We loved our meal here. The staff (owners?) that we spoke to were super nice and the drunken noodle was delicious and spicy. We got one chicken and one pork. The vegetables were cooked just right so as not to be too mushy. One of the best drunken noodles I've had in a while and that's my go-to dish.

Oh MY! The food was SO GOOD!
the Crab cheese wontons were the best I have EVER HAD, and the sauce equally good!
The Pad Thai I had, and my wife's yellow curry, both top of the line.
Prices were great!
We ate outside, on the street, was OK, day was nice, it was shaded!

I had the Ginger Meat, they did it really spicy as I requested. Super fresh and great flavours. The veggies were a bit oily and the rice was basic. Very reasonable price for this quality!

Amazing drunken noodle everyone I ran into seemed to have their go to dish but I don't think I could bring myself to not order the drunken noodles... They are insanely good. Also, it's true to spice levels so hot is HOT. And Mild is spicy which is awesome.

Damn...I hate that this place is 160 miles away from my house....in the top 2 of the best Thai restaurants I ever have been to all across the US....just amazin peanut sauce ( best ever) mixed vegatables have a smoky flavor....place clean and friendly staff...highly recommend

I have eaten at over 100 Thai restaurants around the country, so I have a very good knowledge of what I am looking for. Here is my honest review.
My wife had the vegetable fried rice, few gluten free options she can eat here. It had good flavor, too mild for my taste. My wife enjoyed it. I would say 3.75 out of 5. It needed bit more seasoning and flavor.

I had the stir-fry eggplant. They did warn me that the eggplant was not breaded but fried. I was hesitant but decided to try it. Well the oil from the deep frying process was too much, made my stir-fry taste very oily. So I only ate the chicken and left most of the vegetables. I usually love the sauce from the cooking process, unfortunately it was too oily for my liking. To be fair, the flavor was there just too oily.
Atmosphere is ok, definitely simple/casual place, not a date location. I also didn’t like all the kitchen clutter you can see in plain site. Perhaps it’s more of a fast food casual place?
I spent over an hour researching all the Thai places in the area, I was really hoping for a great place, it fell a little short for me personally. It had more of a Chinese restaurant feel to it.
This is not a family style sit down place, you order up front then pay at the same time.

Other reviews are pretty strong, so I am sure it fits other peoples needs, it fell a little short for me personally. I would skip the stir fry eggplant.

I have crossed this great nation of ours by car, TWICE, and I can safely & easily say that Papa Thai food is up there with some of the VERY BEST in the country!!
Fell SERIOUSLY & MADLY IN CRAZY LOVE with Papa Thai while my kid was an undergrad @CalPoly and now that she’s finished her masters and returned to SLO, we couldn’t wait to get back to our BELOVED PAPA THAI!!! We literally drove into town and made a beeline for this locally-loved-and-should-be-iconic restaurant!!!!! IT DID NOT LEAVE US HEARTBROKEN!!!!!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place with its FANTASTIC food, AMAZING service & super laid back, relaxed vibe!! Love the curry (panang especially), love the Pad Thai, and ABSOLUTELY HEAD OVER HEELS in love with the pineapple fried rice!!! Also EXTREMELY delicious are the steamed dumplings, khao soi, and spicy basil main dish!
If you want the most consistently delicious and freshest Thai food ever, GET TO PAPA THAI!!!!!!!!!!

OMG 😳
I completely forgot to mention that the portions are very generous and they treat everyone like family!!

Best Thai food by price in town imo. Order at the counter and food is delivered to your table. Todo boxes are self served near the order counter. A main dish is ~15 but gets you two meals. The cashew main with chicken was good and the chicken was still tender, not overcooked. Bonus yummy Asian drinks behind the counter like you’d commonly find in vending machines in Japan.

Best curry and pad Thai in town! Great food and service.

Excellent food and great service! Highly recommend to anyone looking for a delicious meal.

Amazing drunken noodle everyone I ran into seemed to have their go to dish but I don't think I could bring myself to not order the drunken noodles... They are insanely good. Also, it's true to spice levels so hot is HOT. And Mild is spicy which is awesome.

Best thai food in SLO… maybe even the world. Everything here is top notch. I have zero negative things to say. I wish I could give it six stars.

