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The first time I have been in months and I have missed much. The food is the same but the place is not.
I miss you Dick!
Don't let the exterior scare you away. The owners are great and will share an interesting story or… Read more »
Ok, Little Thailand isn't the end-all-beat-all of Thai experiences, but the food is solid, and its a DIY style business that I like to support. It's unique, and food memories are a gray area+ regional differences+ removed 5,000 miles to middle-of-nowhere, TX does pretty darn good.
All the authentic flavors are there, its family run and it's made with heart.
Nothing fancy, but no disappointments.
Dammit, I am so mad at myself right now.
Finally made it out to Little Thailand, the reviews of some of my favorite Yelpers have had me intrigued to try this place for quite a while. Veek and I met up with a merry band of other Yelpers for dinner tonight, and everything was exactly as I expected:
- its a dive, in every sense of the word
- the food is friggin great, everything we had on the "famliy style' dinner was scarfed up
- they had Chang beer cold and ready for me
The company was perfect, prices were entirely reasonable, and Dick was as pleasant a host as I can imagine.
So why am I mad at myself you may wonder?
Because I forgot to inquire about/look for the lab results! I had heard the guy puts up his lab results or x-rays or something, and I did take a cursory look around the 'lounge' area (saw the baby chicks in a box and their way cool jukebox), but never got to experience the marvel which is Dick's medical history.
Ah well, for another time.
That little bottle of stuff that says "Yes Hot"??
Heed it's warning well. It really is. Like burn your face off hot. Even after you've left the restaurant.
The Pot Thai is delicious as well, and not swimming in sauce.
You know how it is when you eat at your friend's grandmother's house? And she makes really good meat… Read more »
I would have liked giving Little Thailand an additional half star for ambiance but two stars it is.
Went there with my girlfriend today and the food was far from authentic.
The tom yum goong had big chunks of celery and the flavor wasn't quite right (though not terrible). I've never seen chunks of celery in this soup either in Thailand or here in the US.
The pad see ew had no color and was just super soft noodles flavored with the pad thai sauce. It didn't have the right flavors at all.
The beef salad was light on the beef but really heavy on whatever gritty spice that seems to be put in everything here.
I really wanted to like this place after reading some of the reviews. It's very quaint and as I said before it has a nice ambiance (read dive).
Going by the yelp scale it's definitely a "Meh. I've experienced better."
Side note:
Couldn't order booze because their liquor license wasn't in order. Apparently the owner of the liquor license passed away recently (Dick?) and they're in the process of updating it. Sorry for the loss, he seemed like a very liked person.
Little Thailand is heaven-sent for all us Bastrop county folks. You don't have to drive all the way into Austin to find quality and authentic Thai food. Dick and his wife are wonderful people and fantastic providers of food and beverage service.
The lunch specials are very reasonable and filling. You get some clear broth soup, ice tea and spring rolls included in the special. I've had the curry, pad thai, fried rice and even the goulash! Everything is pretty much guaranteed to be yummy.
Three to four stars for food but five plus for character and sheer individuality.
Dick is a really sweet fellow, muttering and puttering about the little dining room that's festooned with hand-drawn signs exhorting us to not miss the Thai Bloody Mary (six bucks but felt like a double), the steak deal, the Thai Jambalaya (next time), etc. The first thing he said to us was, "We gotta Thai Bloody Mary---" and I said, "Sounds good!" He laughed and told my gal, to her linguistic delight, "They're lip smackin'!"
That's on the sign too. Truth in advertising, though. Good drink, good buzz.
Then a couple free bowls of cabbage soup to start. "We want you to know what we're doing in the kitchen." Very flavorful yet light. Above average veggie spring rolls, darker pastry taste than usual, which was a nice change.
The pad thai was nowhere near as legendary as many here describe it, and hardly the best in town. ("We haven't found the best in town yet!" was the missus' call, though we've tried most every one. Why doesn't anyone make their own fresh noodles for this dish?) It was very decent, however.
