Sawasdee Thai Restaurant & Bar

Recommends

Crystal W.

Joined 1 year ago

Love going here. I live nearby and go pretty frequently. I've never had poor service there so the post below may have been a one-off. I mainly will eat in the dining room with my husband but we've also occasionally gotten takeout.

For the number of visits, I've never had a bad experience, which is rare for any restaurant. Their fresh spring rolls are amazing and their pad kee mau ("drunken noodles with chicken") is my favorite. You can't go wrong with that one. Another favorite is "evil jungle noodles" which is not as hot as you might think. I think the only dish that I'd give the edge to another restaurant on is the chicken red curry. Lemongrass over on Litchford does a better red curry sauce. A disclaimer is that I'm no expert on "authentic" Thai food and I can't say which red curry is more authentic. Definitely recommend this restaurant.

Doesn't Recommend

Stefanie M.

Joined 2 years ago

Worst Asian service ever.. I have eaten at the Sawasdee restaurant on Capital several times and have always been pleased with the food, pricing, and service. Since the restaurant on Glenwood is closer to home, I wanted to give it a try.

The layout of the dining area is excellent. There was even a room for private dinner parties. There was a full bar as well.

We went for dinner at 6pm and were quite surprised to find that there were only three parties of customers. We received our drinks from one waitress, our food from another, and our bill from another. Each of the waitresses were extremely rude and rushing their service, which we found quite odd considering there were only three other tables with customers. The horrible service alone was bad enough to keep me from returning to this location.

The Thai food was excellent. I lived in Thailand for two years and have to admit that the dishes are genuinely tasty and as they should be with no surprises. It was wonderful to have one of my favorite dishes from Thailand (hard to find outside of Chiang Mai), and it tasted just like in Thailand, which was a pleasant surprise! So, if you do end up visiting this restaurant and don't care for horrible service and rude waitresses, get the Khao Soi dish.

To top off our horrible experiences with all three waitresses we interacted with, when we got the bill, the tip had been applied already. The cost of our food (for two dinner dishes and two desserts) was $35 and they applied a $7 tip to the bill. This completely explained why all the service staff was rude and hurried with us. I suspect this is the norm for this location, seeing as how the waitstaff doesn't have to work for a tip, so they treat you as an inconvenience just because they can. This infuriated me because I lived among the Thai people and know they are not anything like we experienced tonight.

I suggest giving Sawasdee on Capital a try during lunch, as the prices for lunch are much, much more affordable than for dinner.

All in all, I will not be returning to this location.

Recommends

jenneck221

Joined 3 years ago

Love it!. I've always loved their Capital location! Finally went over to the new one on Glenwood the other night with some friends who'd never been to either before. Great experience. Fantastic food! Great atmosphere and excellent service!

Recommends

mrr4f

Joined 3 years ago

Best Thai Food in Raleigh. We love that the second location recently opened near our home. We've been there 3 times already and have greatly enjoyed both the food & service. If you like Thai food, you won't be disappointed! We used to go to Sushi Thai, but Sawasdee is closer to our house and we prefer the menu.