Chabaa Thai Cuisine

Friendly staff, yummy green curry, open at midnight!

Great selection of Thai food. Got the red curry with chicken and it was delicious! Quick service as well.

Hi guys this is one of my favorite restaurant in San Francisco I moved to San Francisco six years ago and fall in love with the branch located on Geary Street the The flavor of the food is very authentic .
To eat there you feel like you at home
Very friendly
And Peach she is part of the owner she is one of the best, my favorite and so sweet
Very recommended dishes
Combination beef soup with a clear noodles is well shrimps padthai
Clear noodles salad
papaya salad
And Duck fried rice
Yummy
Enjoy there
Btw the price is so great and the dishes are big !
Cheers

I was more a big fan of Thai food before and I always loved exploring all the various Thai restaurants in the Bay Area, comparing each, trying to find my holy grail Pad Thai.
Well the hunt stopped when I discovered Pad Thai at Chabaa Thai! I remembered how hot it was served at the restaurant, perfect blend of flavors, and how well the noodles twirled around my fork for a perfect bite… those were the days!
Anyway so the crushing climatic point of that story is that I’m allergic to shellfish now and found out a year ago, so my dreams of eating pad Thai everyday seemed to be over. So that’s background why I don’t eat Thai food anymore. I figured I might be bias in this review since you’ll see I didn’t order anything with seafood (a lot of popular Thai dishes have shellfish ingredients which make their flavors unique and outstanding!)
I came to Chabaa today in attempt to experience some nostalgia of the day I first discovered how much I loved their pad Thai. Was going to eat a little bit literally for the memory of it. While looking at the menu I saw they had a vegetarian pad Thai so ordered that to save my self from anaphylactic shock tonight, the sweet Roti, and the fried chicken over fried rice.
Here’s my take:
Veggie pad Thai: a little too sour for me, no fishy sauce flavor which I realize is the best part of the dish. I threw in some chili sauce since there wasn’t a kick. No spice no salt… just sweet and mostly sour. It turned out to be just okay after I did that…
Fried chicken over fried rice: I’ve had this at Thai BBQ in South SF before but stopped going there because they started serving really stale rice. I tried the one at Chabaa and it had a nice crunch and seemed to be fried kind of like how sole is fried for fish and chips. The whole time I couldn’t convince myself I was eating chicken and I swear it’s like I was eating fried fish. The rice was perfect. I can’t say this is my fave dish but the crunch makes it worthwhile since I love eating things that are crunchy lol.
Sweet Roti: kind of greasy. Just had some sticky (I’m assuming condensed) milk and sugar thrown on. It wasn’t really easy to eat, perhaps a little too thick.
I’m not sure if how I feel about Chabaa today is how I felt about them years ago. May now need to just put myself on a hunt for the perfect veggie Thai to revive my fanaticism for the noodle dish.
Note that food was served very hot and the wait for all the food may have been 30 minutes. ~$ 30 for my whole meal + a Thai beer

As a person who used to work in the same field, the service was really slow. Given that the place wasn’t packed (maybe only 6 parties), I give them the benefit of the doubt. However, when you begin to serve people who just walked in before those who have waited for more than 10 minutes, then it becomes a problem.
Onto food: it’s good; that’s why there’s still 3 stars. We ordered egg rolls and Pad Thai, and comparing this to other Thai restaurants within the area, it definitely blows them out the water. Egg rolls were crunchy and had flavor. Wasn’t too oily like other places. Pad Thai had enough sauce for flavor and consistent tanginess.
My only suggestion: remember the people you seat and faster service. It’s hard to manage customers but it being constant is important. Food though, don’t change the recipe – you’re doing a great job.

This is more like Thai fast food mixed with Chinese flavors. Wonton soup, duck fried rice, that’s more of a fusion dish. The service is very slow and on a Wednesday night we were one of two tables and the waiter was still very slow. We had to ask him mulitple times for our dessert and for water and napkins. The food was very plain. Especially for Thai food which should have more spices and flavor. The duck fried rice I had was more fat and skin and plain rice. My girlfriends Noodle soup was plain with only two wontons and a lot of soup. No go for us.