The thai iced coffee comes in a pint glass and is one of the sweetest drinks I have ever experienced, but in a good way. I'm still a little buzzed, ten hours later.
Fried bananas, not recommended. Five small balls of fried dough with tiny pieces of banana inside for six bucks. Sorry, not very good.
The back of the old shed is where the humor really cranks. It's Dick's version of a makeshift military bar and has a unique vibe indeed. The many many cases of wine are lined up on the wall; no opener needed, the boxes have spouts.
Start browsing the walls and the fun begins. A classic is an old Top Gun-era photo of Tommy Cruise, signed to Dick; I won't spoil the surprise message. In the other back corner by the dartboard is my favorite juxtaposition: a signed photo of Mack Brown, who is looking over at the big fan next to him on the wall, which is painted with a picture of an old Fu Manchu-looking chap holding a big hand-rolled cigarette and smiling a far-away smile. The painting is titled, "The Thai Stick". You can almost hear Mack thinking aloud about bringing Ricky Williams here.
I will be spending some more time talking to the proprietor in this most personal of bars as time rolls along. Looking forward to it!
Dick did a couple tours in 'Nam and has a personality and attitude all his own. Surin his Thai wife is very friendly and a fine cook. All in all, this place feels like one of those great old fish shack joints along the Aransas and Rockport coasts, but serving up good Thai instead.
Completely worth the twenty minute drive from downtown, Little Thailand is its own little world, with as much character and down home feeling as you could ever ask for in a restaurant.
I'm amazed that this place is so well accepted. I used to live in Bastrop, so I've been to this place a few times. It was OK, but never great. The LAST (and it will be the last) time I went there, I ordered red coconut milk curry with chicken. Apparently they had run out of coconut milk, so they gave me a red water curry with chicken. Really pissed me off and showed lack of respect. They should have told me they had no coconut milk, and I would have ordered something else! And can someone tell me: what do they do in those little hut-like structures out back???
I half expected Rod Serling to walk about from behind a curtain, wave his hands a couple of times and smile. "Just kidding, folks," he'd say, and we'd all have a big laugh and go have dinner.
But there was no Serling. What there was was equal parts surreal time warp, quirky melodrama and culinary exploration. Say this about the concept of the 'dive restaurant' - it wouldn't work if the food weren't so damn good. And good it was.
To really get what Little Thailand is all about, you need to gather a few friends, head off the grid for awhile (if you think you've gone too far on your trip out of town, keep going -- you're not there yet). You need to start in the Lounge area, where the jukebox doesn't take your money (trust me, I was the doofus trying to slide dollars in there), and where the standards hold up to scrutiny. And speaking of scrutiny? It's hard as hell not to scrutinize everything here: nine times out of ten you may scarcely believe what you're seeing. Outside of the Salty Dog in Port A, this was one of the most bizarre and amusing experiences I've had in our state, and we were all smiling for the rest of the night.
Highlights (in no particular order) included the crusty fella in the back sidled up to the bar who told us (also in no particular order) that:
-he should have been dead by 21
-he named his kid after Yogi Berra
-his wife left him because he drank too much, but she came back in last week to get her tires rotated.
I do not know if this last line was a metaphor.
Anyhoo, Dick had his prescriptions on the bar, his lab results tacked to the wall, and when dinner was ready, we didn't pay out: we just took our homespun bloody marys and Thai brews into the main dining room where they basically added them to our tab by memory. I was surprised to learn that they don't live here (they live a few miles away), and that he's been operating this place or the one that preceded it (Little Thailand One? Littler Thailand?) for something going on thirty years, if I heard right. And who knows if I did, because if it's one thing you can count on via Dick and the ladies at this place, it's the blurring between conversation and reality. And in the end, isn't a little happy distraction what going to dinner's all about in the first place?
