Chabaa Thai Cuisine

They can’t follow simple instructions for delivery orders. I asked for «not spicy, chillies on the side». They did make it non-​spicy, but did not include the chillies. I don’t like overly spicy food, so I like to control the spicyness level myself. Now I’m stuck eating a completely bland meal with overcooked chicken. Also, the rice to meat/​veggie ratio on their entrees is really off. It’s basically 80% rice and 20% substance. Will not re-​order from this place again. Plenty of other great Thai food options around.

This little place was awesome. I was up in San Francisco for a work trip and Chabaa came as a recommendation from a friend. It was close to my hotel so I made the quick 2-​block trip over. I ordered pineapple fried rice and some egg rolls. Both were fantastic. Huge portions and the order was ready within 15 minutes. Definitely will be back!

I was craving Thai food one night and decided to try Chabaa since it was literally across the street from the hotel I was staying at. It seemed like I was fortunate enough to find one that was not only close, but had good reviews too… Or so it seemed.
Before trying Chabaa, I read the reviews and went through countless photos. I ran into one where there was a cockroach, but I disregarded it because it was an old photo and unfortunately it happens sometimes. I decided to eat there anyway.
I ordered a ground meat and basil dish that every Thai restaurant offers. It’s simple, flavorful, and filling. I had no complaints. My girlfriend ordered a papaya salad and enjoyed every bite. I personally didn’t like the papaya salad, but I’m very very picky about the way it tastes and every restaurant makes it taste a little different.
Here’s where the one star comes in. I had one last night in SF before going home, so I wanted something cheap and close by. It was also a little late, so I settled for Chabaa. My girlfriend and I decided to look through the photos one last time and encountered 2 MORE photos of cockroaches in people’s food.
It’s extremely unsettling and not to mention disgusting. I’m not sure how they pass their food inspections because honestly I saw the cooks in the back eating while they were cooking food. With previous restaurant/​food handling experience, that throws out a huge red flag. I’m surprised they didn’t have a food safety warning on their Unilocal page. Go eat some place else that’s sanitary.

It’s a tiny hole-​in-​the-​wall Thai place on the busy streets of downtown SF — so yeah, it’s packed. But yummy.
They have this one really awkward table near the front though. I honestly don’t really know how to explain it — all I can say is that one person will have to sit like they’re cornered by their own table and the person sitting next to them at another table. Yeah, doesn’t make too much sense until you see it…
Anyway, I ordered the Roast Duck Noodle Soup with silver noodles, which was reeaaaaaaally good. Boneless roast duck, which is the best! But it is kinda misleading because it comes in a really big bowl with a lot of soup, but only minimal noodles, which is only mildly disappointing. And it’s kinda oily… but I guess that’s part of what makes it so delicious — because it’s also a duck broth, I believe. It’s been about a week and I still remember how it tastes — yeah…
They also have a side of Steamed Veggies for $ 2.50 and it’s a pretty good-​sized bowl with tons of random veggies. Worth it.

We were craving Thai food after a long night and tried looking for Osha only to find that it was closed due to remodeling. However, thanks to Unilocal,I stumbled upon Chabaa just a few blocks away. Definitely a great alternative!
I ordered the pad see yew with chicken ($ 8.95) and it was great. Delicious flavor, good portion, and fast service. You may think it’s hard to screw up this dish, but trust me, it can be done lol. I was pleased that Chabaa did not fail me and the prices were reasonable. The only downside was how small the place was. It’s truly a hole-​in-​the-​wall! There were probably no more than 10 tables and given its popularity on Unilocal,you may end up waiting a bit. We got there around 1pm and got the last table so I can only imagine how busy it might’ve been during peak lunch hours. Overall, glad to have tried a new Thai spot and will keep it in mind the next time I’m in SF.