Excellent food, great service, chill owner

Damn...I hate that this place is 160 miles away from my house....in the top 2 of the best Thai restaurants I ever have been to all across the US....just amazin peanut sauce ( best ever) mixed vegatables have a smoky flavor....place clean and friendly staff...highly recommend

Emery Frink
Papa
Google Maps Reviews
14 Dec 2024
My Review - Papa’s Thai Cafe
Papa’s Thai Cafe is the best place I’ve been in my entire life. There is nothing more fulfilling to the heart, soul, and mind than the overjoyous experience of consuming absolutely any menu item from Papa’s Thai Cafe. I enter Papa’s Thai Cafe and they ask me what I want and I say anything. Anything Papa gives me I know will be exceptional and I have unwavering faith in this. Papa is a man who prides himself on having an establishment worthy of the highest praise - an Emery Frink Google Maps review. I don’t review just any place, and I especially don’t review just any Thai restaurant. Ever since the Thai government scheme came out about establishing a global cultural foothold through the insidious scheme of delicious pad thai restaurants, I can’t look at the cuisine the same. Papa’s Thai Cafe is well above an Elephant Jump-tier Thai restaurant, but not so ostentatious as to be a Golden Leaf - no, Papa’s Thai Cafe is the coolest basil you will find in San Luis Obispo California - perhaps anywhere. I cannot stop thinking about the Thai restaurant scheme. It runs deeper than you could ever imagine and Papa I have much respect for you but I have to question how complicit you are. Do the diplomats from the Thai government stop by yearly and ensure that your quality is up to Federal standards. Do you report back to the government regularly with business updates. Who are you really. Just kidding Papa I would never ask you that. Sometimes I would rather live in ignorance about your complacence in the slow cultural creep of Thai cuisine and your motives behind the Cafe. I’m sure you have nothing to hide. Why don’t I just turn off my concern and live in the unending bliss of Papa’s Thai Cafe Drunken Noodle And Sprite From The Soda Fountain. That’s my favorite menu item - if I could even pick one :P visit Papa’s Thai Cafe if you know what’s good for you.

We loved our meal here. The staff (owners?) that we spoke to were super nice and the drunken noodle was delicious and spicy. We got one chicken and one pork. The vegetables were cooked just right so as not to be too mushy. One of the best drunken noodles I've had in a while and that's my go-to dish.

This is our favorite thai place in all of SLO county! It's incredibly delicious. I highly recommend it!!!! The pad thai is out of this world and we love the vegetarian fried rice.

Best Thai in SLO

Some of the best Thai food i have ever had. Fresh food, fantastic flavors! We ordered tom ka gai soup, egg-rolls, basil chicken, panang curry. This family-owned business also serves generous portions of warm hospitality. Can’t wait to go back again!

We come here all the time . Love that they have so many gluten free options.
And the food is delicious.

The curry rice really dry and nit delicious at all. It seems fried rice with curry and no art in that. The shrimp rolls came with fishy smell. I hate the written menu without images.

I really like the food. Every one is going thru hard times.

I had the Ginger Meat, they did it really spicy as I requested. Super fresh and great flavours. The veggies were a bit oily and the rice was basic. Very reasonable price for this quality!

Just went there for the first time. Fried rice was really good. Very filling. Highly recommend.

Oh MY! The food was SO GOOD!
the Crab cheese wontons were the best I have EVER HAD, and the sauce equally good!
The Pad Thai I had, and my wife's yellow curry, both top of the line.
Prices were great!
We ate outside, on the street, was OK, day was nice, it was shaded!

We LOVE Papa's Thai Cafe! When we moved to SLO, it became one of our first favorite restaurants - we became loyal. Today I shared my RAVE in the Central Coast Foodies FB group about today's lunch - the Asparagus & Snow Peas main dish - with Shrimp (my choice) and Brown Rice. It was to die for! The best, tender yet a little crunchy - every part of the stalk! I had to ask "Where do you source your asparagus?!" (local farmer who delivers). And I openly praised the cooking of the dish to perfection!

Other favorite dishes - Cashew Nut (my husband's go to) and the Divine Shrimp Pad Thai!

The best Thai restaurant in slo! The curry fried rice, yellow curry, and mango sticky rice is a must! Great service and a meal for a decent price! Highly recommend!

Amazing food - best drunken noodles I ever had

This will be the most authentic review regarding Papa's Thai Cafe.

Let's start with the food: VERY, very good if you want authentic Thai—fresh ingredients, piping hot. However, the service is filled with attitude and straight disrespect, and the atmosphere is dull and filled with negativity from employees.

Now, by the slightest chance, you MAY NOT like your food; this is where the problem occurs.

Personal experience: I’ve had Penang curry at multiple renowned restaurants and felt as if the one I ordered here had too much coconut milk and less flavor. As I didn’t initially read, there was no refund and no consideration, which is interesting in the first place that was listed on their digital screens above, I was told in short by the man, “no refunds or remakes, sorry” after stating “We felt as if the dish had a little too much of a milky taste as opposed to any of the other flavors” then as I walked away heard the wife of the business mumble and made comments as such “what do they expect, it’s Penang’s curry it has coconut milk” imagine even saying that out loud for the chance of a customer to hear? We were so kind and were simply curious, but to listen to that? Incredible. Along with that, we were treated with multiple up-down stares by the woman and a disgusted face the entire night. She also routinely does this no matter what.