Dive bars are near and dear to my heart but I think this is the first time I've been to a dive restaurant. Somehow this place has the complete package with owners that wear the hats of bartender, cook, waiter and cashier; a jukebox to die for; a well-stocked (wine in a box!) bar with a soft, pillowy edge for resting your arms (or your head); hand-written signs advertising for lunch specials (and wedding/nuptial services); and a bathroom that smells as smokey as the bar.
I do have to let it be known that I'm not one that appreciates dive bars (and now restaurants) purely for the kitch factor or the check-this-place-out-it's-a-trip experience. I like dive bars because they're original and comfortable. Each piece is in it's place for a reason, the atmosphere is what it is not because some interior designer came in fixed it up but because, ever so slowly, the posters, Christmas cards, jersey towels, and hats on the mounted deer head have been layered and placed ever so perfectly to create a unique home-away-from-home feel -- and, generally, the surroundings say as much about the people that run the place as the customers who feel comfortable there.
Part of Little Thailand's uniqueness is the combination of Texas-country and Thai food. Delicious, wonderful curry, pad thai, spring rolls and fried bananas that you can eat while listening to Merle Haggard or Barbara Mandrell and other country classics. The service is excellent and the trip to Garfield is well worth it for the food alone (that soup!). But, thankfully, it's an entirely original experience as well...one you won't find anywhere else in the world.
It is hot like a sauna HOT and dark like a sauna DARK and the ceilings are low like a sauna LOW. In my world, this is not called a restaurant, it is called hell. Root word for Surin... Sur... Surly...is a table nazi. "NO, no do NOT sit there. Over here." Never a please, never a smile, never a thank you. "So what will you have?" She interrupts a table of 6, including a sheriff and 2 deputies, "I'll leave you alone when I am done with you." Maybe the woman who told me how to get here actually sent me to ANOTHER Little Thailand. The hot, claustrophobic, rude one. With no Dick.
I am very hungry as it is 1:00 and I have been on the road since 6:30 am and have only had a large Snickers bar and half of a diet Mountain Dew. I am on a diet. Pad Thai, err, Pot Thai sounds good. She tells me that was the special YESTERDAY. "Fine, One Pot Thai. $6.95 yesterday, $7.95 today. TEA, you want tea? Or water? You want water?" Hand printed sign on wall: Killer Thai Bloody Mary's Awesome and Lip Smacking. The sheriff walks over to one of the funky 60's Vietnamese Hippie Lights so that he can read his menu. It is that dark. A woman at his table says she is going to order the Pot Thai, and it is spelled this way because Dick likes to spell it as it is pronounced. Thu speerit uv Dik iz oll urownd us... but noe Dik.
Hand printed sign on wall: Special large T-Bone Porterhouse for 2 soup all trims wine $26 bananas. (Shut UP! $13 a person for that homemade meal?) Pot Thai arrives and I finish it in about 30 seconds. The glory of eating alone is that you do not have to space out every bite and make it last for a hellish half hour of being polite while it gets cold. One large inhale - while it is still hot - it is that good.
About the 5th time that Surin walks by me, I leaned over and said "Hi." She says, "Are you OK, dear?" and that, just that one word of kindness broke me. "Dear." She called me dear. Wow, stop the review. I get it. Surin is simply over-worked running from table to table. That is all. I ask her "How is the Hungarian goulash?" "I don't cook that, my husband does and it is excellent. Everything we serve is excellent." "Did your husband make my meal?" I ask hopefully, with a hint of "Where's Waldo?" in my voice. "NO, my sister made your meal. She is helping me out for a short time." "Which do you like more, being in the kitchen or on the floor waiting tables?" Maybe I was stretching our new connectedness, but it was worth a try. She paused long and hard, ... slowly "Oh, the kitchen for sure." And then... she... smiled.
