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| Location |
| 117 E Street |
| in the spot formerly occupied by Crepe House Uni. |
| New Business Hours |
|
11am - 2am Tuesday through Saturday
11am - 10pm Sunday Closed Monday |
| Phone |
| (530) 231-5465 |
| Website |
| http://www.canteendavis.com/ |
| Owner |
| Thai I Am, LLC |
| (Bua Devahasdin, T. Devahasdin, Deo Suwannapracha) |
| Established |
| November 2010 |
| Payment Methods |
| Visa, Mastercard, Cash |
Happy Hour: 3–6pm M–F
Happy Hour Specials
Mon: 1/2 off bottles of wine Tue: $ 2.50 Singha Beer, Thai Beer Wed: 1/2 off bottles of sake
Oktoberfest: $2.50 Asian Beer only this month
Thai Canteen is a relatively new Thai restaurant in the space previously occupied by Crepe House Uni, directly across the street from Thai Recipes and adjacent to Sophia's Thai Kitchen. Its concept is fast-casual Thai food with counter service—you order at the counter and grab a seat. Food typically takes around 10 minutes to come out, although it can vary. Its opening adds to the plethora of Thai restaurants in Davis.
Excerpt from a May 22, 2010 Davis Enterprise article: "'Serving the authentic flavors of Bangkok in a contemporary setting, Thai Canteen will be a self-serve restaurant similar to fast-food style, yet with a made-to-order menu,' broker Michael Bisch said. Davis Commercial Properties handled the lease for the 2,000-square-foot space in The Lofts. The approach will allow the owner to charge less for its dishes - averaging just under $7. Its hours will be 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week. Owner Bua Devahasdin just arrived from Thailand, Bisch said. She hopes to open Davis' eighth Thai restaurant in September."
Also referred to in a May 24, 2010 article in The Aggie. In 2013, Thai Canteen was voted best Thai restaurant based on student votes.
If you have doggies they can sit with you at the outside area! "Thai hot" is quite spicy, and the normal spicy dishes at medium heat have a pretty decent kick. The curries seem particularly popular (try #5, the kaffir lime curry, or #13). Plates are individual, rather than family-style, each coming with its own rice (you can choose from white and a very flavorful, moist brown). The appetizers seem to have quite small portions, and duck dishes may have the same problem. Most of the entrees are good sized, though, and an excellent value for the $6-8 price tag. Drinks are cheap, and if you go at happy hour, thai tea/coffee is $1.
The Pad Kee Mow (drunken noodles) is one of the best around. Their pad thai, by contrast, is distinctly sub-par for Davis.
The restaurant's success in Davis led owners to develop a second location in midtown Sacramento. It is expected to open sometime in 2013.
The very cool cover of their take-out menu 
#10. pad med mamuang 
Pramramrong Song 
Panang Nuer 
Pad Kee Mao
2010-06-13 14:34:47 If only Davis had a Thai restaurant! Fortunately, they are filling the great, untapped market in Davis for Thai food. (Yum!) If only they offered frozen yogurt at this place. We need some of that in Davis too... —IDoNotExist
2010-06-13 14:35:35 (Seriously though, this sounds awesome.) —IDoNotExist
2010-08-06 18:20:00 There seems to be a competition between Thai restaurants and fro-yo shops in Davis. —BenLee
2010-08-06 19:56:04 I hope this place has good, cheap Thai food. $5 Pad Thai sure would save me a few bucks... —TheShah
2010-11-17 00:12:36 11 - 2! WOOHOO late Thai
can't wait to get down on some pad Thai —StevenDaubert
2010-11-17 01:56:05 I believe the restaurant is officially "Thai Canteen". Can we remove that little sentence in this article that say otherwise? —ThUn
2010-11-17 03:12:15 Currently eating both their Pad Kra Pow(chicken), and the Pad Thai. Both are pretty darn good. Flavored well, and they actually use some Thai chili. We ordered both at the "Thai hot" level. I could actually consider this place to be one of the top 3 Thai restaurants here. Pricing is very good. They accept credit/debit cards. The place opens till 2AM EVERY DAY! A great addition to the Davis community night life. The owner is very nice. The service is friendly. The Thai tea is perfect here as well. This place is awesome for big groups because you can come and order your items separately without having to deal with the hassle of check splitting, etc. I hope this place does well over the next several months. It's definitely over a win over it's more expensive and less authentic counterparts like KetMoree. —ThUn
2010-11-17 20:43:06 Just bought dinner here tonight. First before the review, I'd like to say that having three Thai restaurants within a 100ft of each other is overkill. Also, strategically Thai Canteen chose a pretty bad time to open a brand new restaurant. Aside from finals week for the students, all restaurants in Davis will struggle for the next couple of months as Davis will be half empty and all the New Year's resolutions to lose weight will commence. Seasoned restaurants have weathered the storm and I hope Thai Canteen does the same because I would hate to see a new business depart due to bad timing.
Now to the review. Upon entering the restaurant I noticed that it was completely empty...at 6:45pm...right before the dinner rush...in Downtown Davis. This totally threw me off because Thai Canteen just opened and like most newly opened restaurants, people want to be the first to try it so they can recommend whether or not to eat at the restaurant to their friends. The interior has a very clean and modern decor. I like the pictures on the wall, especially of the farmer on the rice patty. Anyways, the service was prompt and friendly and very knowledgeable(I think it was the boss who rang me up). I ordered the #28 Pad Si Ew with beef. The dish was seasoned well, the noddles were of the right chewiness, and the Chinese broccoli was fresh (of course it esd, they just opened). Only gripe with the dish was that the beef was dry. The dish came out pretty fast, probably about 4 minutes. Prices are reasonable but I wish they could be just a little cheaper. Portion size is about average for Davis restaurants, but it's perfect to make you full and satisfied without over-stuffing yourself. They have a lot of interesting things on the menu that I shall try later, such as crab fried rice (that sounds damn awesome!). Anyways, my experience tonight was pretty good and I plan on coming back. —BenLee
2010-11-20 18:15:55 My friend and I decided to try this new, more "casual" Thai joint on a Friday night. I had high expectations for this place, especially since most the Thai food in davis is mediocre, and my roommate had told me this place was pretty good. It was about 11 when we arrived, and the place was pretty much empty.
