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Thai Smile isn't cheap but the food is nicely done and the dinner portions can be split into a couple of meals.
We got some spring rolls, chicken masaman curry, chicken and green beans in peanut sauce and fried bananas and coconut in sesame seeds and honey. The quality of all the dishes were on par or higher than the standard Thai food that I'm accustomed to. It also didn't hurt that there was a lot of food on the plates. Our host/waitress was also very nice and her service was great.
I noticed a few Thai places around Palm Springs but if you try only one, I think that you won't go wrong if you walk through Thai Smile's doors.
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Some of the staff has changed. I really liked the old staff (and some have stayed on). But, the new staff is great too.
I used to come here at least once a week. But, having moved out of the area, I now only go once every three or four months. Even so, the staff, who are from the original ones, still remember my order.
The food is consistently good and good quality. Staff is friendly and attentive and they really do care how you are doing.
My VEGETARIAN recommendations:
Pleasing Sprout (add soft tofu)
Yellow Curry (I have them add soft tofu and hold the potatoes)
Garlic (soft tofu)
Don't forget to say thank you in Thai:
Khob Khun Kha (Feminine)
Khob Khun Krab (Masculine)
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Our company came here on Sunday Evening for Dinner. It's a small restaurant that could hold a maximum of 60 people and its in a tiny strip mall next door to a motel.
I ordered the honey pork with a side of brown rice. It was absolutely delicious. Grilled pork strips served in a sweet honey glaze mixed with sugar snap peas, mushrooms, quartered tomatoes. The brown rice was pretty good as well. The dish wasn't spicy, thankfully, as spicy food has been tearing up my stomach lately. So it was a nice safe, tasty treat.
The restaurant had nice decor with two rooms and a fish tank dviding the rooms. The servers were able to seat us immediately and the service was pretty quick. There wasn't any dress code as our colleagues were in tank tops and jeans or shorts.
The restaurant was kind of difficult to find even with a gps. Part of the problem is figuring out the parking lot. There is street parking but it was full when we got there at 7:30pm on Sunday night. The lot has two entrances space 5 feet apart with a palm tree in the gap between the two. I think we entered through the exit and exited through the entrance because we didn't really figure either of them out until it was too late.
The best Thai restaurant in Palm Springs for lunches!!! A definitely a must! Cheap and soooooooo good! Very Thai!
For dinners, its over-priced for what it is but they have entrees they made only for dinner so its to try once ;)
Go for lunches! You will NOT regret it.
Eat Here!
It's open later than most Palm Springs restaurants on a Monday.
The pad see ew was delicious after having A LOT of martinis around town. Super nice service, very clean, better than most Thai places.
Yes, yes it's a few dollars more than what you may be used to, but really - it's worth it for super yummy Thai! This is the desert after all.
Totally coming back for more!
OK now some of you have been sayig it's a little pricey, and I will agree it is a little expensive for dinner. But take it from a "cheap ass bastard" when I say "Eat there during lunch!"
It's basically the same menu but with reduced prices. I just love the Thai iced tea and their basil chicken, nice and spicey eh!
It gets a little cramped in the dining room when it's busy, but they do have a fish tank that's pretty well kept up for you to look at!
Pretty good ambiance, and the food is fairly good. Not sure how authentic it is, but tastes great to me. Parking is a pain though, and if you can't get street parking, the lot is really small, and almost always full because of the tenants living the the apartments adjacent to the restaurant. Angel wings are really good, and my favorite off the menu is the stir fried tofu.
as cheesy as this sounds, Thai Smile TOTALLY put a smile on this visitor's face. my group was totally beat after a long day of working here in Palm Springs, and we needed good food without fussiness. Yelpers, thanks for sending us here.
the food is a solid 4 stars, without a doubt. the tom kah kai was fantastic and beef penang was good. the vegetarian menu was pleasingly diverse for the veggie eater at our table, and i got a papaya salad, that delivered a very pleasing crunch.