I would like to return for one of these meals and eat with Dick in the bar/lounge, wherever the hell that is. Hungarian Goulash, Pad Thai, Thai Curry, Porterhouse, Filet, Shrimp, these all sound like heaven to me. Hand printed sign on wall: Valentine night, surf and turf shrimp and filet soup salad desserts spring rolls reservations wine $30 for 2 people. (Shut UP!) More Insider Bonus: Apparently Ian McLaughlin lives nearby and shows up quite often to play and eat. Yes, of the Bump Band.
OK, so honestly, I can totally see why this place has gotten rave reviews. I have already recommended it to 4 friends in the past 4 days... I have become a one (wo)man marching band proclaiming the glory of Little Thailand on Caldwell Lane. Seems my only problem is that I still don't know Dick.
I don't have to tell you this place rocks, just look at the other reviews. I'm gonna say it anyways, this place rocks.
The food is good - by far the best Thai food I've had in central Texas. You'd think that was enough for a review, but this place is so much more.
First, there's Dick himself. Without him and his wife, the place would be just another little Thai food joint. Add them to the mix and, bang!, you've got a funky little Thai restaurant that's worth frequenting for both the great food and it's personality.
Second, there's Dick's "awesome and lip smacking" Thai Bloody Marys featuring his homemade Thai sauce which is a mix between traditional Thai hot sauce and Habanero sauce. Very yummy with a little kick.
Third, Dick's lounge. The lounge sports the old bar from Bergstrom's NCO club as well as art on the wall that, at one time was out of style, but now is as hip as all the hipsters in Austin.
Fourth, fifth, and sixth, I could just go on and on about how charming Dick and his wife are. They seem to be salt of the Earth good, hardworking people. That's enough for me to love them.
Last but not least, the food is fantastic. It's reasonably priced and good. Nothing fancy, just good food.
Head on out the the water tower in Garfield, 5 miles past ABIA. Sit down and enjoy a meal. You won't wish you'd gone someplace else.
So i have been coming to this place for years, It used to be right infront of my house before they moved, they live about 10 minutes away from me. And dick[the guy who owns the place] is the sweetest guy, and its cute that he owns the place with his wife. My parents like going there and chatting with him in the back where the bar is.... and they have fantastic spring rolls. Hard to find good vegetarian rolls anywhere.
Their Vegetable fried rice is really really good, actually the best fried rice i think i have ever had.
I give it a 5, because they have good food. And good service.
If you don't look out for it, you will miss it. Look for the garfield water tower, Its across from the big Fireworks superstore. Check it out, its amazingggggg.
This is one of the cooler places around town where you could bring an out-of-towner.
So, ditto on all that's been mentioned, and I raise you a few points:
- If you ask Dick, he'll usually let you eat at the bar.
- Jukebox is free.
- They sometimes sell farm-raised eggs in the bar.
- We got the impression that the "Garfield water" in the Thai bloody marys might be some moonshine-esque brew of Dick's own device. Could just be vodka though.
- We haven't made it to any of these yet, but Dick is always cooking up some kind of Super Bowl/Thanksgiving/what have you party. Sounds fun.
- Erratic hours. Closed some days. Check before you make the drive.
On our way to little Thailand, we stopped at the Alexander Family Farm to pick up a flat of eggs with the friends we were having dinner with. We pulled up to the farm and parked in front of something that resembled a free-standing carport equipped with a pegboard, sundry dental tools and a couple of rainbarrels on stilts; I was quickly introduced by my friend to two machines that process chicken: one that spins the blood out, and one that removes the feathers. I can't remember which comes first. Either way, by the time we got to Little Thailand, even the beautiful roosters wandering around outside couldn't whet my appetite for some chicken.
Nevertheless, the folks at Little Thailand convinced me to try a Thai Bloody Mary, and by the time I was finished with that, I'd erased all memory of the de-feathering and draining devices. So I tried the yellow curry with chicken which turned out to be some of the best curry I've eaten. We tried some other things, which were also very good but I can't remember those either, just the bloody mary and the curry.