4 stars for the corn cakes!!! Ahhhhh I love those things. Just that one appetizer is a huge portion and counts as my entrée! (Although i’m guessing most of you want to eat more than just corn for dinner hahahah.) They are deep fried to perfection and have a small cucumber salad/​sweet dipping sauce on the side. The perfect complement to the corn!
Other noteworthy items: spicy angel wings, pad kee mao, and pad-​si-​yu!
Service is usually okay and the food comes out pretty quick. Chabaa seems like a staple Thai restaurant on Irving. The only bad thing is parking is hard during weekend lunch and dinner. I’ll definitely be back for those corn cakes!

Thai food cravings always lead me to Chabaa. When it comes to what I order here, I usually do it family style with my friends. I always get the fried chicken with the shrimp fried rice rice plate that comes with sweet & sour sauce. When they deliver their peanuts, it’s honestly like crack. I also usually order the pad Thai which has the perfect amount of sauce. And again, I use those peanuts til the jar is empty hahaha.
When it comes to atmosphere, I love how high the ceilings are and how there is never a wait time when I come through here. Overall, the quality of the food is great, my Thai food cravings are always satisfied & the atmosphere is comfortable at any time of day. Also I failed to mention, this place is open late! A for everything!

Forget what you heard — Chabaa wipes the floor with Marnee Thai. This is my favorite Thai in SF — can’t beat it for price, selection and value. Get the roti with curry.

Great service with a casual (but tasteful) atmosphere! Our servers were attentive and the food was good, although a bit spicier than expected. I ordered a dish mild and it showed up medium while my friend’s dish ordered regular came out full-​on hot. We both have pretty high heat tolerances so we dealt, but if you’re a wimp when it comes to spice, be alert.
I also appreciated the variety on their menu. Eating pad thai with extra peanut sauce is NOT Thai food people!

Bad service and equally bad food. This was the only place without a wait after Hardly Strictly.
The papaya salad was only decent, and was the highlight of the meal. One of the worst papaya salads I’ve had though, very bland as far as papaya salads go. But the noodle soup was worse! In that, there was NO flavor whatsoever. And they didn’t give us the little jars of chili paste or other sauces; I had to find the waitress and request them (as well as napkins).
Entrees — my sister got the Pad Si Yu — not terrible, but nothing special. And then there was my Pad Thai. I almost never order Pad Thai, but I had been drinking all day and just wanted something safe and mellow. Well that it was! So flavorless and just not good; the shrimp was dry and slightly fishy.
Please — do yourselves a favor and go to any of the other fantastic options in the Sunset!

Been here many times, usually pretty happy! This time We ordered the duck fried rice, which was really good! The chicken satay also great! But I wish they gave more cucumber salad! The spicy wings — mild, were good! Love the crispy basil! Their Thai iced tea Is my favorite!
Only disappointment was in the pad Thai… I requested both chicken and shrimp, and wAs charged $ 2 extra for that. The chicken and the rest of the pad Thai was great! But the shrimp. Was soooooooo over cooked that it wasn’t even rubbery anymore… It was rock hard!!!
Definitely will be back though.

Aiiight, this place is good. Nothing fancy — super tiny restaurant, but solid food and friendly service. Prices are decent and selection is good.
That said. Nothing fantastic to note — hence the 3 stars.
I got the Tom Ka Shrimp soup: A. it was enormous. B. I lost my spoon in it twice and had to fish it out with chopsticks. C. It was super hot and fragrant. Also opted for the Thai iced tea — SUPER SUPER sweet — not in a good way. I know that’s like the definition of thai iced tea, but unless you want a stomachache steer clear of it.
With all that SF has to offer I probably won’t be back, but it was a super convenient spot for the Phoenix Theater nearby.

Came back to introduce the duck larb to my friends. They are usually use to beef larb, but wanted to try this since I told them about it. Slightly sour and refreshing due to the herbs. Served w/​a side of lettuce pieces. It’s a very light and fun dish to eat if you were just hot and wanted some refreshing to snack on.

