Banh Thai Restaurant

I’ve been here a lot with my family, especially since my dad likes to buy groupons for this place. I have to say, sadly, that the quality of the food is decreasing.
My party of four ordered curry crab fried rice, green curry, a shrimp appetizer, roti appetizer, seafood combo wrap, thai ice tea, and larb tofu. The fried rice and seafood wrap were lacking in flavor, shrimp appetizer was smaller than before, the roti wasn’t as well fried, larb tofu was plain, and our thai iced tea never came.
Service was still alright, except for the missing drink, but we probably won’t be back after we use up the groupons for banh thai.

One of my go to spot for some Thai food.
A nice little place with good food. I recently came here for dinner with my mom and sister. I had a groupon deal which was nice, since I’m a couponer and I love to save money! But, today the food was alright, wasn’t as great as usual.
Papaya Salad — I always get it without green beans, don’t ask why! This time, the papaya salad came out a little salty and sour than usual. They used more dressing than usual, but it was still good.
Crispy Fish With Garlic Sauce — One of my fav! So, everytime I’d order this, I’d get the garlic sauce on the side. Why? Because, I like to put the sauce on as I eat so I can get the crunch from the fish! The outside is super crunchy, the fish is super moist and the sauce top it off. It’s just so good!
Banh Thai Fried Rice — I personally don’t like peas, so I always ask for it without peas! Anyone else with me with the peas? Haha! Well, this is known as pineapple fried rice. Rice, eggs, pork, chicken, shrimps, golden raisins, pineapple chunks, cashews, etc. all in one dish. It’s cooked perfectly and you get a hint of sweetness from the pineapple chunks and golden raisins. It’s super yummy
Pad Thai — Chicken Pad Thai — The noodles weren’t over cooked or under cooked, it was cooked perfectly. Good amount of chicken to noodles, seasoned pretty well.
The staff and service is really good, but the reason why I gave it a 4 star is because, after I showed the server the groupon voucher, he deducted and came back with the remaining balance that I’d have to pay, before he gave it to me, he said «can you pay by cash?» In my head, «I was like really? Why would I have to pay with cash.» So I told him, «I didn’t have cash and I was going to pay with my card», he said, «okay». It’s just uncomfortable to ask me to pay cash after I gave him a groupon voucher.

Note to self: don’t eat here. Was neglected to have my order taken. Staff walked by but i was told the lady in the front will take my order, even though she was on the phone looking like she’s taking an order. Food was ok, nothing too memorable. Ordered mus-​sa-​man curry and basil fried rice, both medium spicy level. The fried rice was spicy but the curry wasn’t. I don’t care for the vibe and service of this place. I’ve come here a few years back and recalled the experience wasn’t great. Gave it another shot tonight and no go. Two strikes are enough to be out for me here. Payce!

Appears squeezed into a shopping plaza in an almost arbitrary way, but step inside, it’s quite cozy and the dishes have saucy sumptuousness to them. The hot ones are qualifiable in hotness, too, they’re mouthwatering whether they be tom yum soups or bangkok curry. In fact, let me tell you a little something about BANGKOK CHICKEN. There’s some bang-​bang tawdriness in there, with lots of peppers and poultry that’s honey roasted — that’s the truth, says the tooth. But it’s not even halfway done correct until you pour all that sauce on right and just smother the mouth.
So yes, it’s quite an anonymous, who-​cares parking lot where you think there’s nothing much around. But expect the unexpected. It’s quite good. For Fremont, it’s a standout. As I always say to my family, «Great Balls of Fire — WE GOT TO GO!!»
#catchingfire

I went to Banh Thai today in Fremont, CA first told the waiter I will be using my Groupon value $ 30.00 before I ordered. He told me after my dinner that my Groupon had expired and ask for payment, so I pointed to my coupon, that states this date clearly show NOT expired. I will not go back there ever. Not good customer service. They should not post to Groupon if Banh Thai does not like to receive them.

The pictures alone made me drool because I know how good the food is here! They have a bunch of meat dishes with mango sauce that’s delicious! The stir fry chicken with vegetables reminded me of the Nam King in San Francisco! The smell alone of the seasoned smoke was causing hunger anxiety! I love this place! Grab a group on certified and go here! Another time I had the traditional pad Thai which was very good but the mango shrimp and children,(over had both), never evades my order!. Service is good too folks!

The food is alright. Below is the lowdown on our dinner.
Good:
* Roti with curry sauce — nice and fluffy.
* Tom Yum soup — very good broth, generous amount of fish. Could use more vegetables.
* Pad Kee Mao — good although a little spicy
Not so good:
* Crispy fish — the fish was good but the garlic sauce as too sweet
* NZ lamb — a little too fatty and chewy
* Sticky rice with mango — a little too much salt and the mango was not fresh
Service was mixed. The waitress was nice. However, the owner was a different story. He had an all-​that attitude. When the waitress told him we were ready to order, he said «don’t worry about that» to her and then took her away to set up a table for a bigger party (the people did not show up until 10 minutes later). Then when we said we wanted to order dessert, he told us to wait and proceeded to do some paper work behind the counter for a good 10 minutes before coming to take our order! I don’t know why the waitress was not allowed to take our orders directly. We would have had a nicer experience if that were the case. Needless to say we will not be coming back any time soon. There are many other places where our business is appreciated.