And now, unfortunately, those terrible devices all over again...
Thank you Yelpers for sending us here! And thanks to Meredith D. for the good directions. There are some great reviews but I wanted to emphasize a few things.
1. Check out the "Lounge" - Dick's bar. The bar was original to the UNO at Bergstrom AFB where I think Dick hung out once upon a time.
2. Have a Thai Bloody Mary. Garnished with a pickled asparagus, it is fantastic although very spicy. I think I tasted a little beer in it.
3. Order appetizers. We loved the stuffed chicken wings and fried spring rolls served with dipping sauce. Very yummy.
4. Go early--we got there when it opened and it still took us 2 hours for dinner. Probably because we ordered the appetizers and then while eating ordered the entrees. Dick and his wife are the only servers and one other gal is cooking in the kitchen. We did not mind the time--it was a great experience.
5. Order the fried bananas for dessert--served with honey! Delicious!
6. Take friends--a large group can be served family style.
7. Call ahead because they are not always open and have limited hours.
This place is confusing to find, so:
Its near the water tower like everyone else says. Don't try to turn left onto Caldwell off 71E. Not an option. The street before it, Greenwood, is what you want. Turn left onto that. It loops around to Caldwell, turn right onto Caldwell, and its on the left.
Now for the review:
This place rocks. It's sooooo awkward. I love awkward things.
The parking lot makes no sense. The decor is EVERYWHERE - and I mean both figuratively and literally. We're talking random crap on the walls and ceiling with no consistent theme. Pictures of random people shoved in the drop-ceiling panels. Ron Paul signs assault you when you step inside. And one can't forget to mention the pile of books [read: romance novels] by the door (leave one, take one!).
Your meal will be interrupted not by a rude waitress or an obnoxious table, but by a cuckoo clock.
That's right. A cuckoo clock. Complete with little guys coming out dancing.
The food is awesome. VERY enjoyable. Vegetarian friendly! The bar (or "Lounge") is probably the sweetest place I've ever been.
Honestly, the place is like you're eating in someone's messy, cluttered house - which works because you feel very relaxed and welcome. My boyfriend was even nagged because he asked about vegetarian options (for me) but then ordered a meat dish. The server nagged him and waved her finger at him like every good Asian mother would do. Talk about high comfort levels.
Gawd, I love Little Thailand. This mom and pop place RAWKS! The 'lounge' is runned by Dick, a hard-charging former "Spooky" airman in the Vietnam "conflict." His bar is perhaps one of the best in Central Texas. Cold beer with **delicious** American food like club sandwiches and frito pies. His house special is a "Thai Bloody Mary" which will burn the tongue off of a newborn. You'll find the lounge if you turn left as you enter Lil' Thailand and turn right before the bathrooms. Then you enter nirvana. Dick's a great guy to talk to, as well - I could stay in his bar for hours on a hot, summer day.
Not to be forgotten, after you've refueled at Dick's bar head back to the "Thai" restaurant part of Little Thailand for some pretty good Thai food served by Dick's wife, Surin, and her sister. The pad thai is very good. For non-Thai aficionados, wok-fried steak with fried rice is on the menu. The stuffed chicken wings are not your usual buffalo wing-type thing, but from the local huge, Garfield, Texas birds. They're stuffed with a tasty chicken, cabbage, vermicelli noodle mixture. Coupled with a Singha (Thai) beer, these wings could make a meal. I could go on and on about this place. It's an original. Four stars++.
My friend Leslie is recovering from dysentery. Yep. She has been home-bound for a week. So tonight I told her to put on her fanciest velour sweat suit and prepare for a night on the town in Garfield, TX.
Short story....
