4. Restaurants

Rice Thai Cuisine

3924 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA, 94306
  • (650) 812-0139
  • Store is closed

Rice Thai Cuisine Menu

Sorry, We are updating this restaurant menu details.

Sorry, We are updating this restaurant cholesterol menu details.

  • Naren A.

    I have been here only for lunch and I always, literally always get the Bangkok Chow Mein lunch special and its really really awesome. It comes with a small bowl of soup (changes everyday) a very small salad with a peanut dressing and a veg. egg roll...Very clean place and the food is presented well. The Bangkok chow mein here is the best I have had, its really really yummy with egg, fried tofu, veggies and a nice stir fry sauce... Others in my group have had the curries (green, red, mussamman, yellow) and they are also fairly good, the chef knows what he is doing, the place is clean, lunch special is $8 - $10 a person, service is quick = 5 stars....

    (5)

  • Zic Z.

    Very nice food. Little bit pricey than regular Thai restaurants but still good food. We ordered : Roti with green curry: for $7.50 its not worth it, very small portion. Taste was OK. Panang Curry: Very tasty, good quantity Sesame noodle: Good quantity, decent taste.

    (4)

  • Jennifer K.

    I have frequented RICE on numerous occasions since moving to the peninsula... but have been coming here for a good year prior to my move (when visiting family and friends in Palo Alto.) I feel shamed to have waited so long to sing it's praises! Ricky (the owner) is the BOMB. He will not steer you wrong... you want to do a substitution? No problem! You want to take your time and hang out all night, or just order out... this place will serve you up in any way or fashion you please. The menu is fantastic. I have not had a mediocre thing yet. How on earth does someone make Pad Thai extraordinary? I have no idea, but the chef at RICE does!! The Pumpkin Curry is delish, as well as the Sizzling Duck... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! RUN - don't walk to RICE Thai Cuisine. You will not be disappointed...

    (5)

  • Jay-Tee L.

    Let me first clarify - my four star rating is not because this is an amazing Thai place that I would go out of my way to just eat here - it is a combination of different things that make this place my default lunch place when I crave Thai for lunch. Positives: (1) Location - My office is at El Camino and Page Mill Road, so there's limited choices for lunch (California Ave is too crowded and PA downtown is a bit of hassle for quick lunch). Rice Thai is just a 5-10 drive so promixity is a major plus. (2) Fast service - Everytime I go, I tell them that I am in a hurry and I always get the food in less than 15 minutes. (3) Healthier options - I normally get Sweet Thai Chicken (made with Chicken breast) or drunken noodle lunch sets - the food is not overly greasy and you can get brown rice instead of white rice. In addition, I always ask for low oil in all dishes and the dishes do come back not as greasy as other places Recommendation: (1) Would go earlier if you can: Parking lot is a little tight - so if you go before noon, you should be able to get a good parking. (2) Lunch sets: they are a good deal, soup, crispy egg rolls. Good even for take-out

    (4)

  • Lisa H.

    Interesting to have Thai served by the Joker and Pirate Girl but they get props for at least being in the spirit of Halloween. Now on to the review.... FIrst off, can I just say parking SUCKS. They have 4 spaces on the side and the rest is street parking. Try to park on El Camino Real at night - not my favorite thing to do. It is a busy street. Since I had a tough time getting parking, I was expecting to see the place packed. It was practically empty. hmmmmm, like I said parking sucks. Service was meh. It took them awhile to come and take my order. Now, I love Thai but a spice whimp so I know better than to tell the anything other than mild. They didn't hear me and my order came back medium. I didn't realize that is what the server put in until I saw my check. Not happy, but I will know the next time to e-nun-ciate MIIIII-LLLD, NO SPICY! I did like the presentation and the food overall. But just wasn't completely wow-ed. Thus, they get 3 stars.

    (3)

  • Green Devil W.

    Why can't the Peninsula have great Thai food? Is this really that hard? After reading the reviews on Yelp we looked forward to an exception to the rule but that was not the case. Very fast service but that was about the only positive. We had roti with geen curry. Greasy. We had pineapple fried rice. Have had better elsewhere. We had the chicken and asian eggplant. Just not memorable. The city has so many better options. I just don't get it.

    (2)

  • Mary Lourdes S.

    Best Thai in a long time. You get a lot of food for the lunch special and the price is reasonable.

    (5)

  • Mrs F.

    Very nice find! And the portions, well, they're huge. You won't find this price in SF no sirree. They also use gluten free soy sauce! You just need to let the server know. I didn't like my spicy squid salad though. That was a letdown. The pineapple fried rice was good though. My husband said his beef curry was nice, as the beef wasn't stringy. He hates stringy beef. We left very satisfied and stuffed. Food was presented nicely, portions are big, restaurant is clean. Very comfortable dining here than in SF. We will return.

    (4)

  • Kelly M.

    This is now my new go-to spot for a Thai lunch. Yep, my old favorite Thai City, is gettin' the boot. Rice Thai is my friends favorite place. I'm so glad she took me here for lunch because I probably would of never came here on my own. The view of the restaurant from the street is not impressive. One wouldn't expect such a classy and sophisticated interior. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked through the door. Polite and attentive staff - check Creative and pretty dish presentation - check Generous portions - check Very affordable dishes - check I had the Red Curry with chicken lunch special for $7.95. The amount of food you get for under $8 is just to good of a deal. The curry sauce had a good kick to it. I also enjoyed the side salad with peanut dressing. Overall great flavor in every bite. I do have to comment on the parking...or lack there of. It's really awful. Your best bet is to find street parking on the Camino. Don't even bother with the teeny tiny excuse for a parking lot along the side of the restaurant. So try not to let this inconvenience keep you from experiencing a great restaurant. I love venturing out of my comfort zone and trying new places. Even better when they end up becoming one of my favs.

    (4)

  • Carrie H.

    Came here for dinner and tried the following: Pineapple fried rice - jasmine rice with meat, egg, pineapple, onion, peas, carrot and cashew nuts in a touch of yellow curry powder. Delicious and highly recommend. Sea bass green curry - sea bass with bamboo shoot, green bean, bell pepper, eggplant and basil in green curry. Very flavorful despite portion was small. This small restaurant is nice and clean with good vibe and modern decor. The reason for the 3 stars was because of inattentive service. You need to be patient and wait for someone to take your order. Don't expect anyone to look your way. I ended up going to the register to pay. Only come here for dinner if you are not in a rush!

    (3)

  • M O.

    This is for take-out only. Went on Sunday around 6:30pm and they were friendly and VERY fast with our order. Food was better that we expected compared to several other Thai restaurants we have tried in the Palo Alto area. I don't think there is any great Thai restaurants here, but good will suffice. Price is VERY reasonable. Fresh Salad roll was a bit bland but the other items - chicken curry and eggplant were both good. I would go back. Items were package well for take-out so everything was hot and fresh when we ate at home. To dine in the place looked clean and nicely designed but parking would be tricky on a busy day / eve.

    (4)

  • Rena L.

    This is my favorite thai food spot in Palo Alto. Everything I have tried here is good. The parking is terrible but I always park across the street at the bank! The food is worth the extra few minutes trying to park.

    (5)

  • Elena F.

    We just came back from Rice Thai. Good food, reasonable for Palo Alto prices, a OK decor, but unfortunately service leaves much to be desired in the promptness department. Will be back because of the food, but might opt for the carry out next time. On a positive note, there were several people lingering around (couple on a date, friends catching up etc.) and they were not rushed, which is a plus in my book.

    (4)

  • Jonathan J.

    I grew up about 3 blocks away from the building that houses Rice Thai and, since the previous occupants were a Quizno's and a billiards hall, it's pretty safe to say that Rice is the the best incarnation. The location is a bit unusual (small standalone building with a rented cottage in the back of the parking lot and around the corner from two of Palo Alto's most famous [or infamous] liquor stores) and easy to miss. However, if you're looking for quick, reasonably-priced Thai food, Rice is a much better option than most other restaurants in the Palo Alto area. If you come later at night, it's also very safe because cops seem to like stopping by here for take-out pretty frequently. The service at Rice is very good. It's pretty clear that it's family-owned and that the proprietor's actually care about the customer experience, which is a big plus to me. The food at rice is also very strong. One of the things that I noticed right away was their use of fresh vegetables, particularly the bell peppers, onions, and carrots. Fresh vegetables that haven't been overcooked are a really important part of most Asian cuisines, and Rice does a great job in that respect. The dishes are simple, but they are attractively garnished and served on nice, modern dishware. In terms of specific recommendations, I particularly like the roti (which is not too greasy), the "swimming angel," and the spicy chicken curry. My mom also got the spicy noodle soup one time, and it looked excellent. Rice isn't dirt cheap, so be prepared for a bit of price inflation cause that's how PA rolls. However, most things are still under $10 and all said, it's well worth it.

    (4)

  • Maria I.

    Went here for lunch with two co-workers last Friday. We got there around 11:30 to secure parking since it's limited and to beat the lunch crowd. There was a party of 7 and about 3 parties of 2 when we arrived. We all ordered from the lunch special. Sure enough the crowd started forming right after we placed our order. My co-worker got her curry with rice dish in good time. My other co-worker's vegetarian rice and my drunken noodle took unreasonably longer. In fact, I had to ask the server to check on my order since my two co-workers were almost done with their meals and I still hadn't gotten mine. Thankfully, the drunken noodle was very tasty and the vegetables were very fresh. I'm giving them 3 stars because everyone else, even those who came and ordered after me, got their food before I did.

    (3)

  • Aaron J.

    This is one of my new favorite lunch spots. I love the BANGKOK CHOW MAIN (and xxxtra hot). The location is great too! A very nice, clean, and modern dining area. The service is always good too! A must try if your in the Palo Alto area.

    (4)

  • Sam M.

    Great thai food! doesn't make you feel sick or sleepy after you eat it! they have an extensive menu to accommodate all.

    (5)

  • Nicholas H.

    Great food and service! I frequently get take-out and never have to wait more than 10 minutes for my food, even on a busy night. The staff are all extremely friendly and efficient. Highly recommended!

    (5)

  • Winnie L.

    I've been here twice for lunch. The prices are ok, not super cheap but not super expensive. Probably $10 after tax & tip if you choose the Chicken, Beef, or Pork option. On my second visit, I decided to get noodle soup. It's beyond me on why they would name something "Regular Noodle Soup" but I decided I'd give it a try, my dining companion tried it before and said it was good. When I placed the order, I asked what type of noodles are served with it. The waiter said Pho noodles. I said I don't like Pho noodles, can you replace it with the wide rice noodles (ho fun). He said no, we don't have those. I said, but you serve Pad See Ewe, you have to have the wider rice noodles. So the waiter said they just don't the substitution. I then let my dining companions order and when he came back to me, I was still looking. I couldn't decide, so I decided not to order. I sat there while my dining companions got their appetitzers and entrees and ate. Why would you not make the accommodation? How inflexible is that? He didn't even give me a reason, maybe I should have asked. Would my dish have tasted drastically different served with different noodles? WTF. I'm not coming back.

    (3)

  • Erin M.

    Tried the green curry everyone is raving about and I'd say it was average and not very flavorful. The curry was thin and not actually sticking to the rice. Pad Khee Mao was disappointing and had far too many broccoli pieces in it for my taste.

    (3)

  • Suzie S.

    I love Rice Thai! The food is fantastic, service is great, simple ambiance and Ricky the owner goes out of his way to treat his customers with care and get to know them. I have brought co-workers, friends and family and all have fallen in love with Rice! My family now chooses it for birthday dinners and we love trying new things from the menu so we can say we tried it all- everything we've had has been delicious. When I go in with co-workers, we always get in and out in a timely manner (note: we typically go in a little before noon) and the lunch special deals are a large amount of food for around $10 (although it would be less if you don't get meat and stick with white rice). I always end up taking half of my food home and it's equally good for leftovers. Ricky knows all of our regular orders and is great at helping indecisive diners choose a great dish. This is a great place for a single diner, date night, quick lunch or group dinner. Don't miss this wonderful hidden gem!!!!

    (5)

  • Ducky K.

    Friday night and the staff waved off everything to do with us. After sitting for 20 minutes a someone clearing the table next to us asked us for our order, without pen or paper; 10 minutes later a lady came over and incorrectly told us our order. After correcting her politely she quickly left to the kitchen without so much as a smile of acknowledgment of our existence. Once plates came for our appetizer we noticed one was sticky with previous food and requested a change which wasn't acknowledged at all and once a new one came the sticky one looked to be placed in the pile of clean dishes to divvy out once more. We mentioned to each other that we felt like second class citizens at this place. Our appetizer came only minutes before our meal and was actually lovely Roti. Out curry was very floral and had a good kick to it. I suggest the food and not the service.

    (1)

  • Michelle W.

    A very pleasant lunch with family. Ordered Pad Thai as a sure thing, knowing my mother was ordering the Asian Eggplant with chicken which we could share. Wish i'd ordered the eggplant. Delicious! Beautiful, bright purple Japanese eggplant, fresh lightly sauteed veggies and flavorful basil. Pad Thai very good and as we hadn't requested spicy (so I could share with my mom) it was light. I requested chili sauce, which was promptly brought to the table, so I could bring the level of heat, to a portion of the dish, to my desired level. This is the third family visit and excellent on each occasion. Only negative... a neighbor tables conversation drowned out our own.

    (5)

  • Luis A.

    The food is pretty good and the service is fine but they have a ridiculous "3 cards per table" policy (plus they don't take AMEX) which earns a nice "OK" rating.

    (3)

  • Alan C.

    this place is ok. lets start with location. its off of el camino so there isn't a lot of street parking. they have a small parking lot and the rest of the parking is in an alley way at the back of the restaurant. its kinda shady looking but its palo alto, so not too dangerous. the restaurant is pretty nice, with your standard thai decorations. plenty of space for big groups. i got the chicken cashew nut with brown rice. it was ok. nothing special or noteworthy. the service was nice and friendly. my water glass was never empty. the dishes are reasonably priced. if your looking for generic thai food, this place isn't bad. i wouldn't pick this place to eat but i wouldn't object with my friends want to come back.

    (3)

  • Carrie L.

    Solid Thai food, reasonable prices, and clean restaurant (and bathrooms). Can't wait to go back. Pumpkin curry definitely had a bite to it and the flavor was really good. Better than many others I've had.

    (4)

  • Erik S.

    I love the place very much. I live around the corner and I go there almost every week. It's the best Thai food I've had so far ... :)

    (5)

  • Eating And Living Well U.

    This is a nice thai restaurant with nice atmosphere, good service, and decent food. Nothing spectacular that blew me away. I ordered the drunken noodles and my date ordered the spicy fried rice. We started off with a thai ice tea and spring rolls. It was nicely presented, better than a lot of Thai restaurants. The peanut sauce was very good and we ate all of it even after the rolls were gone. Regarding the entrees, I don't like spicy items so did not taste my date's meal. My dish was a little spicy which made me not like it as much but heck, it was good and nicely seasoned with basil. The noodles were cooked well and seasoned nicely without it being too oily or overwhelming. I would go there again if I was craving Thai.

    (3)

  • P L.

    Pleasantly surprised by this one. Green curry was delicious, and service was quick and efficient -- a must for a weekday lunch with coworkers.

    (4)

  • Aaron T.

    went here around 9PM for a late dinner, and thought it was closed at first because the parking lot was empty. fortunately it was still open, and we were seated immediately. the server was very attentive, probably because we were the only ones there, and was very friendly and helpful. we ended up ordering 3 dishes for 2 people. beef pad thai: standard fare, hard to go wrong here, but tasted a little bland drunken noodles with chicken: significantly sweeter than i expected, and could have used a bit more spice panang curry with chicken: probably the best dish of the night, the curry was flavorful, though the chicken a bit lighter and drier than usual overall, the food was nothing special, though i must note the presentation of the food was above average and was quite pleasing to the eye. in addition, the restaurant itself is very clean and the furnishings feel very new.

    (3)

  • Pierre B.

    I like this place. Although I rarely dine in (as it's usually too empty for my taste) I frequently take out their pad thai, which is one of my favorites in the area. Their food can be as spicy as you wish, and is quite beautifully presented. But the reason I come here so often for take outs is because of the manager/receptionist. He is very kind and accommodating. One time, I forgot to bring my wallet and realized I would not have time to return home. But the receptionist was kind enough to give me some appetizers to take home.

    (4)

  • Robert S.

    I've taken my college-age daughter here twice and we've been impressed each time. The food is well-prepared and attractively served and the service is friendly and fast. I've had the green curry and Asian eggplant and (IIRC) my daughter ordered the swimming angel each time and the food was delivered quickly, was attractively plated (on lovely square plates) and served hot. The serving sizes are not overwhelming, but (to me) about right for lunch. My only gripe is that parking is very limited and the lot itself is rather tight. If you drive a dreadnaught-class SUV you might find it difficult to park.

    (4)

  • S C.

    We went there for a lunch with a 2 year old child, on Saturday. The only people except us was a company of cops on a lunch break, which made me feel very secure. The owner was very attentive and the portions were generous. The food was a mixture of Thai and general oriental food, but I ordered chicken curry for personal reasons - for me Thai restaurants and curry go way back. And I was not disappointed. My little one demanded more rice, which was brought to us free of charge. Twice. Overall, very nice, relaxing dining experience. And cheap, too! I think they deserve extra half-star for rectangular-shaped places ;) Haven't seen those for a while.

    (4)

  • Viola R.

    I really enjoy Thai cuisine and this place is definitely the best in Palo Alto! Their dishes are served well, taste delicious, and it's always fresh and great quality. I especially recommend to try out their Chicken Satay, Chicken Dumplings and Drunken Noodles - it's simply the best in the area! The service is fast and very friendly, I've never been waiting for the food for more than 5-7 min. And by the way, I don't have any problems with parking, since I always leave my car at the nearby plaza (right near the gas station) and just walk for 30 seconds :)

    (5)

  • Gary W.

    Maybe it was an off night, but this is one of those " we don't have to come back here deals ". Everything was off from Pad thai to the not fresh fish, hate to say this but it smelled " fishy ". Asked if the Mango was sweet and was told yes, it wasn't. This place didn't make it as Ramen place, it's not looking good as a Thai place either....

    (1)

  • Berto's W.

    Still go here once and a while, the food stays great and consistent.

    (5)

  • Ian K.

    Aside from the area behind the host booth (and hopefully the kitchen) this restaurant was very clean and tastefully decorated. I just remember seeing a bunch of racks of sodas, boxes and jackets strewn about, almost a makeshift storage area rather than a clean dedicated front counter/host station. I just think they could class up their first impression, since it doesn't currently match the rest of the interior or the awesome quality of their food. We sat at one of the tables while waiting for our takeout (the place was practically empty on Sunday at lunch time) and were tempted to stay and dine in. Due to other plans we didn't stay, but the tables were near windows, under which they had bench style seating. All pretty nice and serene. The samosas were a nice appetizer and the sweet chili dipping sauce complimented them very well. We both had pad thai, I had chicken, she had veggie, and both were very good and plentiful. The proportions of ingredients was perfectly balanced (no giant piles of bean sprouts) making for very good texture and flavor. Sticky rice with mango had sesame seeds on top and was loaded with fresh mango slices, but there was very little of the sweet white sauce on the rice, and what little they did pour in was all in the crack of one side of the to go box - not much on the rice. While the dessert still got inhaled, it could have been prepared with better care. Perhaps a dine in experience will add that last star, but I still think the first impression is holding them back. 2nd time I got take-out here was NOTHING like the first. I asked for some hot sauce, and first they handed me some plum sauce. Once that was corrected, I got home and unpacked everything to find there was no sweet chili sauce for the samosas, and the pad thai was not up to par. No peanuts in the pad thai, and it was very oily. They did a good job the first time, but the second visit was a huge turn-off. "Next."

    (2)

  • A S.

    I really enjoy this place. The staff are very nice and helpful and the food is delicious. Parking can be difficult but I think the food is worth it. My mom loves their wonton soup. Their Pad Thai is yummy as are the spring rolls. I am allergic to gluten and they always are able to tell me which dishes are OK for me. Very friendly and accommodating, delicious food, attractive decor (which can be VERY lacking in most restaurants in this part of Palo Alto) and pretty presentation of the food. Whenever my daughter is home from college she LOVES to go here. They do a great job with take-out as well.

    (4)

  • Michael W.

    Came here on a Friday night and was not crowded. Sort of hole-in-the-wall, not very noticeable on El Camino near the Happy Donuts. Prices are a little cheaper than Siam Royal in Downtown PA. Also, parking is very limited in a narrow alley. Had the mango chicken, penang curry chicken and lemongrass chicken. Penang curry chicken was pretty good, standard curry dish. Mango chicken was ok, lemongrass was not as good to me but my friends seemed to like it. $15 per person including tip.

    (3)

  • Jon G.

    My new favorite Thai Restaurant. While the location off El Camino leaves something to be desired, the restaurant is very nice inside and exudes the charm of a small family run cafe in Thailand. Hey , after all, this place is a thai family run cafe, but in palo alto. The food was all amazingly fresh and delicious. Lets face it, the bay area has about 5 million thai restaurants, so it really says something that this one stands out! Everything was amazing from the peanut sauce on the veggie-shrimp rolls tasting like it was just whipped together minutes before to the homemade broth for the tom yom soup - fresh and delicious. So Fresh! Did i mention fresh? The papaya salad is amazing too. Go! Oh, and oddly it's never crowded which is just another nice note.

    (5)

  • A V.

    I come to Rice often for lunch. The lunch specials are pretty good. With tax and tip it ends up being about $10 a person. I have tried the curries, pad thai, pad see ew and the regular noodle soup. All are good and come with egg rolls/salad and a bowl of soup. My favorite is the pad thai with tofu. The pad see ew is not as good as Krung Thai down the street. The curries are good. The soup noodles are light and great for a cold day. So I recommend Rice for lunch if you work near by.

    (4)

  • A L.

    Great food, very flavorful and tasty. I give it four stars based on the food only. The waiter never came back to check on us. And the parking is bad there. I would go back though.

    (4)

  • Jane P.

    Solid 4 stars. My new favorite thai restaurant in the bay area. Ive been here twice in the past few weeks once for dinner and for lunch. Both times the restaurant was fairly empty.(maybe I came on an off day?) Service is quick and good. The decor is more modern and clean (not the usual gold idol statues and etc everywhere) The food is tasty tasty and the chef seems to know what he's doing. On to the menu pickings: Pass on: -thai egg roll-nothing special. I asked for extra lettuce to wrap with the egg rolls and they brought out plenty more for us -drunken noodle-this is a popular dish here but Im not a huge wide noodle fan...it was definately not bad. Thumbs jup: -green curry-definately need to get this, the curry has crack in it. =) -madam pompano-my signature dish at every thai restaurant. The taste and presentation is delish. -green curry roti-would prefer if it was slightly thinner and crispier but the sauce it comes with makes the dish worthwhile.

    (4)

  • Nagma M.

    I've had a wonderful meal there. The food was exceptionally well plated: I don't usually see that kind of attention to detail in a restaurant in this price range. The squid salad and thai curry were both wonderful. I love the decor as well-it could use a bit more natural light, but other than that the colors and furniture looked fresh and comfortable. I would definitely go back again.

    (4)

  • J K.

    Best yellow curry chicken ever! The chicken they use is white breast meat for all their dishes...it's not that nasty brown rubbery meat that other Asian restaurants use. Plus their pineapple fried rice is pretty amazing as well. We always come here for pick-up and they're fast and friendly.