I had a craving for Thai food one late Friday night and decided to give them a try. Their ad said they were open until 1 AM, but I could not get anyone to answer the phone. Unilocal said I could order through Eat 24. I placed my order online and rushed across town to pick it up before they closed.
I got there with fifteen minutes to spare, parked, and walked a block in the pouring rain. (Btw, parking around the restaurant is not easy even after midnight, so I recommend going with a friend who can jump out and get your food while you wait in your car.)
In any case, I walked into the restaurant while customers were still eating and asked to pick up my order. The host told me the kitchen was closed. I said I had placed my order half an hour ago through Eat 24. She said «We never confirmed it». I had to walk away empty handed.
The folks at Chaaba could have kept their kitchen open until 1 as they advertise. They could have answered the phone on one of the four times I tried to call them and said they were closing their kitchen early. They could have tried to accommodate me when they saw I drove all that way to get my order. They did none of those.
San Francisco has many places that offer service with a smile even after midnight. (I ended up driving to El Farolito.) I have no reason to return to Chaaba.

Really disappointed in this one. This is fast food thai. I tried several items and thought they were all below average at least compared to other Thai offerings in the city. Even though it is fast food Thai, it is not takeout friendly. Their takeout packaging is woefully inadequate. They use recycled paper containers, similar to what eggs are sold in, and pack these only in paper bags. Not at all suitable for hot food with liquid sauces. The whole package starts disintegrating less than 5 minutes after you leave the restaurant. If you plan on doing takeout, I would strongly recommend bringing your own plastic bags for transportation, rather than repeat the experience I had trying to get this home without wearing it all.

Chabaa is a small restaurant in downtown SF, but somehow we always have no problem getting a table. The wait staff are attentive and efficient, helping with the fast turnover of tables.
I came here with several friends and shared the dishes. We tried the papaya salad, green curry, pad si-​yu, and a roasted duck fried rice. The papaya salad was medium portion, a little on the small side if you eat it as a main course. It was very fresh and light, especially with the dressing and good amount of papaya, which makes a good appetizer. The green curry was flavorful as well, with good amount of veggies, but it was a little spicy for my friend who cannot tolerate any spiciness even we ordered mild. The Pad si-​yu was good too, it was not too greasy, which often happen with fried noddle dishes. My favorite was the roasted duck fried rice. The duck was tender and well seasoned, and they give you a good amount too! It blended in very well with the fried rice, which is dry and not saucy at all.
I definitely will come back more often since this great quality thai food for a good price at the prime location near Union square!

I came here on a Friday night at 6:30 and the place was packed. It ended up being about a 20 minute way.
The Yen Ta Fo noodle soup tasted a little bit sour and had a interesting shade of red to it.
The vegetable deluxe was ordered for the sake of having a balanced meal and it tasted average.
The red curry was well made and not too spicy.
The pad kee mao w/​beef was my favorite dish of the night. It had lots of flavor and not too spicy either.
This place serves very cheap, delicious dishes and it all came out quite quickly

Hole in the wall a block from Union Square. Per recommendation, I took the duck fried rice ($ 9.45) to-​go. It was tasty and a decent amount of duck, but there was still a lot more rice left.

TLDR — solid Thai food, not particularly amazing but really cheap!
Really small hole-​in-​the-​wall Thai spot around Union Square. And when I say small, I really mean small. Any group bigger than 4 would definitely be a challenge to fit in. It’s really only ideal for 2 people. Or for take-​out. My friend and I came around 7:30 on a Wednesday and had to wait 10 – 15 minutes for a table.
The food is solid. Cheap and a good portion size. Pretty flavorful, but still lacking a little compared to food I’ve had in Thailand. Their spicy wasn’t particularly spicy at all, but maybe I needed to explicitly specify that I wanted «Thai spicy». The dishes taste healthy relative to some other Thai spots. None of that Americanized «Thai» food overly drenched in sauce or grease.
My friend and I shared:
–CHICKEN LARB ($ 8.95) — 3.5÷5
They aren’t stingy with the meat! There was definitely more meat than lettuce. Pretty salty and sour, and not spicy at all.
–TOM YUM ($ 8.95) — 3.5÷5
Pretty light in flavor. Not too acidic. Slight kick, but could’ve had more chilis.
–PAD SEE EW ($ 8.95) — 3.5÷5
Beef was rather chewy and overcooked, but the noodles were soft and the sauce was just sweet enough.
–ROTI ($ 4.25) — ⁴⁄₅
Crispy outer layers and soft inside layers. Not too greasy but it was pretty thin. Would’ve been better with more layers
Overall, nothing really stood out to me as must-have’s, but I’d still come back!

