Drunken Poet Cafe Thai Bistro & Sushi Bar

Food was amazing. Service was a bit slow but I was in no hurry so it didn’t affect too much.
Penang Curry was perfect flavor and portion size and the summer rolls were awesome! Will definitely be back.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Great location, good service, really nice mix of Asian fusion cuisine. The sushi is good and so is the Thai. Great place to grab a table outside on Main Street if you come by when one is available.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Pho Cali next door was closed, so we said what the hell, let's try this thai place.

Ordered pad Thai, spicy fried rice. They were on point, just enough kick, not overly spicy.

Entree price was around $22-23 foe what we ordered, which is on the high side, but understandable due to downtown location. And it tasted great, so no problem there.

Took 1 star off bc the fried calamari we ordered was $10 and we weren't too thrilled with it. It was such a small portion, and breading was not that impressive, giving it bland taste. I could probably make it better at home. Skip the calamari, go with something like crispy roll.

Also, ordered 2 bowls of steamed rice for the kiddo. $4.50 each for plain old rice. I think that's a bit pricey. $2-3 would reasonable for plain rice imo.

All in all, happy with the experience, just don't get the calamari. I'm willing to try other entrees next time.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

Poor serving, served dumplings cold. Thai food doesnt taste good.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 2

Sushi is better than the Thai, although prices are high. A tasteless tom yum soup was replaced (without an attitude) by a good tom kha gai which was creamy, spicy and satisfying. Decor is looking dated

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 5

Food was great and so was our waiter, Jet!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Been here quiet a few times before in the past. They have a great atmosphere, food and service here. Edamame is really delicious.

CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED. 5 STARS ALL AROUND.

Ambience is impeccable. Perfect for chill and casual. Cool design inside. Nice moody lighting. High ceilings.

Food is insane. Sushi A+ . Stir fries all A+++
So fresh. Chicken is done impeccably in the stir fries

Spicy Basil stir fry is goated

Staff so nice and cute. REQUEST NAZ. SHES THE BEST.
She deserves the whole world.

Favorite place in downtown

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We had a few different specialty sushi rolls and honestly everything was just below average. The fish topping the Volcano roll was overcooked, and I actually believe that one of the raw sushi rolls went bad. Below average was basically our experience as far as the food went. The service was good and the atmosphere was fine but none of that matters if the food really isn’t worth going back for.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 5

TLDR: Overpriced for what we got. Cooked fish was severely overcooked, dry, tough, and in some places burnt. The raw urchin (uni) was spoiled.

I have been eating sushi for a long time, cooked and raw, and have gotten it at many different restaurants but I have never had an experience as bad as this.
I’ll start with the big one, the raw urchin. My boyfriend had never had it before and the waitress talked it up saying how difficult it was to get a hold of and that almost no one has it. So he decided to try it. He ate one piece and made a face, when we asked him what was wrong he said “I guess I don’t like urchin”. I decided to try a tiny piece and I’m glad I only took a tiny piece. I haven’t had urchin before, but I do love bivalves like clams and mussels and the taste was an immediate dead ringer for spoiled shellfish. We tried to ask the staff what urchin is supposed to taste like and all they could say was “the flavor is like nothing else, it melts in your mouth”; not exactly helpful. I looked it up because I figured that there was no way that that could be the normal taste of urchin. Everything I found said “sweet, buttery, briny, savory, kind of like a richer oyster”. What we had was definitely spoiled. I am familiar with the pain of going to dig into a cooked mussel only to discover that it had gone bad, and that was what this urchin tasted like.
On the less scary side of things, the rest of our food wasn’t good either. Three of us got rolls that had at least 1 cooked fish element and in every case it was overcooked, dry, and tough. My boyfriend had a roll with snow crab on top, the crab was extremely thin (thinner than I have ever seen before served) and it was like eating cardboard. My mother had a volcano roll, something she has gotten at just about every sushi place we have ever been too, and it was the same issue with the fish that was on top of her roll; dry, tough, flavorless. My deep fried roll, which was $23, was supposed to have bbq eel on top which is one of my favorite cooked sushi elements; the eel was shredded, dry, and in some places actually burnt. Additionally, my deep fried roll tasted really weird. I have had deep fried rolls at a lot of different restaurants, even cheap chain restaurants, and I have never had one taste like fried chicken. When you’re expecting to sink your teeth into tuna, salmon, and eel the last thing you are expecting is fried chicken. The inside of my roll was also 50% cream cheese, definitely not worth the $23.
My mother’s friend ordered tuna tataki, which is a favorite we both share. The tataki I’ve had has always been seared on the outside but this one had no color on it. The outside was definitely cooked, but there was no sear mark, it looked like it had been steamed. She said that the flavor was ok over all but it was sliced very thick and with the grain instead of against so it wasn’t tender.

Considering that this restaurant came highly recommended, I am choosing to believe that the night we went was a horrible night and something happened in the kitchen that made them have to leave the cooked fish elements for too long.
But I will not be going back to find out.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 3

Worse food I have had. First off gave me sink water for water, Their Pepsi I’m not even sure was Pepsi. And the food… Don’t go waste your $20 for RICE here. Better off going to McDonalds. Worse $85 I’ve spent

YUMMMM! Friendly service, amazing fresh food. So glad I found this place!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Loved the food and service.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The server TC was amazing and very helpful as this was my first time at a Thai restaurant. She was very friendly and knowledgeable. My dining experience was wonderful mainly because of her attention to customers and dedication to quality service. If you are in the area go to Drunken Poet, you won't be disappointed.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

I came to this restaurant around noon today to pick up my order. The place was completely empty — no customers at all — and only one staff member was at the counter, talking on the phone. That phone call went on for more than ten minutes while I just stood there waiting.

At the same time, there were three employees sitting at a table eating, with a lot of food piled up in front of them. They were just eating and watching me, but none of them offered to help. The kitchen also seemed to have no one working.

After waiting more than ten minutes, the employee finally got off the phone, and I was able to tell him I was there for a pickup. But even after that, I still waited another ten-plus minutes. The kitchen stayed completely quiet. My order took about half an hour in total, and there were no other customers the whole time.

I honestly have no idea how this restaurant is operating like this.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1