Chao Thai Restaurant

Authentic thai food! A simple restaurant that looks ordinary but their food is really good. Came here for lunch and ordered 3 types of food for me, my bf & my bro.
Got some papaya salad for appetizer. This is one of my favorite dish ever! I always get this whenever we go to any thai restaurant. Its really good! Its a little spicy. I think you can adjust the spiciness if you’re just gonna inform the server.
Me & my bro ordered the roasted pork with gravy over rice– it has this red gravy thats a little sweet. It taste good. Its not very sweet & on the side theirs a thick black sauce thats sweet too. Semilar to oyster sauce. I didn’t use that sauce since the red sauce is already a lil sweet.
My bf ordered pad kee mow– beef basil noodle. Its a flat noodle with some thai sauce. Its yummy!
And we ordered thai iced tea for drinks. I think their thai iced tea is too sweet. Its sugar overload. I think you can also adjust the sweetness by telling the server.
Delicious thai food!!!

Small restaurant, cash only, freshly prepared authentic Thai foods served here.

Best Thai food in NYC. Authentic cuisine and so good! Most NYC Thai spots cater to American taste, but Chao Thai keeps it real and keeps it spicy. This place is definitely worth putting in your rotation.

Tiny restaurant! Cash only! Smells like Thai fish, so be warned and come hungry!
This place has some seriously authentic Thai food. It occupies a small and unassuming storefront, and there are only a few tables inside, but the food is well worth it. The food is complex and rich in taste, and in just one bite, you can taste the spicy, sour, sweet, and salty flavors of the dish. The Soft Crab Papaya Salad was especially delicious, and filled to the brim with flavor.
Elmhurst is filled with great food but I would definitely recommend stopping by Chao Thai if you’re in the area. Much better than SriPraPhai, in my opinion.

CASH ONLY!
— Fried whole fish with basil sauce — soooo good!
— Fried taro rolls — ehh not my thing, I expected it to be more… taro-​ish
— Pad thai — the noodles were different than what I’m used to. They were soft but thin. I loved this.
— Green curry — we ordered medium spice but I couldn’t handle it – pretty good though!
— They have hainanese rice!
— Thai iced tea — spot on.
Tiny place, street parking.

Came here with some friends and really enjoyed it. The place is really small, but we didn’t wait longer than 5 minutes.
We ordered family style so that we could enjoy a little of everything. We got the tom yum soup, which was sour and one of my favorite of the four dishes. We ordered it spicy and it was for me, but not for everyone else. The other items we ordered were also not as spicy as we would have liked, so we’ll up the ante next time!
Just as we finished the soup, our next dish came. I like that we had time to enjoy our soup before the main dishes came out. The green curry was just OK. I really liked how thick the curry sauce was, but to be fair I really don’t care for bamboo shoots so this dish was not for me. I’ll try another curry next time. However, the braised pork leg was so good! The meat was so tender and the orange bell peppers were a nice compliment. I will definitely order this again. Our last dish was fried fish filet with mango salad, which was also very good. I wish that it was spicier, but the fish was crispy and the mango salad was sour and sweet. Wonderful!
We all ordered Thai teas, which were a little sweeter than I usually like. The service was great! Our total came to around $ 22 per person, but we ordered a lot! You can definitely eat for cheaper there.

I like the foods from Chao Thai. But I love Chao Thai 2 more (it was closed months ago) Our all time favorites are crispy pork with string bean and crispy fried chicken with mango salad. The only problem we have is the attitude and tone of some staff. My bf enjoys their food but he is never willing to call them and order because of the way some staff talk. Please be a little more patient with taking orders cuz it normally takes about 5 mins or less. And today the girl who took my order doesn’t know what the zip code. I just wanna give out the zip code just in case. I don’t want my foods get delivered to the wrong place when I m staving. Lol
Sometimes it just gives more pleasure to order from Seamless.

My go-​to neighborhood Thai spot.
This place is pretty small, so I don’t recommend trying to come here with a group of more than 4 people. There’s almost always a wait during dinner time.
I haven’t had anything bad or mediocre here. All their dishes have really great flavors.
My favorite dishes though are the fried calamari, pad see-​ew, green curry, stir fried morning glory and pad thai. Oh and don’t forget the thai iced tea!
OH – and they deliver. Yes pleaaaaaase

Since Jaiya moved out of Elmhurst to the city decades ago, this is my favorite Thai place in Queens. It surely is a gem in Queens. Tiny space and cash only; only inconvenience/​complaints. Other than that everything I’ve ordered so far the years I’ve been going there, it’s perfect. From the papaya salad to the cat fish. All amazing.

Highly recommended!!!
It is a small place but the food is so good!!!
Yesterday I’ve tried the Yen Ta Foe seafood noodles and I chose egg noodles! This one is sweet and sour which I like it!
I will definitely go back again!

