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Without a doubt, my favorite Thai restaurant. Not only is the food top-notch but the staff is always friendly, welcoming, and happy to serve their loyal customers.
For those who are first-timers I would recommend the vegetarian spring rolls (I have not had the kind with meat so I can't say if these are comparable) as a starter and Masaman curry as an entree. This is a red curry dish that can be customized to your spice preference.
The only bummer is that they are closed Mondays, which always seems to be the day I crave it most...
Spicy food, delicious wine, great appetizer!
Dined here for the first time on a Friday night. Place was hopping busy, but seating and service were quick.
I tried 2 different pinot grigos and enjoyed them both. The glasses were filled to the top, good taste, good value. My dining companion had some giant Japanese beer that was very cold and delicious, it was not to my liking, be he enjoyed it.
We started with an appetizer special. It was a won ton with chicken and veggies and a peanut dipping sauce. This was my favorite part of the meal, besides the wine.
The entrees were ordered I think they may have mixed up the spiciness requested. My pad Thai was good with a nice tomato sauce, chicken, broccoli, and other veggies, ordered mild, came way too spicy for me. Dining companions Peanut chicken was ordered medium and was just right for me. We ended up trading meals. Both were good tasting with extremely large portions. Plenty for the next day.
I'm no Thai food expert, but I liked this place and would definitely go back and try out some other dishes. Less spicy dishes since I think I'm out of Tums after that meal!
Like others have said, this is some of the best Thai food you can find in MN. The dishes are generous and the prices are not too steep. I personally enjoyed the green curry dishes. The coconut soup is good, but a bit sweet, so go for a cup instead of a bowl.
Overall a great restaurant to try some different. The decor is not the best, and you might feel like you are in a rain forest with all the plants that are present, but that doesn't take away from the great food and great service that you will get here.
This is one of my favorite Thai restaurants in the Twin Cities. I have never had a bad experience at this restaurant. I've tried multiple dishes and they have all been really good. I think the prices are a little high, but that is always reflective when a restaurant upgrades itself. Service has always been attentive and friendly.
I have to disagree with all the compaints about finding good asian food in MN. Every employee at this restaurant is Asian. I also think MN having one of the highest Hmong populations in the country there is authentic food all over. One of my friends who is an executive chef in New York at a high end restaurant came to MN to specfifically scope out Vietnamese food due to the abundance and authenticity............. my 2 cents.
3.5 stars: elitist, privileged, Californian sensibilities tell me I'm paying too much, even though the food is decent.
Tip: I like spicy. Do you like spicy? (Ketchup is not spicy.) Tell them!
Favorite: Gotta be the Tom Yum(mmm).
This is the best Thai place I have been to in MN and go here multiple times a year. I find the food here on par with other good (or what I deem to be good) thai places across the country.
The spring rolls are always an excellent choice for an appetizer.
I am a fan of any of their curries, especially the Green Curry. Their Panang and Musamun curries are also pretty good. The pad thai is also pretty good.
Service is always friendly and attentive. Their takeout service is also very good. They package the food in extremely sturdy plastic containers, not the flimsy cartons that most Asian restaurants use.
This is the Thai place I prefer in the Twin Cities area.
Trying to find AUTHENTIC Asian food in MN is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Its HARD! So when my girlfriend and I find a decent place to eat, we usually hit it...HARD. On our quest to find that ideal Asian restaurant, we did what any other hungry fellow would do in search of Asian food in MN. We google'd it. And since the mood called for something Thai-related, we started our search.
Now, the criteria for the restaurant we were about to dine at had to be similar to our expectations of Thai food over at our native home of California. That is: taste, price and service. So, if the restaurant is satisfactory in those respects, all I can say is..."lets eat!" And we found such a place.
Pad Thai boasts an authentic Thai experience, not only in food, but also in its decor and atmosphere. Upon entering the restaurant, I really felt as if we had left MN for that little time of dining.
