Plern Thai Cafe

Highly recommend this neighborhood gem for delicious, authentic Thai food with great customer service.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Crispy Chive Cake, Plern Signature, Pad See EW

My favorite place for Thai food. The taste is always on point. Smaller menu than other Thai restaurants but everything is good and fresh. Service is quick and friendly. The ambiance is cozy and tastefully decorated. Small cafe type restaurant, no frills, just good food. They were under rennovation for a while but recently opened up for dining again. I saw a lot of people order carry outs while I was there.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Very good modern Thai with fresh ingredients and beautiful presentation. Casual decor and friendly service. Great take out spot. Smaller accessible menu. Delicious!!!

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 5

The pad Thai is amazing

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Probably the worst Thai food I have ever eaten hands down

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

As of the posting of this, Plern is currently under roof/ceiling repair, but they're open for take out. Please come support local business while the repairs are still happening. The food is still piping hot and delicious even by the time we get it home. Super friendly staff and amazing Thai food!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: The Basil Wagyu

Good place, very friendly staff, good food, very interesting selection 👌

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

If you want the best crispy fried chicken ever... you NEED to come here.

Crispy Fried Chicken: GET THIS!!
The most deliciously crispy, juicy, and mouth watering chicken you will ever eat. Paired with the sauce, I don't think it can get any better. I don't even live near here and I come back just for this.

The other items were tasty and seasoned well but the fried chicken just stole the show for me.

The service was very friendly and accommodating. And for dinner time, we were almost the only ones in the restaurant. For how good the food was, this place needs to be put on the radar!

Food: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
Value: 7/10

Randomly stumbled upon this restaurant. It’s superb. Food is incredible. Come here if you’re ever in the mood for Thai. Mind absolutely blown

Excellent yellow curry, the best I’ve ever had. Nice, chill, and pleasant atmosphere. Best Thai food in Lake Forest.

A few friends and I came here, and we genuinely had an amazing time, thanks to the incredible service from Nancy and the delicious food. From the moment we sat down, she made sure we were taken care of, which made the experience even better.
We went all in and shared a variety of dishes, including the brussel sprouts, Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, Zapp Beef Soup, Braised Beef Panaeng Curry, Thai Coffee, and Thai Iced Tea and let me tell you, everything was on point. The Zapp Beef Soup and Panaeng Curry were the real standouts for me, packed with rich, bold flavors and the perfect amount of heat at medium spice. Definitely got that kick, but in the best way possible!
Also, if you’re debating on getting rice, do yourself a favor and try the Roti instead, it had that soft, naan-like texture with a great flavor that paired perfectly with the curry. And don’t even get me started on the Thai Tea and Thai Coffee—just the right balance of sweetness without being overpowering.
Overall, this place is a solid win, and I’m glad we found another go-to Thai spot! If you’re in the area and craving some seriously good Thai food, I’d 100% recommend checking it out!

I have eaten here and ordered to go many times and the food is always amazing. The Thai tea is always good and I never wait to long to get my food. One of my top Thai places to eat at!

Had a great experience at Plern Thai. We had a party of 6 and they reserved a table for us when I called without me asking them to. Panang curry with beef was excellent - I loved that we could order it with roti instead of rice. Service was great. Ambiance is very casual. One negative is that there are very few vegetarian options and they can’t do any of the curries vegetarian. I would come back!

The food was flavorful but lacked substance. Very skimpy portion. Very little meat. Not what I expected for a $15 Pad Thai dish. Will not revisit.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

Called to place a simple pick up order and was left on hold for a ridiculous and unreasonable amount of time. The person just placed the phone down and you can hear the entire restaurant. I hung up and tried calling back and kept getting “User Busy” error. Others probably couldn’t call in either. Seriously. It’s basic customer service.