On my first visit to them, I asked the man upfront who runs the orders to tell me what the "banned list" in the back left wall was, and that was the first red flag. It was a list of banned customers with their respective receipts from orders. He explained it were times in which “customers disrespected my wife and I” Now, while I can sympathize with that, their attitude and lack of being able to take criticism may have absolutely played a role here, as I saw on display time and time again walking into the establishment. I have never ever seen a list as such as a food critic. It was concerning for them to feel the need to scare customers as such and is alarming for any new customers to see.

Consistently throughout your night at Papa’s enjoying good food, you’ll hear the owners fighting and arguing and making comments and odd stares at all guests, mainly by the woman upfront who is the man’s wife. She even talks to him very badly. The primary debate that takes place in my mind to go there or not is to suck up the terrible vibes to eat good hot food as opposed to getting carried out by them, but it’s clear as to why their carry-out runs so well. NO ONE wants to sit in there. The chef seems to notice the disrespect as well, making eye contact with me and nodding and shaking his head in disappointment when he catches the woman saying certain things out loud that are rude and disrespectful.

Here’s the deal: great food, indeed, but horrible in every other regard. It's pretty uncomfortable even to sit down and eat without having the woman up front make a disgusted face at you. From my own experiences, I didn’t even want to support this business for the way they treat customers, but I have found myself going back from time to time because of how good the food is compared to any other nearby spots. There’s this weird sense of unhappiness and projection that comes from all of them. The customer shouldn’t be able to feel that you’ve had a long day or that you’re frustrated, yet you absolutely feel that as SOON as you walk in, and that’s just not welcoming.

Take this all into consideration before your visit.

Red tofu curry needed more. Not a lot of tofu -- and the tofu is poorly prepared -- or vegetables to fill the broth. Leads to a small serving size. The vegetables are also very poorly cut, so you're eating huge chunks of almost raw bell pepper.

STAY AWAY! CRAZY OWENRES!!! We came for a weekend and stopped by to grub lunch, after we ordered the food we sat outside, the woman came with the food and instead of bringing pad thai with fried tofu she brought only fried tofu, I told her I meant together, she started screaming at me that it's my fault that I got them confused! I was VERY shocked by her but wasn't planning to let it destroy our day, so I said ok and went inside to order a new dish. I went to the man in the front and told him, "So it looks like I'll be ordering pad thai with fried tofu this time with, a smile. he said ok, and then I asked him if he's the owner, and he said he is. I told him that he needed to know that his employee had an attitude. Then he told me that this employee is his fiancee, and he is not going to serve me anymore and that im not supposed to say things like that. I told him that as a business owner you will want to know things like that, and left. My friends outside already started to eat and was planning to order some more food, take away, for our families, I told them what happened and that I'm not staying and left the restaurant.
My friend went inside to talk to the owner and tell him that it's ridiculous to treat his customers like that. Then the fiancee started to scream in the middle of the restaurant like a lunatic!! Unfortunately, I missed this part... but seriously, do yourself a favor, find a different Thai restaurant, SLO is amazing, and so many nice places!
We end up going to Delight thai, it's in the next street, amazing food and amazing customer service, and their Panang Cury is highly recommended.

DONT GO!

I have eaten at over 100 Thai restaurants around the country, so I have a very good knowledge of what I am looking for. Here is my honest review.
My wife had the vegetable fried rice, few gluten free options she can eat here. It had good flavor, too mild for my taste. My wife enjoyed it. I would say 3.75 out of 5. It needed bit more seasoning and flavor.

I had the stir-fry eggplant. They did warn me that the eggplant was not breaded but fried. I was hesitant but decided to try it. Well the oil from the deep frying process was too much, made my stir-fry taste very oily. So I only ate the chicken and left most of the vegetables. I usually love the sauce from the cooking process, unfortunately it was too oily for my liking. To be fair, the flavor was there just too oily.
Atmosphere is ok, definitely simple/casual place, not a date location. I also didn’t like all the kitchen clutter you can see in plain site. Perhaps it’s more of a fast food casual place?
I spent over an hour researching all the Thai places in the area, I was really hoping for a great place, it fell a little short for me personally. It had more of a Chinese restaurant feel to it.
This is not a family style sit down place, you order up front then pay at the same time.

Other reviews are pretty strong, so I am sure it fits other peoples needs, it fell a little short for me personally. I would skip the stir fry eggplant.

Papa’s Thai Cafe never disappoints. I used to have a different favorite Thai restaurant but now this is the only place I go.
Quality: 10/10
Flavor: 10/10
Quantity:10/10
Service: 10/10
Consistency: 10/10

THANK YOU!!

Love this restaurant!