what boosts Thai Smile up to the fiver o' stars is the service. we were seated promptly, were always checked on, and i think our water glasses never got empty. it was never intrusive, just gracious. the kicker was that our server was very concerned that my papaya salad would not be as i ordered it, and she came back twice to ask if it was okay. honestly, she was right -- it wasn't quite okay. she whisked it away and came back with a new plate. this one WAS better, and of course when she came back a few minutes later to check, i told her so. she seemed genuinely pleased that i was happy. i have never, ever, had restaurant staff before actually encourage me to send a plate back if it wasn't perfect, and not only make me not feel guilty, but totally comfortable doing so.
we left with full bellies, happy tastebuds, and grateful smiles. i wish Thai Smile existed in my 'hood!
I've been coming to Thai Smile now for YEARS.. Nearly every time that I am in the Coachella Valley I try to make to make it a point to come either to the Palm Springs location or to the one in Rancho Mirage. In all honesty I prefer the Ranch Mirage Thai Smile. The food is not mediocre nor overpriced. The Thai Tea here is so so good. I just wish that they would serve it in a huge mug.. I always end up with the cashew chicken entree. It's spicy and not overloaded with tons of salt like some places do.
If you are in the area and want good Thai food then this is a place to be. independently ran.. No chain (which I loathe going to), great prices, good food and friendly staff...
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Thai Smile is basically overpriced, mediocre Thai food.
They seriously charge $14 for a stir fry dish that I could make at home for about $3.
I ordered a curry chicken lunch special and the sauce was watered down and didn't have much flavor or spice.. which are the main reasons I like Thai food in the first place.
Even their Thai iced tea was way too sweet.
Pass this place up if possible.
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Oh i love me some thai food. we walked here from riviera resort and it was a short stroll there and back. they were open late and even though we came close to closing time they were happy to assist and serve us. the food was fast and savory. the beer was bottled and refreshing. I am glad we kept walking to this place and didnt go to the first thai place we cam across because it looked kinda creepy. Thai smile was perfect.
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Not exactly the most authentic Thai restaurant I have ever been to but the flavors are good and the service is attentive. I like the stuffed chicken wings and the pork larb. I go pretty often.
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Amazing Thai food!
I went there for my first time yesterday for a to go order.
I found: Huge portions! Friendly staff!! And Neon Fish in their aquarium;)
Excellent food. Outstanding service. We went there right before closing and were seated without any attitude. The staff brought outstanding steamed chicken dumpling, pad thai, and green curry chicken. The Angel Wings are a must try. They almost defy explanation, but I would say they are a cross between fried chicken and heaven.
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This is an average restaurant in everyway except the taste!
IF you have NEVER had good Thai food this place is the best you have ever had.
BUT its over priced for what you get, I would never go back to this place if I were in SF or LA or any major US city but this is the VILLAGE of Palm Springs so yes its GREAT.
The restrooms are hidden in the back and were not kept clean !!
But you would not find me back in there again.
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I'm not a connoisseur of Thai food so I can't say that Thai Smile is better than Pepper's, but Smile is the one my children always prefer. I haven't tried Thai Kitchen or Thai Bistro, so I can't comment on them. For whoever said "Thai smile must be the best Chinese food in town" hasn't been to Wang's on South Indian Canyon or The Great Wall next to Staples on South Palm Canyon. There's a good little Chinese place on North Indian near the Post Office, but I haven't been there in quite some time and have forgotten the name. China King, or something. I seldom go to Palm Springs any more; I usually do business in Palm Desert or Rancho Mirage. There is, of course, P.F. Chang's at The River in Rancho Mirage -- very good, but the place we seem to go to more often is Shanghai Inn in the shopping center at Country Club and Monterey.
Surprisingly excellent Thai food in downtown Palm Springs.
Co-worker and I went here for lunch and ordered lunch. Everything arrived quickly, service was decent, and I was surprised by the quality of the food. If you want "ethnic" in Palm Springs and you're not into Mexican, this is where you're headed. Don't bother with other Thai options in town as they fall short in comparison.
Arrive early for lunch on weekdays as it's a popular business lunch destination.