All I can say is this: the food is good. Authentic Thai food. Although, I do wish they offered my favorite Thai food dish - crispy chicken over rice. But other than that, the food is good. As far as service is concerned...they probably wanted us to enjoy our food instead of being bothered by their service. (I wonder...) But if you love a bargain, and if you enjoy good food priced from $6-$11 a dish (a great deal!!!) then this is the place for you.
I'm not going to say that I'm bowled over by their version of Thai, but I am pretty darned satisfied. The service is wonderful, and even when it's busy, they have your food out to you in record time, fresh & sizzling!
I've tried them three times since moving here, as I work around the corner:
Pad Thai - for a signature dish, their namesake!, I was expecting a bigger presentation & a little more complexity, but to be fair, it has all the major elements, and it quite tasty and packed with true Pad Thai flavor.
Green Curry - I usually judge a Thai restaurant on their green curry, so this is where my review gets a little tenuous. The green curry was perfect in form & function, but the lemongrass flavor was amp'd way to high! I like lemongrass, but this was a bit much. That said, the complexity of the curry, and the simplicity with which it is stewed and ladled onto green beans, chicken & onions, is on par....
Pad Prik Khing - smokey & flavorful. My favorite dish so far. Most Thai restaurants make this dish too sweet, but PTGC takes it back to its roots by stir frying it on super high heat to the point where the vegetables start to char & develop a smokey, spicy, savory-ness that abides.
Spring Rolls - Okay, the menu says "the Twin Cities Best Spring Rolls." So you think you're in for a treat, right? Okay not. They're great, don't get me wrong, but they're not spectacular enough to be called Best.
If Pad Thai Grand Cafe were the only Thai restaurant in the metro area, I'd be content and blissfully pleased, as they do right by Thai. However, they could very easily take it to the next level and move from a three star to a four or five.....
Ate there for my wife's birthday.
Food is very good, although a little pricy.
Deco is good.
I am not a Thai food specialist but I enjoy the food at Pad Thai.
I love the spring rolls - best I've found in the Twin Cities, MN metro.
I always order a pad thai dish (sometimes chicken, sometimes beef, sometimes vegetarian) and have never been disappointed. Lots of food, very satisfying and very tasty. The service is exactly what it needs to be - attentive up front with initial beverage service, order taking and food delivery. I love it that don't hover. Throughout the meal (and beyond into post-dinner conversation) they are quick to refill water glasses and just attentive enough that I know I could get something else if I needed it. I enjoy the decor even if it is a little busy.
Another one of my favorite, go-to restaurants in the Twin Cities, MN metro area.
I've never been to Thailand so I don't really have any sort of conception of what real Thai food is, but I love the Minnesota Thai restaurants. The main reason is because I love mock duck or seitan in my pad thai. The pad thai is not the best in the Twin Cities and the decor is not the best either, but it is very good and I love this place overall. I love the Macalester neighborohood. The service is always very good. My recommendations are the pad thai, green curry and thai coffee.
We went to Pad Thai Grand on a saturday night. It was quite crowded but we waited only 5 mins for our table. The service was very good. Our waitress was a brilliant lady (she wasn't taking notes when taking orders and did not make any mistakes :-). Overall, the service was very good (4 stars)
The food was just ok though. My chicken panang tasted fine. My wife ordered a vegetable mushroom soup which was quite disappointing. The mushrooms were the white button ones (the most useless kind) . Our spring rolls were not the best either. (2 stars).
so overall it's a 3-star place.
I wanted something lighter, so I just ordered fishcakes. I'm expecting the small blobs you get every place else. These were like a medium sized pancake. You get four, and I barely ate two. Basil, who wouldn't be caught dead eating these, tried a piece, said they weren't fishy at all, ended up eating the other two. They come with another type of lovely sauce. The pad thai when ordered with shrimp comes in a smaller bowl. My waitress was Apple, a very attentive, sweet person.