Awesome & Lip Smackin' bloody mary
Pickled eggs in a jar
Jukebox full of Merle Haggard and Patsy Cline
A box of baby chicks sitting under a sun lamp
Delicious food
Hospitality galore
It's like the dysentery never happened...
aw ! i like litte thailand.
i love family restaurants with laminated typewriter menus. seriously. It's really nice to go to a place that is just trying hard to be a good restaurant that makes good food and is friendly. And that's what we got.
the cabbage soup was good (comes with your meal) and my noodle dish was the perfect amount of spicy.
It was a little pricy though, I was kind of surprised that our meals cost about $13 each w/o tip. That's my only caveat, otherwise it was nice :)
Whoa, Jana was the first person to review Little Thailand? I'm shocked as I know for a fact a few of us have ventured out to Club Dick in the past.
Located out east on 71, past the airport and under the water tower that says, "Garfield", Little Thailand is that little gem that you'll never know about if someone doesn't tell you about it.
Legend has it that Dick was in 'Nam back in the day, and somehow or another, married a Thai woman. He brought her back to Austin and together they opened Little Thailand. The legend continues that she left him (because he was...a dick) and he remarried another Thai lady who is also the current chef. Now, I can't vouch for any of this, but it makes a great story.
Dick'll treat you like one of his own back in the "rec room" where you can belly up and order a Thai Bloody Mary with a little of that "Garfield" water (vodka).
I've been a few times now, and every time, we've been served up family style with larb (thai beef salad), a curry dish, pad thai, soup, spring rolls, and yummy fried bananas. I'm dying to go back and order off the menu.
Little Thailand is a legend, an experience, and an all around great way to spend an evening with friends.
Look for the Garfield water tower or you will seriously miss this place!
Go. Right now.
About 5 miles East of the airport sits Little Thailand in an old house posing as a restaurant. People go just as much for the food as they do the ambiance. I have been here a handful of times with a big group. If you come in with a big group call ahead and Dick will set you up with some family style Thai food.
But wait, before you sit down for dinner you must get a Bloody Mary in his garage turned bar. They even come with pickled asparagus! Dick will ring the bell when dinner is served.
We had quite a feast of lemongrass soup, Pad Thai, a few other dishes I can't remember . . . And fried bananas . . . With honey. Yum!
My girls' dinner came here once, and one of us couldn't resist saying things like, "This is delicious Dick!", "Can I get some more, Dick?", etc. Funny that she was pregnant at the time.
When you leave, watch for the chickens in the parking lot. Sometimes their eggs are for sale in the bar area.
It could be the chickens milling around outside or the garage bar or the warm and welcoming host/owner Dick - but whatever it is - Little Thailand gets it right.
My dining companions raved about the Bloody Mary's and the Pad Thai and I loved the fried Bananas! I never thought that I would love fried bananas. But there you have it.
This place is worth the drive especially if you are in a large group and can enjoy the family style service. Make sure you say thank you to the ladies in the kitchen (REALLY!) and grab some fresh eggs to take home with you.
Little Thailand has been a favorite of our entire family since I found out about it (by driving by and thinking 'who would put a Thai restaurant in the middle of nowhere!?' and deciding to walk in and try it out) about 5 years ago. I have gone in several times with large groups and even had my wedding ceremony there, but it is also the perfect setting for a date or even lunch with the kid-os! The food is incredible. Definitely the best Thai food around Austin! The atmosphere is so unique. Ask for a spicy Bloody Mary and a Thai-T-Bone and you'll leave more fulfilled than you could ever imagine!
I can now die happy for I have officially seen everything.
We went here for dinner last night and it was easily the most memorable and hilarious experience I've had in a good 10 years. The last time anything came anywhere close to this was when I went to a crazy ass Deliverance-style authentic moonshine bar deep in the heart of Appalachia off a dirt road. But that's another story.