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This place is great! My BF who lived in Thailand for a year even said that this place is pretty authentic. The owners and servers were also Thai - like other reviewers mentioned, they were all super smiley and friendly. Our water was constantly being refilled and YES, they have refillable soda ($2) here... score!
Thai iced coffee and thai iced tea ($2.50) - both are super sweet - so sweet that I puckered my lips a bit.
This place is on the pricey side for Thai food, but that's expected in Palm Springs. We shared 3 dishes amongst 4 people and that was more than enough for all of us. Some dishes come with a side of rice. They have the option of brown rice (extra $1.50) to substitute white rice.
We ordered the Pad See Ew with Chicken and that was my favorite dish of the three. It had the right amount of sweetness and I liked that there was a lot of broccoli. The green coconut curry was just average - we got it with beef. Our third dish was the lemongrass chicken. It came with a lot of eggplant and bell peppers which wasn't what I was expecting, but nonetheless it was very tasty. It's supposed to be a pretty spicy dish but we requested less spicy and they were more than happy to accomodate.
Overall, very yum, my favorite meal in Palm Springs so far!
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Thai-meh.
The food was just ok. I didn't thrill me, but it didn't nauseate me either.
If this place were in LA I'd never eat here again, but considering the sheer lack of options in PS, I might go back.
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Dear Thai Smile,
What happened to you? You used to be a 5 star place in my book, great portions, great food, and cheap prices! But you've changed man; with your new popularity prices have gone up, portions smaller, and quality just a bit less.
Thats not to say you still are hands down the #1 thai place in Palm Springs and I'll still visit frequently whenever I'm around and have some thai cravings.. Which is very often, cause I love thai food.
You still rock anyways,
Ed
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This is a pleasant Thai restaurant right on the main drag in Palm Springs.
The decor is modern and offers quiet, tasteful elegance, with brightly colored jelly bean drop lights that are not too obtrusive, and comforting neutral tones in the walls and seating, with a couple of well placed Thai wall art.
The clientel is a mixture of people who frequent the Springs. Both straight and gay couples, mother/daughter locals, a family of four, and a couple of business types.
I tried the Tom Yum Kai soup, a sweet/sour chicken soup, which was $5.50 and tasted good, with a nice balance of flavors and lots of tender slices of chicken. This was followed by my main dish of green coconut curry with tofu. They asked if I wanted fried tofu or soft, and I chose the soft. It came as the silken Japanese style tofu cubes rather than the much more firm Chinese style dimpled tofu, which was perfect because I prefer the former to the latter. It was served with green peppers, snow peas, chinese long green beans, and bamboo shoots. I was so relieved to not get any baby corn heads, which are my pet peeve disliking, since I never heard of a corn field in Thailand.
This dish, too, had a nice delicate balance of spicy and sweet, with soft and crunchy (tofu and veggies). I had a small Singha Thai beer to accompany my meal. The total damage was only $20.28 with tax.
The service was very attentive, and true to the name, was smiling most of the time. There was a young caucasian hostess, but this place was obviously Thai family run, with 3 Thai servers. The matron of the house came over, smiled widely and asked how was my meal. I told her delicious, then asked her how to say that in Thai. She told me, then I asked her how to say thank you in Thai. She told me again, we touched hands warmly, and we parted smiling and both saying thank you.
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I can eat the curries and salad here and at most Thai places as they do not use oil to make them. I would not say it's the most incredible Thai food but it's good for the valley. The lunch specials are good and if you have an allergy they understand. You can also have larb if you have a soy allergy. They give you free ice tea, their prompt and the service is quick in and out.
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I would eat here again! I guess that says a lot considering not much of the food in PS is really as great as other yelpers say it is.
I ate with Samuel C. and Angela C. and my husband Daniel T.
To start, we ordered the thai coffee and thai tea. VERY sweet when you first get it. BUT... VERY good when you wait for the ice to melt a little bit. This was my first time getting thai coffee, and I expected the flavor to be bold like vietnamese coffee. However, it's quite different and quite delish.