We ordered the Tom Kha soup with tofu, and a dish called Gkuay Dtiow Reur. The Tom Kha soup was pretty damn salty, and probably was the worst out of all the Tom Kha's Ive had. It also came with chicken instead of tofu, but we decided to let that slide since they are new and still working out kinks in the service. The gkuay dtiow reur was basically like a small bowl of pho that was strangely sweet. The prices looked cheap on the menu, but the portions were really small compared to other places. I wouldn't recommend this place at the moment, but would probably go back to try their dry noodle dishes. Its nice that this place is open late though. The manager asked the few other customers that night what they thought about the food, but he didn't come by us at all. His loss, now he has to read this review on DavisWiki. —anonymon
2010-11-20 19:45:45 Thank you for all the comments. We appreciated. We will improve everything that we loss and make it better. All comments worth for us. Thank you all again.
Thai Canteen team —Deo
2010-11-20 22:53:49 My boyfriend and I have been waiting for this restaurant to open! After reading the reviews on Friday, we decided to catch a movie and then go try this new place. We showed up around 7:30 and the place was completely empty. We ordered the pork/shrimp fried wontons to share, the tom kha chicken and a pad thai chicken. The guy at the front was really nice and our plates came out really fast - no longer than 10 minutes. The fried wontons were really tasty and had a nice crunch - and the sauce was really good! The tom kha is actually one of the best I've had in Davis and was really creamy, a little sweet, and the chicken was still tender. I did not read the review about the tom kha but it definitely was not salty. The guy who took our orders came over after we got our food to refill our drinks and asked about the tom kha. He said they adjusted the recipe since the complaint that the soup was too salty (which I did not think was the case) - I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a cold or looking to warm up on a cold day. My boyfriend's pad thai was really good - well seasoned and a little sweet as well. We'd recently visited Sophia's and I have to say - this pad thai was actually better seasoned than Sophia's. His only comment (besides how great it was) was that it was a little heavy on the grease, not that he was complaining! The appetizer and the two entrees came to a total of $17 - definitely not bad for a filling meal for two! It was also really fast - I think we left after no longer than 45 minutes. I definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for some good thai food, a cheaper place for dinner, or a modern atmosphere for dinner with friends. This would not be the place for a fancy celebration though - but definitely some great food! I also really hope this place gets busier! This is by far our new favorite restaurant!
2010-11-23 01:44:24 We went here twice. The 1st time, we were craving for some tea at 1:15am so we decided to try here since this is the only place opened this late. We tried taro bubble tea. Sorry but it was horrible. I like sweet stuff but this drink was super sweet. I couldn't even drink it at all. But then we went here the next day just to try one more time. We ordered 3 snacks: fried wonton, fried dumpling and fried calamari. Each one is around $5 each but the portion is really really small. For the fried wonton, there were only 6 pieces for around $5. It was too expensive for students like us. Dumplings and calamari were the same. With $5, we can have a big fried rice plate or fried crispy chicken at Old teahouse. The tastes were ok, nothing special. We also ordered Thai ice tea. The tea was ok. We spent almost $20 but we were still hungry after. I will come back here if the portion is a bit bigger or the restaurant has discount for students. —tranhh
2010-11-23 12:28:02 I've been here 3 times and have had great experiences every time. Not only is the customer service great, but they have great pad thai and fried rice. At around $7.00 for each, you will be very happy with the quality of the food. I'm used to paying $20.00 for fried rice and pad thai but thanks to the thai canteen i can get them for $15.00 with better quality. I would definitely recommend this place to friends (Note: I already have).
2010-12-05 15:54:09 I've been twice and both times got the Pad Thai with chicken and then the calamari. My buddy also got a Pra Ram once and proclaimed it good. The prices are cheap and they are open late which is awesome. It seems that people have written them off since they are the eighth Thai place... Calamari was good, It would have been fantastic with a slightly larger portion. All in all I would highly recommend giving this place a shot! They also allow nicely behaved dogs at the outside seating area!! —StevenDaubert
2010-12-17 Nothing but good things to say! This is my new favorite Thai place in Davis. I tried the rice plate, pad gra prow (with tofu) and the soup, tom kha (with tofu). Both excellent and the pad gra prow pleasantly spicy. They are very vegetarian accommodating, and I substituted brown rice (delicious) for white for $1 more. The presentation of the food is nice, and the service fast. By ordering at the register before sitting, larger parties have the convenience of paying individually. And the atmosphere is also inviting and pleasant; I love the colors. This would be a great place to come for lunch or a fast dinner (if you're pressed for time) as the service is fast. They were empty when I went in for dinner at 4:30, but hopefully this was because of the early time. I think having an adult beverage happy hour would do much to draw in the early crowd, and more students. I can't wait to come back soon and try more of the dishes!
—SDAK
2010-12-20 09:41:36 Really enjoyed my meal. Two of us shared the wonton soup (giow nahmmu daeng) and an order of spring rolls. Both were delicious. Service was fine but there were only 3 other people there on a Saturday afternoon. I think it is definitely worth a try because the price is right and the quality of the food does not seem to suffer.