You drive past 130, past the airport and pretty much past civilization, running water and cable to find this place, which is literally housed right under the Garfield water tower in a tiny little makeshift home/trailer. Apparently Dick, the owner (with his Thai wife - very sweet but spicy, like the Thai Bloody Mary which is their specialty - and holy shit spicy in a put-hair-on-your-chest kind of way. The Bloody, not the Wife), runs a pretty tight ship and they have an, um, interesting way of doing things in these here parts. You have to call ahead to reserve family style, then when you get there you go back to the Lounge bar, Dick makes you a fantastic drink and then you wait for the dinner bell. Oh yes, there's a dinner bell. When your dinner is ready, it is already on the table - no waiting to eat at all.
Here were some highlights because long paragraphs and sweeping descriptions of mood, character and place just won't suffice:
-Dick keeps his radiological exam results on the wall in the Lounge. Oh yes - at first glance you'll think it's a health inspector certificate. You'd be wrong.
-When I sat down at the end of the bar, Dick looks at me hard and says, "You're sitting in my office." One glance in front of me and yes, I see an assortment of objects sitting on the bar back that perhaps constitute an office such as a Marks-A-Lot dry erase marker, still packaged, an army of prescription drug bottles, some gum and a notepad. This might be the oddest office ever.
-A great jukebox filled with old standards
-A regular who has less teeth than cigarettes and whose loopy but drunken conversation includes these jewels:
"I was supposed to die at 21 but here I am 58 and still cookin'" and "I smoked with Willie (Nelson) once. Man he had some good herb!"
-Amazing Thai Bloodys. There is a sign on the wall that describes them as "awesome and lip-smackin." While they are definitely that, keep in mind for me to say this is big news because I don't even LIKE Bloodys.
-The secret to the 'awesome, lip-smacking' Bloodys? Dick's special sauce, aptly named Yes Hot. Yes, it's really named Yes Hot.
-Hilariously-placed signage and pictures on the walls. There is an old picture of Hillary Clinton from like '92 and above it is a sign that reads "Old Speckled Hen."
-Barcalounger material elbow "cushions" coming off the edge of the bar. The bar stools are also padded with this material. Fantastic. I want a matching set for my apartment, please.
-Too many other quirks to describe. It would literally take all day. Let's just say this was the best dive/restaurant I've been to, possibly ever. It hits on so many levels.
Quirkiness aside though, when we finally sat down to eat the food was probably some of the best Thai food I remember ever having. We had chicken curry, pad thai and some amazing Thai salad with chicken and cilantro that I kept pigging out on. For dessert? Fried banana holes (shaped like donut holes, and with much the same consistency and texture) with honey. All that for $25.
So, my next goal is to see if I can rent the trailer annex in the back and come over for dinner every night. You can't find entertainment and food this delicious anywhere else. Oh, and did I mention the chickens? Well, I didn't actually see them, but I did see the fresh eggs for sale by the cash register.
This place makes me realize I didn't know Dick till I came here.
The bar alone is worth driving out here. I don't smoke, but this bar makes me want to.
Food is tasty and the hospitality superb.
Don't go here if you are expecting something fancy. Go here if you like hanging out with people who are interesting, enjoy eating good food, and drinking a lot.
It's just too far away from my house. We live in north of Austin, and took toll way 45, then turned to toll way 130. Finally we passed airport and arrived the restaurant. I don't think I will go there anymore because of distance.
The restaurant is a married couple managed and pretty small. They hired a Thai cook.
There is only one cook, so it's a little bit slow to get the food. They are smart to bring the free soup to you first. So you won't feel too bored to wait for dishes.
We ordered spring roll, stuffed wings, Pad Thai and their favorite beef noodle.
Spring roll is pretty good, but too oily.
Stuffed wings idea is good, but not tasty. I just had one bite, and decided to throw it away.
beef noodle sauce is good, but beef is boring.
Pad Thai is my favorite. It's the best Pad Thai in Austin. Very good.
People around us all ordered bloody mary.
The male owner Dick passed by and said "hi kids" to us. We are old parents already, definitely not kids.
