Thai Smile Restaurant

Great Thai food in a town with lots of great Thai restaurants! Had the Pad Kee Mao… it was outstanding! They also serve food at the Sunday Makuu (Mah-​koo-​oo) market.

This was quite possibly the best Thai food we have ever had (and we make it a point to eat it as much Thai as possible in multiple states). A nice family establishment with excellent service and food was outstanding. They were also very kind to our children providing coloring books while waiting for the food.

Best Thai Food in Hilo! Reasonable price. Owners are very friendly. I would never get tired of their food. Eggplant tofu is my favorite, but everything else too

Delicious. Great price. Good portions. What else could you ask for? I highly recommend the summer rolls to start they were fantastic!

We were staying on the Kohala Coast but came over to do a hike in VNP and wanted to eat before heading back so we stopped here. Best Thai food I’ve ever had. The Thai Smile fried rice with shrimp and cashew chicken were both delicious and seasoned very well with the perfect level of spice. I’m getting hungry as I think about it from 5,000 miles away. :)

Pretty authentic Thai food. Spice levels are great and service is pretty good. 4 stars because the space is a little small.

Very well. I really enjoyed the environment its welcoming and warm. The food was delish and filling and just the right amount.

Very good place nice waiter scenery was simply amazing and the food was excellent they make it exactly how you ask for it even if your not a fan of Thai food you will still love it they have some Chinese food like chow mien this restaurant is simply the best

We were pleasantly surprised by this small restaurant easily missed as you drive through Hilo. Previous reviews tempted us, and everything we tried was fresh, well-​prepared, and flavorful. The owner is so friendly and is a great cook! We had spring rolls, chicken satay, tofu chow mein, and massaman curry. All hot and delicious. When so many other places in Hilo close early or are not open on Mondays, this place was a wonderful find!

The lunch special was decently prepared but not overly impressive. Curry options have some heat and are tastier. Would do better with a good pad Thai option. Ordering was confusing.

Summer rolls were best I’ve had in a long time! Full shrimps wrapped inside the thin, tender wrap. Full of flavor!
Basil fried rice with chicken also excellent and spiced fully per my request. If I lived here I’d be there all the time

This is the most authentic Thai food on the island. Not only spectacular food but wonderful atmosphere. Unilocal takes you near a takee outee with lemongrass in the name. Do no be diverted. Go to your left and find this wonderful gem. You will not be disappointed. Pumpkin curry, spring rolls, fried rice, pad Thai. Oh my– amazing. Love love love this place!

The food 5 stars but we have dinner after 1.15 hour of waiting!!! And the restaurant wasn’t full and the worst we were the first ones to serve

Delicious and affordable!!! Requisite Unilocal hyperbole: some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had. Papaya salad delicious and fresh. Summer rolls were amazing. Best I’ve had. The pad Thai and pad see ew were also fantastic. Shrimp was good. Drank fresh homemade ginger ice tea which came w chunks of ginger.
It’s a small mom and pop restaurant which is why it must be so cheap. Very friendly service. I don’t review often but felt like this was a hidden gem.

Seriously the best Thai food I have had. This will be a for sure go to every time I am in Hilo.
We had the papaya salad, summer rolls, pineapple fried rice, and pad Thai, with Thai iced tea. All if it was amazing and the staff were super friendly.

You can taste the love in this Thai food, pretty much sums it up. Like Mom’s kitchen… Pad Thai is winners! So tasty! Thai chixn salad another winner! Spring rolls also awesome! Our favorite Thai spot when we visit from Oahu… Your stomach will love you…

There are a lot of Thai restaurants in Hilo, but this is one of my favorites so far!
We went there for a late lunch, so there was a little bit of the lunch specials left, so the owner was nice enough to give us the pumpkin curry and the remaining green curry for the price of one!
Both curries were amazing. So much flavor and all the veggies/​meat inside was cooked perfectly. Love how they also offer brown rice.
We also ordered the pad Thai. The owner was so accommodating and offered to put both chicken and tofu in, since we couldn’t decide which one. The portion was very generous! The noodles had a good texture and the sauce was just how I like it. Love me some good pad Thai!
So far this is my go to place for Thai food

Instantly a favorite Thai restaurant. I’ve been compulsively ordering green papaya salad everywhere I go… Thai Smile is the best I’ve had, and at a great price ($ 7.95).
Business is run by Mom and young Son who moved from Bangkok about 14 years ago. Service was excellent, décor very pleasant, music good, food excellent, prices excellent.
My friend ordered pineapple fried rice with chicken ($ 10.95) medium spicy and looked like a cartoon character after he first tasted it… sweat was literally pouring down his face and I thought steam was actually going to come out of his ears. He’s a lightweight… I tasted it and it didn’t really seem that hot to me.
My green papaya salad I ordered «American hot»… one step below the ultimate «thai hot»… and it was perfect. I am craving it again as I write this !
One drawback I suppose is location, on a busy intersection with limited street parking. And some dude was sprawled on the sidewalk where we parked. Still, it was raining when we were there, and the traffic rushing by in the rain outside the open screen doors had that certain Hilo-​style low-​key romance. And our car was fine when we got back to it.
Also a drawback, it’s hard to find them open, because they also have a food truck at the Hilo farmer’s market… so when the food truck’s open, the restaurant is closed and vice versa.

Great Thai restaurant in Hilo. It is a smallish establishment but excellent food and service. We were here for dinner on a weekday (and I couldn’t wait to come back). Ordered the pad kee Mao and gravy noodles. Arrived quickly, huge huge portions and really fresh. The flavors were great.
We’re back here today, ordering some curry and the same noodles again.
Oh and the guy already remembers my order from yesterday :) he’s great to talk to!
We paid 20 $ for a meal for two and lots left to be boxed.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

This is my favorite Thai restaurant on big island. I tried pad see eew for the first time on my last visit. It was very good! Something different! I have tried their yellow curry and a few other plates! They are all good and reasonable price
I got summer rolls and pad Thai today. It was very delicious as usual :) the lady is super super nice!

By my count this is the 3^rd thai place that pop’d up in this location. I came here a lot 2 thai places ago, a few times 1 thai place ago, and now I’m coming here. Never really understood why they kept closing, because the food was always solid; the same goes for this place. One thing I did notice changed is the décor. It has definitely freshened up quite a bit from the hole in the wall that it used to be.
The pad thai I had was pretty killer. I like how they cook their noodles with the peanuts because it gave it that great roasted flavor. I also like the gravy noodles which are thick pad see ew style noodles with plenty of sauce, veges, and meat. Also if you are into spicy food, try their Thai Hot. They throw in some voodoo chili powder that really bumps up the heat.
The only down side is the wait time. There is only one lady and a one dude working there. The lady cooks, the guy handles the orders. Seems like a nice family business but it also means that it took 20 minutes for me to get my food to go. This can be remedied by calling in; which I will do in the future. One other minor downside is the cost, roughly $ 10 a dish; but I don’t mind it as much since I think the food rivals sombat’s which still costs a bit more