It was not bad, but food was not great, just so so. It took pretty long time to get my food. But staff was kind and food amount was pretty big.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Ravyn
The best Thai food in Tacoma! Large portions, reasonable prices, delicious food & lovely staff. Loak Toung Thai never misses. Our favorites are the Pad Kee Mao, Basil Chicken & the 3-Flavor Fish.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Esther Om
The owner Jeremy and his wife Mem are the kindest people we know! My husband and I got to know them briefly last year and we loved their food so much we asked them to cater our wedding rehearsal. The restaurant decore is beautiful. Took great pictures. Everything went splendidly and everyone enjoyed the food. They made so much we had left overs for everyone.
They can make your food mild and also extremely spicy. I havent been to many places rnst can actually make food as spicy as them. And their peppers in vinegar are really good too!
I definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rev Cush
Fantastic food. Large servings. Great staff. Very laidback atmosphere. Wish I would had found this gem much earlier. Thank you! I definitely will and have recommended Loak Toung Thai.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Slo Madish
This is a fun, cozy Thai restaurant with a friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff. I love the fact that they used very little sugar in their cooking which is the sign of a great chef. I would give them six stars if I could.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mariah Hensley
Amazing food. I ordered the chicken larb and had to check the menu when my food came out because I thought I accidentally ordered a family size portion. You definitely get your money's worth. The server was very nice as well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
timothy fong
Very friendly owner, tasty and affordable Thai cuisine in a cozy ambience. Would recommend if you’re in Tacoma.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Xiaotang Jiang
As a Thai food lover, I would say this hiden gem is “The best of the Thai in Tacoma area” which runs by the mixed couple. Tom Kha and fish cakes are my favorite dishes.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Naomi Trapuzzano
There’s a red building on South Center Street that doesn’t ask for your attention. It squats low like it’s hiding from the city around it. A city that doesn’t quite know what to do with itself half the time, swaying between rust and redevelopment. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d pass it. Hell, even if you were looking for it you might second guess yourself and keep driving. Don’t.
Inside, the air is thick with that familiar back-of-the-throat burn: chilis crushed by hand, garlic smashed under knives, fermented things bubbling quietly in the back like they’re plotting something. There’s a shrine tucked in the corner. A fan turning slowly. A hum of something ancient, not in a cliché way, but in that “we’ve been doing this long before Yelp existed” way.
Loak Toung Thai can be translated as “people of the rice fields.” But this isn’t the sanitized tourism board version of Thailand you get on postcards and $11 lunch specials. This is the Isaan region: the dry, dusty northeast and its Lao cousins just across the border. Places where flavor doesn’t come with a warning label. Where food is not a performance, it’s survival, pleasure, rebellion, grief, joy. Sometimes all at once.
Maam, the owner and chef, brings that all with her — not just as cuisine, but as memory. The plates here don’t separate “Thai” from “Lao” in polite Western fashion. They live together the way border cultures always do. Messy, loud, intermingled, arguing with each other through sourness and smoke. You taste it. Fish sauce that has seen things. Herbs with dirt still in their dreams. Chilis that snap at your face and then disappear like ghosts.
There’s no watered down sweetness here. No easy “mild-medium-hot” gradient to placate fragile palates. What you get is fermentation, funk, acid, salt. The real quadrants of flavor in the Southeast Asian flavor wheel, laced together with sticky rice and grilled meat and the kind of sauce that tastes like the sweat of gods. The bitterness of fresh herbs isn’t rounded out; it’s sharpened. The heat isn’t ornamental, it insists.
This place is a knife slipped between the ribs of Tacoma’s food scene, not loud, not flashy, but deeply, irrevocably real. You’ll find dishes here you don’t recognize. Good. Don’t google them. Order blind. Let it come. Let your nose run. Let your tongue sweat. Let your ego crack open a little.
Loak Toung Thai isn’t trend chasing, it isn’t safe. It’s a love letter written in chili oil and fermented crab, from the rice paddies of Isaan and Laos to the cracked pavement of South Center Street. And if you let it, it’ll haunt you in the best way.
Go hungry Go humble Go ready
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nate Detroit
Everything was tasty and the portions generous. Next time, I will bring a few friends and share a variety of dishes. Staff was friendly and efficient. Thank you!
We highly recommend Loak Toung Thai in Tacoma! After flying from Austin to Seattle, we stopped here for lunch on our way to Port Angeles and it was a fantastic choice. The restaurant has a cozy, Bali-themed ambiance, and the owner was incredibly warm and welcoming.
We tried the ginger drink, Pad Kee Mao noodles, Tom Kha soup, and the garlic chicken lunch special. Every dish was packed with flavor and tasted authentically Thai. The portions were very generous. we ended up taking one dish to go!