2010-12-21 18:49:35 the food there is so awesome!!! i love going to Thai canteen! The restaurant looks nice and relaxing, The waitress is cute, polite,nice and helpful.The price is fair especially alcohol+ Delicious Thai ice-cream... Hope they'll success:) —MarryStone
2010-12-30 00:38:43 At first, I was one of those people who thought "why do we need another thai place here?" But as time passed, I noticed not many heads were in there and felt bad for judging them before even trying. I gotta say, their food is pretty good. I wouldn't say the best, but I would say the best deal for thai food and better quality than most other joints. I ordered the pad kee mao, medium spicy a while back, and it was super spicy but really flavorful. I don't know if it just happened to be spicier that day. Also, the green beans were too hard for my liking. I recently ordered their pad thai and it's pretty good. I am definitely happy that there is a good restaurant alternative with decent prices open til 2am. I'm sure any other night owl will appreciate it. —SaThai
2011-01-08 16:44:26 I was expecting another run of the mill Thai place to become #8 for Davis when I heard about Thai Canteen opening but I was pleasantly surprised that we are getting a really great casual thai place instead. Went there for lunch this week and everything we ordered was so delicious. The ingredients were very fresh and both dishes were flavorful, well seasoned, and super yummy. I left feeling like.. WOW.. I actually am glad we got another Thai place in Davis because this one is much better than several of the others. The atmosphere is ultra modern which throws me off as not what I usually am feeling when I want Thai but the food is so far superior to other Thai places in town I honestly don't care. I hope they are the ones to beat the curse of this location because I want more Thai canteen in the future. I know I am going to start giving them more of my dollars instead of other Thai locations and I think they are going to give other places a run for the money. Oh and for all of you students who want cheap prices.. you get it here. Everything on the menu is <$10 most <$8 (even the dinner menu), they have a full bar, and daily happy hour specials. Go to Thai Canteen today and you'll have a new favorite Thai restaurant in Davis. —HeatherMartin
2011-01-10 16:32:26 Returned to try one of my favorite thai dishes, Pad kee mao. Best in Davis. So, flavorful and nice balance of chicken and vegetables. Really friendly service even though I was doing take out. I will be back. —LokiAbbi
2011-01-11 15:15:53 Went here on Thursday night with a big group. Their food and service was good. Better than a lot of places.
Just went here today for lunch with a friend. We had the pad thai and the pad kee mao with thai teas. I asked the pad kee mao to be medium spicy. It was pretty spicy. Maybe I'll ask for mild next time. Other than that, my dish was pretty good. And the people were really nice. On top of that, the pad thai with tofu was also delicious. I think this is my 4th time trying here, and it has been getting better and better :] —anonymon
Edit 2/13/11 This place is growing on me more and more. Granted, I haven't gotten the dishes I tried on my first visit again, but everything else I've tried is good. The rice dishes could come in bigger portions, but theyre good. Tried the sticky rice and ice cream dessert a few days ago, and it was delicious. I went back 2 nights in a row for that dessert, and almost went back for a 3rd night last night.
2011-01-11 18:26:50 A group of us went here last night and really enjoyed it. Had the tom kha, panang nuer, and the papaya salad and bbq chicken special. Everything was quite tasty and of high quality, and I'm inclined to say best flavor of thai in davis. And they have sake in a can...big thumbs up!! As other people have mentioned, the portions are definitely on the small side for thai and thus a bit overpriced (I usually go home with enough for lunch the next day, but couldn't even imagine that here), but somehow we left full...maybe I compensated with more rice? A friend got the brown rice which was really delicious! The staff was super friendly and helpful as well. I would go back and try some other things, as the people next to us looked like they got more food in their dishes. —ADP
2011-01-12 23:54:43 Awesome food. Went here tonight with a friend. Got the pad kee mao with the "thai hot" spiciness level. Gdamn. First meal I have had in a long time that I really had to pace myself eating because it was so spicy. Great food though and it was definitely reasonably priced at 7 dollars for the chicken. Love the late hours, hope to come back shit hammered drunk sometime. Not too many people were there when I went, but then again it was like 9pm on a wed night... I will not be going to thai nakorn anymore though now that I have been here. My friend enjoyed his bamee bpet yang as well.
One thing... am I supposed to tip here? Isn't the point of having the counter to not tip? Left 5 bucks anyways.
Also the portions were just fine, stop stuffing your faces people... —MMAC
2011-01-17 05:35:38 Just a warning...a group of my friends ate here the other day and medium spiciness was too much for most of them to handle (and we can usually handle spicy). The food was good and flavorful but distractingly spicy. I'm sure I'll love it mild though. —SaThai
2011-01-17 21:43:07 Pretty good Thai food and great atmosphere. Portions are spot on (eating should not be about engorging yourself). Also a plus: open late. —blastoff
2011-01-28 18:45:20 This place is the best.
Firstly, the atmosphere is delightful. Enveloped in modern Thai themed decor and hip thai and jazzy tunes, this place is the place to kick it in downtown Davis. Also, there is free wifi, so it's a great place to study on your own or with a few friends.
Secondly, the service here is wonderful. Everyone working at Thai Canteen is super friendly and are very flexible with customer needs. Food is made very quickly but the speed of the cooking doesn't wear down on its taste.
Lastly, but not least; the food. I can honestly say that the Thai food here is the best in Davis; not only because the family recipe dishes are rich and authentic, but because it tastes too good for its price. Honestly, I can save so much money coming here that my girlfriend and I went to eat here almost every day when they opened. In our opinion, the food tastes better than all the other Thai Restaurants for only half the price.