It's casual. You order at the counter but its fresh cooked for you. Absolutely delicious. All flavors & dishes were on point. We ordered 4 pretty traditional items & they were 'chefs kiss'.

Best Thai food by price in town imo. Order at the counter and food is delivered to your table. Todo boxes are self served near the order counter. A main dish is ~15 but gets you two meals. The cashew main with chicken was good and the chicken was still tender, not overcooked. Bonus yummy Asian drinks behind the counter like you’d commonly find in vending machines in Japan.

Although my pumpkin curry was pretty tasty, the pieces were so big I had to use a knife & fork to eat it. Also, the pumpkin wasn't done cooking.

ตอนรับดีมาก คนไทย คนเหนือแวะร้านนี้เน้อ

Good fresh Thai dishes with a wide variety of options including vegan. Can be very busy with up to a 90 minute food prep time after counter- ordering experience. Tip: Ask on food times before ordering. Service can be strained on peak weekend nights. No alcohol served.

Excellent Thai food - the shrimp spicy basil, garlic pepper beef, and pineapple fried rice are so flavorful! Truly a great find! Be warned though - you might have about an hour - 2hr wait … but it’s so worth it!!!
Also the owner runs the register and was super helpful in making suggestions for me & my husband - literally asked - do you feel like spicy savory or sweet -

The Pad Thai was excellent, along with the Thai iced tea. Fast and friendly counter service, easy on street parking. Highly recommended!

Delicious dining spot! Order at the counter type of restaurant, which is fine by me. Great selection on the menu. Fast and friendly service. Nearby 2 hour street parking was easy to find mid day on a weekday.

Both the drunken noodles and the papaya salad we're great!

I eat to Thai somewhere on the Central Coast every day. Papa Thai is tops in this area. A little pricier than some, but portions to match. Thai tea isn't syrupy sweet like some places. This is also the ONLY place locally that has nam sod. And it is YUMMY! 😁🥰

Very best Thai in slo, I have been to many other Thai places out of the area, and this is my favorite. Top of my list out of 20ish different Thai food restaurants I have tried.

My beef pad see ew had a distinct fish taste, like they put half of the bottle of fish sauce in there. Kai Kua was plain and had a strange aftertaste.

Food was quite good, but docked one star because only veg protein was tofu (trying to eat more veg for health and other reasons). Portions were large. They were busy so it took a while (about 15- 20min). Thai tea was excellent.

The guy you order the food from is very knowledgeable about the menu and is good at making recommendations.

Tasty Thai food! Many dishes can be made vegan. We enjoyed the fried rice,drunken noodles and pumpkin curry, all vegan with tofu and each one was great!

Highly recommend green tea iced tea, delicious fresh tea, great helpful service. Tried chow Meir great flavor.

This place is sooo tasty and the family running the restaurant is wonderful! We had Tom Yum with shrimp (spicy level - Hot) and Pad Thai (spicy level - Mild). Scale runs from Not Spicy -> Thai XX Spicy. My partner and I love a good amount of heat and we decided we would get Thai Hot next time for the proper kick of heat :) Flavor was great! The location is nice and quiet on the edge of Historic Downtown. The patio was wonderful for dinner during early October. I will definitely be returning here!

One of the best Thai restaurant. They tailored everything for vegetarian preference. Also, they serve family style.

Good food and fair price and great for family atmosphere, me and my family love this place.

We were staying at a hotel nearby and were dying for some Thai food.
I ended up ordering the curry rice with chicken, basil and broccoli while my partner ordered their green curry with tofu and broccoli with rice.
The curry rice was good albeit a bit dry and I’m glad I added the basil and broccoli or else it would have been a bit lacking as it only came with onions.
My partner ended up not enjoying his green curry as he found the sauce to be somewhat bland but the eggplant and tofu were both good.
The service was fast and the people inside were happy so nice place overall with decent food.

Everything was great but my beef smell and taste expired. My friends dishes meat cut was too big to consume. The bell peppers was a large cut and raw with our fried rice too.

My friends and I we had lunch together. All the food and service were awesome! The stuff were nice and helpful. And all the food was very delicious and fresh. 100% recommended! We'll be back soon!

Unbelievably nasty attitude towards honest criticisms. Look at Yelp reviews that are 1 star. Same as my experience. Love or leave, is their poor, poor attitude towards customers. I am a chef and cannot imagine talking to customers like both David and Summer do. David needs to mature into a quality manager. 20 something is too young to handle a business that serves customers. Accept criticisms gracefully unless you're being abused. I was very calm and almost got my head ripped off.
Give your hard earned wages to another, more deserving Thai place.
Thanks for reading this.