Indian vegetarian review
Food: ⁵⁄₅. Great food
Ambiance: 3
Service: 2. You have to keep reminding them for your order. Unusually long wait time.
Noise: medium to high
Family: yes

Came here close to 6PM on a Sunday night! Wasn’t crowded at first, but the crowd definitely grew as we ate. I was really skeptical because of all the bad Unilocal reviews, but this place luckily didn’t meet my expectations!
We had the Groupon for $ 60, and I think it was worth it, but with the regular prices, it would be pretty expensive (for the amount + quality of good we got). We ordered tom yum prawns soup, Sa Tay Chicken, PaD Kee Mao Chicken, Seafood Curry, Curry Crab Meat Fried Rice, and Mango Sticky Rice. It filled us up well.
Tom yum prawns soup — decent amount for serving for four people, the prawns were a bit small
Sa Tay Chicken — 5 sticks, they forgot our cucumber salad at first but brought out later, I really like the thick peanut sauce
Pad Kee Mao Chicken — had some Chinese flavors and reminded me of Pad See Ew
Seafood Curry — I’ve had better, but still tasty; I don’t know it was supposed to come with rice or not but we just ate it with our fried rice
Curry Crab Meat Fried Rice — really good with the curry! The curry wasn’t strong enough but that’s alright; I compared it to Krung Thai’s crab fried rice but I think that’s unfair bc Krung Thai’s is unbeatable
Mango Sticky Rice — very disappointed with the amount of mango we got, 2 small slices :(but I liked the rice and the thick coconut milk!
The service wasn’t as atrocious as the people on here say (at least for my experience). We didn’t have the automatic gratuity. We didn’t get any water refills nor check-​ups though :(
³⁄₅; wouldn’t come here again just because of distance

I would give this place 5 stars for its food, but I wad totally disappointed, frustrated and angry by the owner who stands behind the counter at the entrance. He really doesn’t care for customer!
He added gratuity to the bill to his own liking even though our coupon specifically said we can tip to our liking. And this wasn’t the first time he’s fine that. When we told him that, he said «i can charge what I want, this is my restaurant «WTF?!
The food is really great though. We’ve been here several times and every time this owner cheats on price. I’d recommend for food, but the owner (thai guy?) Really rubs customers the wrong way. So disappointed though I want to give 5 stars.

Banh Thai has been around forever. Sure, it may not have some of those «fancy» dishes that SalalThai, which is merely a block away, has. But it also does not have the long line and wait time for trying to dine there. I’ve been there many times and never had to wait in line, either for lunch or dinner, which is a BIG plus in my book.
Loved their papaya salad, which has substantial portion, enough to share with two people. You can also ask to add meat to it to make it a more filling dish, then you don’t have to order another dish. Also loved their coconut soup and curry dishes.
Overall fast and inexpensive Thai food (run by Chinese), good service, never too noisy. extensive menu. They even have stir-​fry vegetables without all the grease commonly found in cheap Chinese restaurants. What’s not to like?

We got seated right away for dinner. Food was delicious. We ordered Roti with curry, tom yum soup, and basil fried rice. Food and service was fast.

The food here is decent, that’s the only thing going for this place. The drawback of this location, however, is their service. I can’t tell you how frustrated I was waiting for my take out food the other day. I walked in when I was told my order would be ready, I noticed a white plastic bag with food on a shelf near the entrance. After the employees ran back and forth discussing where my order was. I was waiting for about 5 minutes when the man grabbed the bag and handed it to me.
Other than that, when it comes to the dine-​in experience, something always goes wrong. Just the other day my family and I were eating here and they completely forgot to hand us a plate that we had ordered.
So, overall, if you’re looking for good thai food, this place has it, but I’d recommend going elsewhere if at all possible.

This restaurant used to be one of my favorite place for lunch. Food is decent, price is reasonable and service has been okay. However, after my experience today, I may not come back as often.
I’ve used the Groupon deal often for the lunch at Banh Thai, it has never been an issue — Somehow today, the server included in my tab a 18% gratuity without letting me know. Luckily I spotted the item on the tab and asked for clarification of the charge, otherwise I would also include a regular tip to the total. I was then informed that this was always the service gratuity fee the restaurant would include when customer use the groupon. When I let the server know that this required gratuity was not mentioned in groupon, he refused to listen me and said it has always been the case. This is my first incident of such discussion — I’m not sure if others are aware, just thought to share with others!

Food was amazing! We had the pinnapple fried rice, pad thai and the volcanic lamb. The fried rice was very flavorful and it just hits the spot. The pad thai was on point as well. What’s great about this place is that their portions are huge. You might as well share your dish or go family style. I had so much left overs!
The service on the other hand was was like a roller coaster. We were sat immediately, but then it took forever for a waiter to come take our order even though we mentioned that we were ready to order. After we placed our orders, the food actually came out pretty quickly. Lastly, paying for the food was a drag. We wanted to split checks so we had to go up to the counter. The lady at the counter seemed like she was busy so we just waited for a little bit, just for her to leave and take a large table’s order. That was pretty frustrating.
The food I would give 4 stars; the service is 2.