Definitely check this place out!:D —mushroomdreamer
2011-01-31 08:24:08 I had take out from here last night and it was delicious! I had a peanut curry, pad thai, and veggie spring rolls and everything was very fresh. Although I was skeptical about yet another Thai restaurant, I think Thai Canteen is just perfect for Davis...affordable and delicious. —AmLin
2011-02-02 04:28:51 I am admittedly a Thai food novice (amazing with the number of Thai places here), but I really enjoyed Thai Canteen. Ordered Pad Thai and Med Mamuang at around 9pm on a Monday for take out and it tasted great. Was affordable, fresh and a nice portion. Will definitely be returning for a casual & quick thai meal. —Sar58
2011-02-12 22:46:35 5/5 Stars for me! We moved to Davis from the East coast over a year ago and we've been trying to find a really great Thai place this whole time. First, I can't understand why no restaurants in Davis (give or take a few places like Lamppost Pizza and Sushi Unlimited) stay open past 9pm. This is a college town and it's full of working professionals, who work/study late so the fact that this place is open until 10pm Sunday/Monday is great, but the fact they are open until 2am most of the week is AMAZING! They are filling a huge availability need in Davis that I hope more restaurants follow. They have a take out serving style (you order, they give you a number and they come out with the food you take care of your own drinks etc — which we don't mind at all.) Now, about the food: This place was recommended by a friend of ours who is from Thailand and picky about his Thai food. I personally LOVE chicken pad thai (it's really all I order) so I consider myself some what of a connoisseur when it comes to this particular dish. Needless to say we've been to most of the main Thai spots in Davis and this one has THE BEST PAD THAI in Davis, HANDS DOWN. Sometimes you get pad thai that barely has any peanut flavoring and the noodles are barely covered. Not here — the sauce on my pad thai noodles was fully covering all of my dish and there was a delicious peanut flavoring through out. ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. My husband had the crab fried rice and he loved that too ( I had a few bites and can totally see myself ordering that for myself the next time around). The decor was young, hip and IKEA-ish (which I personally love) the music was cool and chill and the staff was awesome. We are going to tell everybody about this place and we are definitely coming back. Loved it! —Bryna
2011-02-13 17:58:10 The food here was quite fast, and not too bad. I haven't tried it enough to give it a comprehensive review. What I did have was comparable in quality to Thai Nakorn, but not comparable in taste. They had a little too much of *something* in the dish that I had, and it tasted a little too much like whatever that something was. I personally didn't care for that, but other people might. The food was well prepared and plentiful. I'd definitely go back and try some of their other food. —IDoNotExist
2011-02-23 12:35:28 In another visit there, the food was significantly improved. However, it took half an hour to actually get it, and the thing that I ordered can be made in under 5 minutes. To be fair, a lot of people looked like they had ordered just before I did, so it may be that my timing just happened to be bad. (And as I noted in my last comment, they were previously quite fast.) But at other equally busy restaurants, I'd have been able to order and eat before my food came at this place, and some people at *this* restaurant ordered, got their food, ate, and left before I even got mine. (It also looked like they might have forgotten to actually bring me my order...) So it may have been an aberration, but I'd currently recommend avoiding this place if you are in a rush during a busy time. —IDoNotExist
2011-02-23 20:17:04 Before Thai Canteen opened, I didn't think it would be very successful, considering it's close proximity to several other Thai restaurants, and how this nice, sit-down restaurant was located on a busy, fast-paced blocked. Well, it turns out that it's pretty casual, and is a couple bucks cheaper than most Thai restaurants. The food has good presentation, is delicious, and really tastes Thai, unlike a few other restaurants in town. I've been here three times in the past few weeks, and it seems they add a few less ingredients than you'd expect, but it still tastes good. For example, the Pad Thai with Tofu that I ordered didn't have as much vegetables as I would expect at other places. I also had their Som Tum papaya salad, and Kang Kiow Wan green curry, all of which were delicious. Thai Canteen does a great job at taking the position of providing decent-tasting Thai food for cheap, which was really lacking in Davis. With the bonus points for staying open till 2 am for hungry drunks, it's my new favorite downtown spot. Also, try the Thai Singha Lager. It goes down real smooth and is very flavorful. —TheShah
2011-02-27 09:52:46 I have traveled IN Thailand every year since 2000 so I have been fortunate to have experienced REAL Thai food. The THAI CANTEEN is every bit REAL Thai food, very authentic. My favorite dish IN Thailand and here @ Thai Canteen is KANG KARI (also known as Mussaman Curry in Thailand. Coconut milk based, comes mildly spiced, but you can SPICE it up if you are brave. I've been there 3 times already = I love it. Definitely try the CURRY dishes!! Be sure to check out their DAILY Specials = Yummy choices. Prices are very reasonable, good size portions, I usually take home enough leftovers for a snack later. Family run, very attentive staff, if you have a complaint speak up = they listen. —MikePhillips
2011-02-27 14:51:00 We had lunch here with my parents who were visiting today. It's a pretty nice place! They do individual plates, not family style, but we shared around anyway. The pad thai wasn't stellar, but the other entrees we got were quite good. I got a green curry rice plate that was delicious, and quite spicy. They give you the option on the spicy dishes to go spicy or not. I said medium spice, and it was pretty intense—in a good way. My dad got a duck entree (#2) which was quite tasty, although the portion was a little on the small side. My wife got a spinach and peanut sauce dish that was quite good as well. The duck dish was the only one whose portions seemed sparse, and the pad thai was quite at least as large as most other places in town. With most of the entrees being around $6-8, it's definitely a nice deal. Wait time seemed pretty normal for a sit-down place. Maybe 15 minutes or so. —TomGarberson
2011-03-15 16:59:33 I've been here twice now. Both times we really enjoyed the entrees. When we got appetizers at happy hour, I really wasn't that impressed.