I’ve been here twice and multiple times to the Irving Street Chabaa location. After eating at both locations, I must say that I prefer the Irving Street location more than here in the downtown/​Geary location. Why? Read on…
First is the location. The downtown/​Geary location is located right in the heart of Downtown SF, which makes it convenient for car-​less tourists and people who take public transit, but inconvenient for those driving. The parking is limited in the area, meaning you’ll need to either pay for metered parking (if you can find a spot) or park on a garage.
Second is the space. Because the location of this Chabaa is in downtown, the restaurant is very small and cramped. There’s about 10 or so tables crammed into about a 9 foot by 9 foot area — this means you can’t have a large party (you can fit at most 4 people comfortably) and you can’t really have an intimate, private conversation because neighboring tables will be an elbow’s space away. Not really ideal for bringing a date. Furthermore, there isn’t really an area for people to wait for a table since the entrance way to the small dining area is a small and narrow (maybe about the length of one to two average sized persona), and can’t really accommodate a group of people waiting. If you wait for a table, you’ll have to wait outside. Just hope it doesn’t rain!
Third is the menu/​food quality/​dining selection. The menu is slightly smaller at this downtown location. Both the Irving and downtown Chabaas use the samw menus, but some items, such as the corm fritters, are only offered in the Irving location. This is mainly due to the fact that the kitchen is not separate from the dining area here in the downtown Chabaa location — frying things are a bit more difficult since it can stink up the dining area.
In regards to the food, I found the quality and flavor to be a bit lacking here compared to the Irving location. I have ordered the pad see ew, green and Penang curries, papaya salad, chicken satay skewers, and appetizer sampler during my two dining experiences here. I like my curries thick, but found both the Penang and green curries to be waterier than I would have liked. The other dishes I had here were pretty standard, nothing stood out or to write home about.
My most recent dining experience this past weekend was a bit disappointing when I had ordered a Thai iced tea. The Thai ice tea that I had received was too milky (meaning there was less Thai red tea than usual). I told the waiter and waitress that my Thai iced tea didn’t taste right since it had too much milk in it, and asked if they could remake it and put less milk in. Both the waiter and waitress didn’t seem to understand me, probably due to a language barrier. What did I receive instead? A watery, lukewarm Thai tea with a few pieces of ice floating around with little to no milk. Not exactly what I asked for…
Overall, my dining experiences at the downtown Chabaa location have been mediocre with its cramped location with poor parking and average tasting food. I really wanted to like the downtown location as much as I liked the Irving location. Unfortunately, the downtown location just doesn’t cut it. As comparison, the Irving location in Sunset is much more spacious, with plentiful street parking, and, from my past handful of experiences, much better tasting food! That is, the Irving location never messed up on my Thai iced tea as badly as they did here at this downtown location.
If you come here, don’t come here in a big group and expect to wait outside where it may be cold or rainy (be prepared!). Also, don’t order the Thai iced tea– you likely will be disappointed.

Cute spot in union square.
I really like their penang curry… which pretty much just reminded me of a massaman curry (my favorite). I like that you can get the curries with roti, nice alternative to rice. The roti is okay, I prefer mine with a little more layers but can’t complain much about freshly fried bread that still manages some flaky texture.
Pad thai and fried rice were just okay, a little more on the bland side compared to most places. My boyfriend asked for his rice extra spicy and even I couldn’t taste any sort of kick to it.
They do have fresh chili paste, dried chili powder, pickled jalapenos and crushed peanuts for your sides upon request.
The number 7 appetizer sounded a lot better than it was. There was hardly any meat in it, probably a minute amount of each ingredient listed so it didn’t have much flavor that stood out.
Egg rolls were also just okay. Was a little under fried for my personal preferences (no crunch) and not much flavor either.
Service is okay borderline rude but not to a point where it ruins any sort of experience. Maybe not the best or most authentic but satisfying enough if you are in the area wanting thai food. until you find a better one at least.