Banh Thai has been in the Fremont Plaza Shopping Center for a very long time, they’ve managed to stay in business. Just recently, saw that they were on Groupon and so we purcased a Groupon.
The deal was $ 35 for $ 60 worth of Thai fodo here at Banh Thai. We got a a good deal from Groupon, so we thought it would be goodv to have Thai here. The Groupon may have been a good price, but the food and service here was really lacking and it did not make up for the Groupon.
Seeing as we had to order $ 60 worth of things, we ordered alot and just shared them amongst each other. We ordered 7 things.
1 Thai Tea; $ 3.00 (This was decemnt, had sweetness in it, and wasn’t overly sweet.)
1 Steamed Rice; $ 1.50 (decent)
1 Combination Appetizer; $ 13.75 (Included a variety of things, some good, while some bad)
1 Penang Curry with Pork; $ 10.25 (Decent, didn’t ask us how Spicy we wanted it, it was Spicy)
1 Garlic Pork Ribs; $ 10.25 (The flavor was there, but the meat was tough and unedible)
1 Banh Thai Fried Rice; $ 11.75 (This one wasn’t bad, good flavor and tasty)
1 Mixed Vegetables with Beef; $ 10.25 (This oine was meh, but passable)
Many of the food items we ordered were at max mediocre. Some of them even seemed as if they were like unedible. In the combination appetizer, the chicken skewers were horrible, the meat was like as if it was rubbery and not real chicken. While the Garlic Pork Ribs had the flavor, the meat was extremely tough, how can anyone eat that??? It’s like jerked up jerky! If they consider that to be pork, they need to rethink their culinary skills…
The customer service here was horrible. While it took forever for someone to come take our order, it took even longer to recieve our food. The restaurant wasn’t too busy either, just a few tables before we ordered, then more people started coming.
On top of all that, the guy gave us a dirty look when we had asked him for another togo container. We accidentally poured our curry into the wrong container and asked for another box and he seemed pretty uinhappy about getting is a new box and wasting the box we poured the curry in accidentally… it’s one box!!!
OH and they automatically added a 15% gratiturity tip towards the bill and we were only a party of 3!!! That certainly did not sit well with any of my family members. Only 3 people and you need to add 15%???
i’m not sure at all if we would ever come back. there are many other Thai restaurants in the area that are better such as CoCurry in Newark. Dissapointed.

This place was great and we thought nothing would stop us from going there even after we found a small piece of plastic (probably a part of spatula or something). When we complained they just gave is another dish. But tonight was the last straw when we found a bug in there. Thanks for finally teaching us a lesson that your cooking ways will not change!
Update Aug, 2015
So apparently they shut down for a while and I was hoping that was to address the bug issue so of course I tried the place again. Why? Cuz I was an idiot and they reminded me of it again. This time the following happened:
1. Rude on the phone when taking order said it’d be 25 mins. So went there in a half hour to give them time
2. Didn’t start the order until we got there
3. Wait no after a 15 min wait we find out it was there all along!
4. Got home to see the plastic in which the curry for roti was poured in melted. I love eating food when it’s hot but not at this price.
Ok as a very considerate vegetarian I can take seeing bugs in my food and toss it but don’t ask me to eat plastic. There’s enough ways I’m already exposed to carcinogenic stuff. I’m so lazy about writing reviews but i just had to for this. I’m done with this place for good.

I thought this place was great! The pineapple fries rice and red Thai curry were on point. Wanted to try the spring rolls, but we got the roti instead, which was out of the world! The flatbread was crispy and oily, perfect for the curry dipping sauce. I used a groupon which was a great deal in my opinion. Others reviewers mentioned bad service, but I didn’t notice bad service, if anything they were too attentive to our table, lol. I will be coming back for sure!

Disclaimer: I’ve been here 4 – 5 times but only because groupon tricked me to purchase.
Cons: They need to hire more people to be on the floor… There’s only three people and there’s like 22 tables = awful service. You will never get your water filled. You ask for fish sauce, you get vinegar. The Chinese dude that is at the front is impatient and kinda a jerk. The Chinese lady is really friendly but doesn’t know her meats… I ordered squid, not chicken… The portions are really small and when it gets busy, it gets even smaller.
Pros: food comes out fast. Lots of parking available. Menu is pretty extensive. Good flavors. I recommend the padped catfish.

Ordered the Pad Thai & Eggplant salad togo.
Pad thai — super dry & tasteless. The noodles tasted like it has been cooked & been siting there for days (not minutes, but days!). My mother is a horrible cook & so it reminds me of her food. But at least she would’ve added in bigger shrimps. It came with a few pieces of danky overcooked shrimps — which became chewy when we ate it.
Eggplant Salad — i thought it was going to be a cold salad but its a hot one! Odd, but not bad.
+1 for the guy who walked outside to give us the food since we were waiting in the car.