The good: The food is really, really tasty. Some of the comments have said servings are small, but that wasn't our experience (for entrees), except for a duck dish. Everything else both times came with plenty of food. And it's damn cheap, which is nice. If you get something spicy, it's spicy. I like spicy foods and the "medium" spice is just right. I tried a couple bites of a friend's thai spicy drunken noodles, and it was extremely hot. $1 thai iced teas at happy hour is awesome. They're a little sweeter than average, but not unpleasantly so. $1 off beers is also nice, and they've got Lagunitas IPA on tap.
The bad: The appetizers are small. The spring rolls were fairly tasty, although nothing spectacular... but you only get a couple of very small rolls. An order of chicken wings gets you half a dozen smallish wings that are only lightly spiced and aren't sauced. They're cooked well, and the dipping sauce that comes with them is OK, but they weren't that interesting. An order of satay only gets you two small satay skewers, and the calamari gets you maybe 8 small strips. Compare that to a bowl of fried calamari at, e.g., Sophia's, and it doesn't compare too favorably.
Go for dinner and enjoy the good prices. Skip the appetizers.
4/13/2011 addition: Having eaten here a couple more times now, I'll add a couple of recommendations. The curries are fantastic. I especially enjoy #5 and #13 (don't recall the names, sorry). The fried pork belly dish, #1, is also quite tasty, although in the future I'll probably be sticking with the curries. They're just too good to pass up. I continue to think the appetizers aren't a very good deal; portions are just too tiny, even if they're decent tasting. —TomGarberson
2011-03-16 17:08:04 Third visit for lunch with a friend. We order two dishes with prawns. They tasted the same. Except one had noodles and there were more onions then anything else. My first two visits were much better. I will try again, because the other two visits the food was really good. —LokiAbbi
2011-03-19 09:43:55 Great way to enjoy thai! —KaitDancer
2011-03-20 03:51:48 I love that this place is open late, it's nice to have a place in Davis open late for a good meal that is not fast food for us college students, and their staff is very friendly and the food tastes great! —SaherR
2011-03-24 17:46:54 This place is probably my favorite Thai place in Davis now. I think Taste of Thai probably has better food, and certainly has a larger menu, but Thai Canteen is very convenient and inexpensive. —twblalock
2011-03-26 22:10:38 Oh my gosh. Okay. As soon as Thai Canteen started, I had to give it a try. I liked their food very much so this place instantly became my favorite Thai restaurant. BUT, one day I ordered Pad Thai to go, and they asked if I would like it to be spicy. First I thought, spicy Pad Thai? I never thought that Pad Thai could be spicy. So I decided to give it a try since I love spicy food. However, this was too spicy. way to spicy. One bite and I couldnt eat more. I had to throw it into trash. Waste of money. I hate this place now. —krisbarr
Isn't it possible that you could still go to the restaurant and enjoy the food by asking them to make your dish without adding extra spice?
2011-04-01 09:10:36 I am new to Thai food in general so this is only the second spot that Ive tried in Davis. The other is Sophia's. I choose this one!!
The food is good and spicy — and I mean spicy!! But you can obviously order it to be more mild.
I tried one of their specials that was something like "bean thread noodle with minced chicken and prawns cooked in a chili sauce with lime". I might have missed an ingredient or two, but it was delicious!!
They also have affordable beer and pitchers and sake. They have happy hour from 3-6 (at least on weekdays - maybe weekends) which includes deals on beer, sake and some appetizers.
There are z couple tables outside where you can sit and watch people pass by. Otherwise there are a few huge tables and several smaller tables inside. I went with my sister and sat at the end of the huge table. A group of grad students came in shortly after and ordered an enormous pillar/keg thing of asahi beer. There was enough for like 4-5 people to drink their fill.
Thats all I got for now. The only reason it did not get the 5th star is because - (1) Ive only been once; and (2) they don't have any good sake-bombing beers on tap. They only had 2 IPAs and a Blue Moon on tap on the day that I went. —smartgirl
2011-04-06 20:38:35 The soup had a nice flavor, but the shrimp added to it was disgusting. The pot stickers were very tasty (crispy and delicious)and the atmosphere was fun. I could see returning here for some snacks and beer soon. The staff is very nice and helpful. —MaryMurphy
2011-04-26 23:13:10 I'm a big fan of Thai food, so when I heard that this place was opening, I was holding pretty high expectations. My boyfriend and I ordered pad thai and a honey covered duck dish. I paid about 17 dollars total.
Pro: the servers were really nice and helpful when we had questions.
Cons: The service was slow; the pad thai was absolutely bland—surprising, considering thai food should have spices. There was no spice at all; The portion of the duck dish was not worth the money. As seen in the picture of the pad med mamuang dish above, we received about 1/4 of the meat seen in the picture, but the same amount of steamed white rice. The rice was obviously used as a filler. I felt like I paid 8 bucks for rice.
If you want to try it out, go for it. But I wouldn't recommend going here, and I know I won't be coming back. The food is bland, the portions (as compared to rice) are small, and the prices aren't worth it.
Overall experience: major let down.