I’m shocked that this place has 4 stars. If you ever had «real» Thai food, you’ll find it below average. The first thing that caught my eyes is that they don’t use coriander in any of their dishes!!! None!
The papaya salad had no dried shrimp. The tom yum tastes watery and more lemony than lemon grass. The green curry, was below average. You couldn’t even taste the curry flavors.
This is definitely not authentic Thai food, I’ve been to Thailand and this tastes nothing like it.

Duck fried rice is incredible. Literally incredible.
The duck soup is pretty good. A nice alternative to a bowl of phở.
Haven’t tried anything else. Every time the DFR is a must and it’s too hard to deviate as the DFR hits the spot Every time!

Zesty and flavorful larb duck salad! Yummy all the way!
The small, somewhat hole in the wall Thai spot, can be quite hot since the kitchen is right next to the seating area.
It’s a hole in the wall restaurant, but they serve up the kind of mama-​papa Thai style that one seeks!

Although this place is more of a 4 stars restaurant, my perfect first experience merited a 5 stars rating and review :) My bf was visiting and he never had Thai food before *le gasp*!!! Of course as an avid Thai food lover, I had to take him out to a bomb Thai restaurant in SF. We’re both working but not swimming in money, so we aimed for a casual Thai experience. Turning to Unilocal for its glorious assistance, I came across CHABAA THAI on Geary. It was close enough to Century Theaters and the food pics looked too divine (Thank you, Unilocalers!)
We arrived around 7:30PM Friday dinner. Our wait time was around 20 minutes, not bad. The interior of Chabaa is so CRAMPEDDD. Get ready to bump booties with yo neighbor! I felt like part of a jigsaw puzzle piece sitting perfectly into a tiny two-​seater table with my bf. We were literally an inch away from the tables next to us lol. The whole restaurant can probably fit like 20 people or so? I’m not even sure if that many haha. Regardless, it was a bustlin’ Friday dinner night, and we got right to ordering some delish foods.
+++Foods/​Drinks/​Desserts: A+++
⁵⁄₅ Duck Fried Rice: One of the best duck fried rice I’ve ever eaten. I am a huge fan of duck + fried rice :) Chabaa impressively cooked up a flavorful, well-​seasoned fried rice with juicy tender pieces of duck! The rice was not dry or flat, and the duck pieces were packed full with meat and less fat and bone. The portion was huge and we did not end up finishing the dish, despite how delicious it was. Easily the best dish of the night. MUST TRY!!!
⁴⁄₅ Pad Pra Ram: This dish was consisted of chicken sauteed with peanut sauce and breaded prawns. You could also choose other proteins or vegetables, but bf wanted a protein-​packed peanut entrée. The peanut sauce was creamy, smooth, and absolute delish. I’m not a huge fan of peanut sauce, but Chabaa blends the sauce well and it was not watery or icky :)
³⁄₅ Pad Thai Shrimp and Chicken: Although this was a decent staple dish, it didn’t exactly blow me and my bf away. We were too enamored with the duck fried rice and pad pra ram. It’s decent but not the best pad thai I’ve had.
4.5÷5 Thai Tea Ice Cream: Super dee duper awesome! Neither of us every had Thai Tea Ice Cream X) It was so delicious. It tasted so sweet, exactly like Thai Iced Tea. The texture was mediocre though, it wasn’t the smoothest ice cream. But I am guessing they just buy it from another vendor. Totally try it!
⁴⁄₅ Thai Iced Teas: On the sweeter side, comes in a standard 12oz (?) glass with a cute straw flower :)
Service overall was lacking, even on a busy Friday night. It took multiple tries and weird arm waving to flag down the servers. Although the place is small, all the employees are within your visual field. Prices were CHEAP! Super reasonable for the hefty portions and quality was spectacular to boot. I would recommend Chabaa Thai whole-​heartedly. It’s one of the better hole-​in-​the-​wall Thai places in SF!