I have crossed this great nation of ours by car, TWICE, and I can safely & easily say that Papa Thai food is up there with some of the VERY BEST in the country!!
Fell SERIOUSLY & MADLY IN CRAZY LOVE with Papa Thai while my kid was an undergrad @CalPoly and now that she’s finished her masters and returned to SLO, we couldn’t wait to get back to our BELOVED PAPA THAI!!! We literally drove into town and made a beeline for this locally-loved-and-should-be-iconic restaurant!!!!! IT DID NOT LEAVE US HEARTBROKEN!!!!!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place with its FANTASTIC food, AMAZING service & super laid back, relaxed vibe!! Love the curry (panang especially), love the Pad Thai, and ABSOLUTELY HEAD OVER HEELS in love with the pineapple fried rice!!! Also EXTREMELY delicious are the steamed dumplings, khao soi, and spicy basil main dish!
If you want the most consistently delicious and freshest Thai food ever, GET TO PAPA THAI!!!!!!!!!!

OMG 😳
I completely forgot to mention that the portions are very generous and they treat everyone like family!!

Authentic food, Genuine Warm Staff, Absolutely Knowledgeable!

We had the opportunity to talk to 'Papa' at the register. After chatting with him I had high hopes that the whole experience was going to be excellent. Overall it was a positive experience but the food wasn't 5 star worthy. We most likely won't be back but wouldn't discourage anyone from giving it a try.

I have eaten here a handful of times now and all I've gotta say is, if you haven't, what are you even doing?

Seriously so so so amazing!

This is our go-to Thai restaurant in SLO. The food is fresh, authentic and there are selections for every taste. It’s family owned and the owners are friendly and welcoming.

Busy, buzzing but only short waiting time. Food was excellent and prices good.

It’s very beautiful atmosphere and yummilicious food. Quick and good potions 🤤

Papa’s thai has the best Thai food in slo county. The customer service is excellent! My food is always the same and I love that the whole family runs the restaurant.

‼️😷😷BUYER BEWARE😷😷‼️

Went here with my girlfriend and when we notified the staff that our Pad Thai and Pad See Ew smelled off, we were told “there’s nothing wrong with the food and if you don’t like it you should just leave and never come back”. We even tried to do it as discreetly as possible so as to not cause a scene or disrupt the other guests, and overall we were incredibly embarrassed to be asking for a refund. But we did because my girlfriend gagged after taking a single bite and the food was rancid. It made both of us feel nauseous from the smell alone. I will be posting the video of the manager yelling at us to leave and making a huge scene of it even though we tried being as polite and amicable as possible. They did not offer a remedy to the situation or even to remake the food they simply told us we had to leave and we were not given a refund.

As far as I am concerned this was a robbery as we paid 50$ for a single vegetable roll and a Thai iced tea. I couldn’t even imagine what we did to be treated so horrible, and I will be trying to let as many locals know about their disgusting service and food. Please STAY AWAY.

Great, quality option for fresh Thai Food!

It was December 7th , 2020 and I ordered a curry that was so impressively bad that I tried to recook it when I got home (have you ever recooked a restaurant meal???!!). It was so terrible that I’m posting this review 3 years later. Everything was undercooked and and the curry had no flavor. I hope the other dishes are better or they’ve improved over the last few years. 2 stars cause I’m late and I’m giving them benefit of the doubt.

Absolutely loved the food and service. I got the cashew nut main dish with tofu, white rice, and ginger and it was incredible! I have a bunch of dietary restrictions and everything was very easily accommodated. Furthermore, Papa is such a cool person with a great personality; love going here with friends.

The person taking orders rushed us (considering the long menu and lack of line), but the egg rolls were good, and the pineapple fried rice was amazing, but the pad see ew was a bit over-cooked or over-sauced. The food was available amazingly quickly. It's like sit-down fast food.

Friendly service and good food.

Im Gegensatz zu den Thai in Deutschland wird authentisch Thai gekocht, deutlich schärfer wie hier, aber Geschmacklich hervorragend.... Jederzeit gerne wieder!!!

Loved this place. Staff were very nice and food was great. They had a high chair for my kid and there was street parking outside.

The food was amazing and the prices right on the mark. One of my favourite meals while we we're in the US.

Green Curry and Pad Thai tasted good!

Great food, friendly staff, quick service, clean and inviting environment. I can not say enough good things about this place! Every time I come here everyone is so kind, even when it’s packed and phones are ringing off the hook. My food is always hot and delicious. These people really understand hospitality!

Lots of good options. The staff were friendly and helpful. Food arrived quickly and was delicious. We had pad Thai and Tom kha soup. Plenty of seating, clean tables and bathrooms. We would be regulars if we lived in the area.