All the food we ordered was yummy. Fried fish pla chu chee was pricey but my husband seemed to enjoyed it. Yum Nua was delicious. Yen ta foe seafood noodles was ok. Kids enjoyed the fried fish balls and pork skewers sticky rice. A ton of stuff to choose from on the menu. Prices could be a tiny bit lower to reflect the lack of ambiance, small space, and portion size. Cash only!

The menu is misleading!
The curry dishes are good pick.
The services was okay~
The place is small!

Dear Chao Thai,
When I first walked by,
I am so excited to give you a try,
Wishing you to be my new Thai food ally,
Your menu makes my appetite fly,
And making my expectation shot to the sky.
Unfortunately, your food price is a tad too high,
And your food quality I don’t necessarily buy:
— Rad Nah — large portion — very tasty broth not enough noodles — not necessarily a must try
— Crispy morning glory — crispy vegetable fritter but other than that nothing much to write home about — again not necessarily a must try
— Beef noodle soup — something about this dish (perhaps the smell of the broth?) only can make me eat a few spoons of it and that’s it — it’s an acquired taste not for the faint hearted — you have been warned, try at your own risk
— Green Curry — solid dish but a tad too pricey — $ 11+ for a chicken green curry?
— Crab rolls — awesome dish — the only must try
And finally no lunch special makes my experience with you gone awry
I don’t understand why
I wish I could give you another try,
But I’m afraid it’ll be another sigh
Till then, I will say goodbye and I’ll just past you by,
And if one day I crave for Thai,
I’ll stay with Ayada Thai nearby

It’s been several months since I’ve been going to Chao Thai religiously and have kept my love for this wonderful establishment from the Unilocal community. I know, shame on me :(It’s just that it’s such a great hole in the wall and with the limited seating, I would hate for the nightmare of waiting an hour to eat here. But after a lengthy discussion with my inner self, I knew I had to review Chao Thai because they deserved the praise.
I have never had anything bad here — seriously. Everything is good. Everything. Especially their soft shell crab salad. WOW. Do it. Just … do it.

This is a 3.5 star. After driving out here with fiancé to have Ayuda Thai, we were blown away. Amazing spicy, authentic Issan Thai food with rare dishes that were prepared so amazingly (red snapper worth basil chili wow!!!). Chao Thai didn’t compare but maybe it was what I got. I came here with two girlfriends who are familiar with the area. They both loved it and said that all things are good– and my dish was good, it just wasn’t as good as I was expecting. They had plenty of yummy exotic items though.
One of my friends got the catfish stirfry… And asked for it not spicy which they accommodated. It looked good, and they also had a larb catfish salad which I will try in the future. I ordered the crispy chicken with chili basil (pra pad something — off the special menu) it was perfectly fried but could have been spicier and had a bit too many onions. Both of us got a side of hainese rice which was good.
Our other friend had the duck noodle soup which I did try but it looked like she enjoyed it.
We shared a delicious softshell crab salad that came with papaya and shredded mango. Grab could’ve been more seasoned.
It doesn’t compare to other Thai spots in the area in my opinion but I will definitely have to come back and try more items.
The place is small and the layout is weird but the staff is really nice and the Thai iced coffee was refreshing although it was a little too sweet. M
Inexpensive you can eat well for $ 20 a person

My family was a fan of the other location Broadway before it closed. The original location is not as spacious and well decorated as the other. This location also doesn’t have a lunch special so there isn’t as much value eating here.
We ordered the Thai fried rice with pork and it was good. Definitely different since it has onions in it. I have no complaints.
The Pad Thai was ehh. It’s pretty difficult to mess up a pad thai and is a standard dish for any Thai restaurant. There was too much sauce so the dish overall was too salty. Sighhhh
Each dish was around 8.50 and yes it’s a good amount of food but I’ve had better Thai food else where. Considering this location there are lots of other places that’s a great bang for your buck.
The service is also okay. The waitresses can be somewhat slow. When I asked them to box the dishes up she placed the dishes on top of one another… I don’t think the bottom of the dish is that clean… The germaphobe in me had an internal panic.

It’s kinda sad because I have been here on several occasions over the years and I remember liking the food. My trip today was a miss. The lack of Thai clientele was a sign that things wouldn’t be as good as the motherland or it’s previous glory years. Not sure if the ownership has changed but there was a big difference in quality and taste.
The food:
Roasted pork over rice– roasted pork, crispy pork, and sweet sausage over rice with gravy sauce. This is one of my all time go to dishes since it is simple and delicious. The one here was simply put, weird. I have never heard of putting coconut milk in the gravy, it is so unheard of. The smell of the coconut milk completely threw me off as did the overbearing sweetness of the gravy. The crispy pork was very obviously pre-​fried and was more hard than crispy. The roasted pork was rather dry and lifeless and the sweet Chinese sausage was standard. This dish made me sad.
Duck Noodle– duck noodle in dark soup with bean sprout and scallion. I thought this dish was just OK, I didn’t really care for the taste nor texture of the duck.
Pig leg with special sauce– I haven’t had this dish in years but I do remember this dish being one of their better ones.