I came here around Christmas last year with my cousin, aunt and uncle after looking around for places to eat around 11am, near my apartment at the time, and everywhere else was not open yet or has a wait. This place just opened for the day, so we got a great table in the back without waiting long. The chicken skewers were really good, and so was the Thai salad, very tangy and refreshing. I had the pad see ew, which tasted very good.
We got a good time, and the service was good. I’d come here again when I’m hungry for Thai food.

EEEEk! Methinks not for reals. The food is better than good but… three cockroaches joined us towards the end of our Saturday night meal, after we were 80% finished with the food :(so sad! I’d probably stop reading after I see cockroaches.
However if you’re one of those «cockroaches don’t faze me, I think they make the food taste better» type of person… we got the:
1) Papaya Salad — the server will ask you how spicy you’d like it. We opted for medium spicy, and it wasn’t very spicy. I’m guessing they probably toned down the spiciness so they don’t get Unilocal reviews complaining about how spicy it was.
2) Duck Fried Rice — YUM. We were debating between this and the duck noodle soup. I think the soup would have been great too, but it’s easier to share fried rice rather than get a bunch of bowls, spoons, and liquid goodness on the table (haha).
3) Pad See Ew with chicken — your standard Thai dish. The veggies tasted fresh, and not your typical soggy drenched in oil dish.
Overall, the food was great — portions were HUGE for the price. The restaurant is located in a great location, and although small, the wait was only 15 – 20 minutes around prime dinner time. Unfortunately, I dont think I’ll come back. Cockroaches and thai food for dinner just aren’t for me, we definitely felt a bit sick and itchy after we saw the cockroaches. Kudos to them for giving us 10% off the bill, however. that really is just no tax…

I ate here the night before the SF Marathon with friends since it was really close to the hotel I was staying at. I knew beforehand that it was a small restaurant (thank you Unilocal!) so we tried to get there before the dinner rush on a Saturday night. From the Grand Hyatt hotel near Union Square, it only took us about 10 minutes to get there! There was a 10 minute wait for a table of 6, which wasn’t bad since we were waiting for our other 2 friends to get to the restaurant.
Food: I ordered the pad see ew, which is what I normally order when I eat at Thai places. It was pretty good. I tasted a lot more eggs in this dish than I normally do so that was interesting. I was sad that they didn’t have any chili oil. It usually enhances the food. The food portions were okay. My boyfriend ordered the panang curry, but unfortunately, since it wasn’t lunch time anymore, we had to order the rice as an add on.
Service: Even though it was very busy by the time we were done eating, they didn’t rush us out of our table. They were also very nice and refilled our waters constantly. There were probably about 10 tables in that small restaurant, so it was very loud with everyone shouting over each other.
Overall: The food was average, nothing too special. It was more out of the convenience of it that we decided to come here. I don’t like it when a restaurant doesn’t come with complimentary rice with your curry, it just doesn’t make sense to charge more for a dish that requires rice.

Au rayon des restos thaïe, celui ci vaut le détour. Que ce soit le curry, subtilement crémeux et épicé, le riz frit et son poulet frit tellement fondant ou ses plats végétariens, tous les plats que nous avons goûté ces 2 soirs étaient particulièrement bons.
Le décor très simple mais efficace, un comptoir et une dizaine de table, le tout dans une ambiance familiale. Une adresse à né pas manqué en plein cœur du centre ville.

Concept. Un restaurant familiale thai en plein coeur de San Francisco et de ses tramways mythique.
Cadre. Une petite salle avec comptoir pour emporter, assez rustique mais sans le charme de l’exotisme.
Service. Déception du public! où est passé le sourire légendaire thai qui vous ferait acheter 4 entrées, 3 soupes et tester tous les currys? Que fait le consulat de pour promouvoir l’image de son pays !
Dan l’assiette. J’ai testé une entrée très réussie à base de crabe et autres fritures, un délice. Le plat fut un simple curry vert avec la petite touché bien kitch du riz en forme de coeur… j’ai failli pleurer et oublier que je n’étais gentiment méchant. Pas de dessert, mais le fameux thé thai bien sucré et un peu chimique… mais bon, ce qui né nous tue pas…