—LizS
We had the same experience with the duck when I took my parents there... I've been roughly 5 times now, and haven't found any other dish to be tiny (except the appetizers... don't bother). It's the curries that keep me coming back. I highly recommend trying out #5 or #13 if you make your way back there. —TomGarberson
2011-05-02 18:03:04 This is my new fave WIFI restaurant. Thai Nakorn still has my vote for best family oriented Thai restaurant, but this place is coming up fast on my list of favorite places to eat, drink and do homework. The food is excellent and I'm stoked that they have bubble tea, too, with extra tapioca. They're very reasonably priced and super friendly. —LilyS
2011-05-02 18:22:00 I got another pad thai recently
I was pleased —StevenDaubert
2011-05-16 15:02:03 Thai is a pretty safe option for a vegetarian like me, so I like having this place around. The food's pretty decent and I can't complain about the prices. They're really great for a Thai fix when late at night, or 2-5pm when many restaurants are closed. The workers are very friendly and accommodate rowdy student groups with a smile on their faces, so I hope people start returning the favor. I really hope they get more business! —ashb
2011-06-10 10:10:57 So I have been here at least 10 different times. LOVE this place. Granted not everything is great (Pad Thai) BUT their Pad Si Ew and Pad Kee Mao are really flavorful and oh so good. Their panang curry is excellent and my friend really likes their crab fried rice. Their sweet green tea is bottomless and so refreshing. The owners are brother and sister - the sister decorated/designed the entire place. You pay upfront so it's great for groups and have great service (except for once during Picnic Day but they did their best. Not sure if they knew what they were getting into). Prices are decent and don't vary from lunch to dinner. Overall, great place that's open SUPER late. (I am currently a vegetarian so I order all of my dishes accordingly) —KimWong
2011-06-15 12:43:18 I agree with Tom Garberson above — the curries are very good. The praram is also good — it has lots of peanut sauce (you can decide for yourself if that's a good or a bad thing; I think it's a good thing). Follow your dinner with a trip to Sugar Daddies for dessert, and you've got the makings of a nice, casual evening. —CovertProfessor
2011-07-07 00:02:07 Can someone upload the menus, their website seems to have expired.. —Kafani
- Done! —CovertProfessor
2011-07-17 14:20:37 Great food, price and fast service! I tried the vegetarian spring rolls, Larb Salad, and Pad Thai and they were all very good. The Larb was medium spicy, but it was pretty hot for me. I'm not a fan of pad thai, but I was stealing bites from my husband's plate every 5 mins. —RohiniJasavala
2011-07-26 14:29:01 This restaurant seems to shine above many of the other thai places in Davis. I recommend a noodle dish because they are the most filling but all of their dishes are delicious. The staff is very friendly and helpful. I highly recommend it. —gbutton
2011-08-16 16:55:57 The prices are fair in my opinion. The food selection is awesome, considering it is located in Davis (other Thai restaurants in the area don't even have Larb/Laab).
This placed gets really packed though, and sometimes I wonder if they even have AC in this restaurant. Customer service is awesome during slow hours...not so much when its crowded and full of drunks. —PaulV
2011-10-14 19:47:23 The food here is awesome but the lines to order are often 10-30 minutes long! They have a second register, but they never use it. They really need a more efficient ordering system. —IDoNotExist
2011-10-28 17:19:35 Try the Thai ice tea ice cream. They make it themselves and it is the bomb. —SuperDave
2012-01-13 20:07:46 This comment comes from Maria Lorna A. Kunnath of 261 Davis California..who on January 13, 2012 became very disappointed customer.
The food I ordered was not the one I received. I told the staff (SPECIFICALLY) Tom Yum Kha (chicken) on the phone for a take-out order. When time to pick up, I noticed on the receipt that it was tom yum khung (prawns) ... the server offered to correct the mistake and I agreed to wait a few minutes...the server comes back with the corrected order 'tomyum kha (chicken). Midway through our meal, my daughter notices the prawn taste oblivious to me and my husband (allergic to prawn) since we were mostly skimming the soup part....How can they overlook a huge error in a restaurant where the request was as clear as I could possibly be ....the only part I missed was to spell c-h-i-c-k-e-n to both the ordering staff and the server? —————-MariaLornaKunnath
2012-01-17 17:05:00 I haven't gone to Thai Canteen since before the winter break, but one of the times I came here I was especially impressed with the service.
I had ordered a Thai ice tea while waiting for my friends to arrive and was doing work on my netbook when I spilled it. The female staff immediately rushed over and told me not to worry about cleaning the place and proceeded to provide me and endless supply of paper towels so I could attempt to get all the tea out of my netbook. By the time I had finished, they had cleaned the table, mopped the ground, and given me a free refill of Thai ice tea. When I tried to give them the money for the drink, they told me not to worry about it and wouldn't take it, so I just gave it as tip.
The food is affordable and it's now the only place my housemate will eat Thai food from (she likes the turnip cakes). My favorite is the pad see ew and while their Thai ice teas run a bit on the sweet side, they're only a dollar for happy hour so I'm not going to complain. It gets pretty crowded at night, so the wait might be longer, but if you order pickup in advance, they'll let you pay for it and leave with your food if it's ready so you can bypass the line.
:) I didn't think we needed another Thai restaurant in town, but I've since changed my mind.
—————-ivana.h
2012-02-14 14:39:28 I love their Pad Kee Mow with beef. Don't make the mistake I did and add more chilli peppers, the dish is cooked spicy and delicious. Their Thai Iced Tea is good but considering some of the other thai restaurants are giving bottomless refills, it doesn't feel like its worth the money, especially since they give too much ice. If I were to order the Thai Iced Tea again, I'd ask for less ice. Otherwise, I like the restaurant. Its a relaxed atmosphere, the food comes out in a reasonable amount of time and the staff is friendly. —BingL
2012-02-19 11:06:28 I don't think I'm spelling this right, but the som tom guyung (som tom with delicious chicken) ia AMAZING. It's a menu special so they sadly don't always have it :( Try it when they do!! —KelseyCondell
2012-04-12 13:24:51 Love their pad thai, pad see ew, and especially their YELLOW CURRY WITH BROWN RICE! <3 They are open late tuesday to saturday which is pretty lovely for late night thai food cravings =) —MMegia
2012-05-17 22:47:55 Some people have made comments about the portions being small. I haven't tried the appetizers, snacks, or soups yet, but I can safely say that this place is quite generous when it comes to the curry-style dishes. The food quality varies, and I have yet to taste anything truly excellent, but it's a solid place overall. Obviously, the big plus is how late it's open. If you're tired of the typical late-night burger run, this is a welcome alternative. —ScottMeehleib
—The appetizers are a ripoff for the price (Taro fries are like 3 slices of Taro for something like 4 dollars), as are the desserts. The rest is a great deal.