I like how some dishes come with rice versus other thai restaurants who charge extra for rice. You can also upgrade to brown rice for $1.50 if you like.
Everything we ordered was pretty good. We got lemon grass chicken, green beef curry, and pad see ew. All were delish! The green curry could have been more spicy and the sauce was waaaaaay liquidy and packed with canned bamboo. The lemon grass chicken had a whole bunch of green bell peppers in it too.
The ambiance was really nice. I feel like the shipped some real thai decorations to make the restaurant have a better feel.
The service was very friendly and attentive. I would come back for sure. If anything, for the thai tea or thai coffee.
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Good food
Good prices
Good Plum wine
Tasted more Chinese than Thai though
Their mango ice cream did not taste anything like a mango
Are you a gay male, and your date or companion wants to take you to Thai Smile? Chances are you won't be the only gay couple with that idea. If you feel like checking out some other guys while on your date, this is the place. For some reason, Thai Smile is very popular with the gay community. This isn't the only thai restaurant in the city, so who knows?
The thai food here is pretty good and the portions are generous except for the rice. You can only get a small, individual sized bowl. Not too many vegetarian options. If you want a spicy dish, ask for it to be really spicy because "medium" is more akin to not being spicy at all.
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I had take-out here twice.
Combination fried rice. Bleh. Would not order again. Especially not for $12. Actually, not even for $6. $5, maybe.
Pad see-ew. Good enough. I didn't like that the broccoli was undercooked. I hate half raw broccoli. But that's just me. $12.
Asking for 'spicy' makes good spicy.
Hello all, this little Thai Restaurant was great. It was fast service,good priced,and the flavour was out standing. I think is the best place for Thai food to eat in Palm Springs. Just go there,you will be very satisfied with the menu,food,and even the Thai sticky Rice pudding & Mangos, which we had for dessert.
Yummy stuff.
Enjoy .
james
I grew up on the food from this restaurant. The lunch special is the best deal in the desert. Last time I was there it was still only $6.95 for your choice of entree, soup or salad, rice, ice tea, and a spring roll. Their hot soup that is offered with the lunch special, tom yum kai, is so good that it is not uncommon to see people ordering it despite the fact that its 115 degrees outside. Enough said...
The salad on the lunch special is served with a traditional thai peanut dressing and is also very good. My suggestion for the entree is the Prik King, first time I ordered this I did it just because I wanted to say "Prik King" in public and not get hateful stares. The taste of this dish truely does such a hilarious name justice. Cannot say enough about this restaurant.
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Prob more like 4.5 stars. I got 3 dishes between two people and it was more than enough food, plus it was really spicy like I asked for, most thai places claim to have heat but are timid.
I got: spicy beef noodles, chicken with spicy peanut sauce, and spicy hot basil with duck.
All were very good and the decor and wait staff are enjoyable and relaxed.
This place goes high up in my book because they had the FOUR SAUCE HOLDER.
Not all places have this but I was really happy to see they had it. For those of you who dont know what they should have, it consists of dry chili powder, red chili paste, jalepeno slices, and thai chilis in fish oil or sauce.
Went here with my mom, her cousins, my husband, my nephew and my sister in law.
The atmosphere is nothing really special but we had fantastic service! Our waiter (I think his name was Pete) was very attentive.
The stuffed and boneless chicken legs, an appetizer, were really delicious! They had another appetizer that was fried and very sweet-which I wasn't crazy about. For our entrees, we ordered family style and had a huge plate of pad thai, as well as some duck in green curry, some kind of beef, jasmine rice, and fried rice. We were all stuffed! So sadly we missed the desserts.
Everything was delicious though and I will go back everytime I go visit Palm Springs.
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Okay, so this is the deal. When in Palm Springs, if you ask someone how to find good Chinese food they will say, without a doubt, "There's this really good Thai place called Thai Smile". I guess this means there's no good Chinese food in Palm Springs - Whatever.
I went there once for dinner - take out. The restaurant is small, the parking lot makes you feel like you'll drive into the neighboring buildings, and my food was ready to go in maybe 10 minutes, but probably less. Very tasty and lots of vegetarian options. Could have been spicier, though.