    (5)

  • Kelly R.

    Of the three thai restaurants in the area that I've been to, Rice Thai is probably the best. I came here for lunch - and it wasn't too bad. The mussaman curry was quite tasty. The soup that came with lunch was delicious, the salad was just okay - they need to be a bit more careful picking out the bad lettuce out of the salad mix. Service was as expected, nothing to write home about. The location seems to be cursed for restaurants (quizno's, ramen club) - I just hope they stick around so that I can go back. :o) Note: the parking lot is a joke, you're better off parking on El Camino.

    (3)

  • Jen S.

    Another instance where yelp has led me astray. I split the pad thai with shrimp and tofu with a co-worker and was glad I did--because if ordered my own I'd have felt I wasted my money. There was nothing wrong with the texture or quality of the noodles/ingredients. It was just bland, completely tasteless. I thought pad thai was a pretty standard dish to master. Our other co-worker ordered the pineapple fried rice and concurred that sometimes it isn't always a good idea to try something new.

    (2)

  • Purin P.

    As a Thai person, I approve of this restaurant. Excellent tasting food nicely presented. Great service! The waiter is really polite and helpful.

    (5)

  • Aidan D.

    I just had dinner there tonight with some classmates, and I would recommend it. I had their Hot and Sour Soup with fish, which was great...and the smaller-size bowl was enough for a meal. My friend had Drunken Noodles and really enjoyed that, too. The food is elegantly presented, the wait staff are attentive (I don't think my water glass ever got below half full), and the food is excellent. Definitely the best Thai food I've had in awhile, and at a surprisingly low price.

    (5)

  • Mark X.

    Great food, good service, and reasonably priced. Very clean bathroom too! We go here often and enjoy its family friendly atmosphere. My son loves the Pad Thai!

    (5)

  • Mabelle A.

    Great place to go for lunch when you're looking for a taste of thai. Not the best, but overall decent and satisfies the quick lunch craving.

    (3)

  • Luke R.

    The uneven reviews here suggest varying expectations, so let me set yours where they belong: if you want fine cuisine or an "authentic" experience, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for tasty, saucy noms on the cheap, then this is the spot for you. The curries are all good, though if you come here often you will notice that they all taste more or less the same. I like the green curry best, but then I'm a sucker for eggplant. I have never ordered any meat other than chicken, which means thin slices of breast meat that are usually surprisingly tender for a $8 lunch/$10 dinner entree. Unless you are a lumberjack or a glutton, two servings of rice make most dishes suffice to feed a pair. That, plus the quick, friendly service (I have never waited longer than 10 minutes when ordering take-out, and once they brought my food out to me when I waited out front in my car) has made this one of the go-to local spots for the girlfriend and me.

    (4)

  • Kendra F.

    Amazing pad tse eu and drunken noodle. Good service, friendly. Quick service and wonderful decor. Has a fresh feel, and innovative daily specials (such as a curry that contained pumpkin). Worth trying out.

    (4)

  • Sara G.

    Very good place to have a quick meal.

    (4)

  • Jane N.

    Nice, neat, nothing crazy or fancy. What you order is what you get (read the descriptions carefully). Yummy food! My favorite is the drunken noodles.

    (4)

  • H C.

    the 4 starts is just for the food. probably the better thai place in PA for lunch. whenever i feel like thai food this is the place i go. food is good, not greasy. lunch special comes with small soup, salad + egg roll. good size meal for under $10. my only complain would be service. if it's crowded, things will take a while. if it's empty then service is fine. most of the times place is mostly full, but they only have 2 waitresses and it seems like they only have one cook in the back. figures.

    (4)

  • Kristen C.

    Yummy!!! Loved the Coconut Milk Soup. I got it with tofu and it was tasty! Also tried the Pad Thai! Good...not the best but good. Will def be back!

    (4)

  • Chihee K.

    We strolled in a couple minutes before close and they were nice enough to seat us. I wasn't expecting high quality, but boy was I wrong! I ordered basil eggplant with beef and tofu - and it was actually very good. We also ordered the lemongrass chicken, which was fresh and came with lots of steamed veggies. The place is very clean and modern inside too. Will be back!

    (4)

  • Maureen P.

    Boy am I glad I tried this place. Thanks to all of the yelpers who led me here. We had the Country Style Hot and Sour soup to start and it was soooo delicious with a wonderful basil flavor. For the main course I had the Chang Mai with beef and my daughter had the Red Curry with chicken. They were both sooo good. Next time I want to try to Asian Eggplant. The service was friendly and prompt.

    (5)

  • vincy b.

    My coworkers and I had been coming here since they opened the first week. The owner is really nice and is always friendly - plus the food is always good. However, the service has really gone down the hole lately. So much so that we don't come here anymore, which is a shame. It's a clean place with good and cheap food and is a great place for lunch in Palo Alto with small parties. It gets busy at lunch time and the problem is that there are only 2 servers working. To be brutally honest neither of them are really good, or quick, or on the ball. I've been to places that seem like they're understaffed and they just move quick and get orders in, food out, and refill your drinks in a hurry. Unfortunately this is not so here. The last time we went the service was terrible. Trying to just order food took forever. Then waiting for the food took forever. Then trying to get the bill took forever. Then that was it, we haven't been back since. It's a shame really. As others have said, parking sucks. But we've always parked in the alley out back or on the street out front. The wall separating the restroom and the restaurant is also super thin, and hilarity may ensue depending on where you sit and the maturity level of your party. I'd come back in the future, maybe on an odd weekend or during dinner when it's not busy. However, as our once staple lunch place, it's been crossed off the list.

    (3)

  • S P.

    The food is not bad, though some items contain more cabbage than actual meat. They offer brown rice which is great. The service, however, will be their downfall. The staff is very nice and accommodating, when you can actually get one of them to address you. You are seated relatively fast, but then left to your own devices long after you've perused the menu thrice. I actually waited 10-15 minutes to order once. Then its a wait for water or drinks, the food, and the bill. If you are really relaxed and not in a rush, this place isn't bad. The food is ok, not greasy but not superbly amazing either, just ok and for the price it isn't a bad deal at all. But beware if you're going for a business lunch or have to be somewhere afterwards, they are too understaffed to get you in and out quickly and often will serve half the table, with a 10 minute wait before the other half gets served so be prepared. Also the parking stinks, an accident-prone tight-spaced endeavor, walk to it if you can. So all in all a solid 3 stars, I originally had 2 but I still frequent it so it can't be that bad right?

    (3)

  • R L.

    Read this carefully, as I am a Thai fanatic... -Pad Thai was not good. Very dry and bland with thinner than usual noodles. -green curry w chicken was very good as most ppl post, I thought it was very tasty. -sampler platter wasn't good. Fried bland food. -as a comment to what most ppl say about the terrible service: the lady who first greeted us didn't actually greet us, nor did she respond to anything we said. Our actual waitress was very very nice and helpful though. -Tom yum moong should not cost so much either. Oddly high priced soups. Overall: will NOT go back for dinner, might crave the green curry soon though.

    (3)

  • rice r.

    Three of us, we had 1. Appetizer combo (was pretty good, especially the chicken satay) 2. Chicken Pad see ew (pretty good) 3. Duck curry (was okay, duck was fat and sauce a little plain) 4. Lemon grass crispy fish (good presentation, fish is a little tasteless) Attentive service. Nice environment. Will come back again.

    (4)

  • Betty W.

    Yellow Curry to die for!! Panang is fantastic as well. I was out here for a few days and ended up coming here twice because the food was THAT good!

    (4)

  • Scott W.

    I had the red curry and a hot tea, and my friend had pad see ew without the veggies. Mine was good; she needed hot sauce to spice things up, but I don't really hold that against them for a veggie-less noodle plate. Other reports of them charging a dollar for rice are accurate, even though I ordered a curry, which isn't really practical to eat without rice. This strikes me as petty and makes me not want to patronize them again.

    (3)

  • Jerry W.

    Lunch specials include: Salad - peanut sauce dressing The salad was a typical green salad, but the peanut dressing was an A+. And Fried Veggie spring roll - was bland, the only flavor detected was the from the wrappings. And Soup - a very mild hot and sour soup Seafood green curry over rice . Sauce was a bit thin; there was really no complexity to the flavors. The seafood included scallop and mussels. Sweet basil chicken over rice Good flavor, nice mild spicy finish to the dish. My only criticism would be the chicken pieces were not marinated, it would be fine for the thin pieces, but the thicker pieces were not as flavorful. Dish also was made with red & green bell peppers, yellow onions and basil. Note- all 3 items (salad, spring roll and entrée + rice) were served on a single really cute white triangular plate. The Men's restroom was relatively clean, but had an industrial feel to it, that did not match the restaurant's dining areas décor. The dining has a very modern artsy type feel. The walls were dark and there were benches with back pillows along the walls for seating. There is a ample lighting from the widows that ringed the walls. This place would be a good dining place for friends and co-workers to go, but as a romantic dining locale, the windows just will ruin the mood. Watch out for parking....the parking lot along the side of the building have you entering one way and exiting down an ally.

    (3)

  • Chris A.

    The food was quite fantastic, had the green curry chicken, and pad thai, pad thai is rather different here and worth a try. The inside of the restaurant is pleasant, but was quite cold on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and the failure to bring waters after asking twice was a little perturbing. Just finished the leftovers tonight, and they were still delicious, but little details like heat and water, might be make or break for a new restaurant trying to survive on El Camino.

    (3)

  • Julie H.

    Rice is a gem of a restuarant in a low key location in S Palo Alto right on the El Camino Real. Every meal there has been excellent. The Sea Bass Green Curry is amazing. The flavors in all their dishes are sophisticated, yet understated. It's a 'can't miss' low key restuarant that goes toe to toe with Tamarine in DT Paly. Their papaya salad is great. Try the Drunken Noodle dishes. Nothing with dissapoint you. An excellent find for South Palo Alto. Park in the old Blockbuster lot right next to Jim Davis Valero.

    (5)

  • Irene L.

    I dropped by here for lunch right at 11am when they opened. I picked it because it was a Thai place with the best reviews in PA. I The lunch specials are great and decently priced. I ordered the chicken and eggplant and it comes with soup, salad and eggroll. Not bad. My friend had ordered the pumpkin curry which seemed very interesting since I have not heard of it before. We were able to beat the lunch crowd since people started piling in at 12. The only bad thing is lack of parking but I got there early so it was not a problem.

    (4)

  • uber b.

    My in-laws live around the corner and we all eat here regularly (dine-in and take-out) and I've only had great experiences. The food's delightful (great portions, fresh, not greasy), and the service is fine--although the place can be busy at lunch. The parking lot is way too small, and street parking's not great on this stretch of El Camino. Overall, Rice is always a great value. One member of our party is deathly allergic to certain nuts, and the staff at Rice has ALWAYS been totally helpful in making sure that specific dishes are nut-free. Of course we have an epipen handy since this is literally a life-and-death matter, but I really appreciate Rice's attention to detail here.

    (5)

  • may s.

    Best Thai food in palo alto-hands down, but worst service in palo alto as well. After my husband and i waited far too long one to many times, we decided that we will only do take out there. The REd Curry and Drunken Noodles are really good!

    (4)

  • Megan R.

    This place is delicious! The food here has ruined all other Thai food restaurants for me... In addition to the great food, the staff here is very attentive & friendly. We love the Pad See Ew & always order it. The owner remembers this & starts preparing it the second we walk in the door! The Thai Egg Rolls & Rice Pudding are faves too :) If you like Thai food, be sure to check out Rice!

    (5)

  • Chester M.

    Great thai restaurant and loved the food. Found this restaurant on Yelp and the reviews are accurate. I went here with a coworker and the restaurant is easy to find but parking may not be easy. There are 4 spots right before the restaurant so if that is full you will have to park on the street or the other side. We parked on the other side and crossed the street. The place is clean and decorated nicely. There are lots of tables and chairs to fit a lot of people. The decor was simple and pleasing. We were able to order our food pretty quickly. I ordered the Green Curry with Chicken and Thai Iced tea from their lunch menu. The waiter served us a bowl of soup while our food was being made and the soup was yummy. A few minutes later our food was ready just in time. The food was presented really well.My food was served on a triangle plate with salad, an egg roll cut in two, a cup of rice and with my main dish in a bowl. The sides were both delicious and not bland. The green curry was very good and not spicy at all. The vegetables were fresh and still crunchy. I finished all my food except for the rice and it was very delicious. The staff had great service, the decor was good and the food is very good. It's a great restaurant to go to when you want to eat Thai food.

    (4)

  • Michael R.

    My favorite new to place to dine. Have probably eaten here or ordered take out 50 times in the last year. Absolutely addicted to the Red Curry over pineapple fried rice. Just had garlic eggplant the other day. Another super savory dish. Used to be a Quiznos what an improvement !!! Enjoy !!!

    (5)

  • William H.

    This is a nice family run business with a few interesting selections on the menu that are hard to find in Thai eateries in the US. The quality of the food is good, but not great. I would certainly return here for a quick lunch, but would not recommend it as a place for a sit down dinner.

    (4)

  • Lisa S.

    Really good Thai food. I'm tempted to rate it a 5 because it is so much better than any of the other places around (i.e. Thaiphoon - sucks, Krung - mediocre at best, Old Siam - unremarkable). Service is great, the Thai iced tea is very well made, pad thai is yummy, and they put a lot of veggies in their dishes. For example, the roti came with grilled eggplant (awesome!) and the pad thai was chock full of zucchini and bean sprouts. For such a well-balanced meal, the prices are very low.

    (4)

  • Xavier M.

    I decided on a personal boycott of this place. It's not because the food - i'm sure it's still good. Because I specifically said we needed to leave in 45 minutes for a meeting and could we please get the food quickly? OK so we were there at regular lunch hour, it was relatively busy, but come on, what kind of restaurant doesn't help out its lunch regulars now and then? I didn't ask for anything that seemed unreasonable and we go often enough the owner knows my coworkers' food choices by memory. Needless to say we were late for the meeting. Prior to this lunch fiasco, we were contemplating not going as frequently since the service is highly variable - some days it was OK and other days you waited, and waited...

    (1)

  • Jane M.

    This place is like a hidden gem. My husband and I LOVE Thai food, but we have never been more impressed at any other Thai restaurants than the service and quality of food at Rice Thai cuisine. The restaurant exterior is nothing spectacular, so it's easy to miss if you are driving on El Camino, looking for this place. However, the interior is very clean and nicely decorated. The waiters/waitresses we have encountered so far have been kind, cheerful, and helpful. Most importantly though, the food is what makes this place the best Thai restaurant in town. They are very flavorful without being greasy or overwhelming. Portions are pretty good. The presentation is also very elegant. We have tried their pad see-ew, pad thai, mango fried rice, and yellow curry. All of them were amazing. You must try.

    (5)

  • Judy L.

    This is my neighborhood restaurant. Most of my friends live in San Francisco. Whenever we get together in Palo Alto to do fun activities at the museum, theatre, or at the mall, I always bring them here for lunch or dinner. The food is good, service is excellent. My favorites are Chicken Pumpkin Curry. At end of a hard working day, I'd reward myself with a trip to the restaurant, have my pumpkin curry and my favorite dessert; black sticky rice with coconut milk. And of course, Thai iced coffee.

    (5)

  • Juan G.

    Great Thai spot, especially for lunch. I ordered Drunken noodles (delish). Meal came with small portion of soup and salad as well as a spring roll. Not much street parking but there is a free parking lot a couple of doors down. Overall, I highly recommend. Enjoy.

    (4)

  • Jennifer H.

    Not the best thai food I've had in the bay but it's good. The place is pretty small with VERY LIMITED parking, their parking lot can only hold probably 4 cars at most, so it's mostly street parking. I went here for lunch with a group and we had a nice table towards the back of the restaurant. Our group ordered from their lunch specials, which is a smaller version of their menu containing most if not all their rice dishes (curries) and noodle all about 8-12 dollars depending on the meat you get. I got to try their DRUNKEN NOODLE and it was okay. Their portion size is HUGE, their dishes were all pretty big. The noodles itself was kind of bland in my opinion, it could have used more seasoning. I got the noodle with medium spice and i could take the spiciness but that was all I could taste, so I was slightly disappointed. I would definitely try their curries next time I go!

    (3)

  • Greg B.

    Delicious Thai food... I wish I could have tasted it. Not seeing a star (indicating spicy) by the Thai Basil Chicken dish, I asked for it "spicy." In my vocabulary, I meant to ask that it be a bit spicy, as opposed to mild. I did not mean to indicate that I wanted it 10 on a scale of 10. I drank 2 Thai Iced Teas, about 12 glasses of water (seriously), and a whole thing of rice before I admitted defeat and gave up. Seriously, I almost died. Minus two stars for attempted murder.

    (2)

  • Susanna W.

    Unimpressive dinner: 2.5 stars. AMBIANCE: Felt like a pretty wide open space, which was the complete opposite of how Rice Thai's horrific parking lot situation made me feel. FYI there's a tiny lot out front-- if you can't find any spaces there, you have to maneuver your way through an incredibly short and narrow lane to get to a back alley. There are a few spaces to parallel park in the alley, but be prepared to do 100-point turns in order to squeeze your car into a space. It took me quite a while to find and secure a parking spot, and by the end of that ordeal I had a massive headache. SERVICE: Friendly enough... but SO FREAKING SLOW. Everything crawled at a snail's pace; bringing menus, bringing utensils, taking orders... we waited about 10-15 min after we ordered before our waters arrived. The food preparation was also kind of slow for the type of place it is, but wasn't offensively so. A laid back, nothing special meal here took over an hour, and J & I are quick eaters who only ordered 2 dishes. FOOD: - Drunken noodles w chicken ($9.95): The noodles themselves had very good flavor (nice balance of savory, spicy and sweet) but everything else in this dish was BLAND BLAND BLAND. The veggies and meat had no flavor whatsoever, and were slightly undercooked. The noodles however, were a smidge overdone, and ended up slightly mushy. - Green curry w pork ($9.95): Good flavor, nice amount of spicy (medium) which was countered with creamy coconut milk. However, the veggies again were slightly undercooked (the eggplant was borderline raw... not a fan), and detracted from the overall appeal of the dish. - Steamed jasmine rice ($1.25) OVERALL: I found the food to be average; nothing to write home about. It was the service, and the painful parking situation that really knocked Rice Thai Cuisine down a few notches for me. I wouldn't mind returning if someone else suggested it (especially if I didn't have to drive), but I probably won't be back on my own.

    (2)

  • Amanda L.

    Great Thai food! Yummy red curry and the restaurant is clean and the staff is friendly...word of advice get there at 11:30 for lunch :)

    (4)

  • Jenny M.

    Really good every time. I try something new every visit because I have yet to try something here that I didn't like. I really like their version of wonton soup. It is much like the Chinese restaurant version, but with a wonderful peppery kick. I am going to remember this for the next time I have a cold and want some brothy soup.

    (4)

  • Sunni H.

    Pro: Love the lemon steam fish!!! Con: sometimes it's hard to find parking dinner time

    (5)

  • Sara R.

    I think the red curry was a little overpriced for how little chicken came in it, but was pretty yummy. The samosas were pretty burnt but we had this to go so we couldn't mention it. Otherwise it was good!

    (3)

  • Alex F.

    Probably the best food you can get in Palo Alto. I highly recommend the Tom Yum. You can get in and out super fast so I usually end up going on weekdays when I don't feel like cooking and I am always delighted by the food I get. A quintessential hidden gem.

    (5)

  • Diana G.

    I really enjoyed the food here. We started with the green roti, which was absolutely delicious. We shared the basil chicken and the pad see ew, both of which were very good. The service was excellent. I will definitely be back.

    (4)

  • Seán O.

    I usually come here if I am in the mood for pineapple fried rice with beef, but I've had some of their other dishes also. I've also only come here for dinner, so I am not sure if lunchtime is a different experience. I've found their food to be well cooked and flavorful. The service is good, and if you come here often enough they will recognize you and make you feel very welcome. It can get quite busy, but I haven't had to wait for a table yet. Parking at peak times can be a little challenging, but if you're prepared to park across the street on the other side of El Camino, there's usually no problem, at least at dinner time.

    (4)

  • Allison M.

    After a long flight from Chicago, my fiance and I decided to take our taste buds on a trip as well. Also we love Thai food. They seated us right away on a weeknight. The menu looks great, standard expansive Thai offerings with lots for a vegetarian to choose from. I got the Pineapple Curry, and my fiance ordered the Pad Thai-- both with tofu and vegetables. His pad thai came out 5-10 minutes before my curry, which was really strange to us. Also, the portions aren't that big for the price... Plus rice doesn't come with the curry dishes, which was a bit of a surprise to me. But I weigh most of my evaluation on the taste of the food, and Rice Thai had me there. The pineapple curry was delicious... rich and creamy, citrusy... I couldn't stop pouring that sauce over the C-cup dollop of brown rice I unwittingly paid two bucks for. (Although, the tortilla chip stuck in the middle of my curry bowl was a little strange.) Unfortunately, the pad thai wasn't such a hit. The tofu was marinated and cooked in some strange kind of citrusy-vinegar juice that clashed with the peanutty and savory flavor of the pad thai. The peanuts were served alongside the noodles, and peanuts aren't so easy to mix. I have a hard time giving less than three stars for delicious curry-- but it's a pretty tenuous three stars, between the service and the value and the pad thai and the Pepsi and the bizarro presentation choices.

    (3)

  • Annie T.

    Please note: I'd give Rice Thai Cuisine 4 1/2 stars, if I could (not 4). Rice Thai was surprisingly tasty! This restaurant is a good reminder that you can't judge a book by its cover because the location and outside decor (an old small building off the side of a busy street) is misleading! You'd think the food would be mediore, but the food was not only tasty and seasoned to perfection, but also, each dish we ordered was plated in a way I'd only expect in a fancy Zagat-rated restaurant. Beautiful. The kind of dishes I'd want to photograph! I'd definitely recommend this Thai restaurant. My tummy was very happy after eating here!

    (4)

  • Adrian B.

    I come here for lunch, chicken pad Thai, medium spicy. Not one place I have been to could even come close.

    (4)

  • David H.

    Delicious yellow curry and mussaman curry. Friendly staff and quick to deliver your food. It's our go-to Thai restaurant in Palo Alto/Mountain View.

    (5)

  • Noah J.

    Great overall experience. Food is very good and service is super-friendly. Atmosphere is good as well. Just be warned : Spicy food here is very spicy.

    (5)

  • Janice P.

    Wonderful! This is a family-run restaurant and is excellent. Parking is hard so I always park across the street on El Camino. The lunch is a great deal!

    (4)

  • McKelle C.

    I LOVE Rice Thai--they have delicious food and are very friendly! The only downside is parking, it can be kind of hard to find a spot. I recommend the yellow curry! Their to go orders are super fast as well! I love rice thai and don't go anywhere else in the area for thai food!

    (5)

  • Michelle L.

