after their first bites. Their food portions are much larger than other places at a very affordable price.
Recommend:
Pad Thai with beef
Pineapple fried rice with chicken
Panang curry with tofu
And of course, Thai tea

Their food here is good, but I can’t call it authentic. They serve the same thing as every other Thai restaurant. If you’ve been to Thailand or to Thai Town in LA, you know there is much more to Thai food than drunken noodles and pad thai. I’ve had their basil fried rice and tom yum soup. Their shrimp pad thai is pretty good though.

Hands down my most favorite spot to eat in University Heights, and not just because it’s conveniently located next door to me.
I always call ahead to place a pick-​up order, because I mean, it’s Bahn Thai and it’s always poppin’. Typical wait time is 15 – 20 mins, but when I get there in 10, my order is usually ready.
Must try’s: Crab Rangoon (pretty cream cheesy), Yellow Curry, Panang Curry, and of course, Pad See Ew w/​extra Chinese Broccoli. Choosing my protein is a little difficult because sometimes I’m feeling a little beefy, sometimes a little chicken-​ish or shirmpy, but mostly their tofu won my heart.
Noteworthy mentions: Satay Chicken, Drunken Noodles.
The staff is always friendly and greets me with a smile :) Don’t stop what you’re doing Bahn!

to go dinner:
I’ve been recommended the crab fried rice, so I thought to give it a try. It was a-​mazing!!! With some spicy too that lifts the entire dish for me to 5-​star. The scent of the crab, dryness and wokness in the rice was just spectacular.
Ordered also the papaya salad, the sauce is a bit over done. Probably won’t be ordering this again in the future.

Don’t let the small interior fool you! This is a no fuss, solid thai food spot with an extensive selection of the usual dishes you would order at any thai establishment. Probably one of my favorite restaurants to go to for some authentic thai food. Food is served on paper plates and plastic utensils for easy cleanup but I kind of like it that way because it allows them to focus more on the quality of the food than the presentation. Each dish is bursting with flavor and the price is very reasonable for the amount that you get.
Seating can be a bit of an issue especially on busy nights as there are only a few tables inside and a handful of tables in the outside patio. If you are pulling up with a party of 2 – 4, perfect; but any more than that you’re probably better off grabbing your food togo.
Be sure to check out the monthly specials they’ve got going on written on the chalkboard!

This is probably one of the best Thai joints in SD. It’s definitely my go to spot. It’s cheap and they’re not stingy on the portions either.
My go to’s:
Drunk noodles with beef — huge plate of savory spicy noodles with tender beef. Great dish if you like noodles.
Yellow chicken curry — nice and thick with a deep rich curry flavor. It’s not all watered down like other places.
Shrimp pad Thai — delicious and one of my favs.
Egg rolls — always fresh and always crispy.
Tom Yom Soup with shrimp — Lemongrassy sour flavor. It’s a great accent dish to offset the richness of the other dishes. Try it!
*Call it in and pickup, the wait is always really long.
*Parking sucks!

First Impressions:
Finding parking for Bahn Thai was so difficult when I went on a random Thursday night. We ended up parking in the neighborhood nearby after searching for a while.
When I first approached the restaurant, I was surprised to see that it wasn’t a sit-​down restaurant where you’re seated, your order is taken by a waiter/​waitress, and then your food is brought to you. The space is rather small, and you order at the register.
Bahn Thai, while not unaffordably expensive but overall a little pricier than expected, serves their food on paper plates as well
Food:
AMAZING! We ordered the duck curry and the pad see ew with chicken for 2 people and were ridiculously full afterwards. Thai food is my favorite, so I can get pretty picky about it
The pad see ew had fresh, neatly cut, and overall good quality vegetables that I throughly enjoyed. It was very tasty, and the duck curry was savory as well. It had just the right amount of kick to it that made it a special dish.
Duck is one of my favorites, so I was very excited about the curry. They also had an avocado curry on the menu that is my next dish to try!

My mom does not like to try new things. I had to essentially blindfold her and drag her to Bahn Thai in order to try one of my favorite cuisines. Our food promptly arrived, and as we sat down, my mother’s eyes grew wide and fear flashed across her face. «I don’t think I can eat this,» she said. But I had the car keys, so she was trapped. 5 minutes later, she asked me to switch plates in order to eat the rest of my green curry. Their dishes are bomb and the conglomeration of sweet and savory in the green curry keeps bringing me back. And they have the chalky after-​dinner peppermints I like! When my mom returned for a visit, she refused to eat out anywhere else.
The restaurant is tiny and gets full easily, but turnaround is pretty quick, and I’ve luckily always found space to eat. The secret environmentalist/​elitist in me wishes they didn’t use paper plates or Styrofoam for take-​out, but that doesn’t stop me from coming back.

Bahn Thai is a great choice for quick Thai food that actually taste great. The location is very small and seating can be an issue so be prepared to possibly take your food to go.
The pad thai is a bit sweeter than I am used to but has a great tamarind flavor. The masaman curry is amazing and you should definitely try it. All the food comes on disposable plates etc. so don’t expect anything high class.
I will make this a regular spot in my rotation of Thai restaurants.