Dave aka Papa!!! Is great as well as the staff is amazing!!! Our whole office is addicted to the vegetable soup!!! Definitely is on my fav to eat in SLO!!! Cant wait to try the Curry

Diner atmosphere and really good food

Came here as our last stop on the Taste of SLO food tour and WOW. The origin story of this place is awesome, and always root for a family owned business and the fact they opened right in the middle of a pandemic and survived is a gigantic testament to them. The dish we had is a traditional coconut based curry dish with chicken and egg noodles. Sauce was crazy flavorful with a kick. You can tell this place serves only top notch ingredients- the dish was among some of the very best Thai.The family also owns a coffee plantation in Thailand and hand picks their coffee beans for their Thai coffees and again, a clear win. Incredible- a must not miss!!!!

Small portions when I oder to go

We ordered our food online around 4pm for pickup at 6:45pm. We arrived at 6:35 and it was already waiting on the counter, which should have been a red flag. When we arrived home about ten minutes later, our food was barely warm and the noodles and other ingredients were very dry, like it had been sitting out for a few hours. My husband called to ask them if the order had been made when it was placed (rather than made for the pickup time) and left out for 2.5 hours, and whomever he spoke to (Danny or David or something like that) hung up on him rather than answer our question. I’m sure it would have been good if it had been made fresh, but it’s all very dry and the noodles are stuck together. My picture shows how dry the chicken was. Definitely will not be going back or recommending this place to anyone if that’s the way they treat their customers. A phone number is attached to our order if anyone from the business would like to reach out and discuss this.

Good Food.

We had Pineapple curry, chicken fried rice and pad thai and Thai fried tofu. The Thai food has a localised taste to it. The curry lacks the usual Thai spiciness and is rich and creamy. It is mild enough for children. The restaurant was rather empty but there were lots of people ordering takeout.

YUM :) veggie pumpkin curry - soooul good - thank yewww

This wonderful locally-owned Thai place has excellent flavors and I really appreciate NO MSG being used! And I love spice and finally found it here! We asked and received Thai hot spice AND staff included ghost pepper flakes on the side for us in case. And those flakes are no joke! If you like volcano hot spice then this is the place to go to get it!💯 That said, staff did an excellent job asking and understanding our spice level needs to provide the right level…not everyone wants hot. So kudos to the staff here and the awesome food. I will be back!

Garlic pepper chicken was wet, soupy, ,greasy and chewy 100% a microwave reheat or was made the day before. Thai tea was off and almost tasted like it had ginger ale in it. Rice and fried rice were very good.

Bangin’ Panang curry

We ordered the pad see ew, fried wontons, and Thai iced tea. Flavors of the noodles is really good, perfectly spicy for me at medium spice. It leaves your mouth burning a bit with the Thai ice tea to alleviate some pain. I’m taking away one star because it seems like a large dish but it’s under a bed of lettuce, so it’s not much. Some of the flat noodles pieces were bits and tiny, not uniform and good size. The taste is on the spot but just wish there was more noodles than veggies for that price point. Popular spot, a group of people were even celebrating their birthday. Would come here again.

Great food and service in San Luis Obispo for Pat Thai. Highly recommend from a Thai Guy.

I thought this place was great! I was in SLO 2013-2019 and am so bummed I missed out on living here while Papa's Thai Cafe was open. My husband and I were looking for a quick lunch. He wanted mexican at Santa Cruz and I thought to try something new. I got yellow curry with chicken and a Thai iced tea. Both were excellent and the curry was a large enough portion to take some home for lunch tomorrow. When the man who took my order saw me chat with my husband outside (who ordered mexican from the place next door) he made sure to let us know we were both welcome to sit inside if that's more comfortable. The staff was super nice and food was excellent, will come again for sure when we're in the area.

I love the Pad Thai and fried rice. My girlfriend loves the spicy Tom Kha Gai. We always stop here when driving through the area. SO GOOD!

The owner is really nice and the atmosphere of the place is always high energy. Great food too.

Very good, freshly prepared food - you can watch them cooking. Very polite staff. Highly recommended place to eat!

Great food.

Tasty and especially fresh from the veggies to the meat. We return each time we’re in SLO!

Owner is on premises and provides excellent customer services. The food is authentic with quality ingredients. You can tell the chef takes pride in her cooking. We ordered and recommend the Khao Soi, Green Papaya Salad, and Larb Salad. If I was dinning for myself I would have asked for extra spicy but I was with others who prefer no heat.

Great Thai food in a casual and friendly environment. The family who runs it and people who work here make an effort to make you feel welcomed by helping with recommendations. They remember me and help me order based on past orders. I’ve been to several of the Thai restaurants in the area and Papa’s is the one that I always come back to.

Food is amazing, service too! The khao soi is the best. The owner with the playboy hat is super accommodating! Will def be back again soon :)

This is my go to Thai food restaurant. Their food is delicious and their customer service is great. They go above and beyond.

