Laotian Restaurants near Berkeley, CA

“Excellent!!! I recently had lunch there, and we couldn't stop praising the service and food.“

“Of Berkeley's many fine Thai restaurants, Chai Thai Noodles stands out. First of all, it adds Lao dishes to its huge menu. Second, it offers brown rice as one of three rice choices.

The papaya salad is heavenly. Also extraordinary were the red curry and the eggplant stir fry. With everything, there's a choice of spiciness. At the upper are spicy and Thai spicy.

We first found out about this restaurant after an incredible lunch at Chai Thai Noodles' hot food concession inside Berkeley Bowl West. The fried tofu in red curry sauce, with a side of brown rice, was one of the best meals I'd ever had ad Berkely Bowl.“

“My BF lived in Oakland for a couple of decades and never been here; so we thought we’d give it a try. Seems quite authentic, though we couldn’t quite stomach the fermented pork sausage. The fried version was good of course. Jeo Pa Dach was excellent, as was the quail. We’ll come back to try other dishes! It’s a small, simple, no frills restaurant.“

“A Hidden Gem!

I was initially hesitant to come here because, at the time of writing, this place had fewer than 100 reviews. But I’m so glad I gave it a chance!

This place is genuinely good and definitely worth revisiting. My only criticism is that the chicken in the tom yum soup was a little dry, which honestly isn’t shocking. A lot of places dry out their chicken, and getting it right is hard!

But the Thai papaya salad and beef Laab Seen were excellent. Bright, spicy, flavorful, and absolutely worth ordering. This place deserves more attention!“

“I order the pumpkin curry. It was delicious. I also ordered the Tom Ka chicken soup. It was too tart, the chicken over cooked. A disappointment for a soup I usually love“

“I eat Thai food once a week and this ranks among the best in the area...smaller, unassuming place but a very pleasant waitstaff and crazy good food...they also understood “mild” and adjusted all the dishes perfectly...we tried 5 items and all were good!“

“We stopped here on a whim as we were looking for something new after a workout class.

Walking in there were plenty of tables open. This place has an enormous bar area as well. It must have been a sports bar in its former life.

We ordered the Roti to start and my wife ordered the spring rolls with shrimp. I went with the roast duck over rice. The Roti was fine… it seemed like they put their roti in a panini press and just served it like that, so not a lot of flavor. The Thai restaurant down the street (infinity) has a much better roti. The curry dipping sauce was really good though. My wife said the spring rolls were “fine”. I really enjoyed my duck over rice dish though. The duck was moist and full of flavor and the hot soy sauce had a nice kick to it.

Service seemed a bit off, slow to get water for us and hot sauce, but everyone was nice.

I’d come back for the duck rice, but I don’t know if this place would get elevated to a “must return”.“

“Everything we’ve had here is so delicious!!! Our faves are the Tom Kha soup, BMV platter, Pad Kee Mao, Chicken Satay, and Mango sticky rice dessert…all so very yummy!!!“

“Great food, Indoor dining and excellent service!“

“Visiting San Francisco with my cousin, who lives locally, along with my sister from Los Angeles, we came to celebrate my birthday and to hopefully have a memorable dinner experience. We were overwhelmed with delicious and creative food presentations. Just so interesting sounding, we ordered their Watermelon salad appetizer. The combination of refreshing watermelon and the savory sauce/dressing made this unique (to us) dish the most perfect start to our dining experience. Loved it! Our other dinner choices were just as delicious-highly recommend the spicy (mild level) garlic with fried tofu, noodle dish with chicken and a beef dish. The dessert we chose was coconut ice cream with sweetened rice, crunchy toppings and anchovies (they looked like hard sticks which I chose not to eat) served in a “brioche” bun. Super sweet and delicious. I didn’t think the bun was anything more than a heartier hot dog bun. Our service was really good and considering the restaurant was packed and there was simultaneously a party of maybe at least 20 diners, the kitchen and staff took excellent care of our needs. Loved my birthday celebration-ringing one of their huge bells, they announced to the entire restaurant my birthday with song and special complementary Thai tea ice cream complete with candle. A lucky and delicious find for us after visiting SFMOMA.“

“Great food and service. My earring came off during dinner and I didn’t discover that it was missing until I got home. I called the next day and they went out of their way to find my favorite Christmas earring.“

“I’ve loved this placed for so long. Finally came back and promptly left my credit card. When I came back in to get it they were so kind in helping to find it, and then when I ordered to go food with my toddler who was being a handful the server brought it out to my car. Totally didn’t have to do that and it was sooo so kind. Great food. Good people. Couldn’t ask for much more.“

“Good! I love Laotian food and this is definitely well priced. I don’t have pictures but really loved their mango sticky rice too. We asked for one dish to be spicy and I wish we asked for all of them to be, but the none spicy eaters in the group couldn’t handle our one spicy dish.“

“Great food and service. My earring came off during dinner and I didn’t discover that it was missing until I got home. I called the next day and they went out of their way to find my favorite Christmas earring.“

“If i could afford it, I would eat here everyday. I always come here for a tasty, filling homemade meal. I have gone to many Laotian restaurants after coming here and NONE compare to how good the food is here. The owner is gem, so sweet and so giving.“

“Lao/Thai Cuisine family favorite! Small business owners who serve their heart and soul into their customers!

We came for New Years Eve as our plan to BBQ got ruined due to the rain that day.

We started with some hot tea, sodas and even Thai tea.

We ordered a little bit of everything and shared in between all 10 of us.

• Egg Rolls were extra crispy (exactly how we love them) and filling was yummy.
• Chicken & Beef Pad Thai which were perfectly sautéed and with a squeeze of lime on top was perfect!
• Lamb Curry was a hit on our table. Just like it came in; it was gone easily! The curry sauce with white rice is a must try!
• Salmon Curry was another hit. Grandma loved it! And if she’s happy we were happy!
• Crab Fried Rice was really good and it was big chunks of crab. Flavors brought me back to the street food of Chiang Mai. A lot of places lack on that detail.
• Pho Lao Style was delicious and with that extra lime squeeze was even better. Lots of noodles and beef to go through. Very filling. Had to order it since it was so cold outside.
• Spicy Eggplant was a little too spicy for me but family enjoyed it!
• We also had 3 other veggie dishes I can’t remember the names which were devoured very quickly!

For dessert:

• Mango Sticky Rice was okay but nothing special. Mango was perfectly ripe in a way it wasn’t too ripe if you know what I mean.
• Fried Banana with Strawberry Ice Cream. Delicious! Dessert is huge!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!“

“Excellent Thai cuisine. They have quick service and the curry dishes are full of flavor. It's a small restaurant so you can order to go if it's too crowded to find a seat. If you're game for dessert, try their mango sticky rice dessert.“

“Very authentic Thai food. Casual environment. Love their dessert and the shrimp paste fried rice.“