Traveling through town wondering where to eat. I decided on Little Thailand because of the reviews and location as my hotel is close to the airport. Everything was just as described. I loved everthing about the restaurant, food, environment including the music and the price. I had the Pot Thai, a spring roll and the broth soup which was awesome. The place had a couple of people in it, the wife took care of me and Dick provided conversation. He stolled the restaurant asking the dining room patrons how the food was tasting and how everyone was doing. I sat after dinner reading my book for a while as the atmosphere was so relaxing. I will be back again and I will recommend this place to my Austin based friends and clients.
This restaurant is interesting on an ironic-hole-in-the-wall level. That, however, is where the amusement ends. It took 1.5 HOURS for our food to reach our table after ordering. It was incredibly bland, the curry had way to much fish-sauce, and the Pad Thai (Pat Thai) was gluey and devoid of the normal spices. I am sure this place is great by Del Valle standards, but everyone I was with felt it was the worst Thai food in the Austin area.
Sure the place is funny because it exists, but do not drive here thinking you are going to get good Thai food.
I hate being "that girl" who doesn't like the places the rest of the yelpers love... but I was seriously disappointed in this place. I was expecting it to be a dive and I had no problem with that. But I the food was, at best, mediocre and the service was terrible. I love Thai food and I've yet to find any good places in Austin after being spoiled in Chicago. So I thought I'd check this out. When we first sat down the lady brought us a cup of cabbage soup which was the saltiest stuff ever. Neither of us touched it after one bite. I ordered a spring roll, which was fine and Pot Thai, which everyone on here said was delicious. Are you tripping? It was not delicious at all it was bland and mine was supposed to be chicken but there were only a few pieces so you'd hardly know. It was basically some plain rice noodles with some bean sprouts and peanuts. No flavor at all- I'd even say it's the worst I've ever had. To make the entire experience worse, we were the only people in the place last night so there was no excuse for the bad service we got. When we were ready to leave we stood at the front for 15 minutes waiting for the lady to come out and let us pay. I really wanted to just leave. I walked by the kitchen to peek in and see what the holdup was and I saw our waitress and another guy smoking in the kitchen. That has to be against health regulations! This place was a huge disappointment- I will never make the drive again!
Best Thai Food around. It's a dive with chickens and all running around in the parking lot by the front door. The owner and his wife along with staff run the place and the food is out of this world and I'm not the hugest fan of Thai food. It's out by the airport but we make the trip for an evening out because the food is just that good. Great to take guests. I drag all my friends out there.
BEST THAI FOOD IN AUSTIN. seriously y'all, not a bad drive and a great place for a big bday dinner. for big parties you will be served family style and anything can be cooked with tofu instead of the meat. Probably the best thai bloody mary you'll ever have. the back bar is hilarious and all velvet Elvis style! the warm beef salad is heaven on earth and the red curry is great. please go, please for the love of humanity, go!!!!
I have never seen so much fanfare about a restaurant on Yelp so I had to try Little Thailand.. We gassed up and drove all the way out there and found it, well, fine.. Honestly, I tried to love it, but it was just OK. They had 2 huge groups the night we went so we received very little attention, nothing like the glowing reviews of their charming personalities. The food was good, but not all good. The stuffed chicken wings were interesting, but did not taste good. The Pad Thai was very good, worthy of any good Thai restaurant. The spring rolls were excellent and the Laht Na was pretty good, The Laht Na was a beef dish with noodles, the beef and noodles were decent, but the sauce was very tasty. The temperature in the restaurant was freaking hot, about 80 degrees.. If I am driving 25 miles to eat, I expect not to sweat so much when I get there.. The walls have some nice Asian art, but along side that are posters advertising different services and dishes on the menu.. Really strange decor. I really didn't think the food was much better than Titaya, so why drive so far?
quirky thai restaurant with excellent food and "Thai Bloody Marys". Worth the drive out there.
Austin, TX
Category: Thai
Austin, TX
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: University of Texas
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: 78704 (South Austin)
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: Crestview
Category: Korean
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