    Came here during lunchtime with a few coworkers. The place can be easy to miss since the restaurant storefront is so small. Also, beware the parking lot is TINY (only about 4 parking spots) and super tight and is adjacent to some house's driveway. Only about 2 spaces for street parking right in front. The closest parking lot would be the Jamba Juice/Valero/Baja Fresh parking lot a few doors down, but beware: it is a private parking lot that is patrolled and they will tell you rudely that you can't park there. Your best bet is to park on El Camino or a nearby neighborhood and walk. Once you get inside though, the restaurant ambiance is very nice and doesn't really match its storefront. We arrived at around 11:45am and were greeted by the owner. Seemed really nice and friendly. They offered lunch specials around $10/plate, I ordered the garlic chicken. And they let you pick the spiciness of your dish for ANY dish, but I opted for no spice. They provided a side of soup if you ordered an entree. Forgot what kind of soup it was, but it was pretty spicy! But good! We had a group of 7, so I thought the food might take awhile, but it did not. We did, in fact, beat the lunch hour rush so perhaps that contributed to it. When the food came out, most of us commented on how big the portions were. The dishes were extremely flavorful and very filling. Most of the rice plate entrees came out with salad with peanut dressing and an eggroll. Eggroll was OK and the salad was actually really good considering I'm not a big fan of peanut dressing; they definitely did not overdo the dressing. Waiter/owner was quick with the check and very pleased with how often they refilled our waters, and sent us off with some peppermint. Good food, good customer service!

    (4)

  • Mitty C.

    I don't frequent Palo Alto as much as I'd like, so naturally, I defer to Yelp for recommendations when it comes to good eats. My lady was craving thai, and Rice Thai popped up as one of the top rated results in Palo Alto. Reading through some of the reviews, we could tell that some of the more recent ones have been pretty mixed. But hey, overall four star still? Definitely worth giving it a try. *Delicious & what'd you expect from a good thai restaurant.* The exterior of the building doesn't look like much; in fact, with just a regular drive by you would miss this restaurant completely since it looks pretty run down from the outside, with the exception of a little cute decors. The interior ambiance though, shifts into a casual but family-intimate ambiance. The service was friendly and the food was delicious, and exactly what you would expect from a good thai restaurant. We ordered the chicken red curry with jasmine rice (rice is an extra $1/bowl), and a chicken pad thai. In all honesty, I use pad thai as a standard to judge the food at thai restaurants. It's because it's such a staple dish, but at the same time, I have had such a HUGE variation on the way pad thai tastes that it's ridiculous. (Have you ever had pad thai that literally tasted like ketchup? Because I have. Yuck.) That and I was craving noodles and she was craving curry. :) We only eyed the chef specialities for half a minute before deciding that none of them seemed worth the detour from our cravings. (Truthfully, they sounded pretty Americanized. And some of them sounded Chinese..and we wanted strictly Thai food.) Reading through some of the reviews here, I think that was probably a good choice on our part. Overall, we had our food come out surprisingly quick (then again, we were having an early dinner so it was just us), and the meal for two came out to be about $20 at dinner price. (Cheap!) Would definitely recommend and would be back here again if I'm in the area craving thai food.

    (4)

  • Matthew H.

    South of Stanford, this is definitely a go to place for Thai. Recently, I had one of their very reasonable lunch specials, the eggplant curry w/ chicken. It came with a small salad, rice, a spring roll and creamy soup. I was impressed with their food, service and decor. Will be back for more!

    (4)

  • Amy M.

    I came to Rice Thai Cuisine when I was in the Palo Alto area for a trip. I had lunch here and they had the lunch special. I believe I had the Chicken Pad See Ew with Thai Iced Tea. It was delicious and cheap too considering that they have a lunch special. It is a cute place to eat at along El Camino Real. I would recommend coming here for lunch since it is definitely worth it!

    (4)

  • Darren O.

    I tried this place out after a bad experience at the local Krung Thai and feeling dissatisfied with Tommy Thai's. The food is delicious and I highly recommend the Massaman curry with shrimp. I would advise that you get here a little early for lunch to beat the crowd. My only negative comment is the parking...there are basically 4 convenient parking spaces and you have to make your way through an alley to exit. If you have a big car or truck you may not make it and will want to park elsewhere. Other than the parking...I highly recommend.

    (4)

  • Steven P.

    Best Thai food around. Always a favorite to drop in. My former director turned me onto this place. Get in early at lunch or you are in for a wait. It is worth the wait.

    (5)

  • Suavecito m.

    The best Thai place in the Palo Alto/Los Altos/Mt. View vicinity. Yes the parking is not great, but there are many places to park around the place. I think my willingness to find parking speaks to quality of the food/service since most places I would rather "pass" on if there was no available parking. Several establishments along El Camino and University Ave. would fit this bill. The service staff is extremely friendly and personable and they have great lunch deals. Great food, service and good prices for the quality of food earn it 5 stars from me. It's not a surprise that this place gets really busy during lunch M-Fri.

    (4)

  • Kevin T.

    Not much parking, but the inside of the restaurant looked nice and clean. Items on the menu were roughly around $11. What I really valued about this place was their plating and food styling. They really made the dishes look pretty upscale. I got the pad thai and it was a pretty big portion in my opinion. Not exactly the best pad thai I've ever tasted, but it was still good and made me happy. I recommend this place!

    (4)

  • Brian S.

    The fact that I haven't Yelped about Rice Thai yet is pure negligence on my part. It's far and away my favorite Thai restaurant in Palo Alto. First, let me rave about the service. I don't go to Rice all that often, and increasingly, I've started ordering takeout rather than dining in. Yet they greet me by name every time I walk in the restaurant, and almost always have recognized my voice or name on the phone and prepared my entrees the way I like. Knowing I love their prik nam pla sauce, they always even throw some extras in without my having to ask. It's like the Cheers of Thai food, so that's a major plus. As for the dishes themselves, I'm a big fan of their Roasted Chili Beef, which if you order it extra spicy *will* try to melt your face off. Their red and green curries are both above average too. The stir fries have good flavor, although they run a bit heavy on the onions and vegetables for my taste. And the coconut soup is better than several I've tried in the Bay area. Prices are a buck or two on the expensive side, and rice is an extra charge at dinner...but neither of those things will deter me from going to Rice when the craving for Thai food hits and I don't feel like driving much further than my back yard.

    (4)

  • Jennifer L.

    Food: Mediocre but better than some Thai places. So far, the best thing I've had there is the Pineapple Curry, everything else was mediocre and not that memorable (e.g. tom yum soup, tom kha soup, mango chicken, sweet and sour pork, drunken noodle, mango sticky rice, crispy fish with lemongrass sauce). Portion: More on the skimpy side. Very skimpy on the meat. Ambience: Family-friendly. Clean and quite modern. Service: Friendly and good enough. Relatively fast. Parking: Scarce. They do have a lot that fits like 3 (or 4 maybe 5) cars with 1 dedicated handicap spot to the right of the restaurant. (oh no! I spilled the beans, now I won't be able to find parking there anymore...). Getting out of the parking lot is a pain though. Restroom (female): SO CLEAN!

    (3)

  • Gary W.

    Excellent food and friendly efficient staff. WOnderful decor. Parking can be difficult at lunch. Extra spicy is Thai Hot.

    (4)

  • Michael H.

    When we lived in San Francisco, our dining goal was to eat at every Thai restaurant in the city. Eventually, we found a few outstanding Thai restaurants, and stopped looking elsewhere. When we moved to the Palo Alto area, we tried out many of the local Thai restaurants, but were always disappointed. For years, we would drive up to San Francisco when we wanted excellent Thai food. Then Rice Thai Cuisine opened, and it rivaled our favorite Thai restaurants in San Francisco! We're regular customers, and highly recommend this place. As at any restaurant, some dishes are better than others, so ask the owner for suggestions. He is very friendly and helpful.

    (5)

  • Tiffany C.

    Boyfriend and I came here for dinner the other night. The place was empty so we were greeted and seated right away by a kind of socially awkward waitress. She seemed really shy and kinda mumbled her words when she spoke. I ordered the birds nest, crispy egg noodles with shrimp, chicken, and veggies. Boyfriend ordered the sweet and sour salmon. Our dishes were served right away, which was nice because we were kind of under a time restraint, so we got to eating. The first thing both of us noticed was that both of our dishes tasted fishy. The salmon seemed to be dipped in batter and fried, and it definitely could have been fresher. Fishy fish equals no bueno. The sauce was good though, as well as the veggies and the pineapple chunks. My dish was fishy as well. The weird thing was the shrimp didn't taste fishy very fishy, although the texture was a bit off for me, but the chicken did taste fishy. And I'm not talking about fish sauce fishy. I'm talking about bad seafood fishy. It kinda made me lose my appetite a bit, although the veggies were fresh and the noodles and sauce were really good. The portions were on the smaller side--we both finished all our food. I think it was more of a lunch portion rather than dinner, but I guess for such good prices you've got to expect less food? Who knows. I'd give it a second chance. It's right around the corner from my house, is reasonably priced, and has great potential. My only suggestion for them would be to make sure their seafood is fresh.

    (2)

  • Marcella J.

    Lunch special is great with soup, salad and spring rolls!

    (5)

  • Angela D.

    Came here with some friends and went family style so we got to try a bit of everything. Pad thai, pad se ew, panang curry, lemon grass crispy fish, roti. Yum yum and yum!!! The pad thai and pad se ew were pretty standard. The roti was delicious and came with a yummy curry sauce. The lemon grass crispy fish came with a beautiful presentation and a yummy fish sauce. The panang curry was the dark horse that won by surprise! It was so flavorful and addictive. So good!!!! Eating here makes me want Thai food all the time!! Yum!

    (4)

  • Param S.

    in brief- bad food with scattered service not deserving of the 4 star average The seasonal steamed fish w lemon sauce was terrible, the fish was not fresh but frozen. Steaming it only toughens a frozen fish. The waitress herself admitted that the frozen trout should be served steamed. To their credit they accepted the fish back. Thai food should be spicy, we asked for the additional spices tray, and they wanted it back in 5 minutes? do they have only one for the entire restaurant?

    (1)

  • Grace C.

    A truly tasty meal - yum. Rice Thai Cuisine is kind of easy to miss as you're driving down El Camino, but I'm glad I finally got to try it. - Green curry: 5 stars - Drunken noodles: 5 stars - couldn't get enough of this one! - Cashew nut with your choice of meat : 4 stars - Pad thai: 4 stars No complaints about service or ambiance. I'll be back!

    (4)

  • Kavita S.

    WHERE ARE THE BEAN SPROUTS?! This is what I asked when we opened our take-out box of pad thai. The pad thai looked extremely bare... I don't even think there was any egg or peanuts. The noodles also tasted too sweet. Definitely had better. We ordered two other dishes- the chow mein (which the hostess recommended) was the best of the 3, and the cashew nut chicken... well, it was decent, but I've also had better elsewhere. The outside of this place is deceiving... after passing by it numerous times, I was convinced that it was a fast-food/take out place based on the tacky, blinking "open" sign in the window and the cartoonish looking "Rice" sign in front. But once you step inside you can tell it's trying to be a nicer sit-down restaurant. Unfortunately, prices match more with the inside.

    (3)

  • Sophia T.

    Good food and service. Portions sizes are decent. The ambiance is nice too. Drunken noodles: Delicious. I just wish the portion size was larger because I could eat two of these. Sizzling duck: amazingly tender, moist and not too fatty. Served on a bed of veges which is nice. Must try if you're a duck lover.

    (4)

  • Rebecca C.

    I wish I could review the actual food but I couldn't even get past the ordering part. Took 30 minutes to get through on the phone for a take out order (they had voicemail on??) and when I did I wasn't sure I called the right place. I was immediately put on hold. When they eventually came back on the line, they started taking my order, talking to several other people at the same time. I tried ordering the house rolls but was immediately told they were not available as it was too busy. I was then put on hold and eventually hung up on. I don't like pad thai enough to try again.

    (1)

  • Melissa M.

    I've been here twice now, and will be coming back time and time again in the (very near) future. A lot of thoughtfulness and care is clearly put into the food - dishes are spiced perfectly, woked plates taste fresh and clean (not drowning in sauce or wilting with too much heat), and the curries are pretty amazing (I love the panang, green and pumpkin). The indian roti is also a nice treat! Dishes may be a touch on the spicy side for some, but just right to me! The staff is really friendly and disarming, and the place is comfortable and inviting. Dining in feels really natural here - the decor is just a touch nicer than eating at home, but not so much to make you feel stilted or overly conscious of being "out". I'm not even quite sure what I mean by this - maybe just that the people and space here put you at ease :) Don't over think it, this is a great place to eat!

    (5)

  • Alice L.

    Came here for take out lunch. Not bad I must say. Prices for their lunch plates were very reasonable and the staff was pretty nice. I loved that they have on site parking, which could sometimes be challenging on El Camino.

    (4)

  • Marc S.

    A nice place for lunch. Inexpensive, fresh and pretty yummy. A few comments: Parking. Park on the street! The alleyway parking is a nightmare to navigate, and not worth the trouble. Find street parking and walk. Appetizers. The Tom Kar soup was nice, albeit slightly on the sweet side. It was rich, had a variety of ingredients [they'll customize to whatever protein you desire] and overall enjoyable. We had some fresh spring rolls. The filling was crisp, flavorful and excellent. The dipping sauces were equally savory and refreshing. The only downside was the actual wrapper. It seemed to be a very thick, pasty wrapper and just was a huge distraction to the rest of the appetizer. I would have rather had a thin, rice-based wrapper. This was simply too thick and likely the worst part of the meal. The drunken noodle main entree was very nice. The tofu was spongy and cooked nicely. The tomatoes were super fresh, and the entire plate was colorful, healthful and filling. Very delicious! Great value for the money. Corkage fee is rather steep [$15/bottle], but we had a nice lunch for two for ~$30, and I was very impressed with the value. Would definitely go back.

    (4)

  • Row Bear F.

    High two stars, couldn't make it to 3. Not great for the Bay Area, yet if you were stuckin rural Nebraska it would be heaven on earth. We go an app and 2 entrees for take out and two rices. Came to $37 with tip. They didn't pack in utensils or napkins, so be sure to ask.

    (2)

  • jess D.

    Food is delicious. Worth giving a try if you're in the mood for thai food and in the area. Ricky, the owner is so friendly and welcoming, he makes the trip worth while coming to eat here.

    (5)

  • Deepak K.

    Generally Thai food should be good at any restaurant you visit. That is the spl of their spices and aroma. So as usual food is ok but not great or any thing spl. Good Luck in finding the Parking and too loudy inside restaurant.

    (2)

  • Ha L.

    The wait is insane for the food to come out. When fellow yelpers wrote about the slow service, they were not exaggerating. Waited about 20 minutes for even my appetizer to come out. Ridix much? Pad thai was a disappointment. Skip that. Pumpkin curry? Sure it was good. I loved their roti the best. Super buttery. Comes out with fried egg plants. The curry sauce that it comes with was tasty. Parking is near impossible. Park in next plaza and walk over. Place isn't big. Wouldn't bring a large party here. Friendly waiters/waitresses, just slow. They were apologetic. Still doesn't help when I'm a hungry bear.

    (3)

  • Laura G.

    I'm sold! why? 2 reasons: 1) can order brown rice 2) dishes are not greasy! fine, 3 reasons: 3) fast, friendly service alright, I have many more reasons: 4) delicious fresh food 5) plenty of vegetarian options 6) pleasant atmosphere 7) reasonable prices We enjoyed the samosas (a little small and overdone), #16 soup, Asian eggplant tofu wok, broccoli tofu wok & green curry tofu on medium-hot spicy level. I'm excited for my leftovers!

    (4)

  • Jessica D.

    I got: Pad Thai lunch plate. I ordered it to go so it didn't come with the soup. It came with salad and egg roll. I also got a Thai iced tea. It was about $13.00. The Pad Thai was delicious (I got it with chicken), not too many bean sprouts and not too many peanuts. The noodles were a little greasy towards the bottom but it was still hot and good. :) The salad sucked, I am not a fan of out of the bag ice burg mix with peanut dressing. Blah. The egg roll was veggie only with vermicelli noodles. Very tasty. The service was fast and great. I had my little puppy waiting in the car, so dude offered to come and give me my order when it was ready! That is great customer service. :) If I am in the area and craving some pad thai, I'd forsure come back.

    (3)

  • Josh O.

    I've been here for two coworker goodbye lunches, and both times the food was very delicious. Get a Thai iced tea with lunch for sure! I love the ordering system for spiciness. I asked for "mild" my first time, and the waiter said that was a 2. A coworker wanted "spicy" and the waiter said that was a 4. So naturally I asked, "what's the highest number?" Waiter: "that would be a 10" I don't know if this requires a waiver like on Man vs. Food, but it was worth a laugh from coworkers. I ordered a 3 the second time for spiciness and thought neither a 2 or 3 was spicy for my curry. I've ordered green curry chicken and pumpkin curry with chicken and thought both were excellent. Lots of great flavor and plenty rich with the coconut milk, but not overpowering. Next time I'll get a 4 (which is tonight). Look ma, I'm growing up!

    (4)

  • Keith E.

    Overall a great experience. Service was courteous and quick. My daughter thought she liked tofu and changed to chicken with no complaints or attitude. Place was very clean, well priced. I am a spice food junkie and the Jalapeno Tofu was extremely spicy. Would definitely return.

    (4)

  • Sai K.

    Yummy and super friendly. Their Pad Thai is one of the best I've had in a long time. My only complaint is that the food takes a million years to come out...but I'd prefer good food that takes a while to cook than crap food that comes out fast.

    (4)

  • John H.

    My family and I have lived in Palo Alto for close to 20 years. We have experienced excellent Thai food over that time. Some more expensive than others. We really like this place. The curries are special. The ingredients are fresh and the flavors are layered. I am surprised by any negative reviews. This place is consistent and has excellent food. The lunch specials are a great value. There are a lot of choices for Thai restaurants and we keep coming back here. The place is clean and the service is excellent.

    (4)

  • Janet B.

    The food was actually tasty and nicely presented. BUT it was one of the most unpleasant experiences I have ever had with regard to service. My friend and I arrived at 6 PM for supper. The restaurant was almost empty and yet it took 15 to 20 minutes before the waiter even came to take our order. We were engrossed in conversation and so it took some time before we finally looked at our watches and realized how much time had passed. It was 7 PM. We had ordered one cup of soup, two bowls of curry, and brown rice. Nothing at all had arrived. I got up and asked our waiter about the food, telling him that we were supposed to be at a meeting at 7:30 pm. He said he would check in the kitchen. Ten minutes later, my friend got up to ask again. Same answer. He suggested that there was some problem in the kitchen. Finally, around 7:20, my friend got her cup of soup. I wasn't that hungry when I sat down, so I hadn't ordered any appetizer. But I was hungry by then. We were beginning to get angry and the waiter just said "I'm sorry." Finally, at 7:30 or shortly thereafter, we got our curries and rice. When we started to eat them, we noticed there was no tofu. I mentioned this to the waiter when I asked him for some more water. He just shrugged his shoulders. My friend has asked for no tofu in her cup of soup, but we didn't ask for no tofu in the curries. We ate our food and it was indeed tasty as I said. But we felt that they should have offered us some sort of recompense for the abominable service. When we told the owner about the missing tofu, he said "But you ate it." We thought they would offer some financial compensation as their apology. But no. And they got mad at us for being angry. So I would absolutely NOT recommend this restaurant to anyone, even if the food is tasty. I have been at many restaurants in many locations in the world and I have never been treated as inconsiderately as we were tonight.

    (1)

  • Conny L.

    Great meals I have tried: Spicy squid salad (perfectly hot, fresh seafood, great taste), Duck Curry (perfect mixture of spice and coconut), and Lemongrass Chicken so far. While I was disappointed with the chicken (which was overcooked and nothing special), the other meals blew me away. Fantastic fresh ingredients and delicious rice. If you come here for lunch, you get a free soup - great taste! For a dessert, make sure to try the coconut sweet-salty sticky black rice. It is to die for. The restaurant is very clean, the decoration is subtle yet stylish. The service was always flawless, and the older male server is the most friendly, funny person. Prices are low, and plates never look too fancy - but still are beautifully plated with vegetable decorations. A nice touch!

    (4)

  • Judy L.

    Loved it! What a great find. It's an unassuming Thai restaurant from the outside, but very nicely decorated on the inside. We ordered from the lunch special menus and everything were delicious. We had yellow curry, chicken satay, and drunken noodles. Lunch specials come with soup and spring rolls. Delicious and affordable.

    (5)

  • Andrew K.

    I really liked the ambiance and decor of this place. Very contemporarily simple, but spacious and clean. The presentation was also fantastic. My table ordered the pad thai, drunken noodles, and yellow curry--all were beautifully presented. My drunken noodles were above average. Good flavor, though the beef was not very good. Not really sure why, but a lot of Thai places seem to really skimp out on the meat quality. I had a bite of the yellow curry and that was pretty good as well. The cons: Parking!!! A tinyyyyy lot, and if you dont find a spot there, you are left navigating your way around back alleys you wound't think exist in Palo Alto. Also, the service was a bit slow, given the fact that there was only 1 waiter when we were there. Hopefully they hire more staff during peak hours.

    (4)

  • S M.

    I've only had takeout but it's been really good. It's the same menu you'd find at any takeout Thai place, nothing super special, but the meats were cooked well without any funny bits and the people working there are nice. The last time we went they were craaaazy busy and our take out order took about 45 minutes longer than expected. It was fine, we just walked around and came back, but people seated in the restaurant were pretty annoyed. I don't know if it was like a one time thing, maybe someone was sick, but it was definitely a long wait.

    (4)

  • Kirill Z.

    This place is great. Yummy food and friendly service. We come here at least once a week.

    (5)

  • Ben T.

    Sea bass Curry was good enough that I polished it off! There wasn't much of a crowd to speak of, however it was still early.

    (4)

  • Sean M.

    I've had a few different entrées here but none of them measure up to the Sea Bass Green Curry. That stuff is like candy. Savory curried candy. The service, though, is hit-or-miss, and I've noticed a slight decline over the last year and a half (I've been about six times). Maybe I'm imagining things.

    (3)

  • Lis B.

    I've been to Rice for lunch several times and I think that it has good bang for the buck. I also like it better than any of the other Thai places in the vicinity, or even in downtown Palo Alto. The lunch specials, in particular, are a great value - a ton of food for about $8. You get soup, salad, a small spring roll, rice and your entree. Green curry, basil, and green beans (all with chicken) were excellent. The food is flavorful, but not overly spicy, so if you're looking for fire, you may be disappointed. I've tried two of their soups - the coconut and the hot & sour. I don't love hot & sour soup, but the coconut soup was good. Waitstaff are friendly and efficient. I'm not in love with the seating. The banquettes are hard wood, with a tiny pillow propped up behind you for cushion (I ended up sitting on mine), while the chairs are a bit minimalist. One good thing is that the place is large enough for bigger groups (6-8 people) to be seated together without imposing on smaller groups of customers. The decor is fine - nothing to write home about - and the place looks a bit spartan. Parking is also a disaster. If you don't get one of the four spots in their "lot" in an alleyway North of the building, you're stuck scrounging for street parking or worse, trying to park in the Jamba parking lot a few blocks down. This is the one true negative about this place.

    (4)

  • G L.

    Food is salty overall, you will need a lot of rice and ice water for your meal. Service is extremely poor: 1. Called two times to confirm reservation and they still didn't have it when we arrived. 2. Lack of utensils, asking extra forks for severing, and they refused to leave us extra because they have limited quantities. 3. When we try to order more rice during the meal, we were ignored. Since we had a party more than 8 people, they automatic charged us 15% tips, which I think that is ridicules. The service is worse than any fast food place

    (1)

  • Nguyen P.