To top it off, they even offered my son a complimentary Thai tea/mocha tea, which was delicious. The prices are reasonable, and the portion sizes are more than satisfying. A great spot for a memorable meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Matthew C
So so good. The red curry was one of the best meals of my life. Serving size is very large.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Steve G
The food is terrific, came in large portions and was authentic. We had a large group and they couldn’t have been kinder or nicer. I really can’t recommend this place enough.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Steven Demmer
Probably the best Thai food I’ve ever had!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Erin Strubbe
Absolutely love this place!! Food is delicious, they have huge portions, and the owners are so friendly. One of the best Thai restaurants I've ever been to, and I eat a LOT of Thai food :)
It was not bad, but food was not great, just so so. It took pretty long time to get my food. But staff was kind and food amount was pretty big.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
The best Thai food in Tacoma! Large portions, reasonable prices, delicious food & lovely staff. Loak Toung Thai never misses. Our favorites are the Pad Kee Mao, Basil Chicken & the 3-Flavor Fish.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The owner Jeremy and his wife Mem are the kindest people we know! My husband and I got to know them briefly last year and we loved their food so much we asked them to cater our wedding rehearsal. The restaurant decore is beautiful. Took great pictures. Everything went splendidly and everyone enjoyed the food. They made so much we had left overs for everyone.
They can make your food mild and also extremely spicy. I havent been to many places rnst can actually make food as spicy as them. And their peppers in vinegar are really good too!
I definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic food. Large servings. Great staff. Very laidback atmosphere. Wish I would had found this gem much earlier.
Thank you!
I definitely will and have recommended Loak Toung Thai.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is a fun, cozy Thai restaurant with a friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff. I love the fact that they used very little sugar in their cooking which is the sign of a great chef. I would give them six stars if I could.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amazing food. I ordered the chicken larb and had to check the menu when my food came out because I thought I accidentally ordered a family size portion. You definitely get your money's worth. The server was very nice as well.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Very friendly owner, tasty and affordable Thai cuisine in a cozy ambience. Would recommend if you’re in Tacoma.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
As a Thai food lover, I would say this hiden gem is “The best of the Thai in Tacoma area” which runs by the mixed couple.
Tom Kha and fish cakes are my favorite dishes.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
There’s a red building on South Center Street that doesn’t ask for your attention. It squats low like it’s hiding from the city around it. A city that doesn’t quite know what to do with itself half the time, swaying between rust and redevelopment. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d pass it. Hell, even if you were looking for it you might second guess yourself and keep driving. Don’t.
Inside, the air is thick with that familiar back-of-the-throat burn: chilis crushed by hand, garlic smashed under knives, fermented things bubbling quietly in the back like they’re plotting something. There’s a shrine tucked in the corner. A fan turning slowly. A hum of something ancient, not in a cliché way, but in that “we’ve been doing this long before Yelp existed” way.
Loak Toung Thai can be translated as “people of the rice fields.” But this isn’t the sanitized tourism board version of Thailand you get on postcards and $11 lunch specials. This is the Isaan region: the dry, dusty northeast and its Lao cousins just across the border. Places where flavor doesn’t come with a warning label. Where food is not a performance, it’s survival, pleasure, rebellion, grief, joy. Sometimes all at once.
Maam, the owner and chef, brings that all with her — not just as cuisine, but as memory. The plates here don’t separate “Thai” from “Lao” in polite Western fashion. They live together the way border cultures always do. Messy, loud, intermingled, arguing with each other through sourness and smoke. You taste it. Fish sauce that has seen things. Herbs with dirt still in their dreams. Chilis that snap at your face and then disappear like ghosts.
There’s no watered down sweetness here. No easy “mild-medium-hot” gradient to placate fragile palates. What you get is fermentation, funk, acid, salt. The real quadrants of flavor in the Southeast Asian flavor wheel, laced together with sticky rice and grilled meat and the kind of sauce that tastes like the sweat of gods. The bitterness of fresh herbs isn’t rounded out; it’s sharpened. The heat isn’t ornamental, it insists.
This place is a knife slipped between the ribs of Tacoma’s food scene, not loud, not flashy, but deeply, irrevocably real. You’ll find dishes here you don’t recognize. Good. Don’t google them. Order blind. Let it come. Let your nose run. Let your tongue sweat. Let your ego crack open a little.
Loak Toung Thai isn’t trend chasing, it isn’t safe. It’s a love letter written in chili oil and fermented crab, from the rice paddies of Isaan and Laos to the cracked pavement of South Center Street. And if you let it, it’ll haunt you in the best way.
Go hungry
Go humble
Go ready
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Everything was tasty and the portions generous. Next time, I will bring a few friends and share a variety of dishes. Staff was friendly and efficient. Thank you!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
We highly recommend Loak Toung Thai in Tacoma! After flying from Austin to Seattle, we stopped here for lunch on our way to Port Angeles and it was a fantastic choice. The restaurant has a cozy, Bali-themed ambiance, and the owner was incredibly warm and welcoming.
We tried the ginger drink, Pad Kee Mao noodles, Tom Kha soup, and the garlic chicken lunch special. Every dish was packed with flavor and tasted authentically Thai. The portions were very generous. we ended up taking one dish to go!
To top it off, they even offered my son a complimentary Thai tea/mocha tea, which was delicious. The prices are reasonable, and the portion sizes are more than satisfying. A great spot for a memorable meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
So so good. The red curry was one of the best meals of my life. Serving size is very large.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food is terrific, came in large portions and was authentic. We had a large group and they couldn’t have been kinder or nicer. I really can’t recommend this place enough.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Probably the best Thai food I’ve ever had!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Absolutely love this place!! Food is delicious, they have huge portions, and the owners are so friendly. One of the best Thai restaurants I've ever been to, and I eat a LOT of Thai food :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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