 This entry refers to a departed business that has closed or left town. All information here is for historical reference only. |
| Location |
| 4823 Chiles Road (same location as Cindy's) |
| Between Motel 6 and Taco Bell |
| Take the Mace Boulevard exit off I-80, left on Chiles |
| Hours |
| Lunch |
| 11:30am-4:00pm |
| Dinner |
| Sun-Thu 4:00pm-9:00pm |
| Fri-Sat 4:00pm-9:30pm |
| Phone |
| (530) 756-9894 |
| Menu |
| Menu for Thai Dynamite.pdf |
Thai Dynamite was the name of the Thai restaurant that shares a location with Cindy's in South Davis. It started out only serving Thai food at night, but then began offering a lunch menu as well, supplanting Cindy's lunch as an experiment. For breakfast you can order from the Cindy's menu. Cindy's was doing good business for breakfast and had a good crop of regulars, but their dinnertime was suffering, so this solution was tried and has proved successful.
A new restaurant called Kow Thai Restaurant has now taken its place.
J.J. says "thainomite!!"
The Food
2009-02-23 10:04:07 We went to Cindy's last night, and they are now a Thai restaurant in the evenings. Breakfast and lunch are still traditional "Cindy's fare." Incidentially, it was really really good food. We ordered Pad Thai and Jungle Curry. They were both outstanding. In fact, it was the best Pad Thai I have had in a long time. The restaurant was a bit chilly (probably a money saver), but bring a jacket and you'll be fine. New best Thai food in Davis, in my opinion. —jillerbean
2009-03-14 22:27:00 It's disconcerting to eat Thai food in an American diner, but Californians should know by now not to judge a restaurant by its appearance. This was really quite a treat. They seem to put a particular emphasis on having a variety of fresh vegetables in their food, a big plus in my book. The fresh rolls had sprouts, carrots, cucumber, and avocado inside (shrimp optional) — an unusual combination, but very good — and the peanut sauce had a nice bite to it. Service was a bit slow at points, but they were extremely friendly and so it was hard to be mad. I hope this place does well. We'll definitely be back to try more dishes. —CovertProfessor
2009-04-04 18:18:12 My wife and I have now eaten at here twice and have had delicious dishes both times (Fresh rolls, jungle curry, pad thai, duck curry, and pad see ew). Hands down the best Thai food in Davis. Everyone is also extremely friendly. —WalleyWorld
2009-04-04 20:27:36 Sorry for the poor quality of the cell phone (g1) picture, the lighting wasn't the greatest. However the food was great, the pictured item was some under $12 lamb special that was quite tasty. We enjoyed the Drunken Noodles (spicy wide noodles), chicken satay, and potstickers. We were looking for someplace quiet to enjoy dinner at 7:30pm on a Friday night and this place was perfect. I have to say the quality of the food was a very pleasant surprise. It's definitely my favorite Thai in Davis at the moment. The cook came out to chat and asked about the lamb, I was caught by surprise and didn't get a chance to express how good it was. Recommended. Sub $2 drinks is a nice surprise compared to the Davis normal, the ice tea actually tasted brewed. 2 appetizers, 2 meals (including the lamb special), 2 drinks, and dessert came to $42.00 or so. Certainly one could eat there substantially cheaper if you wanted. —BillBroadley
2009-04-04 21:17:51 gonna have to try a pad thai here —StevenDaubert It was fricken great, I will return for sure. The portion looked a little small, but once you dug in it was more than ample. Some pockets of spice but I didn't let the bursts of extra heat get to me, the calamari was good appetizer, my partner wound up getting drunken noodle and said it was fantastic!
2009-04-07 10:58:36 Tried this place for the first time last night. CP is right, don't judge the place without trying it first. Yes, it's Cindy's by day. I'm not going to lie. When I sat down, I half expected a short stack of pancakes to show up. But no, it's quality, tasty Thai food. Service was good, although they were a little slow with the drink refills, at times. No biggie, though. It's just that when I'm eating super spicy foods, I enjoy to have a beverage in hand.
I had the drunken noodle and it really was fantastic. "My Partner" ordered the pad thai and he enjoyed it. He was also concerned about portion sizes, but once you start eating, you realize just how filling it is. Great value. And we have huge appetites.