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Food is fantastic! Lots and lots of flavor. Most likely one of my favorite Palm Springs restaurants.
And if you have Pete he's a great waiter!
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It's a bit pricey for Thai food that is basically good, not great. The Pad Thai was good, full of flavor and nice sized serving. The Honey Pork was disappointing, the meat was a little chewy, though the snow peas were good. (Unless you really overcook them, it's hard to screw up snow peas.) If you're in Palm Springs and get a craving for Thai food, by all means stop in. Service is friendly, the atmosphere decent, and the food is ok.
I love Thai food. It is my favorite. Thai Smile, is some of the best Thai food I've ever enjoyed.
All of their soups are fresh, tangy and bubbling hot. My favorite dish here is the Hot Beef with Basil. It makes me sweat, wet and gets me goin' like a turbo vette. For some reason when I eat Thai food, my cheeks and forehead sweat. It's my chile glisten.
Go try lunch there. It's a great value. You get a Thai Ice Tea, Small Soup or Salad and an Entree for about $7-8. Good deal.
I have to agree, this is the place to be for a late lunch special (it was already 2.45pm) on a scorching (hot) day. We actually saw their menu in the Palm Springs visitors centre and decided to give them a try out of the other 4 or 5 Thai restaurants on the area.
As soon as we sat down, we were served Thai Iced Tea which was rrrreeeeeeaaaaaalllllllyyyyy refreshing- my goodness it hit the spot. Such a great change from getting either chinese tea or water!
The lunch specials were great value between $7.95 and $8.95- the PadThai wasn't too special (had to dress it up a bit with some chilli), but it came with a spring roll and you can also have soup or salad (salad was basic but good- with the spicy peanut dressing- could have had a whole big plate of the stuff). The pork penang curry came with rice on the side, lots of beans and lots of curry sauce to soak up the rice, yum yum
With our second re-fill of Thai Iced tea, we were happy bunnies. The service was quick and friendly. We were in and out within 40minutes at a leisurely pace (in 113*F heat outside, we were not in any rush!) Too bad we could'nt stay around long enough to try the dinner menu .....
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Funny that it took my mom nearly 15 years to come around to Thai food. I had been working on her for years! Anyhoo, Thai Smile is her favorite Thai in the world!
Great little place, decently priced. Good food, good service and simple decor. Apparently they have a few locations but mom swears this one is their best!
Red Mountain is the shiz-nit!
Wait what? Thai Smile is a chain of Thai restaurants in the Desert so I'm just amazed as to where all the Thai people to staff them came from? Thai Smile has succeeded in "Americanizing" Thai food, and yes, I think in general that's a good thing. I really don't know how to describe their take on Thai dishes, but it's good.
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This wasn't our first visit to Thai Smile, but I wanted to go back to refresh my memory for Yelp. We had a late lunch. Tom Yum Gai, Larb gai, and basil chicken. All three were of excellent quality and flavor. The wait staff was very pleasant. DEfinitely one of the beyyer Thai places I've been to anywhere.
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With all these high reviews, I honestly feel bad for these folks who probably havent experienced top notch Thai cuisine. Having grown up in Palm Springs, I have visited Thai Smile probably in the upwards of 50 times, and I always enjoyed it but it was not until I went off to college and got to try more thai restaurants that I realized how bland and average thai smile really is. The curries taste watery and lack flavor and spice. The vegetables in the dishes seem like they come in a prepackaged mix that are just thrown in with whatever sauce your dish calls for. It simply feels that the cooks and owners of this location lack the effort of truly impressing their patrons. They simply just want to provide the the minimum to keep the locals coming back and make money. They even rush you to leave when you want to relax and chat after you have finished your meal.
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Palm Springs, CA
Category: Thai
Palm Springs, CA
Category: Vegan
Rancho Mirage, CA
Category: Thai
Palm Springs, CA
Category: Thai
Palm Springs, CA
Category: Pizza
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