Authentic Flavorful Thai Cuisine
Food — ⁴⁄₅
Value — ⁵⁄₅ (Big portion)
Comfy — ³⁄₅
Décor — ³⁄₅
Ambience — ²⁄₅
Bathroom — ³⁄₅
*Not suitable for those who can’t take spicy or citrusy food* It will be too shocking for your taste bud. You have been warned. For those with weak stomach — this could become a full body cleanse ;) if you know what I mean
Spicy level translation:
Mild = spicy; Medium = super spicy; Spicy = Tabasco x 100;
Love:
+Papaya Salad — Hands down the best papaya salad in the area. Portion is perfect for sharing between 2 (or 3 if you order a lot of food) Extremely refreshing with the crispy papaya strips drowning in lemony-​peanut sauce. In my opinion this is not only yummy but also a very healthy dish including a ton of vege like carrots, tomato, papaya, pineapple, chopped peanuts, chilli pepper, green beans, bean sprouts, lettuce etc.
+Pork slices in lemon sauce — A very refreshing and mouth watering appetizer to start the meal. It’s cold, lemony, flavorful, and not overpowering. Goes really well with the coconut rice. I would be satisfied with just ordering this and the rice.
+Pad Duck in Basil Sauce (not spicy) — Delicious fatty duck pieces. I love the Thai basil bits and aroma. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. Again this goes really well with the coconut rice.
+Coconut Rice — (Rice cooked in coconut milk) a bit pricy for rice but sooo aromatic and good with everything
Okay:
+Tom Yum Goong
Big big bowl of soup, perfect for sharing. The flavor is kicking — extremely salty, spicy, and citrusy. Personally I love spicy and citrus food, however, you just can’t have too much of this — a bit too overpowering. Not a lot of ingredients in the bowl (mostly liquid). Also the color is milky clear, which I thought tom yum goong is supposedly colorful (reddish)? The taste is great but I feel that something is not quite there yet. A couple spoonful goes a long way, what to do with the rest of the soup?!
+Dark sauce with duck
meh I would skip this. Very mediocre and uninteresting
Overall I will come back to Chao Thai whenever I have craving for homie Thai food

First thing you will notice is the place is very small! Second thing you’ll notice is the cheesy decorations. They recently redecorated and used white PVC siding made for the exterior of a house to decorate the walls. So looking at the wall is like looking at the side of a house!
The new tables they have are a mix of sea shells and cutouts cover with glass. I not a fan of it.
Now to the important part of the visit, food.
We tried the
Fried fish fillets with sweet chili sauce– this dish is very good, large pieces of fish and the sauce was not overwhelming. Batter was crispy. Rate ⁵⁄₅
Pork Thai Fried Rice– a lot of delicious thinly sliced pork with the fried rice. Rate ⁴⁄₅
Rad Nah– tasty but not a lot of noodles to satisfy me. Rate ³⁄₅
I have been here about 5 times and the food very consistent.
Service is good. It gets get very crowded on the weekends.
In summary
Cash only.
Food: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ⁴⁄₅
Restroom: ³⁄₅ (careful going down the narrow steps)
Décor: ²⁄₅

Probably the spiciest Thai restaurant in all of Queens, Chao Thai is a place I take a journey to every time I crave especially life-​shorteningly hot food. But the spice is something truly special, because it’s not just spice spice spice — it’s FLAVORFUL spice. It must be a special type of chili pepper that they use.
Favorite things on the menu (after maybe a few dozen visits):
1. Tom yum (white) with fish head or fish fillets. White tom yum is almost impossible to find outside of Thailand, and it’s a shame because it’s so damn tasty. I always get this because it reminds me of Bangkok. Tom yum elsewhere in New York is a disgusting red-​oil-​tinged mess that reminds me vaguely of dishwater. But Chao Thai’s tom yum is super flavorful, complex and deep, and soul-​warming. Don’t let the fish head freak you out, it’s worth it.
2. Moo yang (grilled pork) with spicy sauce. This is an excellent appetizer. Who could deny loving grilled meat on a stick? Their sauce elevates it to a new level.
3. Crispy morning glory salad with seafood. Their seafood is barely cooked, allowing the eater to truly taste all the glorious seafood flavor of each component. Also, fried vegetables? My new diet.
4. Prik khing (dry sauteed curry with ginger and green beans). This is a fairly good yardstick for the strength of any Thai place, as it’s one of the most difficult to execute well.
5. Any of the curries, but my favorite is their Panang curry. Perfectly dense (not too watery nor too thick), and an ample portion at that.
In general, be prepared to breathe fire when you eat these. I always order my food here «Thai spicy» level which is the truly authentic way to go. But I’ve brought many a friend here who’s puffed up their chest and claimed they could handle any level of spice, only to succumb to this place’s level of spice. But it’s definitely worth it!