2012-06-01 16:40:22 Best and most authentic Thai I've had outside of Thailand. —McBeeves
2012-06-07 13:30:42 I don't think anyone mentioned that they have free internet service! It's awesome. I go here often to study because of that (: —ShannonCarter
2012-06-07 21:07:17 Probably the best Thai food in Davis. Not the absolute best I've ever had, but definitely a yummy place. Their food is consistently tasty, everything is well flavored/balanced, and when you ask for Thai spicy, they actually make it so. The menu is pretty much that of a standard restaurant of its kind in the US. The staff are very, very nice people, so that's a plus. The atmosphere is clean and "modern," and the late hours they're open for are extremely welcome when you're hungry at night but don't want In 'n Out and have nothing in the fridge.
The serve a lot of juice, and their Thai ice tea is also pretty nice. There's a little bowl of guava candies near the register for you to take. It's a very small touch, but I like it.
I'd say they're a little expensive and some things, like the tom kha kai, aren't as flavorful or large in portion as I'd like, but they're pretty consistent and definitely good for Davis. Their curries are nice, and the praram song always has deliciously fresh and perfect steamed spinach. The peanut sauce is pretty good too. Noodles and rice I've never had a problem with, and overall I'd say this place is pretty solid.
If you're going to spend your money for tasty Thai food, come here! —AlexTK
2012-06-28 12:04:33 Leaving a new review for them after being here many times. This is now my favorite restaurant in Davis, and the #10 with brown rice is my favorite dish. The Kang Kari is also amazingly delicious, but prepare to get fat if you eat it with any frequency. Most dishes are large enough to split between two people, making it around 4 dollars a person for dinner. Anyone who says they're expensive, name one place cheaper (what do you want, 3 dollar curries?)—I've never seen a restaurant with better value for the quality. The one gripe I have is that the service can be pretty slow for reasons apparent or not.
I hope the trend of fast-casual places spreads. Going out to an expensive dinner and then leaving a massive tip in this economy just isn't possible anymore for most people. —sundeimasu
2012-07-06 23:28:12 Delicious food, huge portions, fast service and open late! I love everything about this place. Then I got the ice cream sandwich - four scoops of creamy coconut ice cream, filled with red and green candied fruits, topped with chocolate hard hat and toffee peanut crumbles, served atop sweet sticky rice and - I kid you not - a hot dog bun. Apparently this is a traditional Thai sundae, but definitely not what I was expecting. Fellow patrons be warned (or enticed). —KatherineChiu
2012-08-22 23:09:50 Thai Canteen is my favorite restaurant in Davis!! The food is consistently delicious, fresh, and not too heavy, and I love that they are open late! Their Pad Kee Mao is SO GOOD. —ClaireS.
2012-09-25 14:28:05 Thai Canteen pleases me time and time again. The green papaya salad is delicious and I am happy with the low cost and great service. My only gripe is that there is an inconsistency with the "spicy"....some days they don't ask you what level you want and then other days they ask you...One day I was asked how spicy I wanted the salad which I had never been asked that before so I said, "how it is supposed to come" and when I got it, I had to send it back because it was SO hot. THe food quality here is GREAT! —RubieGrayson
2012-10-13 21:30:04 The Pad Si Ew is the best I think I've ever had. In general: food here is authentic, spicy, & delicious. —PhoebeAyers
2013-01-03 16:05:34 Don't get me wrong, I really love this place and I love the flavors of their food. But there are two things that really make it hard for me to want to return: consistency and customer service.
With regards to consistency, their flavors really seem to be based on who is cooking that day. There are some days when I order and the flavors are just incredible and well integrated with the food; on other days, it looks like they piled on the sauce on top of some overcooked meat and called it a day. And with regards to what some other customers have said, it's true about the spicyness: I LOVE spicy and I can handle a lot, but sometimes it seems like there's no clear (or consistent) definition of the difference between "Thai Spicy" and "Spicy Hot" is, and I feel like that needs to be addressed.
The second problem has been with their customer service. A friend and I went and ate here a couple of weeks ago and we both ordered some soup "for here" and our meals "to-go." But they brought everything "for here" which wasn't a big deal—mistakes happen. But the real problem came when my friend, who ordered the Tom Kha soup, received Tom Yum instead. She said both Tom Kha and "Number 21" and they still got it incorrect. When she said that it was incorrect the server hesitated, left, and came back with a receipt to show my friend that it was listed there. She had to insist that that's not what she ordered and he kept insisting on showing her the receipt like it was her fault it was there. What the heck? It was like he ruled out entirely that it was the cashier that incorrectly typed in the order. Finally after more insisting on either the correct soup or a refund he left and brought back the right soup, and not very apologetically, either. Really, servers need to be better trained than that. And I frequently feel that service is a little less than stellar here with a fairly unhelpful staff. It's not always the case, but with very slow service and inconsistent food, I admit that I usually go elsewhere. —lunelectronique
2013-01-28 00:52:01 This place is great! I really enjoy their pad kee mao. I got one of the salads once and it was a bit salty, though.