Highly recommend giving this place a try! I'll definitely be back. —CurlyGirl26
2009-04-12 20:40:55 pad thai = yum —jsogul
2009-04-14 01:25:01 Cute little place at night. Awesome food. I ordered my two all-time favorite dishes served at Thai restaurants. The Pad Thai and the Pad Krapow. Both were excellent. Some good authentic tasting Thai Cuisine. Have yet to try the curries. Nice service that greets you and thanks you for your visit before you leave. I will definitely come back to Thai Dynamite. Wish is was closer to the heart of Davis though. —ThUn
2009-06-01 01:56:32 I tried their Pad Thai and yes, I would agree that it was definitely refreshing. However, the jungle curry was not. It was hot, yes but not good as it was hyped. I talked to the owners and they recommended their regular coconut curry like panang or red curry. So I am going to try that the next time...with the Pad Thai of course. I just wish they would give a bit more. Their portions are definitely a bit smaller than Thai Bistro and Thai Nakorn.
p.s: I would do this if I had the expertise but will someone link this page to the main page on 'Restaurants' under the Thai category? I always have to go through Cindy's page to get to Thai Dynamite. Feel free to erase this comment when it is done. —KimN.
2009-06-29 21:41:56 This is the new thai restaurant in Davis; I recommend all going to try if you wanna taste delicious and authentic thai food. I and my friends had jungle curry and eggplant something; they was so good. I think I like it the most in Davis. —Tep
2009-07-10 12:37:03 Have now been here 2 times and the food was consistently excellent on both occasions. I highly recommend the Empress Rolls, Masman curry and Siam Seafood. Eat there and enjoy the friendly wait staff or order ahead and have your food ready in 15 minutes! Believe the hype! Avoid 50 minute waits at Sophias and the sausage-fest at Thai3K. This is truly a hidden jem in Davis. —PolitankZ
2009-07-24 11:36:32 We went here last night; I really liked how friendly the owners/staff were. We ordered takeout, and they brought us our drinks while we waited, and then refilled them before we left. I ordered the crispy boneless trout special, and from some of the comments here I expected a smaller portion size. The trout was large, boneless, and butterflied, and had lots of meat on it (will upload picture later today). In the picture, there is a bite taken out of it (by me ;) The vegetable accompaniment was tasty. I loved their sticky rice, which I got as a side order. I told them I liked hot food, and even there was no sauce served with this order, the dipping sauce that came with it was pleasantly hot-sour without being a bit sweet. It had the consistency of tomatillo salsa - I thought there might be small egglplants cut up in it? I tasted lime, fish sauce, garlic and chilies in it, with the tiny cut-up vegetable, and no sugar at all. I like a nice sour sauce because it makes fish taste sweeter. But the fish was so good, I found myself eating big hunks of it without the sauce. Next time, I'm looking forward to trying the green or red curry, with, of course, that yummy sticky rice. Note: My favorite local Thai (it's actually Thai/Lao) place is Vientiane (Yelp), in West Sacramento. It's my gold standard ;-) —ZannGates
2009-07-27 08:41:10 We went because we had to make our tasting of all the Thai places in Davis complete. I'll admit we were a bit skeptical of the quality of the food and atmosphere, which is perfect for Cindy's diner but questionable for evening food. We had the peanut curry and drunken noodles, and was quite pleasantly surprised. I'd say the quality is on par with the best in Davis, and we will definitely be going back! Also, they played actual Thai music (and not American music), which earned them definite bonus points. —lingawonga
2009-08-27 12:56:56 My friends and I visited the Thai Dynamite about a couple of weeks ago and had the soup (Tom Yum), roasted duck, and spicey cat fish. I particularly liked the soup. It was very good and authentic. The cat fish dish was also good. My friends loved the roasted duck. Everyone was friendly. The restaurant is kind of isolated, but I hope they'll do well. Recommended! —superdavis
2009-11-15 22:52:58 In terms of food, this is easily the best Thai place I've tried in Davis (out of Sophia's, Thai Nakorn, KetMoRee/Thai 2K, Thai Recipes). I've been here 3 or 4 times, and every dish I've gotten has been very flavorful and reasonably priced. The workers are also extremely friendly. I will be recommending this place to all my friends! —ashb
2009-11-19 19:36:12 Went there for the second time today and wow, it was delicious. My friend and I are in a very happy food coma right now. Started off with some delicious chicken satay and followed with pad see ew and the pineapple curry. YUM. And the service was amazing. Definitely my favorite Thai place in Davis. —plaidisrad