    I come here every now and then because it's close to my work. Delicious: samosas and soft shell crab. The usual dishes like curry, pad thai, drunken noodles, and pad see ew are decent - definitely better places in the bay, but worth getting for a craving. Parking is limited. Service is hit or miss depending on how busy they are.

    (3)

  • Mary Ann M.

    This rating is for the shrimp pad see eww: I've only been here once and I feel like it's enough to rate this restaurant. My friend took me here for lunch and they served me one of the best pad see eww dishes I've ever had. It tasted just right and most importantly - not too greasy. They gave about 6-7 pieces of shrimp with it, two egg roll halves and salad. Not a bad meal for $9.50. The noodle portion is smaller than what usual Thai places would serve, but I also appreciate that for the purpose of avoiding over-eating! My new favorite Thai lunch spot in Palo Alto!

    (4)

  • Alan G.

    So far, this is my favorite Thai restaurant around the office (Palo Alto, CA). Great food, service and experience for a work day lunch. Parking can be a challenge, but that's not too unusual around this area. Soup and spring rolls are incredible! Solid selection of lunch meals to choose from. Well worth a visit, if you love (or even looking to try) Thai food.

    (4)

  • Orla Rose B.

    I moved to SF from Palo Alto almost a year ago and I STILL haven't found a Thai take-out that comes close to Rice Thai on El Camino. - The Tom Yum soup is just absolutely fantastic. I can't come in here without ordering it, regardless of how much other food I'm getting. - Drunken Noodles: delicious - Green Curry: The best I've had in the Bay Area, and he'll add extra thai eggplant, which some places in the city don't even include (!) When I was still in school, my parents HAD to come here everytime they came to visit, sometimes directly from the airport. Senior year my friends and I were easily in here once a week. It's certainly not the nicest place you'll ever visit, but for a reasonably priced, efficient and delicious Thai meal it's the best. If anyone can suggest a Thai delivery in SF that comes anywhere close to this old favorite I will be eternally grateful!

    (5)

  • Ladan M.

    Tried the Pad Thai and Bangkok Chow Main... The Pad Thai was with thin noodles, and didn't have the typical Pad Thai taste to it. Something seemed a bit off. Not sure if this is their specialty or if they just like doing things differently than all the other Thai places I've been to... The Bangkok Chow Main was good, had plenty of vegetables and the thick noodles. All in all, this place was decent--quirky decor, looks like they were trying to be upscale on a tight budget. The staff was friendly and attentive. So, I might give the place a try if I'm back in the area and craving Thai food that is different from the pack...

    (3)

  • Kim N.

    I totally remember this as a ratty taqueria that happened to serve pretty good tripitas tacos back in the day. My how things have changed. That place was a shithole and looked slightly offputting. Rice looks super sleek and clean. Got their blanket shrimp starter and my usual roast duck curry for lunch. Solid all around. Even in south Palo Alto you'll be paying a bit of their rent prices but this place is pretty tasty and definitely one of the better Thai joints in the area

    (4)

  • Divya R.

    Awesome food. Loved the DRUNKEN NOODLES. Decent place too. Service is not that great. Sometimes they rush through the order.

    (4)

  • Bryant C.

    I don't know why there is so much hype about this place/why it's rated so high. The food was mediocre but pretty pricey for the quality. The service was pretty bad--It took 10-12 minutes for me to get a spoon, fork, and napkin. They charge you for rice. They do have a brown rice option. The food was pretty bland. The curry was watery. The peanut sauce was very watered down, and they only put a very tiny bit with our chicken skewers. The pad-see-ew was loaded with vegetables and very bland. The wait for a table is pretty long, but I don't understand why. I would not recommend this place.

    (2)

  • IceSnow N.

    This place is totally over-rated !! Food is expensive as compare to it's food quality and ambiance... Taste of food - too average, nothing special about it; and everything is on the salty side ... Decor and ambiance - not so good either ... very plain with minimal decor... Parking lot is a pain, there is parking space for like only 4 cars... Most important of all - Service was Poor !! There was only very few customers there, but it was very slow... and the worst thing was their unfriendly attitude... Conclusion: Unimpressive 2.5 stars....

    (1)

  • Vinitha R.

    Decent place for fast take out. The chicken massaman curry and the veggie pad thai were both flavorful and good for a quick meal. A little over priced for the quality of the food.

    (3)

  • Megan M.

    Would not recommend going with a large party. We were ten, ended up getting stuck for two and a half hours on a Thursday evening as they quickly serviced all the tables around us. Took a half hour to order, they brought out the food over the course of ten minutes, then wouldn't service for the check. The food was good but the service was so so so slow!

    (1)

  • Tanvi B.

    Stay away from this place. The staff attitude is horrible and the owner is RACIST.I have never been to a restaurant with such bad service. As soon as we entered we were informed that the kitchen would be closing at 9:30. Ok....we gave our entire order as soon as we could. But the owner kept meddling and reminding us to hurry up.He even cleared out my friend's plate before she was done! We were appalled and so did not leave any tip in protest. The owner demanded 10% tip."He got racist and made comments about our ethnicity" Even after adding some tip, he kept demanding for more. I have never seen this kind of insulting behavior in any restaurant.

    (1)

  • Manodeep S.

    Never disappointed with this place. One of the few places in south bay where you can get amazing thai food variety for attractive prices. Their service is amazing, always courteous, quick. Ambiance is neat, food is delicious. Have been dinning in as well as getting take outs atleast twice a month from this place. If you work/live in Palo Alto, do visit them for lunch on weekdays for that amazing Lunch combo deals

    (4)

  • Christopher L.

    Went with Drunken Noodles. It's basically a pad see ew and pad kee mao mix to me, but really good nonetheless. Rice Thai does a good job of cooking the rice noodles to the perfect tenderness. The flavors are wonderful and the ingredients taste fresh, not just thrown in for looks. This place also does a good job of not overcooking the meat. I would like to come back to try more things. Prices and portions are about average for what I got.

    (4)

  • Danny Y.

    Modern design and well spaced seating arrangement. Good enough spacing so you're not listening in on other tables' conversations. Appropriate for families, groups, and dates. There's a ~4 car parking lot on the rear of the building. You might miss it the first time trying to navigate to Rice Thai (as we did). If you search google maps, it's right between the happy donut and the rice thai location. Reasonable wait time for food for a small group. Can't-mess-up type of curry, big portions, and solid-as-a-rock beef. Given the decent price, Rice Thai will fulfill most thai cravings and fixes.

    (4)

  • Felicity Y.

    Best Thai food I've had in the Bay Area! (I've been to a couple of places in Palo Alto and Mountain View). Portions are pretty standard compared to other Thai places but the flavour is definitely on a whole other level! I recommend the Coconut Noodle Soup and the Drunken Noodle. Their curries are also good but pretty similar to other Thai places. Service is friendly and the wait time depends on the amount of people there. When I went during lunch time, it took around 20 mins to get served but when I was one of the only people there, it was less than 10 mins.

    (5)

  • Camila L.

    TL;DR: Mediocre food, slow service. I made lunch reservations for our large group, hoping the restaurant would be prepared. Nope. There was one person working in the tiny kitchen, one host/waiter, and one busboy/waiter. Our entrees took at least 40 minutes to arrive, so everyone had to scarf down their lunch to make it back to work. One person couldn't afford the wait and had to leave before her lunch arrived. Although food was presented nicely, it was just okay. My massaman curry was watery, lacked complexity, and was strangely sweet.

    (2)

  • Brittany C.

    Palo Alto admittedly doesn't have great Thai food, so Rice doesn't have much in the way of competition, but I actually think this place is legitimately quite good. It's not located in downtown, so you're more likely to see locals than tourists hanging out here. It's a good "go-to" spot for Thai food and it's not too crowded, so you won't need to wait. Lunch is a good time to go to Rice, because there's some kind of lunch special for entrees that comes with rice, salad, and spring rolls. (Now that I think of it, I think I may have come for lunch every time I've visited, so I have no experience with the dinner menu.) I think the curries are very good, particularly the green curry. Portions are generous and prices are not bad (again, especially at lunch). A lot of people seem to take issue with the service, but I've always found the service to be pretty good. Attentive, refills your water, not rude or rushed. Of course, it may help that a few of my friends are regulars. This is a local gem, popular among the high school students and families who live nearby, but not a hyped-up place that draws crowds. Worth a visit if you're in the area and want some affordable and tasty Thai food.

    (4)

  • Kelly S.

    The best Thai on the peninsula. Try their salads, especially trout or eggplant, and pumpkin curry. Their spicy is Thai spicy. We like spicy food, but usually order medium/spicy (~7). If asked, they do make non-spicy and very flavorful dishes, just like our friends who don't eat hot food like.

    (5)

  • Debbie D.

    Came here at 830PM on Tuesday with my friend. I ordered drunken noodle and she ordered the duck curry. Food came pretty fast so thats good. My drunken noodle was soo dry and the noodle was so big i have to cut it before i take a bite lol AND i had to literally use my friend's curry duck sauce to make it less dry :( On the other hand my friend thought her duck curry was very diluted, tasted like water sighhh and 13 bucks didn't even come with rice!! +2 bucks for brown rice. She was complaining the whole time lol sorry we a bunch of alcheapo here Total bill was 29 dollar, super priceyyy, me no likeyyy! Service was good but food and $ is a no-no!

    (2)

  • Tyler H.

    Such an easy problem to solve, but they have not solved it. They have two people who are waiting all of the tables, bussing/cleaning them, acting as front desk host, and answering the phone for takeout orders. The way that math works out, my friends, is slow, stressed-out, and surly service. Order delivery was choppy. We had to ask for plates. Had to then get an additional plate (via self service...I just got my own not waiting again to get the attention of the waiter), since they gave us 2 plates for 3 people (eh?). Water was always empty waiting for refills. Water that they did give was pretty lukewarm with no ice...and the restaurant didn't seem to have functioning A/C. When we wanted to leave, we waited forever for the check to arrive. It never did, so for the second time, I had to get up for service and go to the front desk to pay. I stood in line waiting for our waiter to take a phone order, package a takeout order, resolve the bill of another disgruntled customer, and fix a problem for another takeout order. He was flustered, and I don't really blame him. How was the food? Well, no food is worth experiencing the above, I'm afraid. 2-stars might be a touch on the generous side. Oh yeah - parking is also definitely a problem here, and even if you get a space in their lot, the exit is a bit dodgy.

    (2)

  • Ashley W.

    I ordered take-out from here on my way home from work one evening. Ordered the shrimp spring rolls and the red curry. Both hit the spot and were very tasty! The service was good and food came out pretty quick. I did not dine in, so I cannot speak to that, but my experience was a pleasant one :)

    (4)

  • Shanise L.

    I have to start off by saying that the customer service here is amazing!!! I ordered the pad thai and it's really good! Now I do think it is on the pricy side but what's not pricy in mountain view. Also try their chicken drunken noodle it is the bomb!

    (5)

  • Lainey L.

    Came here at 4:30pm on a weekday. Walked in and it was totally empty :) They have daily lunch special until 3pm so we just missed it :P I ordered the drunken noodle with chicken and bf ordered the green curry with shrimp and a side of jasmine rice. Food came out about 10 mins later which is pretty fast! Portion was huge! Looks and smells yummy as well. Good quality with amazing flavor. I love the drunked noodle since they use the super wide noodles. The green curry is good as well but it's a little watered down. Only if it's a little bit thicker. But it has good flavor. We couldn't finish our food so we take the rest to go. We also ordered another order of jasmine rice for the left over curry. When we asked for a bag they said they have to charge $.10 for it. Overall it's very good Thai food. Will be back soon to try other items!

    (4)

  • K N.

    Food not that great. Ate here twice. I've had better Thai elsewhere. We had a variety of dishes...pad Thai, basil chicken and Panang. Nothing was good. It was edible, but not pleasurable. Not coming back. Parking was also non existent.

    (3)

  • S B.

    Best thai food in the area. I live a block from the restaurant and it is my goto place for food pickup. The guy who owns this place is amazing, friendly and gives the right recommendations. The prices are reasonable and the waiting time is less. Overall a very good restaurant. P.S. Try the coconut juice they prepare. It is amazing.

    (5)

  • Su Lin Y.

    Food is always pretty good, but service is incredibly bad every time we come. Asked for ice twice from the same person who apologized for forgetting, but the ice never came. Asked for our check from a waiter who looked very lost, was already holding a check, and asked him if it was ours, and he nodded but took the check away. Waiter also had his finger in my rice as he was carrying it over, had a grain stuck on his finger as he was leaving. It was kind of funny, but disturbing. The food is decent, but with the service at this level, 2 stars.

    (2)

  • Claire G.

    Love me some Rice Thai!! Their coconut rice is so unique and even more delicious. Very friendly service. Really easy pick-up ordering. GREAT quality of food! Great tasting and beautiful presentation. Duck Fried Rice is my fav dish, and my boyfriend loves the Yellow Chicken Curry with a side of coconut rice! The egg roll options are delicious as well! They do such a great job. Parking is a MAJOR issue -- in that area in general. So if you can walk, I advise it :)!

    (5)

  • June K.

    Food is overly sweet at this restaurant. Also I found parking extremely difficult. One of my friends parked her car in the neighboring parking structure (next to Vallaro gas station). And her car got towed!!!! Overall, not a good experience...

    (1)

  • Devin H.

    This was the worst pad thai I have ever eaten. It was expensive, so I was excited for it to be good. The noodles were tasteless, the sauce was tasteless, the broccoli was overbooked and the carrots tasted like they had been frozen. Overall a surprisingly boring dish when I was expecting something exciting.

    (2)

  • Jan Q.

    I like the interior, nicely decorated. I got the pad thai and it was pretty good. My friends and I keep coming back here when we are craving some good thai food. It is just a few mins from Stanford and even though the lot is small, there are always parking spots in the area or across the street so it's not a problem. It's a sit-in restaurant so not the place to go if you are in a hurry.

    (4)

  • Oliver W.

    It is ok, but I ate better red beef curries in the world. The beef was not fresh, the milk was not creamy enough and the service in not like Thai based. Little bit unprofessional.

    (3)

  • Didi S.

    Since I moved from San Francisco I was not able to find a Thai restaurant that i like in this area. And then I discovered Rice. Their food is delicious and looks beautiful. Portions are generous. My favorite dish is Asian eggplant with shrimp, which always comes with super tender shrimps and eggplant and other colorful and delicious veggies. Their Pad Thai and Pad See-U are excellent so is the Chicken satay. The quality of food is very consistent. Service is very friendly, but sometimes can be slow. I can see that this might be a turn off for some customers. I go there just for food, so this does not impact overall experience. Strongly recommend.

    (4)

  • Diana N.

    Food: Rice Thai's lunch special is great. For $8.95 you get a small bowl of soup, a sizeable serving of your entrée, small salad with peanut sauce, and an egg roll. I ordered the pad Thai which I have no major complaints about except that it didn't come with lime and the crushed peanuts were clumped together. The Thai tea was $4. Parking: parking is extremely limited so do not caravan here with everyone in the office. I came with a group of 5 and we were glad we squeezed into one car. If you see street parking on El Camino near Happy Donuts during lunch time, just take it. Rice Thai only has 4 parking spots a few random parallel spots in the alley that connects to Happy Donut's lot. Service: extremely limited. There were only two staff members on the floor so attention was lacking. Our group stood at the door for several minutes while they passed us without being told anything. During my meal, I wanted to ask for the spice rack but the server never came by until I was almost finished with my lunch anyway. All-in-all, Rice Thai is a no frills place that's good for lunch you go in a very small group and are not in a rush. Don't underestimate the importance of the latter factor since parking is such a pain and servers are not attentive-lunch will take you well into an hour.

    (3)

  • Tic T.

    First time here, got there at 11am when they opened, the venue was vry nice and clean and quaint, parking on side of restaurant which is nice, the server/ owner? Rushed us to order even though we were the only table for a good hour. That is the reason for 4 stars, food and presentation and taste would be 5 stars for me, the pumpkin curry was delish, rice as cooked perfectly, loved the coconut noodle soup and the papaya salad was fresh and delish too, the fried banana with ice cream was soo good, not crispy or greasy but perfectly soft yet firm, would definitely recommend this place to friends and would come back again.

    (4)

  • Pablo N.

    I've had a lot better. For a Thai restaurant out of the dozens in the area I think it was ok for a quick bite, but I wouldn't try to impress anyone bringing them there. The service was nice and they were super attentive, but the entrees were not spectacular. We were the last to leave and they didn't say a word until we were ready, which was nice. I hope they can bring it up a notch since I'd really like to go back if they do.

    (3)

  • Phoenix P.

    chicken satay salad -awesome and huge. Pineapple Fried Rice a winner ! Three times this week. Service is wonderful and portions are more than generous.

    (5)

  • Liz P.

    Hands down the best Thai food I have ever had. I could honestly eat here once a week and feel great about it. Their Mussaman curry is seriously out of this world. Phenomenal. Chicken satay, vegetable rolls and mango sticky rice are also a must. I tried the pad Thai and wasn't very impressed with it. The main downside is their service isn't the best so my husband and I have been getting take out almost every time we go. They give you plenty for leftovers too! Don't forget to order rice! Most Thai restaurants I've been to have rice included. Theirs is extra.

    (5)

  • Sean B.

    Super "meh". It looks like a Waffle House that someone slapped a coat of paint on, then decorated with a $100 budget from a thrift shop of Asian "art" from a bad part of Chinatown. Food was really sub-par. Soup was sour and there was... I don't know... sediment on the bottom of the cup that was unpleasant both tactile-and-flavor wise. The noodle dishes were uninspired, the eggrolls frozen and the salad bland. Pretty much the most blah lunch I've had in months. Just... weak...

    (1)

  • Michelle A.

    Come here for the lunch specials! They're a great deal - salad, an egg roll, soup, and a main dish that was plenty big enough to eat for lunch and save a hefty portion for dinner. I had the drunken noodles and they were quite delicious.

    (5)

  • Amy H.

    I have been to many Thai restaurants and this one is just whatevers. It is located in Palo Alto and when I yelped thai food in PA, not much showed up and if they do, they were rated so low. I guess that is what I should have expected but I thought it would be fun to eat in PA for once. Parking in their lot is extremely limited (maybe only 6 spots) so you have to park on El Camino and that can be tough too so you may have to walk a block or two. I came on Saturday around 7pm and was seated immediately. By looking at the demographic, I thought this place probably wasnt the best because there were no Asians and you know if the target demographic doesnt eat there, then it probably isnt authentic. I didnt have high hopes for this place so I thought I would try a dish I have seen in many Thai restaurants. I got the drunken noodles and they were literally like pad see ew but with some tomato chunks in it. If anything, I prefer pad see ew over that since it was average and there were barely any broccoli. The chicken was tiny and tough as well. My sister got this "curry" and it was literally like a soup. It wasnt thick like green curry but it was a liquid soup with some veggies and tofu in there. It tasted tangy and lemony and it was overall just not good. She mostly ate from my dish since hers was a disappoint. **TIPS** 1) I would just skip Thai food in PA in general and drive further south or north for something decent. 2) Good luck with parking in that area. At least it is far away from downtown PA.

    (2)

  • Melissa T.

    I once loved this establishment and thought it was the best Thai food that I had had in the bay. The lunch special was a good deal with a good soup and delicious little fried egg rolls. The pumpkin curry was amazing and I thought I'd never find better. Ever since my first meal there in December 2013, it has continuously slid in service and now food quality. I've gone back about five different times - service is now extremely slow, from seating to ordering to receiving orders. Food is made in a rush, so my curry in my last experience was tasteless and the pumpkin wasn't cooked through. I've gone three times for dinner and service is much worse (ie. slow and unapologetically so) at night than lunch. I've gone in once about 40 minutes before closing and was told they would only do takeout. That, along with the terrible parking situation, leads me to say I've given up on Rice

    (2)

  • Katherine S.

    I was staying in the Stanford area over the last few days, and ate here 2 nights in a row for dinner. Granted I only got 1 thing (pad-see-ew with chicken), but it was YUMMY! The noodles were thick and the chicken was well seasoned and tasty. I really liked the sauce here compared to other thai places. Also, prices are fair and service is quick. Overall I am a fan, but can't really give more than 4 stars because I haven't tried anything else.

    (4)

  • Denise L.

    Another excitingly average lunch spot in Palo Alto. Spiciness shouldn't be the only criteria for tasty food. "Mild spice" here seems to mean "super bland." I usually appreciate the bold flavors of Thai food without it having to be very spicy, but I was not able to do so in this case. Answer me this: Why is it so difficult to find SLAMMIN' Thai food in the South Bay? FOOD: ---------- * Pad See-Ew with Chicken - Pan fried rice noodle that could have a little more of that dark, rich flavor. There was just the faintest hint of soy sauce. * Mussaman Curry - Decent curry dish with coconut milk, potato, onion, and peanut. We ordered the dish mild, and it came out with hardly any flavor. They shouldn't be relying so heavily on the chili spices to be the only flavors. * Spring Rolls & Soup - Most dishes come with spring rolls and a small bowl of soup, but for some reason the Pad See-Ew does not. They were nice enough to bring us two bowls. The spring rolls are crispy and light, while the soup has a nice kick to it and possibly the most flavor of anything here. Check out a photo of the above dishes. yelp.com/biz_photos/rice… Prices are reasonable (about $8.50 per dish, add $1 for shrimp, $2 for seafood), but the portions are pretty small. I was hungry within a few hours. SERVICE/AMBIANCE: ------------------------------- Not too quick, but not horribly slow, either. Gets really jam packed during lunchtime. Your standard lunch spot, with nothing really standing out. It's a good thing that nothing stands out in a BAD way. PARKING: -------------- Good luck finding a spot! The parking lot gets unreasonably full, and there isn't much street parking nearby. The surrounding lots are reserved for other establishments. TIP: Score parking in front of the doughnut store and get some sweets for appetizers! I like their donut holes. :)

    (3)

  • Tonia D.

    I had no clue this place even existed and it is right along El Camino. Walked in to Rice with a 10 coworkers for lunch last week and we got a table right away. For lunch, the portions are quite large. I had Pad See Yew , a spring roll, salad and soup and I believe it was all for $9, and it fed me for lunch the next day. It is a great lunch deal and this is now our affordable Thai lunch option at work.

    (4)

  • R P.

    Very good. I recommend drunken noodles. Very casual and the flavors aren't super sophisticated but it tastes great.

    (4)

  • Tom T.

    Rice Thai is okay. Nothing fancy. However with the amount of other Thai restaurants in the area, this will probably be the last time I get food from here. The green curry was delicious, the crispy duck was way too dried out and the pad thai had a weird taste to it. Don't get me wrong, Rice Thai is not bad, I Just had better.

    (2)

  • Dimples P.

    3 starts because even though the food was great, the service was...... not good. felt like they were racists. We came in and sat before these two caucasian females. They took their orders first when we were there 5/10 minutes before. Had to wave down the waitress for more water. They need customer service classes. I'd still come back for the food

    (3)

  • Yann M.

    green curry! papaya salad!!!! OMG!!! I got a eating frenzy there!!!!

    (5)

  • C. J.

    Totally average americanized style Thai food. Think of all the thai restaurants you have been to that haven't been great, haven't been bad, and aren't totally memorable? That's this place. Great spot for a decent meal, but nothing special. Service is friendly. Prices pretty cheap. When I'm in town for business I'll come here for something quick and easy.

    (3)

  • Mike B.

    We visited this place for a team lunch and it was an enjoyable experience but with a few "foibles" along the way. PROS: - Great food. - Polite staff NEUTRAL: - Somewhat limited menu - Limited parking CONS: - It took upwards of 10-15 minutes to get menus AFTER we were seated.