The coconut ice cream is very good. I got some for free on my birthday! Servers are always friendly, and the environment is good for studying in my opinion. —HannahToru
2013-02-11 15:15:20 This is the best Thai food restaurant in Davis and actually in the surrounding areas. A friend recommended it and told me it was her favorite. She didn't hesitate in telling me her fav's were #1 10 & 13. I trust this girl because her food tastes are spot on. Wow is all I can say. To be honest I had been passing this place for a while now, from its outside appearance. It looked almost like a fast food place. Boy was I mistaken. It is delicious. Everything I have tried has been amazing. And they present it so beautifully. It's very upscale. The daily specials are a great way to try what this place has to offer. I highly suggest trying it out. And there hot is nice and hot every time. I would eat here every day if I could. Enjoy. —krissyp
2014-01-22 22:38:56 I had this super delicious pumpkin curry here a while ago. I dream of it occasionally. —ChristenDee
2014-03-13 03:22:58 Pros: -Free wifi -Reasonable prices (an entree w/ rice can be $7.50 before tax) -Open late -Good for crowds (lots of options) -Pay at the register (so you don't have to waste 20 min at the end of the meal splitting a check with stingy people who don't want to tip properly)
Cons: -Long waits for food -$10 minimum on cards
I often get the #1, which is pork belly and chinese broccoli stir fried in a dark soy based sauce. It is really savory and satisfying, but on the salty side. So the white rice is definitely needed and not just filler. In fact, sometimes I portion it so I eat all the rice with half the entree, then I take the rest home. And it looks like a little bit, but it's flavorful enough I can eat it with rice I make at home as a snack or lunch another day.
I sometimes get the Pad See Ew, which is like Chow Fun at Chinese restaurants, but the sauce is a sweet dark soy sauce. And it comes with egg and chinese broccoli. It's on the saucy/sweet side, and doesn't have the killer char you get at really good Thai Restaurants, where they stir-fry at higher temps. I've liked it best with beef. Recently I got it with tofu, and it was crazy sweet. Maybe it was a fluke, but I feel that without the meat, they compensated by adding more sauce, and it was too much sweet 'n sour saucy for my taste.
Pad Thai: -Many of my friends adore the Pad Thai here. I've had it, and to me it is a noodle dish that is reminiscent of Pad Thai but is not really Pad Thai because of its sweet and sour sauce overtones. The orangey-red sauce coats the noodles into a goopy and viscous final product. Again, this doesn't make it a bad dish, and people who love it are totally valid in loving it. It is, for many, tasty and hearty (probably the most filling dish there and usually plenty for leftovers). I don't need foods to stick to tradition to be good. But this dish is not my scene because of the viscous sweet 'n sour element ( a personal preference of mine). If you're used to Pad Thai (as it more traditionally is), which is more like a dry stir fry, with the tart tang and sweet/salty combo coming from tamarind, palm sugar, and cooked out fish sauce, you need not come here.
I recommend Thai Nakorn (which is in my opinion, totally more flavorful, balanced, and tastey) but it is more like a traditional sit-down restaurant.
Thai Canteen is a cool spot to hang out, dine casually, get snacks, get drinks, get late night food. —TheeDu
2014-04-07 15:47:47 My family and I have been here about 4 times. Every time it has been good quality, great tasting food for a reasonable price. Employees were attentive to customers needs (checking in to see how long we are waiting, filling the water container, etc.) —carlislesingensmide
2014-05-26 22:58:12 My husband and I usually enjoy meals here. He'd been craving Thai canteen for a week so we were extra disappointed tonight when we had to send our dishes back to the kitchen. I was annoyed that they would only make our order Togo because it was half hour before closing, but it's a nice night so we "ate" outside. It wasn't especially busy and our order took much longer than usual. We had ordered the spring rolls and the #2 and #25, both duck dishes. The spring rolls were very good and sauce delicious. My husbands duck was nearly all fat and cartilage, my duck was ok but the egg flower broth smelled like my dogs dry food and I couldn't eat it. We went inside to get a refund and the girl at the counter was not at all worried about taking care of us quickly or making us happy. She said her owner was here but to "hang on" as she counted receipts. I told her we were in a hurry because now we had to find somewhere else to get dinner before everywhere else closed. She left me standing at the counter for several minutes while she talked to the owner, the kitchen staff, and the dishwashers on the other side if the kitchen window. The owner came out but went to speak to an employee. I assume it was a manager who finally came out and asked us bluntly if we've ever had duck before... We pretended not to be insulted, got a refund (we paid for the spring rolls only) and left. I may eventually go back for the pad thai or curry but it's pizza for dinner tonight. -2 unhappy formerly loyal customers. —ChristyMT
2014-06-15 01:13:30 It's like Thai food for people who grew up on Kraft mac and cheese and Oscar Meyer hot dogs. I was disappointed by the Panang (red) curry. If you are like me, and wonder how sugar is finding it's way into everything (Trader Joe's California rolls, I'm looking at you) the panang curry is way too sweet. Yes, I know it is supposed to be a bit sweet but this was almost like eating candy. Another strange attribute of the panang curry - it's thick like KFC gravy. We also had the yellow curry, which was a bit better but still lackluster. It seems like they have taken all the interesting aspects of Thai food-the layers of spice and flavors, and muted them to appeal to broader tastes. I will be back, but probably for noodles. —ScottB
2016-05-05 18:32:32 Best thai for the price in davis. There are a couple others that might be slightly better, but are more expensive. GET THE PORK BELLY. IT IS AMAZING!!!!! —JuliaErsan
2021-08-31 16:30:32 Prior to the pandemic, a relative bought me a stack of gift cards from Thai Canteen. I ate there a couple of times using the gift cards and the food was good. However, it wasn't until things were more open again that I got back there. I was very disappointed that they would no longer honor their gifts cards ( I still had two left for $35 ). They showed me that they had new gift cards and that mine were too old and expired. There was no expiration date on them, however, and they were initialed on the back. I would caution you to keep receipts if you are going to purchase gift cards from them. —littlemama
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