I didn't have this on my list, because I was fed up with the inconsistencies of this place. I was… Read more »
Hey!,what's up folks?.Today,i had lunch at pad thai grand.(1681 grand ave,in saint paul,mn).The decor inside,is very much in the asian style.....plenty of thai decorations,and a cool asian vibe,that informs the place.Booths are comfortable,with dark wood paneling,on the sides.I ordered the #509.....Thai salmon steak,with vegetables.($12.95).I opted,for extra spice,on this one.It was very tasty!.A generous salmon steak,topped with carrots,cilantro,broccoli,and fish sauce,with a side bowl,of steamed jasmine rice.Service,was quick&friendly.....my server,was a laotian lady,named oula.Pad thai grand,accepts cash&credit cards....not sure about personal checks.Parking is on street,and there is a smallish parking lot,around the back of the restaurant.Normal business hours,are from 11am to 10pm,tuesday-sunday.(closed mondays).Based on my past and present visit(s),i give pad thai grand,a very solid 4 stars......excellent restaurant!,
As a frequent enjoyer of Thai food - I often find myself going to Pad Thai Grand Cafe in St. Paul. I am probably not the best person to offer advice on every kind of Thai food because I mainly stick to more mild dishes - and most often stick to Pad Thai itself.
I've had it all over the city - and specifically Pad Thai Grand Cafe has the BEST Pad Thai. I don't get much spice in it but it is always the perfect sweetness that fits my palate.
One of the very best things about Pad Thai if you are a seafood lover is the shrimp there. In any dish it comes in the shrimp are HUGE! Magnificent, tasty shrimps - which in my opinion is rare to have in any asian dish, for the most part. My boyfriend and I are still convinced that they get their shrimp from Coastal Seafoods, which is just down the road. But don't even get me started on them or I'll have to write another review and give them stars all day long. BEST fresh seafood in the city.
In any case - the Shrimp Pad Thai is the best I've ever had and refuse to order anything else on the menu - except for the yummy fresh spring rolls and their tasty dipping sauce.
I can't say much about the restaurant itself, because I've only eaten there maybe once or twice.
But I tell ya - with food this good - its almost better to grab take-out, curl up on the couch with a good movie, good company and good bottle(s) of wine and enjoy a night in with your thai.
I've been to Pad Thai several times hoping I would find something delicious to eat, unfortunately, I've been disappointed each time. The papaya salad, red curry and pad thai tasted like it was drenched with sugar! The curry was too runny with very little meat and the service was okay.
The atmosphere is fine but the quality of food is thumbs down. There are by far better Thai restaurants to choose from.
So perhaps I was prepped up to believe this was the best Thai in town, but I was sadly disappointed with the food quality. The service was excellent, however my chicken pad thai lacked taste. The atmosphere was nice and decorated so I would probably return and 'thai' something different. Nice location too.
The decor is corny: spangled elephants and Hindu statues are everywhere but I think the food is absolutely delicious. I always get the green curry with steak and potatoes. It's not too expensive and when I order it to go I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes, even when it's crowded. The dishes are on the sweet side but they can be spicier if requested, which I do. Go!
It's not a dive anymore-it moved down the street to where Red Fish Blue used to be. Im in the hospital, and my cousin brought me some of their chicken pad thai. Comfort food for me. The curry isn't too bad either. A nice place with good food and nice atmosphere.
I enjoyed it but, like the other reviewers state, there was a sweetness to much of it that isn't necessary in Thai food (and that I've not encountered before). I'd go back, but know that better exists.
Some of the best Pad Thai out there, definitely the best in St. Paul.
I've tried most of the Thai restaurants in Minneapolis and St. Paul and this is my favorite for Thai food OTHER than pad thai, meaning that I've had better pad thai at other restaurants but their Thai entrees are great and I like the atmosphere. It feels authentic, with lots of deep red decor. The staff is friendly and attentive too. The pad thai is okay but the Thai style sweet and sour chicken is extremely flavorful, as is the green curry chicken--which has a pleasant sweetness to offset the little kick. So if you're in the mood to try dishes other than pad thai, give this place a try.
A good little dive Thai place for Macalesterites and locals. Tasty and affordable.
Everything tends to be just a bit overly sweet.
St Paul, MN
Category: Italian
Saint Paul, MN
Category: Thai
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