    (3)

  • Angela L.

    So the last two times I came here it was just okay. Did they change the cook? We ordered the Drunken Noodle and the Ginger Beef last night and it was kind of bland. I was so disappointed as this was my favorite local Thai spot. Last time we were here we ordered the massaman? curry. It used to be thicker, now it's like it was watered down, but still flavorful. Then the soft shell crab was kind of soggy. I think I'm going to try somewhere new first.

    (3)

  • Frank S.

    Delicious take-out from this restaurant! We first had vegetable samosas and Blanket Shrimp appetizers, both very tasty and delicious. For dinner, we ordered Yellow Chicken Curry and a Penang Curry with Tofu, and both were simply delicious and delightful. Well flavored, filling but not too heavy, fresh tasty ingredients. You get your choice of jasmine rice, brown rice, or "sticky" rice. Highly recommended. Parking is a bit difficult, so we usually do take-out here, but if you can find parking, they have plenty of room to eat in as well.

    (5)

  • Annet D.

    This is our neighborhood Thai place and we love it. Our favorite dishes are the Yellow Curry Chicken, Asian Eggplant and Pad Thai. The appetizers are wonderful, too. The restaurant is family-owned, and we have found the service to be excellent. It can get busy on weekend evenings, so for a quieter meal, try a different night, or go for lunch. I highly recommend it! The reason for four starts is that the best Thai food I've found is in Thailand itself. But Thai Rice is an excellent - local! - alternative.

    (4)

  • Ben G.

    Food very good. Drunken noodles with chicken- wow! Green beans were also a highlight. Atmosphere is nice and lively. Service is kind and fairly quick

    (4)

  • T. S.

    Great food. The whole family loves it! Parking is a challenge, but it doesn't stop us from coming back over and over again....

    (5)

  • Shelley B.

    Rice Thai has better curries than Lotus Thai, but Lotus wins on the roti. The red curry with tofu is really excellent and a take out staple for me! Limited parking.

    (4)

  • Ashley C.

    Me and my husbands favorite thai food! Good amount of food for the price. Recommeded: crispy parsel appetizer ( wonton wrappers filled with cream cheese and served with sweet dipping sauce) any of the coconut soups, house salad (light fresh and filling!) and the red curry *love it with shrimp* full of flavor and with a spicy kick! Also try the coconut water for something refreshing!

    (5)

  • Reid P.

    I really want to rate this higher! The staff was very friendly, the restaurant is comfortable and cute. The portions are generous. And the price is cheap. But... The taste of the food is average. The Pad Thai dish I ordered tasted like greasy fried eggs. Maybe I came in on the cook's off day, I'll give the person the benefit of the doubt and try one more time before I move on.

    (3)

  • Monica L.

    Seriously....who now a days has a $20 requirement for credit charges!? =O LAMEEEE!! Its a good thing I went to the bank and pulled a $20 out before having lunch with my friend or Anita and I would have been washing dishes right now. =/ So decided to meet up with an old friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in a while working in Palo Alto today. This place is very cute and I love the decor. They have a bench running along the back with pretty plush pillows to use as back support. Food here is really affordable which is a plus! $7.99 for my green beans and tofu in chili sauce. This included a small cup of soup and a really pretty triangular platter with rice, salad, egg roll and the main entree. Servings are very generous here. Anita had the Drunken Noodle with veggies and tofu. I thought my dish was good....nothing fabulous but good quality food. The bill came to $17 for the both of us...what a deal!! I pulled out a $20 and Anita decided to pay her portion with her debit card. Gentleman told us that there was a $20 limit for card transactions!???? Huh???!! What a huge letdown! My thoughts on this place went down the toilet after hearing that. No big deal though.....I treated Anita for lunch with my $20 and we went on our way. Food: 3 stars Service: 3 stars (my friend asked for no ice with her water and they brought her out water with ice....not listening!) Parking: What parking??!! Good luck finding some! One less star for the $20 limit for cc transactions....LAME! C'mon people this is Palo Alto...who carries cash these days!!??

    (2)

  • Cory L.

    I eat here about once a month for lunch. Always really good. You can't beat $10 bucks for a large lunch portion with salad, soup and a spring roll.

    (5)

  • Jennifer B.

    The Pad Thai is really, really spicy. No, not "burn-your-insides" spicy, but "dropped-an-entire-jar-of-paprika-on-your-meal" spicy. The entire plate felt gritty, and all I could taste was the overpowering red spice. A bummer considering it's the closest Thai place to downtown Los Altos :(

    (2)

  • Sophie B.

    I went there with my sister for a last dinner together before she moves out of CA to relax and enjoy the last night. The waitress was VERY rude. We ordered a curry and asked to have the spiciness in mild level. She brought a very hot spicy dish, when we reminded her, she took the dish without saying " sorry" just changed the soup around the meat/vegetables and brought the same thing back. She was also very late in attending our tables while there were not many people in the restaurant. When we asked to box the remaining of the dinner, she brought the boxes to the table, poured things into boxes on our table while dropping forks and plates on the table with so much noise. The guy at the door was not polite too. I live 2 blocks down and LOVE Thai food but will never go there again

    (1)

  • Ra'ed E.

    We went there last night for dinner, the food was great, the green Curry with bread rocks...the Green beans were precious, the Chicken Hot-Pot was also very good, however the glazed fish was just ok, I wish they still had the whole fish style rather than the new cut up pieces. Service could be a bit better, only the owner and a young helper toc lean the tables, so it was a bit slow, but overall I would definitely go again for the food.

    (4)

  • Nina T.

    LOVE IT!!! I knew I would. I don't know how but I knew it. It was really a surprise when I walked in there. I thought it would be a whole in the wall spot because it looked so small from the outside. BUT NOPE!!! This is definately a business lunch, friends lunch, romantic date spot. I think my meal came to like $9 but WHOA it's big!!! I just ate left overs today. It came with a spring roll, salad and pad thai. I asked for extra spicey and extra peanuts and it was done perfectly. I couldn't believe how many noodles they packed into that little box. I scooped it onto a plate to mix it bettter and the plate was over flowing. They have a good choice of items on their menu and I can't wait to go back. My two negative comments are: 1 - $20 minimum credit card charge 2- The salad had peanut sauce on it and it was good but a lot of peanut sauce... actually I did like it so I really have no idea why I'm listing this under my negatives. LOL so ok only one negative. I'll make sure to take pictures next time. Which should be next week HE HE

    (4)

  • Sachin T.

    Good thai place. I'm vegetarian and there seemed to be a fair number of options. I had the pumpkin curry which was pretty good. Spicy is only moderately spicy. (Not Thai Spicy). I went for lunch portions were just right for about $10.

    (4)

  • Tamara A.

    Came here for lunch and got the lunch specials. Ordered the pad thai and the green curry. The food was very tasty. The staff was friendly. The portion sizes were great and the price was good too. I believe it was $8.50 for the lunch special and it was very filling. Will definitely come here again.

    (4)

  • Steven A.

    Curry is great! I have tried other dishes but found the rest to be mediocre. Service is so-so and usually prefer to take out.

    (4)

  • Siobhan G.

    The bf and I were both super hungry and craving thai food for dinner and ended up here based on the great yelp reviews. Unfortunately, our experience wasn't as great as our fellow yelpers. We were seated by the window and there were fruit flies, but we were also close to the door, so whatever. We order chicken egg rolls, green curry with seafood, sticky rice, pineapple fried rice with tofu, and thai iced tea. Our server brings us plates and mine has gunk stuck on it. Definitely strike one. The food: -thai iced tea was okay, but I've had better. -I didn't eat the egg rolls, but both the bf and I thought they smelled like McDonald's. -the pineapple fried rice was really oily and bland. It was also mostly rice, with some peas, a few pieces of broccoli and pineapple and a lot of really small dry pieces of tofu and cashews. I had to ask for chili peppers to give it some flavor. Neither me nor the bf liked this dish, but he liked the tofu better than I did. I don't like it when it's fried so much the inside is almost gone, which is how it appeared to me, but he thought it was good, so at least the tofu is a matter of personal taste. -the green curry with seafood was pretty good. It was served with a tortilla on top, which I thought was weird, but the flavors were nice. It could have been spicier, but when we got our check we learned they'd made ours mild. So, apparently mild is the default. Our takeaways: -service was pretty good -cleanliness was questionable -food was too greasy, bland, and not satisfying -we won't be back

    (2)

  • James C.

    Service seems to have gotten a lot worse lately. Expect to wait 10 minutes to order or receive water while the waitresses chit chat amongst themselves in the kitchen.

    (2)

  • Joyce B.

    This is my favorite neighborhood restaurant. Small, friendly with excellently prepared food. I took my 6 yo guest there and they were so nice and accommodating to him, as well as to us. Every dish we ordered was exceptional: mine was Swimming Angel fish and also had the Chicken as well. Brown rice was perfectly cooked, not over blown, nutty and delish! The food is very fresh and well prepared. The ambiance comfortable and pleasant. I had lunch once, it's inexpensive, but I think doesn't compare with the preparation and care of the dinners. I could easily go here every day for dinner.

    (5)

  • Rose A.

    Yellow curry was delicious I recommend it highly. Service was okay, nothing great nothing horrible. Pad se-eu was okay definitely will be getting another curry next time.

    (4)

  • Sylvia T.

    The first time I came to this place I thought the food was very delicious. Especially the fact that they make your food medium to hot spicy. The lunch special coconut soup is very tasty and the peanut dressing on the salad as well. When I come here I usually order red curry beef or the shrimp pad thai. But recently visiting for lunch the food had NO kind of flavor whats so ever!!!! Ill just stick to my usual Thai Restaurant every Friday

    (3)

  • Punkish F.

    This place is yummy and super cheap! The presentation is beautiful and the service is great. What's not to love? This is by far the best Thai restaurant in the area for the price. I've had the beef with green beens, the samosas, sweet and sour chicken (which wasn't fried!), paratha (with a delicious curry dipping sauce) and drunken noodles. Every dish was very flavorful. It's the kind of place you go where it's hard to try something new because the meal you had last time was so good. Someone previously mentioned not being able to split a bill on two credit cards. I don't have that problem. I've gone there multiple times with coworkers and we've always been able to split the bill on multiple cards.

    (4)

  • John W.

    Solid 4 stars. We were pleased with everything we ordered samosas, eggplant, drunken noodles, pineapple fried rice. With the exception of the samosas the portions were fair to generous. The atmosphere is nice, attractive decor, romantic lighting and not too loud even with the place packed. The prices were decent too :) This will be a restaurant I will return to.

    (4)

  • Caroline G.

    If you can go at lunch, this is just about the best place in the world. If not, it's a little more pricey, but still amazing! Ricky (owner) is super nice and goes out of his way to make your meal pleasant. I LOVE the Coconut Noodle Soup. I seriously can't get enough. I go two to three time a month for lunch, so I've tried the whole lunch menu and everything is good. I love all the curry's too. Parking can be a hassle but the do handle groups pretty well.

    (5)

  • Anh W.

    I came here with my fiancee for dinner and was disappointed by one of their items. We ordered curry chicken, fried fish with tangy sauce, and orange chicken. I loved their fried fish but it was very expensive in comparison to the portion size. They literally just give you 6 or 7 small (like a quarter size) pieces of fish. I gulped 3 of them down in just 30 seconds. Their curry chicken tasted good. I really have no complaint about that. However, their orange chicken is terrible. We only ordered this because of my fiancee--he really wanted orange chicken that night. The orange chicken was not crispy and was covered in mayo. Isn't that a very strange combination for orange chicken? I wouldn't be able to tell it was orange chicken if it weren't for the small slices of oranges on the side as garnishment. Do not order orange chicken when you are here.

    (3)

  • Paige P.

    I agree with Luke - if you want fine cuisine or an "authentic" experience, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for tasty, saucy dishes with good flavor and nice presentation, then this is the spot for you. It's also got two other great pluses going for them: - they're very vegi-friendly - the decor is a step up from your usual thai place. We're locals and live in the neighborhood and have been about a half a dozen times, and will continue going back. The owner is friendly, the food good, and it's great to find a veg-friendly thai place where you don;t have to worry about fish sauce in all the dishes.

    (4)

  • Rachel E.

    I came here for lunch today with a couple coworkers. It definitely doesn't look like much from the outside but I was pleasantly surprised to see that the inside is really cute. I ordered the red curry with beef. DELICIOUS! It was spicy but not too spicy, creamy but not too creamy, and had plenty of beef and veggies (not all sauce). It's a big portion but you know what, I ate ALL of it. Ya, it was that good. And it came with a veggie spring roll, soup, and small salad for $7.95. Can you beat that? The only negative with the food was the salad which had a few wilty looking leaves and some sort of strange peanut dressing (delicious but didn't seem to belong on a salad). Our servers (there seem to be 2 for the whole restaurant) were super friendly and remembered someone I was with from a previous time he had eaten there. The other people I was with ordered the spicy noodle soup, the sweet basil beef, and some noodle dish that looked like wide pad thai noodles. Everyone was raving about the food. A lot of people have complained about the $20 minimum. If you have a visa or mastercard, they can't actually refuse to let you pay with a credit card but they don't want to because they have to pay a 2% fee on the transaction. Just leave a big tip :-)

    (4)

  • B W.

    **EDIT** - I've been here at least 3 times in the recent past (once for a special occasion, the rest of the times as my coworkers wanted Thai and this place is still better than Krung Thai on el camino by Trader Joe's - that place remains like shit) and man, it's gone downhill unfortunately. The curries are either bland as heck, or spicy as fuck. The noodles are hit and miss. The cook's care and consideration for whether you ask for your dish mild, medium, and spicy is a joke now - my three friends ordered the same dish, all medium. Me and my other friend ordered different noodle dishes medium, and 3 of them had no spice at all while mine and the other guys were spicy to the point where i almost had to stop eating. Combined with the fact that when it gets packed, their service goes to shit. They have like 2 servers and they're just overwhelmed. And i can't even imagine how many cooks they have (it literally seems like 1 or 2 given how long it takes to get food). I dunno, i hate to say it but I really don't want to come back anymore and I've given this place many second chances already. The flavor is still there when they hit it right, but that's been rare as of late. Lowering it 1 star. **EDIT END** One of my favorite thai places for sure. Unlike Krung Thai, their complimentary soup doesn't suck. Nice and tangy and coconuty. Their curries are all very good. Not too watery, not too thick, good solid flavor, not too salty. Decent portions. The side salad is good too, with a super peanutty dressing (that i know some people don't like, but i love it personally). Egg roll that comes with most meals is not bad, not great. I've also tried their coconut-based noodle soup. Good tang and good amount of coconut in it. All their meats are pretty good. I mean, we're not talking prime cuts here, but they also aren't so crappy that you're gonna spend 1000 chews on each piece like at some other ghetto ass chinese restaurants. Oh, and there thai iced tea is legit. And i know my thai iced tea. Good size too for the price, not like some other places that give you something the size of a freaking capri sun and charge you 2.50 for it. Warning: parking sucks ass. 4 slots, 1 handicapped spot, otherwise it's street parking.

    (3)

  • Westcoast Wildcat W.

    Went to Rice tonight after seeing a decent Yelp write up. We eat Thai a lot, and have spent some time in Thailand as well. My favorite Thai in the US is still in Portland, OR -- Banh Thai. In the South Bay, I like Krung Thai and Thaiphoon. Rice disappointed me on multiple fronts. Here's the breakdown: 1. Chicken Satay: okay... but done with chicken breast (not the typical) -- traditional peanut satay sauce was nice, and the pickled cucumber okay. I'd give it 3 stars, but 8 bucks for 4 small skewers drops this to 2 stars. 2. Whole steamed lemon fish: Allright... i'm in a Thai Restaurant... for 15 bucks I'm expecting pompano or pomfret, right? Nah... it's a rainbow trout. I dig in, thinking I'll give it a chance, and it's raw inside. I like sushi as much as the next guy, but rainbow trout is not the thing you want to eat raw. We sent it back... they cooked it a bit more, and gave it back to us.... now... it's overdone and in rigor mortis. Not to mention all the little trout rib bones we all hate. Mental note guys... I'm Chinese and I like whole steamed fish, but trout riblets even get to me.... the taste was not impressive. 1 star for the fish.... drops to no stars after it was served raw and then steamed to mummification status. 3. Panang Curry Chicken: This is my standard dish and what I use to judge my Thai restaurants... I always order it extra hot... the key is to be able to taste the subtle flavors of coconut, basil, chili, despite the heat. Banh Thai in Portland mastered this... it should be complex in flavor with the burn... Same thing I got in Thailand. Today, it tasted like a jar of JIF or Skippy. So much peanut butter, I started to worry about that peanut butter-related Salmonella outbreak. It was sort of like Creamy Skippy with some ground chilis. No way -- dude. There's never any left over curry for me. I barely ate 2 scoops today. Zero stars on this folks. 4. Brown Rice -- when do I ever review brown rice? Never. I have to do it here though. I cook brown rice in my Asian Rice cooker all the time... y'all know the drill... it takes longer to cook brown rice than white rice cause you gotta presoak it... or else it comes out hard and dry. For a restaurant's namesake "Rice Thai Cuisine" you'd think the rice would at least be decent. This stuff was hard and dried out. Mental note for Rice: PRESOAK the brown rice. 5. Service -- okay... so you served me raw fish and then dropped a peanut cluster bomb in the panang... at least come tell me there was a problem and either apologize or make an adjustment or something... instead they take my credit card without giving me the bill. Mind you, I never was upset or complained this whole time. The waiter said, "Give me the card and I'll give you the check." Ok. I obliged... no adjustment. I got charged 3 bucks for brown rice that sucked. I was so mortified I didn't even complain or wince. We won't be back. I'm a big Thai fan and I know my Thai food. This was a global disappointment. I'm willing to think I caught them on a bad night based on the other reviews, but at the prices they charge, I'm not willing to take another chance. El Camino Real in Palo alto is tough competition.... take some notes from this review guys, and make it right!

    (1)

  • S H.

    I love this place! Not only is the food delicious, everyone who works here is so nice.

    (5)

  • Fay Y.

    Its the best Thai food I had before in bay area. The price is low but quality of the food is very good. Crab noodle is our favor. Their yellow & Red curry is very good also. Its definitely a place I would like to come for lunch and recommend to friends.

    (5)

  • Francoise L.

    Nice place, great service, reasonable prices. Parking on El Camino has always been possible for me so no problem there either. I go there with girlfriends often for lunch, very nice.

    (5)

  • Jenny W.

    Cam here with friends the other day. We ordered several different dishes to share among us, just so we'd get a chance to try more things. The pumpkin curry we had with chicken, and it was quite good, even though I'm not a curry lover. We also got the eggplant dish, which while tasty, was nothing spectacular. The pad Thai was okay, but since I rarely have pad thai, if ever, I don't really have a point of comparison other than with my taste buds. Then we shared some fried banana with ice cream, which was actually really good, and the mango with coconut rice for dessert. Their coconut rice was amazing, even though the mango w/ coconut rice dish was not all that spectacular, just slices of mango and a scoop of rice. The service, contrary to other reviews, was actually quite nice. Well, one server in particular, who while occasionally awkward was extremely sweet. For our entire meal, we paid $62 including tip. Pretty good considering it's Palo Alto, but I was expecting the servings to be a tad bit bigger. Thankfully we weren't that hungry, so we walked away satisfied. Overall, I found the meal to be decent, but nothing spectacular (as I was hoping it would be, since it had 4 stars).

    (3)

  • Plato W.

    Avoid when busy. They have no sense of customer service. Togo order was late - fine they were busy. Paid early so I could get out sooner. Food showed up and no one told me. Kept me waiting another 15 minutes while it got cold on the counter. Here's the most amazing part: after calling and speaking to the manager, she never once offered to say she was sorry until I pointed it out to her neither she nor any of the staff had done so. Edit: another thing, she spend several minutes explaining to me why they can't keep their promises to customers when they get busy and how it was my responsibility to chase them down to get my togo order - until I pointed out that I had paid early and there was a credit card receipt to prove it.

    (1)

  • Catherine R.

    This is my favorite Thai place in Palo Alto. The food is really high quality and the inside of the building is very clean so don't be deterred by the divey-looking exterior. I've tried red, yellow, and green chicken curry, samosas, pad thai, and, my thai-go-to dish pad see ew and all of it has been well-made and delicious. The only downside to this restaurant is that it's on el camino and probably has 5-7 parking spots which makes eating there (especially on a weekend night) very inconvenient. Their service is good compared with other Thai places in the area and take-out is quick and delicious.

    (5)

  • Jonathan B.

    Rice Thai is one of the best Thai food places around. Not only is Tony (the owner) an incredibly welcoming and gracious host, but the food is attractively presented and exceptionally good. The prices are really reasonable - this is the best value Thai food around. Order the Chicken Panang - just don't go "Thai Spicy" unless you want your mouth on fire for the next few hours. Two thumbs up, five stars and a fist bump. Tony - keep up the good work!!

    (5)

  • Kunal P.

    Best thai food in bay area

    (4)

  • Tifa Z.

    Had a great meal here. I was in town running errands and wasn't really sure where to grab food. So a friend and I just randomly looked up a Thai place on my GPS and went to the closest one, which I feel was a pretty brave move considering we had no way to look up ratings before we went. But I'm a glass half-full type of girl, and everything worked out in the end. The waitresses were really nice and let us pick whichever table we wanted. Booth lover here! So I was happy as a clam. It was really empty when we first arrived. Like, we were the only ones there. But I'm either really lucky or bullheadedly optimistic because the food came out amazing. I ordered number 43 which was the egg plant dish and choose the vegetables and tofu option. It doesn't come with rice, but it's only $1 for a bowl of Jasmine rice which was a good portion. Friend ordered the beef patay which came out really tasty- it didn't even need lemon! The drinks here are totally worth bragging about. I ordered lemonade expecting them to give me some sugary Minute Maid junk. Well they showed me, their lemonade was fresh! It was pretty darn good, and I didn't really expect that from a Thai place. The Thai tea was amazing as well- mixed well and creamy. We finished all the food and liked that it didn't over-bloat us. I was full, but not a bad food coma type of full so that was nice; we left happy. Btw, parking on the street seemed like a total hassle so we just mooched off the parking at Jamba Juice.

    (4)

  • Dee D.

    Rice Thai Cuisine has really gone down hill. We ordered a take out meal tonight. The rice was so mushy it was inedible. The curries were not good either. One of my kids got sick after eating one thing. The rest of us did not eat at all. I called to let the manager know and he said to bring the food back and he would give me my money back. But when I got there he refused to do so saying since I'd eaten there before I should know what the food is like. I will never return again!

    (1)

  • Sonny W.

    Came for lunch with coworkers. The place is really packed. Parking could be better. Food was okay. Got the beef red curry which was long on veggies and very very light on beef. I guess with prices being the way they are in Palo Alto, something has to give.

    (2)

  • Surai J.

    This was voted best thai in palo alto. Hmmm... that is probably true. I ordered a lot of dishes for an event today and they were all passable for the oversweetened bay area thai cuisine. I prefer shana's in mountain view.

    (3)

  • Cathleen H.

    LOVE THIS PLACE -- have been here a few times. Very reasonably priced and great food. It's also somewhat quiet and so is a great place to catch up with a friend over a tasty meal. That also means, though, that if you're looking for a rockin' night out this is probably not your place. Things that are awesome: pumpkin curry, drunken noodles, pineapple fried rice. I'm sure other things that are delicious too... just haven't branched out yet. AND they do takeout! yay!