2009-12-10 23:19:10 Thai Dynamite really is easily the best Thai restaurant in Davis. I wasn't feeling like going out to eat tonight, but I sure am happy I changed my mind and went with friends. We ordered green curry, pad see ew, jungle curry, and spicy catfish. Everything was very tasty and flavorful. I usually like red curry much more than green curry, but man their green curry is superb and definitely not lacking coconut milk. There were lukewarm pieces of veggies in my catfish dish, but the server was quick to reheat it for me. Service is good, and the paper-folded rose on the straw is a nice touch. For dessert, we had fried banana with coconut ice cream (more like pina colada ice cream, there's pineapple in it). They used ripe banana and it was cooked through...crispy coating with melt-in-your-mouth banana, what more can one ask for? I've not had fried banana that's done right for a long time, thank you Thai Dynamite! Coconut ice cream was rich and refreshing at the same time, so it was a nice addition to the dessert. This restaurant would be so crowded if it's not for their location. —winddolphin
2009-12-14-09 Thai Dynamite is wonderful!! Go as fast as you can! It's sooo yummy! Laura Spelman
2010-01-02 19:33:29 The food was excellent. My wife and I ordered #24, Pad Sen Mee (Thai Chow Mein), and #28, Pad Kraprow (basil). I appreciated that the restaurant was willing to substitute green beans with broccoli in #28, and this dish was particularly excellent. We also had pot stickers, which is served with an unusual and very tasty sauce. For desert, we shared a serving of fried banana with coconut ice cream - also excellent. I would certainly eat here again. —Buckeye44
2010-02-12 17:45:01 I agree with everyone about, well, everything. Yes going to a diner for Thai food is weird (still kind of had the diner smell too) but the food was the best in Davis. The pad see ew is amazing here, I always get it with chicken and tofu. If the diner thing bothers you then just get take out, because this food shouldn't be missed. The people who work here are really friendly and make the experience enjoyable even if you feel like you should be ordering pancakes (do you think they get sick of hearing that joke every time someone walks in? haha...) —SRB
2010-04-06 12:35:15 Went for the first time a few weeks ago and got the drunken noodles with beef dish — delicious! The spice was just about right. I can't complain about the price, the $7-8 is well worth it. My only grievance is that it's so far from central Davis and the parking could be better. But overall, a great eat. —eduardo.delatorre08
2010-05-05 09:28:28 After reading reviews I finally went to Thai Dynamite last night with a friend. We had the Pad Pri King (spicy green bean) stir fry and the Pad Sen Mee (Thai Chow Mein). Both excellent and full of flavor. The atmosphere is less than and the seating isn't great . The diner booths are not very comfortable for short folks. I am 5'4" and the table was practically at my shoulders. My 6'2" friend said she almost felt short at the table. The service was very good - attentive and timely. I will be back with other Thai food lovers. It will take a few more visits to try their other offerings before I can say they are the best in Davis. —LokiAbbi
2010-06-04 09:04:30 We got takeout last night and were told that it has changed hands as of June 1, including a new cook and restaurant name. Can anyone confirm this? —ScottWeintraub
2010-06-05 07:53:24 Sadly it seems Thai Dynamite is gone. The restaurant is now called Kow Thai. The hostess is the same, but the cooks are different. The food was not as good, but it might take one more visit to confirm before we take it off the rotation. —3prong
2010-06-05 17:08:18 I am really bummed to hear that Thai Dynamite is no more. I just started going here, and I really thought they had the best food with the best prices in town. I never ate in, but their takeout portions were huge! It was definitely the best Thai in Davis. —AmLin
2010-06-07 17:56:00 Was about to leave a review about how Thai Dynamite is my favorite Thai restaurant in Davis. Sophia's is passable, KetMoRee overpriced for pretty average food, but Thai Dynamite just seemed to have everything perfect. Even other dished that friends would order that I would otherwise have no interest in eating were good.
I haven't been there in a few weeks, and was really craving the drunken noodles. I hope the new chef is up to satisfy my now heightened expectations. —EugeneB
2010-06-18 23:18:35 Wow, just heard they are no more. Seemed like the thai dynamite quality was dropping and I think they switched to corn oil/corn flour ingredients which seemed to have a negative effect on the taste. —BillBroadley
2010-06-25 12:28:43 I remember having some sweet potato fries, curry, and fried rice here, and it was some of the best Thai food I've ever had. I'm really upset they're gone. =( Well, at least Thai Recipes is still amazing. —TheShah
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