It's been a week since I found this lil gem while on a road trip n I still cannot get over the green papaya salad I had for lunch! It was phenomenal! Staff was great n seemed like a popular spot! If I could give 10 stars I would, the dressing was mouthwatering n they can adjust the spice! The salad itself was fresh n crisp!! It's a must stop if I'm ever back in town!

Good crevices!

Awesome food and very friendly staff members

The most popular place among college student. Me and my daughter came here this evening they were packed inside and outside. I love the food here. I got the Tom kha chicken and my daughter got pad see ew noodle. They both superb! I feel like this restaurant is more authentic style. We will definitely be back.

This was disappointing Thai food. The flavours were extremely bland and one of our group ordered medium heat and got unacceptably spicy food. There was pork in one dish that should have only been beef. Not sure why this restaurant has generally received other such good reviews

Loved their pineapple fried rice and Tom yum. Would love to go again

Awesome Thai food and we enjoyed every meal we ordered. Big portions that didn’t skimp on flavor or quality.

The owners were the friendliest people (
of any restaurant I’ve been to. They also helped celebrate my nieces birthday out.

Definitely recommend this place!!

FINALLY Authentic Thai food!! Exceptional balance of flavors! Reminds of my trips to Thailand (been there 8x)! All food is made fresh to order NO MSG YAY!! Came back a second time: We ordered the green curry with chicken, pad prik khing (added shrimp) and koh soy. Dishes are tad bit too sweet for our pallet so next visit, asking for half the sweetness and more heat (will try Thai heat.. hot wasn’t spicy enough for us) will try next time we visit SLO for sure!!

Delicious food.

Best Thai food this side of Bangkok. I ordered the tom yum soup, larb salad and eggplant with chicken, and everything was delicious. David (Papa), his girlfriend, Pin, and employee, Eleanor, could not have been friendlier. I can't wait to go back to try more of the menu.

Pad thai, pad see ew were legit. Casual setting and very friendly people. Glad SLO has a great Thai option.

Get the Khao Soi. Freaking incredible. Fantastic family owned restaurant with lovely staff who made us feel at home. We can’t wait to come back.

Amazing food, genuinely nice and friendly people, family run restaurant.
The Khao Soi and pumpkin curry were fantastic

Delicious. We had the Khao Soi and Basil Eggplant with brown rice and loved both dishes. Only drawback for me was the large raw onions in the Khao Soi, but it was amazing otherwise. The eggplant was cooked to perfection and the portions were just right.

The food was AMAZING.
Had the khao soi (highly recommend) and eggplant with basil, both were delicious. I wish I had a Thai place like this where I live!

Hands down my favorite Thai restaurant in the county. The food is always excellent, ordering is easy, and the people are great.

Great food. Amazing Thai coffee!

Really good curries.

I eat here too much not to leave a review. Great fresh food with quick service and reasonable prices. Not much to complain about.

Maybe the best Thai food in SLO. Great service as well.

Best Thai food in SLO county hands done. Wonderful owners - everything is delicious !

Eaten here several times and it's always excellent. Usually get a Mango Salad (it's spicy 🥵), one of their Noodle dishes, and the Papaya and Sticky Rice Desert.

Staff are sweet angels who I appreciate so much. i hate leaving negative reviews so I’ll focus on what I loved most first. Wontons 10/10, fried tofu was delicious. Honestly if you do love the taste of good thai with rich fish flavor, the pad thai would be right for you! Sadly I didn’t enjoy the flavors, but don’t let that shy you away from it. Some of the people that come inside on a busy saturday night expect fast service and got irritated hearing there was a 40 minute wait. My advice is to order ahead if you are picking up and make sure you have enough time for them to finish. It’s not easy right now for service workers especially the ones making your food! Next time I will try something else :) Service is great here, everyone is super nice and they triple check before bagging it up to go. Thank you!

Just ordered Drunken Noodles and green curry (all with tofu). I'm eating my food right now, and I love it! The rice is still hot and fluffy, not dried out around the sides. The noodle dish is really good, and the perfect amount of spicy. The green curry is really good. It all tastes fresh, and there's no flavor overpowering the other. I do love a couple of the other Thai restaurants around here, but you can't beat veggies tasting this fresh in a warm dish. Absolutely love it. Oh! And the Thai iced green tea is so refreshing compared to the deep Thai iced tea I've gotten other places. I love both, but this green tea version is awesome. I've gone to Raku Ramen when they used to be next to Papa's, and I was wary because I used to get Thai Boat often, and never tried anywhere new after that. I'm super glad I tried it! Thanks for existing! I'll be back soon. Multiple times 😂 Also loved getting greeted by multiple people at the counter, they're very attentive to their customers! Keep up that good energy, I know it can be tough during these times!