    (5)

  • Leona M.

    Love the food here. Lunch is very reasonable and plenty of food. Get takeout allot and never disappointed.

    (5)

  • Kimberly S.

    The food wasn't bad, but the service definitely was! I wanted to plan a small wedding celebration with friends for my sis and her husband, and she requested something easy, not too fancy, and Thai food. After a few searches on Yelp, I checked out several different places and chose Rice Thai to have the celebration. I really liked the large interior space, which was great for our group of 12, and the decor was pretty. The manager, at the time, was extremely accommodating to our needs. A few days before the special night, I called the restaurant to make sure they had our reservation. I didn't remember the manager writing down my name or number or anything for the reservation, and it was going to be a Saturday night, so I just wanted to make sure. But the person on the other end didn't recognize the name of the manager I gave her, Ricky, and she was trying to tell me that I called the wrong restaurant. Ugh. I ended up not talking to Ricky and just had faith that our table would be there on Saturday night. Come celebration night, a few of us got there early to do a little decoration. I asked to speak to the manager to let him know that we were there and also to ask if we can put in our order ahead of time before the other guests got there. The waiter left, and then came back to tell us that the manager just said to give him the order. Well ok then. We gave the waiter our order. We also had a homemade two-tier wedding cake that we weren't sure if they had space in their fridge for. So again I wanted to speak to the manager about it, but again he didn't come out. So I just gave the waiter the cake to take care of. During our time there, the manager never came out. He just sent his servers out to take care of whatever my request was. Really I just wanted to say "thank you" in person, but he must have been too busy. Matter-of-fact, we were pretty much ignored most of the night. We called a waiter over to bus the tables, then we called them again to ask to bring the cake out, and AGAIN to bring plates, cutting knife and forks. The place was not busy at all, so I could not understand what the deal was with service, or lack of. At the end of the night while we were walking to the door, the manager finally showed face and thanked us for coming. He even had the nerve to ask us to write a Yelp review. Well, here's your review.

    (1)

  • Easter E.

    meh... So this isn't an absolute review, it's a relative review. This place was fine... clean inside and service was great... food was ok, not bad, but in general there's no reason to go here instead of Krung Thai. Here are the minor problems I had with this place: 1. No parking. Not their fault, but does not make me want to come here. 2. The soup they give you is small and mostly cabbage. Flavor is so-so 3. I don't like how the non-curry entrees are served on a huge leaf of lettuce. All the sauce gets stuck on that piece of lettuce and you can't really sop it up w/ your rice. I guess you can eat the lettuce, but it's so soggy, it'd be like drinking your lettuce. 4. The protein (chicken and tofu is what I saw), were small (tofu) and stringy/thin(chicken). 5. The tofu seemed dried out and unappetizing. I'm told that's normal and it's firm tofu. Maybe I'm not used to firm tofu like that. 6. The eggroll was OK, but I like the eggroll and wonton piece w/ the dipping sauce you get at Krung Thai. 7. This place isn't cheaper. I mean this place is fine, I should have ordered the Pad Thai or a curry I guess. I should probably give it 3 stars, but I'm sticking w/ 2 because I probably won't come here again and it doesn't compare to my Thai standbys.

    (2)

  • Grace K.

    Came back again and was simply blown away by the mango sticky rice. If you've never had it, you have to give this dessert a try! The flaky coconut rice and sweet, freshly cut mango make for a simply divine combination. The eggrolls were meh, though. Stick with the sticky rice! :)

    (4)

  • Kathryn B.

    Wow, the green curry is amazing. It was so good, it was hard to stop eating! Even when I was full! The huge downside to this restaurant is parking: the lot can fit 4 cars. If you can't find a spot here, you have to park on El Camino and walk. We had to park on the other side of El Camino. But, it is worth it and I'm sure we'll be back.

    (5)

  • Tiffany D.

    I was in a rush so I picked up a quick snack to go. Stopped by Rice Thai for a Thai Tea and Tempura Squid. Thai Tea's good, at 2.50 I think it's reasonably priced. But...Squid rings. If it weren't for the Chinese takeout box, I would think these were Italian/American. There were specks of what seemed like oregano/basil, and they certainly tasted "Non-Asian." They also jipped me on the portion, with but about 15 small rings that didn't taste fresh at all. I'm sure they just bought fried squid rings from a supplier. Not great. And with a total of $15.41, I'm likely not coming back.

    (1)

  • judy n.

    Rice Thai, where have you been all my life?! you are my current new FAVORITE for Thai food in the south bay... yummy! came here today with the besties, to try a new place for lunch... Thank you Yelpers for this awesome rec! the DRUNKEN NOODLES with Chicken was my favorite dish of our meal. I'm still curious as to WHAT makes it drunken? Sweet and spicy, and uber flavorful.. yum! the ASIAN EGGPLANT with BEEF Was also quite tasty! Veggies were nice and fresh, and beef was nicely cooked too... it was amazing with the Brown rice too! the special for the day was the PUMPKIN CURRY with SEAFOOD... damn this was good! With bite size chunks of pumpkin.. it was so flavorful and delish! awesome place for a quick lunch with great friends... Love!

    (5)

  • Sheree G.

    This was my first visit and we were not disappointed. We ordered the drunken noodles - based on yelp reviews - we were pleasantly surprised with the flavors that tickled our taste buds with every bite. The Pad See-Eu was wonderful. We had it with chicken and it was every bit as delicious as the drunken noodles. The pineapple fried rice is the best we've found on the peninsula. The owner is super kind and friendly and is there to support his staff. I saw him helping clear the tables and chat with the customers. I noticed that he went outside after one of his customers and said thank you for coming. We would come here again and add it to our list of must eat restaurants when we come to visit.

    (4)

  • Pavan W.

    Good for vegetarians too. I love their Pad Thai noodles. Good and friendly service.

    (4)

  • Amy B.

    Rice Thai Cuisine has the best Thai food that I've had in Palo Alto. I've explored much of their "From the Wok" menu, and I'd highly recommend their Asian Eggplant dish which is my absolute favorite. You can't go wrong with any of their wok dishes including the garlic chicken. I also really enjoyed their green curry.

    (4)

  • jazzy l.

    Review for my Roast Duck Curry dish Lack of duck and duck skin Curry sauce was tasty $12.95 dish but does not include "rice" Service - decent. Odd when there are just a bunch of people sitting there eating and chatting but no music in the background. Parking - Street parking on ECR but traffic whizzes by quickly. Not sure if I will be back.

    (3)

  • Jeanne N.

    Fresh, party for the eyes as well as the palate. Will be back!

    (5)

  • Diana L.

    Did not dig the Crispy lemon grass fish. Ordering off the chef speciality menu is hit or miss. My recommendation - stick to the noodles and rice dishes. they are all around winners.

    (3)

  • Miranda N.

    Let me expand on my boyfriend's review (see below) and possibly reiterate a few important facts about Rice: The food is really yummy. Like he said, the curries all taste the same. We once asked to substitute green beans for bell peppers in one of the curry dishes and got the response "No, no... no. No, we can't do that. No" which leads me to believe that the owner knows we're on to his curry scheme. That being said, they all taste really good. I like yellow the best because it has potatoes.. at least, I think it's the yellow. The man who I assume is the owner is super ultra sweet. I'm here at least once a week (I imagine boyfriend probably 3-4 times on the sly) and he's been friendly and accommodating each and every time. Once we didn't have quite enough for our order and he told us to just pay him next time. The $20 minimum for credit cards is obnoxious but understandable, and I don't give it much thought anymore. I recommend the eggplant dish with chicken if you're looking for something a little bit healthier than curry. Oh, and unlike someone down below, I think that getting just one serving of rice for two people is just fine if you're splitting an entree.

    (4)

  • Karena L.

    This is my new favorite Thai place!! The food is great and the service was good! We came here for lunch and ordered the lunch specials but shared them. My favorites is the pumpkin curry with seafood. It had a wide mix of squid, scallops, mussel and the curry was excellent!! Drunken noodles with Chicken tasted delicious and the chicken wasn't dry!! Eggplant with Beef also was an excellent choice!

    (5)

  • Adrienne M.

    3.5 stars rounded up. I'm glad to have discovered this place, thanks to Yelp. My boyfriend and I came here today for our weekly lunch date - its very convenient for us since its about halfway between our respective workplaces. Their lunch specials have a good variety of rice & noodle dishes and are mostly $7.95 for chicken/beef/tofu, which is very competitive pricing for the area. They also come with a soup, which was pretty good, a salad, which my bf said was mediocre, and an eggroll that was quite good. We both had the pad thai, with chicken for me and beef for him. It was beautifully plated and was a fairly good-sized portion for the price. While it wasn't the best pad thai I've ever had, it wasn't bad (I'd give it a B+). Having read reviews on Yelp about a lack of sprouts/peanuts, I asked for extra peanuts, which were given to me at no charge. I thought there were plenty of sprouts, but am glad I asked for extra peanuts. We avoided the lunch rush since we arrived at 1:30, and there was plenty of parking in their lot (4 spaces total). Service was still a tad slow despite the fairly empty restaurant. Bottom line: While the food here didn't blow me away, it was pretty good, and given the well-priced lunch specials ($7.95) and the convenient location, I'm sure we'll be back.

    (4)

  • Sunil R.

    Another face in the crowd of Thai restaurants in this area. Pretty decent food. It was a little too oily for my taste. I liked the presentation and the service was efficient. Parking is a pain with only 4-5 spots other than street parking. Probably why it was pretty empty during lunch hour.

    (3)

  • ASM A.

    I concur with the #1 complaint from most reviewers: Poor service, bad attitude. The waiters think they are too good for serving food. Guess what dumbos, thank your stars you have this job. You aint gonna be good at doing much of anything else. Average food. The owner seems a nice enough guy.

    (1)

  • Yvonne B.

    Wandered into Rice Thai Cuisine for lunch today and I was pleasantly surprised. We had the combo appetizer, Larb salad and Green Curry with Chicken. The appetizer was huge and yummy. The server asked how we would like our Larb salad spiced. We chose spicy. It was DELICIOUS! The Green Curry Chicken was very tasty and flavorful. The service was pleasant and efficient. The presentation was awesome. I eat a lot of Thai food and I thoroughly recommend this restaurant (as it seems there are not a lot of "REAL" restaurants in this neighborhood anyway).

    (5)

  • Jessica A.

    This is my favorite casual date place. The service is great, the food fresh, light and tasty. I'd easily say it's the best thai place in Palo Alto, a VERY solid four stars, and it surprises me that it never seems to be that crowded. Be aware, the spicy option is not for the weak of tongue, but I, for one, love it. The thai iced tea is also fantastic; I'm lactose intolerant and I order it almost every time, anyway. Well worth the stomach ache.

    (4)

  • Sara M.

    Rice Thai is my go-to Thai restaurant in Palo Alto. The lunch menu is a great deal as most dishes also come with soup and/or salad with imperial rolls. I typically pick up take-out for dinner about once a week also. Food: The pad see ew and pad thai are delicious. My hands down favorite item on the menu is the regular noodle soup. It is such a soothing dish with a delicious chicken broth and perfectly cooked rice noodles. The bean sprouts add the perfect amount of crunch and I always ask for extra vegetables. If I am feeling under the weather, it is the first thing I crave. My fiancé loves the chili beef dish that they serve only on their dinner menu, which consists of perfectly marinated beef over the mongolian type of fried rice noodles. We have not been able to find it at any other restaurant. Great Thai food is really hard to beat. I used to get take-out Thai when I lived in Russian Hill at least once a week. Without Rice Thai, I would feel very deprived of my much needed weekly Thai food fix. The food at Rice Thai is always solid and the owner, Ricky, is super friendly and always greets you with a smile. It is hard to think of a better place to go to in Palo Alto than Rice Thai for a casual lunch or dinner where your expectations for delicious food and good service will not be let down.

    (5)

  • Teresa S.

    not your average Thai place! Familiar dishes, but better. fresher, less greasy. Also many dishes that you don't find on a regular Thai menu. Very nice decor, and efficient and kind staff. Can't ask for more. I'd say tell all your friends, but shh, we don't want it to get too popular!!

    (5)

  • Tal S.

    came here by 9pm on a week day, it was very lively and joyful inside. ordered the beef asian eggplant with sticky rice, it was delish! best thai in the area so far!

    (4)

  • m l.

    Love this place. Great food and great service. Our favorites include the sea bass and all the currys.

    (5)

  • Jamie T.

    Came here on a lazy Sunday afternoon and ordered a Pad Thai and some curry. The service is wonderful and the food is just like what's expected. The presentation is nice for Thai food. It's a nice drop-by place for Thai food that's not in a busy epicenter of restaurants.

    (3)

  • Jin Sheen Y.

    I came here again for dinner for the 2nd time and when it comes to food, i'll be giving it a 4 star rating, but as service can use some improvement, overall rating is 3 star. Food: The menu is mostly generic Thai food, but then you also have the Chef's special, which is a little different from what you normally see from your regular Thai Restaurants: i.e. Chiang Mai I ordered: Roasted Duck Curry: This is the 2nd time i've ordered it and i must say when it comes to being consistent, Rice does not disappoint. The curry was just as good as i remembered it, not too heavy, and the duck was yummy! House Salad: This is definitely Thai/Western salad with a twist. It was served with a peanut sauce that was a bit tangy, but not too much, and was served with fresh lettuce and chicken, very yummy and i recommend it as something to share prior to your meal! Thai Ice Tea: A must have for most if not all meals in a Thai restaurant. :) Service: Overall service was good but there might have been slight language barrier. This is not a showstopper by all means but can definitely improve upon. Ambience: Well lighted, simple yet elegant deco, Not too noisy, excellent choice for intimate dinners.

    (3)

  • SteveAndDena E.

    Great food. Very casual atmosphere. Outlandish $15 corkage fee - way too expensive for a place this casual. The service is good - the food is just delicious. Green curry with tofu is so good. Oh yes - listen to all reviewers - PARK ON THE STREET!

    (4)

  • Alicia S.

    I love this thai restaurant. The quality of the food is very high, yet the prices are relatively low. They have a good selection of food, and the staff is extremely friendly and welcoming. I always have a great time visiting this restaurant.

    (5)

  • Fabiola P.

    My son loves their chicken Pad Thai!! And he's only 20 months old.. Delicious food, relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff. I am definitely a fan of this place!

    (4)

  • Rahul B.

    Rice Thai is a good, casual Thai restaurant conveniently located near Barron Park in Palo Alto. You may get better Thai food elsewhere (e.g. Erawan Thai in Redwood City) but if you want Thai and you're in Palo Alto, this is the place to come. I like it more than Siam Royal or Thai City. Prices are typical for Palo Alto. You will get cheaper Thai food further south or in Thailand. We live nearby so we come here more often than most.

    (4)

  • Tiffany P.

    Went here this afternoon at 4pm because I was craving Pad See Ew, but all the thai places in Mountain View were closed from 3pm-5pm. My order of Pad See Ew with beef came out really quickly and smelled delicious. When I got home and looked at it, it looked lighter than others I've had before from other restaurants, but the same flavor was there. Overall, I'll be returning to eat there and try out a few other dishes. The price was decent. For Beef Pad See Ew, I got double the portion for less than what I pay for at Shana Thai in Mountain View (which is where I normally go locally for Thai food).

    (3)

  • Dominique N.

    This is the kind of restaurant I love to visit...a small, family-run place that's trying really hard and doing everything right. I've visited a handful of times now and every time the same two staffers (owners?) greet us warmly. The restaurant itself is on a very nondescript block of El Camino and you can easily zoom by without noticing it (look for the neon lights of Happy Donuts as your cue to slow down). However inside the place is casually but fairly elegantly decorated in neutral tones and Thai art. (No gaudy golds here). Fellow patrons seem to be low-key local families and occasionally police officers taking a dinner break. A number of local folks seem to get take out as well later in the evening. The food itself is very solid - I've liked everything I've tried thus far. The lunches are really generously portioned (soup + salad + spring rolls and a large portion of your entree for $7-8) and the dinners don't disappoint either. The prices are pretty reasonable (though the roti appetizer is a little bit high at $7.50) but mostly in the $8-11 range which given the portions seem totally fair. The curries are great (not too watery and packed with veggies / meats) and the stir fried dishes and noodles are fresh and not too greasy. This has become one of our casual go-to places for a weekend dinner or lunch with family or friends.

    (4)

  • Tangerinegate A.

    Highly overrated thai place in Palo Alto. Went here for lunch - Pad thai was so-so but the yellow curry was much better. Ambience and service was pretty decent though. Frankly, I have been to better thai places in the south bay.

    (3)

  • Coco L.

    Another great recommendation by yelp! Ok price for lunch, and the taste is pretty good Pumpkin curry ($8.5) - very nice curry and with a good kick of spice. The pumpkin tasted yummy Coconut Noodle($8?) - the coconut soup had a nice flavor, and the chicken was nice and tender. (an extra star for not chewy and over cooked meat) Lunch came with salad and egg roll; The egg roll didn't seems to be fresh fried as the skin was chewy. Small little place, there is only 4-5 parking spots in parking lot. If you see parking on street, may want to take it.

    (4)

  • Devina S.

    The food here was really good. The service was great as well. The menu had a good variety. Definitely recommend the roti w/ green curry, drunken noodles, and Asian eggplant. Really tasty. Plus, you can adjust the hotness levels to your liking as well.

    (4)

  • jesus p.

    Ate there once. Curry was watered down. The brown rice was okay. Service sucked. Oh and by the way my buddy found a live cockroach crawling on his fried rice. You know what they say: if there's one cockroach there's a thousand more crawling around. The owner did not charge us for the dinner, which we just started by the way, and apologized. Nice guy but cockroaches are a sign of unsanitary places and can make people sick. I hope they get their act together.

    (1)

  • Joe L.

    The green curry roti was amazing and both the pineapple and red curry did not disappoint. I would recommend this place to all my good friends.

    (5)

  • Stephanie W.

    Just moved to the neighborhood and saw how highly rated Rice Thai was on Yelp - and it's a 5 minute walk from my house so thought I'd give it a try! I got takeout a couple of weeks ago (red curry with chicken) and sticky rice - it was okay. I was craving pumpkin curry tonight and decided to give theirs a try. I AM SO GLAD I DID!! I got the veggie/tofu pumpkin curry and the thai eggplant with pork - with sticky rice, of course. The variety of veggies in the thai eggplant was AWESOME - it was beautiful on the plate and the veggies were cooked perfectly! The pumpkin curry could've used a little more pumpkin, in my opinion, but it was absolutely delicious and I cannot wait to go back. So happy to have this little gem in the neighborhood! I've only gotten take out, but both times the gentlemen who answered the phone was very pleasant and the food was ready within 10 minutes. The inside of the restaurant is beautifully decorated and hasn't been crowded either time I visited. The people who work there are very friendly and had my food waiting when I arrived to pick it up. All in all, a Palo Alto/Mountain View treasure.

    (4)

  • Sarah T.

    Great Thai food! This place opened when I was living only a couple blocks, and my boyfriend and I very quickly started picking up take-out here on a regular basis once or twice a week. The food is delicious, the owner is very friendly, the decor is nice and conveys a sense of serenity, and for Palo Alto the prices are very reasonable especially given the generous portions. Another great thing is that the food is very flavorful without being needlessly oily, so you don't feel like you're compromising your arteries every time you eat out. Some of our favorites are the drunken noodles with chicken or tofu - miles and miles away the best of its type, and the eggplant with chicken is delicious with plentiful eggplant and very tender chicken. I'm not as crazy about their pad thai, which seems a little on the sweet, bland side but with many other great choices to pick from, I'm not bothered by this at all. Another one, the chicken lemongrass coconut soup (tom ka kai), is a delicious treat. The broth is delightfully rich and complex. In fact, when I had my wisdom teeth taken out, that same day I requested this soup without anything solid in it. The owner was very sweet and accommodating and strained a large container of it for me! Thank you! One other consideration is that the parking lot is tiny and hard to navigate around it, which is common in this part of Palo Alto. Do yourself a favor and park along the street.

    (5)

  • Manuel G.

    Dinner at Rice.... Started with a tremendous wait and complete feeling of, "Do they know we are here?" I finally waived the server down and ordered Satay because what Thai place doesn't have Satay. Our four top was given three menus. The four top to our right eventually got my Satay even though their order hadn't been taken either. They came in after us by about ten minutes and ended up with thier dinner before us. The two top to our left got their dinner before us also and came in after us and the other table. Eventually we were served the Pad Thai from the table to our right. there was about a ten minute wait between our fist plate and the fourth plate at our table. Service was the worst in long time. Satay: Tander Chicken. The runniest Peanut Sauce I have ever had at any Thai restaurant. Salad garnish was brwon and old. The Mussaman Curry was good but watery. Lose sauce again. Maybe thats their goal but again. Not like any other Thai place I've been at. Bottom line. I would not go back or recommend Rice.

    (1)

  • Prashant J.

    We went to this restaurant for our team lunch. The manager seemed like a really nice guy. The ambience was really good. I would have loved to come to this place with my family. BUT ... Lunch was served. In less then 3 mins, I saw a silver fish (the small insects that you see walking on the carpets) crawling on my plate. That really put me off and killed my appetite. Other team members wanted to not eat but everyone was nice to not spoil the celebrations. I did notice others carefully going through the food to make sure there were no insects in their plate. The manager was not very apologetic. The best he could do was not charge us for that entre. I was overall disappointed with the service. The food looked delicious (but I had lost my appetite completely). I would recommend this place if you do not have a problem with crawling insects in the plate. I am sure, my experience was a one off case and not a everyday thing at Rice Thai Cuisine. We chose to forget what happened and tipped the entire 15%.

    (1)

  • Tysen C.

    Man oh man this place is fantastic! My fiance and I were hungry but ridiculously indecisive the other day so busted out the Yelp iPhone app to find someplace in Palo Alto apart from the "norm". Decided to look up a thai place we had been to before but the recent reviews (past few months) suggested a decrease in quality/change of ownership. Rice Thai was the highest reviewed and also away from busy downtown PA. What a find! We usually order yellow chicken curry at thai restaurants but the menu at Rice Thai is fairly large and EVERYTHING sounds great! Had the green curry roti to start, veggie and tofu pad thai, roasted duck red curry and a couple thai iced teas. Yay for FLAVOR! Each dish was prepared and presented beautifully. We can't wait to come back and try more!

    (5)

  • T R.

    The food is fantastic at this place and it is fast in the evening for pick up after a long day in the office. Spicy levels are good - they will even give you extra spice to take home if you don't think it will be hot enough. The different curry dishes are amazing - the Pumpkin Curry may be my favorite :)

    (5)

  • Jason C.

    Just got back from a great late dinner at this fun Thai restaurant tucked between buildings on El Camino Real. The duck curry and papaya salad were great, and it was especially refreshing to see some attention paid to the presentation of dishes. The waitstaff wasn't too shabby as well. It's definitely worth a try - just make sure to drive slowly so you don't miss the teensy turn in to the parking lot.

    (5)

  • Gene P.

    Came here with colleagues for lunch and the food was good, nothing extra special. The service was bad. I asked for brown rice and they gave white rice and when I asked to change, they used the same plate and replaced the rice splashing the curry in the plate. They also messed up my colleague's order. They brought red curry instead of green and on top of that they wouldn't even change back despite of their mistake.