Ordered the Pad Si Yu — Stir-​fried flat rice noodles with egg, Chinese broccoli and soy sauce with chicken. You can choose between chicken/​pork/​beef or prawns for extra $ 1 something. Also ordered the crab meat fried rice — Fried rice with crabmeat, egg, and onions, topped with cilantro and cucumber.
Wanted to try something different other than the usual pad thai and pineapple fried rice… ehhh maybe shouldn’t have –_​_​_​– …Both dishes were just average. The pad si yu just tasted like straight up sweet soy sauce… there was not a lot of flavor going on… The hot sauce condiment. OMG really helped and made the noodles much more yummier… YUM… hot sauce always solves the problem! The fried rice was just okay. There was a good amount of crab meat in the dish. However, I thought it could have been seasoned a little more. It was a little plain. Just crab and egg and rice… Yeeeah. Good but I probably could have made this myself.
The service is great though! Very attentive! Food quality… meh… Not so much… This place is alrightttt… If you want cheaper Thai food than most Thai places, then come here. Otherwise, this place is just average.

This is my go-​to Thai food place whenever I’m in the city. I came here a lot during my time in college. It’s great for late night after studying long hours at the library. The servers are great in helping you decide what you want to eat. My water cup was always filled too. The place is lightly dimmed. It’s metered parking, by the way if you come for lunch.
I usually order the boneless roasted duck over rice. The roasted duck is tender & not excessively chewy. Rice is cooked well too!
This time, I ordered the Guay Tiew Lord. It was a bit bland & couldn’t really taste the sauce but the ground chicken & the seafood made up for it. The four stars is for the service because it’s always so amazing.

3.5 stars.
BF and I alternate between here and Marnee Thai. Love that the interior is clean and spacious.
The food is pretty good. I’ve gotten the pineapple fried rice, which I thought was great after I added all the spices to it. Wish there were more prawns, but that’s okay. BF gets combination beef noodle soup. The beef was hella tender! I’ve also gotten the roast duck noodle soup. mmm lard.

Now that I live a mere few blocks away, I find myself relying on Chabaa for those emergency late night noms. No other place seems to be open late on a Sunday night and Chabaa was our saving grace after a long coast-​to-​coast flight that inexplicably provided no meals (a total first world problem, I concede).
The duck fried rice is now by far my favorite dish to get here. Their jasmine rice is well-​textured and fragrant, accented with pieces of juicy roast duck (they do skimp on the meat, unfortunately) and fried eggs, onions, and other veggies. I’m also a fan of their noodle soups with allow you to customize noodle and broth options. Chabaa also offers great lunch specials although I have to confess, I almost never come here before 10PM.

We came on a Saturday around 2PM, no wait, and nobody there, probably because its past lunch time.
We ordered two dishes. The green curry and the Pad Kee Mao. The portions was pretty good and prices weren’t bad at all, each dish was about $ 10 bucks. We left full and had left over Pad Kee Mao.
The green curry was missing something. It tasted only like coconut and spice. It was pretty spicy, I think it overpowered the rest of the flavors.
The Pad Kee Mao was really good though. The noodles weren’t too oily and it was pretty flavorful. It was the right amount of spiciness (less spicy than the green curry).
The staff was very friendly, they were always smiling and very polite.
Decent Thai restaurant, nothing really that special, but if you need a fix and in the area then Chabaa Thai will fulfill your needs.

CRAB FRIED RICE
In many places crab fried rice is not very affordable, but at Chabaa Thai it is within my budget. Hence the $ rating. Just for the crab fried rice.
When it came out I thought it looked very underwhelming because it looked like plain white rice. However I looked closer and started to eat it, and it turned out to have a decent amount of egg, crab meat, and onions, which just happened to blend in with the rice. I guess I just didn’t know that’s what it was supposed to look like – I’m pretty n00by at this because it is literally the first time I found crab fried rice in my price range.
Ambiance is nice, service is okay, parking is a pain. Just like all SF restaurants. Nothing much to write about here.
Conclusion: CRAB FRIED RICE