This place is awesome. Fast service and the noodles are fantastic (my pic doesn’t do it justice). My hubby and I shared the drunken noodles with tofu and the pad see ew with beef- can’t say which I liked better because both were fabulous! Just go!

I LOVE their red curry!! So delicious 😋

This is the best Thai food in slo. They owner is the most friendly person who has created a restaurant that serves amazing food everytime. I usually get pad Thai and yellow curry. I am an enthusiast for yellow curry and they make the best one around, definitely my favorite. If your looking for good Thai food in slo, this is where you should go. By far the best! - From an avid customer.

David and Pim are amazing and so is their food. My husband and I have been here twice and the past 3 days. Yes, they are legit.
We had their pad thai, Khao soi, and pineapple fried rice. All 3 things were delicious but I will say the Khao soi might be a bit spicy but it is super good regardless. Just a heads up for those who can't eat spicy food.
Overall they are super friendly and welcoming. Will definitely be back!!!

Authentic Thai food, reasonable prices, friendly service.

Great food and atmosphere.

This is literally the best Thai place in town. The cooks are from Thailand so every single meal is home cooked. David is always there with a big smile on his face. Pin is always ready to talk and dishing out meals!

Went to the restaurant last night to place an order. My coworker has been telling me about this place, so I had to try it. I am allergic to shrimp and wanted to order noodles and the chef/ owner came out and told me they can’t serve me because everything they make is contaminated with shrimp. So basically they don’t clean there pans before there next order.
So please be aware if you are vegetarian or allergic because they don’t want to take the time to clean there pans.

Delicious food, good drinks and excellent service.

Wonderful food. My go to is the drunken noodle and I've had a hard time straying once I discovered this dish. Medium is a perfect spice level for me.

The staff was very friendly helped us out by choosing what to eat The food was good and they are fast with bringing the food out to you

Delicious, friendly and fast!

Always great every time I’ve been here.

Food tastes amazing. Staff are really nice and make an effort to remember you personally. So far I've only tried their curries, khao soy, and pad see ew. I strongly recommend all of them. Good quality and service. A+

Fresh Thai food with a good selection of sautees, curries, and noodles. A small bowl of rice is included with most orders. Prices are reasonable ($13 for many dishes). There wasn't anything exceptional about the meal, portions, or experience but it was all solid.

Fast, friendly and good.
Walk up place order and they will bring it to your table. No frills, nice location with seating indoors and outside their door. Menu has traditional Thai food you know. Check hours before going. It's on a corner with free 2 hour street parking and behind building. Between Hawaiian and Mexican restaurants with similar serving and seating. Really nice cashier.

By far the best thai food + experience in all of San Luis Obispo. All of the food is prepared fresh when you order and the ingredients are high quality. The thai tea, like the food, is absolutely insane and also made fresh. The owners / staff are the nicest people ever and are very welcoming. I’ve got nothing but amazing things to say about this place. 11/10

All our food was fantastic. Pin behind the counter was so nice and helpful, too.

I love this place!! The owners are so kind and personable. Ive been here 3 times in the last month and have loved everything ive eaten. I normally dont like sweet and sour chicken but theirs is the best ive ever had. Cheapest and best Thai food in SLO BY FAR.

Amazing is not the word. Super fast super fast. David really took care of vegetarian options.
No fish no oyster sauce no meat no beef. It was the best meal I had in Obispo

Spicy basil chicken and garlic pepper chicken are bomb as hell. This place rox

Awesome food, friendly staff, and reasonably priced. I suggest the Thai iced tea and Pad Thai!

Good papaya salad.

Leaving the same review here that I left on Yelp. My family and I were passing through San Luis Obispo when we decided to stop for lunch at Papa’s Thai. After reading all of the stellar reviews, we couldn’t resist—and we were not disappointed! The food was absolutely phenomenal. Both of our dishes (the Chicken Pad Thai and Chicken Chow Mein) were hot, fresh, and delectable. Beyond that, the staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming. We came in around 2:00 PM, so we basically had the place to ourselves. Our 6-month-old son was with us, and one of the employees (Pim) was kind enough to offer to entertain him while we ate. She carried him around the restaurant showing him all the different wall hangings. She also brought him over to her coworkers for some peekaboo (which he loved). Dining out with a baby can be stressful, but the workers at Papa’s Thai made us feel at home. The reviews are worth the hype—if we were local to the area, we would be regulars for sure.

The food was fantastic and the help was extremely nice. We will be come back again.

Some of the best Pad Thai I've had in awhile:) food was delicious! Service was friendly!

Been going there since they opened. I love the pad Thai and papaya salad. Today I ordered alot of food for my family and they wrote us a lovely note thanking us for the support and threw in 2 free Thai teas. Thank you so much!

Way beyond expectations! Awesome food with large portion!

Excellent food!