    (3)

  • Celia B.

    A bit pricey but excellent service and tasty food. A very nice addition to the Barron Park neighborhood.

    (5)

  • Paris M.

    Hello Ricky and Staff, We would like to thank you for assisting in ensuring that Michelle our coworkers birthday lunch with 11 people was a success. Everyone enjoyed The Rice Thai Cuisine and felt it was a great choice to share a birthday lunch! We appreciate you encouraging us to pre-order and for your personal assists making sure everyone was happy with their order. Everything was amazing the food was delicious and the timing of the luncheon was perfect! Thank you on behalf of all of us! VMware

    (4)

  • lee c.

    This place is excellent!!! For and average priced Thai place, with a decent interior, Rice Thai is amazing! Fresh, well prepared, and presented with love, this makes for my favorite Thai food in all of Palo Alto! Thanks Rice Thai for the consistently epic meals..

    (5)

  • paul c.

    Been here twice -- both take-out -- and was impressed each time with the quality and uniqueness of the dishes. The curries are excellent and the salads quite refreshing. Pleasant staff who will guide your selections, if needed.

    (3)

  • John S.

    I have been to Rice probably 6 times, and have had a good meal, and good service every time. It is a relatively inexpensive neighborhood restaurant, where the owner (along with members of his family) are always on site. I'm not an expert on Asian cuisines, but I used to run a restaurant so I do know when food is freshly prepared, served immediately after preparation, and served with good presentation in a clean and comfortable atmosphere by servers who are glad to see you again. I think this is a very nice place for a small office group to go to -- since it is inexpensive and pretty fast -- especially if the group has vegetarians in it. There is a good variety of vegetarian food on the menu (nearly anything with meat in it can be prepared without). Go and have a good time and good food!

    (4)

  • Jason M.

    I walked in right at closing a couple of nights ago and was able to get last minute take out. I ordered the shrimp rolls with peanut sauce and the drunken noodles vegetarian style. Food was average and made an enjoyable meal in front of the couch. I do highly recommend the coconut juices though which have a bunch of thick coconut slices at the bottom of the cup. I typically test Thai restaurants with a curry dish but just didn't have the desire to do so that particular night. Not the best parking situation at the restaurant. I recommend parking by Blockbuster and just walking over as opposed to their little parking alley.

    (3)

  • J K.

    It's hard to find good Thai food around Palo Alto, but Rice Thai Cuisine is a solid, reliable option. I'm not crazy about the green curry (it's a little too mild for my taste), but I like the cashew nut chicken a lot! The lunch specials are a great deal -- entree, spring roll, soup and salad for $8. If I were just reviewing this place on the food alone, I would probably go with three stars, but the lunch specials deserve an extra star.

    (4)

  • Dave L.

    I love Rice. The food is great, it's inexpensive and the staff are always friendly and helpful. We go around once a month and it's always delicious. We went just last night, and everything was great as usual. Go now!

    (5)

  • Cody F.

    As far as Thai food goes, it was ok. Wait staff was pushy to get our order, actually waved a menu at me. And then wouldn't come back to fill our waters. Only reason I give the extra star is presentation was nice (triangle plates, what symmetry!). Had four at the table, 3 had chicken, 1 had beef, 3 had upset stomachs.

    (2)

  • Rob C.

    had a good first impression with the eggplant dish. flavors were on, vegetables were fresh, was a little on the sweet side though. unfortunately can't take the kra tong thong to go.

    (4)

  • Tawny A.

    The food is inconsistent. I've been here a few times, hoping I just came on a bad day but no such luck. Their pad Thai is sooo bland. They don't even include the basic vegetables like bean sprouts, carrots, lime or even peanuts. Their chicken curry was pretty flavorful as well as their soups, but not worth the terrible service. My last visit was on mothers day, and being a holiday, you would think they would hire enough staff. With a full restaurant and only one server plus one person at the front counter, service was incredibly slow. They served us our soup but did not give us bowls or spoons to eat it with. I ordered rice but it didn't come and I had to ask for it twice. No one came around with the check and I had to ask THREE times! Don't these people want to get paid?! I noticed the service was just as bad with our neighboring tables. I really wanted to like this place, but it's just not worth it.

    (2)

  • Pratul W.

    Let me start by saying the food is really great quality but the service and attitude of the wait staff is just not tolerable. After being bitten a few times I thought let me try once more .Ya right. With about 8 of us we walk-in at 8:15pm and are seated and the first thing that we are told is order quickly as we will close at 9:30pm We were really rushed into ordering and then they got the order wrong on 1 dish. At that point the waitress starts to blame us and another passerby waitress also makes some remarks. Had to walk off the table at that point and they still thought we should pay for the food which was still not even served. Sorry but management needs to get their act together or they will be shutting soon.

    (1)

  • Brad B.

    There are not that many good Thai places in Palo Alto. This place is a gem. The service is great, always friendly, prompt, clean. The prices are very reasonable. I love the steamed lemon fish. It is so tender and delicious. Other faves include the pumpkin curry and the spicy eggplant. Take-out is also really convenient and fast.

    (4)

  • Alex H.

    Decent Thai food is hard to find in Palo Alto. Not sure if there are any Thai restaurants on University but it is definitely the best one south of there. It has a good variety. The curry is solid and you can't beat the lunch special. Soup, side salad, egg roll, curry and rice all for $7.75! You really can't beat the price for the area. Normally I find asian food to be quite bland in Palo alto. Happy to add this to my lunch spot list.

    (3)

  • Desi Vegetarian I.

    Like this place, good main course curries and rice.. didnt like the roti paratha here, the rest was great !!! Nice Ambience..!

    (5)

  • Valerie S.

    I went to Rice last night for dinner with a group of friends and loved it. They really try and go the extra mile on things like presentation (the veggie eggrolls came arranged in a large martini glass with a train of garnish spilling down of the side to the plate), and really attentive service. I spent some timing living in Southern Thailand and this restaurant had all of my favorite dishes, including Panang and massamun curry, sweet and sour veggies, and tom kha soup (although they translate it into English). They even had CHANG beer! For those of you who have gone to Thailand before you'll know that Chang and Singha are the two major Thai beer companies. But as far as I knew, Singha was the only one that was exported from Thailand. I have never seen Chang in the USA before. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you want some authentic Thai food and a nice atmosphere. My Panang Curry was spot on Yum

    (5)

  • Jessica L.

    This is a great lunch place (haven't been for dinner yet). The lunch menu is reasonably priced and you get a good amount of food. I love the Drunken Noodles and Pumpkin Curry. Very good Thai cuisine!

    (4)

  • C Y.

    Nice decor presentation of the food was good Had the soft shelled crab - nice but was supposed to have basil in it, but did have any in it. Other food was good, but nothing different or outstanding in it Server was very indifferent to our group Would go to eat again, but might try other places first

    (3)

  • Lauren S.

    I am amending this review from 4 stars to 2 based on my last couple of visits. Once they told me I'd have an hour wait, and then when I arrived they had forgotten to put the order in and my food wasn't there. And then the last two times I've ordered spicy pad see-yew and they haven't been spicy at all, and the broccoli has had a weird taste. Overall I've seen a drop off in service and in quality of food- I won't be returning. I love Rice! I always get Pad-see-yew and my boyfriend gets the Drunken Noodles. Huge portions, very delicious, and reasonably priced!

    (2)

  • Brandon W.

    This place gives you first class service. I love how the owners come and visit you at your table. They were really cool with my kids too. You've got to get the yellow curry which is amazing.

    (5)

  • diane c.

    We were unable to park during the week and tried it on a Saturday. It has now become our favorite Thai restaurant in the area. The presentation was great and the food was wonderful. We ordered the seafood dishes and were happy with the spiciness of everything. They don't overdo the oil and don't use MSG. We intend to return often.

    (5)

  • Notorious B.

    The place can't be more than 2 years old but is a most needed ethnic venue in the cultural void that is South Palo Alto. Between Siam Royal/Thaiphoon in downtown PA and Krung Thai/Amarin in Mountain View, this is somewhat hidden surprise in this part of town. Love the Green Curry Roti, Tom Ka Gai (coconut soup), pineapple fried rice, and anything in panang/green curry. The Pad Thai is quite excellent and I've had a great Soft Shell Crab dish which is not listed on their online menu (?). Red Curry dishes are also good but perhaps not as memorable. The (one) host/waiter has a quirky and dry sense of humor, so pay attention closely since you may not realize he is joking around (Insert Russell Peters impersonation here). He usually has a big smile on his face after he makes his jokes. He has a funky pair of glass frames which he changes at the end of the day (I was there one time after closing and he changed his glasses (???). Perhaps the funky pair are nonprescription and he puts on reading glasses later to tally the bills? Yes, I digress. He's really nice but somewhat odd in a good way. This place is not usually crowded (and not sure why. Limited parking perhaps? new? poor publicity?) so it is easy to hold conversations, which are not so easy at some of the aforementioned places above. Food: 4-5 Service: 4 Helpful staff but stretched thin (maybe trying to save money in this economic downturn?). Decor: 4 Modern, clean with some asian/thai accents. Price: 5 Great quality and portions for the price. Noise: 5 You can hear your table mates easily since it never seems to get that crowded. Parking: 3 Limited spaces- try to find one on El Camino itself. Overall: 4-5 (rounding up in the Yelp rating)

    (5)

  • Dawn R.

    The Pad Thai was great. The spring roll was small. Overall, the portion was great for lunch. The only issue was the parking. They have a lot that only holds 4 cars, and it is difficult to manuever if you pull in and need to back out. So, if you go, park at Jamba Juice down the street.

    (4)

  • Lily M.

    I tried this place the other week because a menu was strategically placed on my windshield while parked at work. I'm a sucker for Thai food, so..... I had the papaya, a green curry and the fried banana/honey dessert ( I ordered so much because there was a $20 minimum for credit cards, I never carry cash). The papaya was very well balanced, the curry was also prepared deliciously- and both plated very entertainingly. I've never had the fried banana dessert, I thought it was lacking a bit because the banana's weren't sweet. This place is very trendy, just as I like my eateries. I got to talk to the owner who was very nice, service was great. I brought my leftovers home and my hubby ate it up. I'll be back Rice Thai.. with some cash.

    (4)

  • Eva D.

    I love Thai food and this place is great. I really hope it survives because the food is really good. During my three visits, I've tried the sea bass curry (excellent!), grilled pork salad, larb pork salad, BBQ beef salad, coconut chicken soup. All have been exceptional and presentation very nice. The decor is trendy, yet relaxed. It's a good place to bring kids as well. I'm always looking for good thai food and I'm happy that Rice Thai Cuisine is now in the neighborhood.

    (4)

  • Scott H.

    Good, spicy Thai food. Service could be a little better--some co-workers won't even go here--but the good food makes up for it.

    (4)

  • Becca C.

    This place is great! My husband and I are always complaining that there isn't any good thai food around palo alto, so we were excited to discover this place. I got sweet basil tofu and vegetables (i'm vegetarian and most of their dishes can be made vegetarian). I also tried the samosas. Everything was very hot and fresh, full of flavor, and relatively spicy (although, not as spicy as I would like). The place is family run and the service is great. It's very clean and nicely decorated. Prices are very reasonable. I'm happy they turned the building into a thai restaurant instead of the Quiznos that was there before.

    (4)

  • Michelle C.

    We left the restaurant disappointed. Overall the food was very mediocre. The green curry roti was the most disappointing, I would give it a 1 star. If you've had the real roti before you will not like this roti. Roti supposed to be soft and light and fluffy, and the curry is usually very tasty (try Banana Leaf at Milpitas, only $2.95 I think). The roti here is like a chinese pancake, but it's thick and greasy, and the curry is awesome, super salty and super sweet. For $7.50 this was totally a rip off. The pad thai was alright, lack the "fire taste" and nothing to take home about, would give a 3 star. The basil with pork was the best dish - the pork was tender, flavor was right on, and the veggies are cooked perfectly. I would give this dish a 4 star. So overall this place is more like a 2.5-3 star, would not come here again given that there are so many great thai restaurants here.

    (3)

  • Morgan F.

    We live in MP but were in the area and decided to give Rice a try. First off, the weather isn't that hot. We got in there and it was very warm inside the restaurant. We got there on the early side (before 6pm) so we thought they'll turn on the AC soon. No!! The food arrived and I have to say the food is good. I would give it a 4. We ordered pad see ew, pad thai, pineapple fried rice and the yellow curry. The quality of food is comparable to the thai restaurants in our area. But we got so hot we lost our appetite. We packed the food up to go and ate at home. The service was also lacking. My experience with most Thai restaurants have been very pleasant. The waiters/waitresses are always smiling, and helpful. Not here!! The waitresses were very abrupt. I'm not sure if I'll come back.

    (3)

  • Rahimulah R.

    Pros: I must agree with this Xavier M. fellow from Burlingame. So far I have enjoyed the Sweet and Sour chicken and the Drunken Noodle. Although I have noticed a disproportionate amount of orders for the Bangkok noodles. Seems alot of people order that. I'll try that out next. Also note: The food is dressed really fancy. :-) Cons: The parking is horrible!!! They tend to be short handed and so things take longer then they really should for such a small place.

    (4)

  • Elizabeth H.

    I've been going to this restaurant since it opened up and it is my new favorite Thai restaurant on the peninsula. The owner is incredibly friendly, makes an effort to remember my name and the food is great for the price. The food is freshly prepared and it seems fairly healthy. The ingredients used in the food is quite authentic. I go to SE Asia quite often and measure Thai restaurant standards with their Tom Yum soup. I wouldn't go on a first date here but I think it is a great place to grab a casual lunch.

    (4)

  • Superduperpooperscooper T.

    pad see ew here is very dry. it has good wok hay, but I would definitely not get it again.

    (3)

  • Anthony S.

    After reading the other positive reviews and looking for a nice Thai place close to my home, I ventured into Rice Thai Cuisine. I had been avoiding the place after my experience at ramen club, the restaurant that occupied the space earlier. Just a warning, you might miss the parking lot. Just remember the turn is right after happy donuts. The server was very kind, as he always had a smile on his face. The decor is nothing to write home about, but other than the large window looking out at a brick wall and the not so sturdy tables, it looks nice. One wall has some crevices with candles inside that look nice. For lunch my friend and I ordered Thai iced teas, a chicken satay, a duck curry, and a Shrimp Pad See Ew. The Thai Iced Tea's taste is good, but my glass was almost completely filled with ice, making the quantity smaller than at other restaurants. The Chicken Satay was very nice, with very tender meat. It was a little bit bland, but still very good nonetheless. The cucumbers on the side were fresh, unlike some other places. The portions are nice and large, but I don't guarantee that you will have leftovers. My Shrimp Pad See Ew actually only came with 8 shrimps, which disappointed me because Dexter said that he got 10. Well anyways, the shrimps were seasoned very nicely and the noodles were not too oily. They had a very good sweet and savoury taste. A 8/10. My friend complained about his Duck Curry being too watery, and when I tried some, it was definitely very watered down. I am not factoring this into my review, as I did not even try the duck meat, but I would warn you about trying this dish. Our meal ended up costing $43, as the satay was $8 while my Pad See Ew was only $10. I will skip it next time, as the satay is rather small. In conclusion, this is the best Thai restaurant in terms of area and quality to me, but it may not be necessary to drive over here if you live more than 30 minutes away. And I might hit up Krung Thai if we want curry next time.

    (4)

  • toto W.

    Came here many times and so far all the dishes we've tried are very good. The only let down so far was Chiang Mai noddle. It was great when it came out, but then we got busy eating other dishes and the noddle soaked up too much sauce/juice and it became too sour for our taste. My favorite is the lemongrass crispy fish, the sauce works so well with the fish and goes with the rice too. I also like their tom yum soup and sizzling seafood & sizzling duck a lot. Hubby's favorite is garlic pork. Not so much a curry person so can't really comment on those. Although their portion, like most Palo Alto restaurants, tend to be on the smaller side comparing to south bay restaurants. For me the drawback of this place is that they tend to be slow when they are busy, and we will end up having to flag them down for water and stuff. Parking is also not so great, a very small parking lot on the side which you have to circle to the back to get out. But these are just small problems and won't affect my love for Rice Thai.

    (4)

  • Chris P.

    My co-workers and I come here all the time . The store is hard to see from El camino and the parking is pretty small so be prepared to park on the street. Overall the food is great the the staff is very friendly.

    (5)

  • Julia C.

    Good, family run Thai place. Parking is tricky. The food is good, especially the black rice pudding. Prices are definitely reasonable/cheap. I would recommend it to my friends.

    (4)

  • Amanda S.

    I've been searching for a good carry out thai place. I went to Rice Thai several months ago and got the basil chicken which is my go to thai dish. It was just okay. Next I tried Thaiphoon which was excellent and I will never go anywhere else. BUT, the parking at Thaiphoon on a Saturday night is a nightmare so I went back to Rice Thai for some carryout. I ordered the drunken chicken noodles based on the recommendations in yelp and I was very disappointed. It was totally bland and had no heat whatsoever. Most thai restaurants ask you "how spicy" you want certain dishes and they did not but I didn't realize it until I got home and tasted the dish. I also got the red curry chicken which I did actually like but I do not plan on going back.

    (3)

  • Robert R.

    In light of the prices, the food is excellent. The people are great, too.

    (5)

  • Becky D.

    The food was better than we could have hoped for! We always drive past it but have never eaten there - now my two friends and I have vowed to be regulars! The food was presented simply, yet elegantly. I would recommend Rice Thai Cuisine to any and all who want to try some authentic Thai food!

    (5)

  • E L.

    This restaurant was average overall. The food was OK, and the selection good, but the price was a little higher than some other local Thai restaurants for the size of the portions, and the service quite slow.

    (3)

  • Kevin C.

    I've been looking for a Thai place close to home for a while, and I think I've found it. It was quick and friendly, reasonably priced, and I went home with leftovers because of the great portions. I had the panang curry with chicken, and my friend had the teriyaiki chicken. We were well pleased. The hot and sour soup was worthwhile as well, but it *is* hot (and wonderfully so). I'm only holding back that last star because it was my first time. If it continues to perform well I'll update.

    (4)

  • Kev N.

    As I was trying to gnaw through one of the tough, sinewy beef strips in the dish that I ordered, I kept thinking that it was the nastiest Thai food I'd had in a long time. Maybe ever. The spring rolls were OK, but not enough to make up for it. Service was polite but they messed up my order the first time (although maybe they were trying to steer me away from the beef). The wife liked her Pad See Ew, so I'll give it two stars.

    (2)

  • Luanna F.

    Just got takeout from here last night for the first time. Yum! Everything was flavorful and very fresh. Portion sizes were generous for the prices. We've missed good Thai food since we moved away from LA -- this is the best I've had on the Peninsula. This is sure to be one of our new go-to places for a good, fresh, affordable family dinner.

    (4)

  • Shw S.

    Great food! It's really easy to overlook this place, and I had to double back a couple of times n El Camino in search of this restaurant. Happily, it was absolutely worth it! A friend, whom I was dining with, was especially stoked because she found a beer on their beverage list that she had only previously had in Thailand. The food was great - the presentation was absolutely gorgeous, and it tasted brilliant. Case in point: the spring rolls arrived in a martini glass, making it easy to pass around, with a pretty carrot & beetroot garnish. Many many vegetarian options too, the green curry is especially good. Highly recommended!

    (4)

  • Claudia B.

    Very pleasantly surprised. Nice presentation, tasty food, quick and friendly service. Parking is a little tricky, but I will definitely go back.

    (4)

  • Jon B.

    Food here is really good and pretty affordable. Presentation is great and the staff is quite friendly. Definitely happy this place is in the neighborhood! Parking lot is somewhat small so if you can find a spot on the street, take it.

    (4)

  • GreenBean M.

    The food is hot, yummy and fresh (the pork pad thai and swimming angels are awesome!) and the presentation is pleasing. This is my favorite Thai place. Parking is difficult but this place is truly a hidden gem!

    (4)

  • elyse f.

    We went to Rice on Tuesday, June 30th for our anniversary dinner. The food was good, but the wait person was very harried and rude. He was the only server there that evening, there were only three tables with people dining, and he could not handle it. He was rude to us when we asked for things, and made it clear he would rather we did not keep asking for items we needed. As I said, the food was good, but whoever that server was that night, he needs to be told to be more gracious to people coming to the restaurant. We will not go back.

    (2)

  • Sie Deen A.

    Recommend soft shell crab, and green beans (w chicken/beef/pork/shrimp). Very friendly people.

    (3)

  • Crystal C.

    I have eaten at Rice many times. I'm working my way through the menu. The lunch special is a very good value -- $7.95 for soup, egg roll, your choice of meat or veggie main item, rice, and a salad. Lots of food and all delicious. I've had the green papaya salad several times; it is especially refreshing on a hot day. Several people have reported problems with the Pad Thai, but in my opinion, it is one of the best I've had. This is the only Thai restaurant I've eaten at where the chicken is not overcooked and stringy. Most places have it pre-cooked and then cook it more before serving. I'm not sure if theirs is done by the same method, but it comes to the diner perfectly cooked. I also like their wine by the glass served in very nice, thin-rimmed stemware, which makes me feel like I'm in a fine dining establishment. The owner and staff are all very nice. I've also had take-out, by which I judge many restaurants, because some cheat you the portions or the amount of protein knowing you're probably not going to bring it back once you get home. This is certainly not the case with Rice; the take-out is just as delicious and plentiful as when served in the restaurant.

    (5)

  • Derek W.

    Pretty good Thai place for vegetarians. Just went there for dinner this evening (no problem getting in at 7:00 on a Sunday). Got the veggie rolls with peanut sauce - very good and reasonably priced, especially the peanut sauce. Not the best I've EVER had, but still delicious. For dinner I had the ginger Vegetable & Tofu with brown rice; this was very good for me. I chose to get it HOT which was an okay level of spice for me being something of a fanatic. I would probably go VERY HOT next time. My g/f got the red curry with vegetable and tofu and that was quite good. She got it mild (boooringbu), but it was still pretty tasty. We weren't starving when we got there, but we definitely have a second meal each in the fridge for tomorrow = ). Got out the door including tip for about $42. I got a beer also (Chang...mmm). If there is a downside it might be no complimentary rice or soup with entree aka have to order separately and their alcohol list is a little short.

    (4)

  • karen l.

    what would make Rice Thai a better restaurant is improved service. all four dishes we ordered were very good, so would definitely consider take out. it is hard to believe it's been in biz for over a year bc of the inattentive and amateur service. no one came to take our order. confusion over who was waiting on our table. dishes were not cleared. to go boxes handed to us in a pile, and we had to ask for a bag. i actually hope they read this, bc these small steps in basic customer service would go a long way. otherwise, the restaurant was great!

    (4)

  • Pam W.

    I've driven by this place so many times. It's so close to my house, yet I've never tried it. So today, when we were thinking about a place to eat that's nearby, I thought we'd go try it out. Turned out to be a bad idea. Granted, the food itself was not bad. We got a vegetable and tofu dish with peanut sauce (forgot the dish name), pad thai with pork, and lemongrass chicken. The vegetables and tofu with peanut sauce was the best. The pad thai was just like any other pad thai. The peanut sauce that came with the lemongrass chicken was great, but the chicken was a little on the dry side, so it definitely needed to be drenched in peanut sauce. However, the food wasn't what made coming here a bad idea. It was the service. With the place literally being 5 minutes away from my house, I thought we would definitely be there and back within an hour. In reality, we ended up spending almost 2 hours there simply because of the service. Yes, there were only like two servers (or maybe just one?) for the whole place. It also seemed like the kitchen was short-staffed too because food was coming out at a very slow rate. We would literally be done with one dish by the time the next dish arrived. However, some pieces of unprofessionalism that I need to note are... - Never checking in to ask if we wanted to order. We had to flag them down. - Writing our order on a napkin. I noticed this was done at every table. Guess they don't have a notepad? - Not providing plates once the dishes were served. My family and I literally just sat and stared at the food for a couple of minutes before I finally stood up and just went and got the plates myself. (Not from a server, who I couldn't find anywhere, but just from the stack of clean plates on their counter in the middle of the restaurant. I noticed some other customers watching me and chuckling at the same time.) - We asked for chopsticks and never got them. - When it came to paying, they were VERY efficient. So efficient that the server literally stood and waited right next to my mom as she looked over the check and took out her card to pay. He also stood right next to her and watched her write down the tip and sign the receipt. That seemed to be the only time we really got attention from the server. Also doesn't seem right. At least 2-3 tables left before they got served because they were getting fed up with the pacing of things. Some of the tables who were already seated before my family and me didn't even put in their order until long after us simply because they couldn't flag a server down to do so. So all in all, the food was fine, but the service was terrible and in my opinion, pretty unprofessional. I don't think I would want to come back unless something is done about the service. Maybe only for take-out, although at one point during my dinner, I saw a long line at the front counter (probably all picking up for take-out and having to wait for it). So, maybe not.

    (2)

  • Elizabeth S.

    Do not eat here! This was our favorite thai restaurant in the area until they served us completely raw chicken. After taking a bite and realizing it was raw, I called the owner (we did take out) and he said "I'll get you next time." We were very upset and heard the chef in the background say that he had Cooked it and it wasn't raw. We went back to show them and the owner was barely apologetic and said "these things happen." I don't want to eat somewhere where serving raw chicken just happens.

    (1)

  • E G.

    Rice Thai is great! I've dined in and had take-out on multiple occasions. The quality of the food is always consistent. They have a great selection and everything on the menu is delicious. They are also really great about adding as much or as little heat as you desire. I've been to places that ask me how spicy I want it, and even though I pick very, they still make it bland. This place DELIVERS on the heat! They are also great about making it mild for your wimpy friends. ;] I've tried the roti, calamari, green curry, red curry, and pad thai... it has all been DELICIOUS. I would eat here every day if I lived in Palo Alto. Also, their prices are so reasonable! You get large portions (I take home enough to feed me for the next day!) for an inexpensive price. Staff is super friendly and I have always gotten my food quickly. The Downside: - Their parking lot is itty bitty. There is a little bit of parking in the alley behind them, but the alley is itty bitty as well. -Limited seating, so if there's a big group you might find that they're closed for dine-in. Considered removing a star for how much of a pain in the behind parking is, but it's so worth it in the end...

    (5)

  • Jessica G.

    We were in the area for Valentine's day/my birthday and we were craving Thai food so we yelped thai and this was very high on the list. We found it and were VERY happy we did. The food was amazing! Wok Garlic chicken, pad thai and pineapple fried rice. We were stuffed with more for left overs. Totally recommend this place if you're in the area :-)

    (4)

  • Sasan A.

    I am not impressed with this place. We were there as a medium size group, the food was brought to our table over a time window of about 15 minutes, which was very unacceptable, and to our surprise, there were no other parties in the restaurant. I tried their fried eggplant which was very greasy and not impressive at all. Overall, not a very pleasant dining experience.

    (2)

  • Jen S.

    Unassuming restaurant on busy El Camino Real located next to Happy Donuts. I was blown away by their eggplant dish with vegetables and tofu. It had medium spice and with just a bit if sweetness. I ate everything - eggplant dish, rice soup and salad. I honestly think I could have eaten more. *gasp* Service was good. Prices great for what you pay for. Private lot but spaces limited. I will definitely be back for lunch.

    (5)

  • Jacqueline T.

    I feel pretty mixed in my review for Rice Thai because the service and the food were at complete opposite ends of each other. Most people prefer bad first, so let's start there: the service. I came with a group of people on a relatively quiet night and everything was slow. It took forever for us to get water and another enough menus. We were originally given 4 menus for 8 people and through multiple interactions, managed to get that number to 7. The food came out sporadically--my meal took at least 10 minutes longer than the earliest person in our group--and the water just never reappeared. I had ordered an appetizer to share with everyone, but it never came. Eventually, when I enquired, I was told they were still working on it and it'd be out soon. 20 minutes later, towards the end of the meal, another server came over to offer me a menu so I could pick another option because they were out of what I had ordered. Oh well. The food, however, is STUPENDOUS. I ordered a very tasty tofu and peanut sauce dish because peanut sauce is my vice and I was blown away. The tofu was wonderfully crisp and didn't get soggy from the sauce and the vegetables were perfectly steamed. Everyone else in the group really enjoyed their food as well, especially some of the more unique variations they did. Spicy pad see-ew! I've only had it as sweet and savory, but I liked the spicy when I sampled a friend's! Overall, 5 stars for the food, 1 star for the amazingly poor service and you get 3 stars. The service one would keep me from coming back until I've exhausted other Thai options near Stanford.

    (3)

  • Christopher S.

    Used to like this place a lot, the staff is now different so perhaps they are under new ownership. At 7:45 on a Friday night, when 2 other places we went had long waits, this place was mostly empty. Ordered the Panang Curry, Fresh Spring Rolls, and Chicken Satay. The Spring Rolls were really excellent. The Satay was ok but the Panang Curry tasted just...off. As I type this my girlfriend and I are both wide awake in the middle of the night with very upset stomachs (we shared everything). Even good places sometimes make a bad meal or two but I'm not going to go back to this place to find out.

    (2)

  • Greg G.

    Don't come here with big groups for lunch. They are clearly not staffed for it. The food is great, however the service is sub-par. Curry is spicy and always running out of water is never fun. We had to ask multiple times. They go around the table for food orders then call out the order since they can't remember who got what. It's obviously not a huge deal, but the extra effort is noticeable. Also, telling us you can't use more than 3 credit cards is ridiculous.

    (2)

  • Cyndi L.

    Food is delish. Staff is nice. I haven't tried everything on the menu yet but so far the chicken curry and the bangkok chow mein are pretty good! Their lunch specials are awesome and around ten bucks or less depending on the meat you choose. Comes with an egg roll, salad and soup.

    (4)

  • Shirley F.

    I've been coming here since shortly after Ricky opened in Oct. 2008. The food is always top quality, artistically presented on fun shapes of white china, just right level of spiceyness, reasonable priced, and friendly service. Never disappointed with selections, had cashew nut stir-fry, green beans, with brown rice and the starter salad rolls last night--so delicious. As mentioned in earlier review, "Its always busy at lunch, so go early or late to avoid slow service at lunch hour." Great neighborhood restaurant to walk in for an excellent evening meal.

    (5)

  • Derek W.

    This was the 6th Thai restaurant I have tried since I moved to Palo Alto a few months ago and it is definitely my favorite. -The food is authentic & delicious! -Good size portions -Each dish is specially prepared to offer a neat/"artistic" appearance -The prices are low compared to other Thai restaurants in the area

    (4)

  • Denise L.

    Read the reviews that parking is limited here, and after going through the tiny parking lot, seeing the signs to park in the alley, then seeing a bunch of NO PARKING signs, I grew aggravated and parked on the street far away. Of course, walking to the restaurant near 1 PM, I start to see a bunch of street parking in front of the restaurant. I was determined to try this place, and had high expectations after the parking hassle. Stepped in and it was quite busy at the end of the lunch hour. My friend and I did not receive a menu or water right away. After 10 minutes, we finally were asked if we had a menu as we couldn't flag anyone down. Waitress hands us 2 menus, and 30 seconds later, I kid you not, she asks if we're ready to order. It was both of our first time here, so we needed a longer look, and asked her to give us a minute. Sheesh. I ordered the drunken noodles with beef, medium spicy, since I read all the warnings in past reviews, and she ordered the pad thai with shrimp. Oddly, it said 3 of the noodle dishes, including mine, did not come with rice, soup, salad, and egg roll, but less than minute later, we were both given soup. It wasn't as sour as I have had at past thai restaurants, reminded me of a vegetable soup. 2 minutes later, we're given our entrees, which were on a pretty triangle plate, and I was so suprised at how good it looked, given the short amount of time it came out in. I really liked the salad with the peanut dressing. The egg roll was okay, but not usually a fan of veggie egg rolls. My drunken noodles were good, but not spicy at all. Had to eat my favorite peppers that I asked for with it. The beef was not good though, very tough and dry. I didnt eat any after the first bite. My friend's pad thai was really good too, lots of big shrimps on the dish. By the time we finished, we were the last patrons there. Meal for 2 was $19 plus tip. Not bad at all. The food here is really good, but I wish they had a larger parking lot and better service.

    (4)

  • June S.

    Let's get the good things out of the way: good food; nice atmosphere with slightly cliché Asian decor; good for eating alone, with a friend, or with many friends. Now here is where I explain my -2 stars: the service is sometimes okay and sometimes poor, but never actually good. Don't get the wrong idea: the waiters have never been rude to me. Not overly friendly, but they are nice. However, I often feel as though the waiters have forgotten about me. From little things such as bringing/refilling water or getting take out boxes to big things like bringing my food, I have had to wait way longer than I would normally have to at a moderately priced restaurant like Rice. It might not matter to some people, but I personally am not sure it is worth the price I'm paying.

    (3)

  • Orion B.

    I've been going here for months and it's become my favorite Thai restaurant on the peninsula. My favorite dish is the pumpkin curry, which I have compared at many places and in my opinion this is second only to Osha Thai. I also love their spicy basil fried rice, and the coconut soup is quite good on the days when that is served as the lunch appetizer. The service is VERY helpful and friendly and really makes me feel welcome. Yes, parking is extremely limited and that's a big downside. But the food and service are worth it.

    (5)

  • Andre P.

    Nice benefit for the low cost. Highly recommended.

    (5)

  • Schelly Y.

    Great food and great service. We tried a few dishes and everything was very tasty. Pad See Eu- Pan-fried wide rice noodle with eggs, broccoli, carrots, chicken and black soy sauceAsian Eggplant- Eggplant stir fried with bell pepper, mushroom, tofu, and fresh basil with chili garlic sauceRed Chicken Curry

    (4)

  • M J.

    First time here (maybe a 1 1/2 years ago) was a fantastic experience. Delicious fish and vegetables! Next (and last) time was a disaster. Shrimp dish with very little shrimp. Food just not as tasty as the time before, and place was too noisy. Worst of all, perhaps, they wanted to serve next course on our used appetizer dishes! No apologies, no explanations, as far as I know (someone else paid the bill). I hope it was just a bad night, but personally, not going back there.

    (2)

  • Court G.

    Excellent food, great atmosphere. Parking is a bit difficult, but definitely worth it!

    (4)

  • Ollia Y.

    Will never survive. Lack of customer service in many ways. I ordered Coconut rice and got a mush that looked pudding. When I questioned if this was what it was supposed to be I was told that's how they make it here! We use Jasmine rice. The Panang curry I so looked forward to, but potatoes were hardly cooked. In the end, after simply fair service, I asked to take the rice (I ordered and paid for plain rice) and Panang home. The waiter brought me a soup tureen and a carton. I packed my goodies and asked for a bag. I was told they don't give bags unless you order to go. On politely letting them know they really need to be more flexible in Silicon Valley with an upscale clientele not far from Stanford where I work, respectfully....he told me we should respect the owner's wishes not to give bags! Good luck!

    (2)

  • Shereda J.

    I ordered the drunken noodle which is pretty good, I like my food spicy, when asked for mild or spicy, I request spicy but on multiple occasion I got very mild food. I've had to return my food. I get the feeling they don't think I can handle it, but if I order spicy that's what I should get.

    (3)

  • Stacy N.

    Tasty food, friendly service, and reasonable prices.

    (4)

  • Jennell L.

    They are not fast by any means. I have been waiting 46 minutes for take out and it doesn't seem anywhere near finished. I hear the staff on the phone saying take out will be ready in 25 minutes. Be honest people! Still waiting.

    (3)

  • Obeela O.

    Awesome lunch deal, I usually grab it to go: Salad with a delicious peanut dressing, entree, rice, and spring roll. I always get the yellow curry. As far as all restaurant yellow curries, theirs is on the bland side, and thin. I feel like it is watered down, and I don't order mild. Parking is very limited. Good luck. My take out orders are always ready when I expect.

    (3)

  • Brittany W.

    Went here with a group of people for dinner around 7:30. There was zero parking near the restaurant, we had to park in front of Baja Fresh and walk over in the rain to the restaurant. The waitress was very pushy with having us order an appetizer, and said since they were semi busy it would take 15 minutes to make. We didn't want an appetizer and she finally left us alone. We ordered, the food took about 30-45 min to get, and everyone's food came out in waves. One person was able to finish their meal before another person could get their food. -Small portions -no parking -slow service -pricey for amount of food you get Overall wasn't too impressed.

    (2)

  • Eddo C.

    I really like Thai food! This place was among the biggest disappointments. I usually write a review if really good or if really bad. i also like to support mom and pop businesses. Unfortunately, this place is on the REALLY bad side. The lemongrass crispy fish is breaded grocery store fish nuggets with a forgettable dipping sauce. It's not even fried properly! Curry dishes are filled with mainly vegetable fillers like green bell peppers, red bell peppers, and bamboo strips with 4-5 pieces of grocery like beef strips (if you order the meat option). Seriously skimping... The papaya salad just tastes like it was soaked in lime and the papaya was not fresh. Since when does papaya salad have Chinese green beans?! Basically, every dish just had fillers with scant meat or seafood. To add insult to injury, they charge 1-2 dollars for a bowl of rice. Just for reference, a 25 lb bag of rice from an asian grocery store costs at most 30 bucks. You do the math. And that's the weight of dry rice before it's cooked - add water and you can see that charging for a bowl of rice is. Plus it's not even Jasmine rice as labeled in their menu ...it's short grain rice. Hah! It's clever how they mark up for food court quality food. I wish them the best, but won't be surprised if they aren't around too long unless they change in a big way. Warning all my friends. May the power be with you, Rice Thai cuisine...really.

    (1)

  • Ruth C.

    I've consistently come here for lunch more than a few times and I'm glad to have a delicious Thai staple in my rotation. I really love the complimentary soup they give you at the beginning of your meal. I always want more, but I think it would be rude to ask for a second bowl... and I also remember I always JUST finish my meal or have leftovers... so I should save room. I do love the pad see ew, but have ventured into trying and LOVING the pumpkin curry and the Asian eggplant. DELICIOUS! The pineapple curry is also tasty, but a bit tOo pineapple-y. Asian eggplant is seasoned well and I love the consistency of this dish. The Roti that comes with a green curry is a tasty appetizer. Thai iced tea is also a favorite of many at this place. Yum yum.

    (4)

  • Michael W.

    Good pad-see-ew. Parking here is a bit tricky. There's a back alley that you can park at. The pineapple fried rice is pretty good too.

    (3)

  • Zak R.

    For some reason It's challenging to find outstanding Thai food in the penninsula. If anyone has recs, please let me know! This place is good. Don't get me wrong. It's just not worthy of 4 stars. Maybe 3.5. Here's why: -1 Finding a parking is very challenging. If you turn in to their parking lot (which parks 4 cars), you'll find yourself driving down an extremely narrow dark alley that has now been closed off on one side. The alley is the parking area for small apartments so there isn't space to park there. I'd expect this degree of difficulty in obtaining parking in downtown PA, but not right off El Camino Real. -1 Not all their dishes are great. Pumpkin curry is tasty. Other dishes leave a bit to be desired. Vegetarian roll was ok. Drunken noodles and thai basil dishes Meh.

    (3)

  • Diana C.

    i come here for lunch because one of my coworker is in love with this place. I'm not a big Thai food fan but here are some notes: - free soup at lunch. pretty tasty - pumpkin curry is very tasty. - can sub brown rice for $1 - comes with a spring roll (mediocre) - Thai iced tea is way too sweet for me - parking is a b*tch - pad Thai is decent - you get exactly five shrimps, regardless of what dish you ordered - not very generous with the meat in summary, this is not my favorite Thai place, but i don't mind coming (if i don't have to drive, or if we come at 11:30)

    (3)

  • scott a.

    Utterly devoid of flavor but fast and consistent (and nearby). Ask for "Thai spicy" and you get a spice level suitable for a toddler. Great ingredients and very fresh, just on far left of the bland side. Reasonably priced and one of our go-to's for Asian take-out.

    (3)

  • Marc S.

    We decided to try them again a few times after that past experience just to see if we got stuck with an irate employee that day. Well, nope. I think we might even be on a black list. Every time we call, they put us on hold and then hang up a couple minutes later. This has happened on separate calls over several months. Message received! You don't want repeat customers. Done.

    (1)

  • Kevin O.

    Okay food. Atrocious service. Eat here if you're willing to wait an hour and a half to get your food from surly waiters who refuse to split the check between more than two credit cards. Truly, an abusive experience.

    (1)

  • Jen S.

    Really REALLY good! I chose this place based on the high amount of excellent reviews and I have to agree!!! We had: -Fresh Salad rolls (so fresh, so yummy) -chicken satay (par for the course) -drunken noodles (probably the group favorite) -beef salad (par for the course) -Green curry roti (something different and like by all) -phad thai (average, good but have had better) -yellow curry (excellent) -beef and broccoli (really good, broccoli was crisp, not limp and soggy like it can be) We will order from here again!

    (4)

  • Jerrod B.

    An unfortunate experience. Poor service, mediocre food, bad location. Took almost 20 min to get just our drinks ordered. They seemed almost annoyed that we asked them to serve us. Another 20 min to get the food, which was long but not awful. Then after finishing, another 10 min to get the bill. They seemed extremely disinterested in serving their guests. Food was ok. Not bad, but certainly not "Best Thai in Palo Alto" good. Spicy levels matched the standard scale, and quality seemed good. Volume was great...tons of food on each plate. Location is terrible. No parking, hard to get out of, and the restaurant is in the middle of nowhere. Might get take-out from this place, but otherwise would not recommend.

    (2)

  • Kari M.

    Decided to go out for some Thai food for lunch on Wednesday. Took a quick look around on Yelp and found this awesome place. Headed on over and had some seriously tasty Thai. The good: Food was amazing! I had the drunken noodles and like previous yelpers have said, it is really good! I asked for medium spicy and it was really spicy. My friend asked for spicy and it was SUPER spicy. The drunken noodles had ample noodles and came with an egg roll and small salad. The egg roll was crisp and had some sweet sauce that was not overpowering. The not so good: The service was slow. Once we ordered and got our food, no one came to check on us and we had to flag down a waiter to get our bill. The bad: Parking. There are only 4 spaces on the side of the building. There is street parking, but it can be super hard to find (unless you go to the other side of the street). Water refills. When you serve spicy food, one would think you'd be all over filling water glasses, but apparently you would be wrong. We had to ask to have our glasses refilled. Overall, the food was so amazing that it warrants 4 stars. Be prepared to look for parking and flag down waiters though. And spicy means SPICY.

    (4)

  • Jess C.

    I came back a second time to verify. No bueno.

    (1)

  • Kathy Y.

    Note to self: when it's your first time at a Thai restaurant, start off with medium spicy. Don't get all daredevil and ask for SPICY. I ordered the green curry lunch special for less than $9. It came on a nicely presented plate with rice, salad and an egg roll. Egg roll was delicious. We also got served soup which was pretty spicy too. I got full pretty quick- I'm guessing it's because the green curry was super spicy. That's ok- it's in the fridge for lunch tomorrow. oooh, I can't wait to sweat again during lunch tomorrow. I know these curry dishes get spicier the day after! My only complaint (as well as others at my table) was that we had to ask for water refills. If I was serving spicy food, I'd be sure to have someone walking around refilling cups. But hey, I'm not yelling. Food was great. I'm surprised it wasn't super packed for the lunch rush. Oh, wait I know why! PARKING SUCKS! Prepare to park across the street and do some illegal running across the interection!! Fine.... be safe and don't get a ticket. Use the crosswalk :)

    (4)

  • Dan B.

    Still pretty good Thai food at Rice Thai, including a decent pumpkin curry, but there is one major problem that keeps me away more and more: Parking. As in a way too little. There are only 5 spots for a restaurant that seats over 50. Not surprisingly, the spots are always full. Plus, adjoining businesses strictly enforce their own parking, and the few street spots are always jammed as well. It doesn't help that Rice Thai has exploded in popularity in the last year or so. Service seems to have taken a dive too. On my last visit they took my order quickly enough, but then forgot about me. Twenty minutes later they asked me what my order was again - ooooh, not a good sign. I was late for a meeting at that point, so I just asked them for it "to go". Then I walked the 3 blocks to my car and sped back to work. I was able to eat my lunch eventually, a few hours later. The experience didn't exactly make me want to come rushing back here. Since my rating reflects how likely I am to come back, I feel a downgrade is necessary. Hint to Rice Thai: How about moving locations please?

    (3)

  • Alice H.

    Rice Thai used to be my favorite Thai restaurant in the area for its very affordable, pretty good Thai food. They have great Tom Yum soup, Thai iced tea, and fried banana with ice cream. The sea bass curry, mussaman, and yellow curry area all quite good as well. The other stir-fried dishes, noodles, or fried rice, though are often a bit too salty for my taste. (Though the pad see ew and crab noodles are still some of my favorites here.) I'd rate the food at 4 stars. The service, though, is usually a definite 3 stars. I once came with a party of 7, and it took forever to take our order, and when our food finally came out, it wasn't brought at all the same time. So, some people had finished their food by the time the last in the group were served. By the time we'd all eaten we'd already spent two hours in the restaurant. We wanted dessert, but being so scared that it'd take another hour to take our dessert order and bring us the food and the check, we decided to just pay and go to happy donuts. Whenever Thai Rice is packed, they also seem to lack staff, sometimes having just one waiter for the whole restaurant, and the manager doubling as a waiter, bus boy, host, and more. Service is slow, which often takes away from the food as well. My new favorite Thai restaurant is definitely Shana Thai in Mountain View--better food and better service!

    (3)

  • Shane D.

    Decent food, a bit over priced. Do not get the jalapeño chicken! I LOVE spicy food but this was above and beyond anything I have ever had before.

    (3)

  • Alan W.

    The Red Curry and TomYum are fantastic!! Service is OK but the parking sucks. It's a great restaurant with an unfortunate location.

    (4)

Sorry, we don't have Q&A for this restaurant.

Sorry, No Coupons available for this restaurant.

Map

Opening Hours

  • Mon :11:00 am - 3:00pm

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : No
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : Yes
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Lunch, Dinner
    Parking : Street, Private Lot
    Bike Parking : Yes
    Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
    Good for Kids : Yes
    Good for Groups : Yes
    Attire : Casual
    Ambience : Casual
    Noise Level : Average
    Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
    Outdoor Seating : No
    Wi-Fi : No
    Has TV : No
    Dogs Allowed : No
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : No

Rice Thai Cuisine

Share with your social network

WE SERVE THE FOLLOWING STATES

Looky Weed - Buy Marijuana Online

Looky Weed is here to help you navigate the maze of legalized marijuana. We provide you with a complete dispensary directory.

© 2024 Restaurant Listings. All rights reserved.