03/20/09

Best place in Cary for Thai food

by boosting

This place is truely an authentic Thai restaurant. It is hard to find authentic food prepared correctly in the triangle and for the price, this place is hard to beat. They dont serve sushi so they dont feel the need to charge you twice as much.

I have been to Thailand many times since my wife is from there and grew up there. Even her family asks to eat there when they visit.

The decor is not fancy and the waitresses are a little shy since English isnt there first language which can be construed as impolite. But the price and the food cannot be beat.

If you want real Thai food, look no further.

• Pros: Authenticity, price
• Cons: Service

03/10/09

Worst Thai Food I Ever Had

by 2puertoricans

My husband and I love thai food and have eaten in several restaurants from NYC to Texas. I almost walked out once I saw the sanitation score of 96. We decided to take a chance so we proceeded to go inside and eat. The first strike was the service...I really don't need a friendly waitress, but an attentive on would of been nice. The rice I ordered was horrible. The vegetables were canned (mushrooms) (There is an Asian Market across from them)They really charge enough for there plates to buy fresh. Once I asked the waitress hoping I was wrong.....she was upset that I even asked her if they vegetables were fresh. I don't think it's wrong with asking questions about the food I am being served. She answered yes there canned with an attitude. I am not writing this review as a wealthy person who can eat anywhere they want and have high expectations.......I am an average wife with 2 boys.....I just think you can get better and should expect better than this.......

• Pros: Parking
• Cons: Overpriced for the quality of food offered

12/29/08

Better Thai food than I have found around much of the San Francisco Bay Area

by kaelumsonofson

I was taken here by a co-worker back when I first moved to the Triangle and have been going back there ever since. I've lived in California (San Francisco and the South Bay) for over 25 years and this little gem is better than most Thai restaurants out there and is by far the best I've found in the Triangle. When I first started going there I just ordered straight down the menu, moving down an item each visit, until I got to the Thai Villa Noodles and I haven't been able to get myself to move on since. :) I've found that most of their noodle dishes are excellent...and both their soups (Tom Yum Goong and Tom Ka) are awesome...but again, Thai Villa Noodles would have to be my recommendation hands down. One bit of warning, their pepper rating (how spicy the dish is based on 1, 2, or 3 peppers) is not mean for folks used to the level of spiciness you find in most American restaurants. If you are not used to eating extremely spicy foods stick to 1 or 2 peppers. I had a friend try 3 peppers and he was sweating out of his eyelids. If you are used to extremely spicy foods though I would still only recommend 2 peppers on the noodle based dishes as I found that is hot enough to give it a bit of a kick but not so much that you drown out the flavor. 3 peppers is the way to go for most of the non-noodle based dishes for spicy lovers like me. The fresh roll (in the white rice paper) appetizers are good too but I prefer spring rolls from Vietnamese restaurants. Everyone I've introduced to this place has become addicted to it. Oh, also give the mango and sticky rice a try...it's awesome...but you have to catch it during the right time as they only serve it when mangos are in season.

• Pros: The food is to die for
• Cons: Price, Ambience (but well worth it for the food)

12/03/08

Thai Villa has the best dish...Thai Villa Noodles!!

by JillybeanRaleigh

My husband and I love Thai Villa. We find ourselves craving their "Thai Villa Noodles" dish all the time. I'd also recommend their Thai Iced Coffee....yum! We usually get take out. This is the best food in the Cary Crossroads area in my opinion.

• Pros: The ambiance is average so I usually get take out and relax at home
• Cons: If this were cheaper I'd probably eat it every day, so I guess that's a pro!

10/01/08

This is one of my favorite restaurants.

by RPSGT88

I've had dinner from there probably 100+ times over the past three years. Only one time was it not good.

One of my favorites is Pad Thai with chicken and extra ground peanuts served "Thai Hot." Simply excellent. This is much better than Tom Yum over by Maynard and Cary Town Center Blvd.

Staff is OK

Facility is basic.

Sometimes when very busy they don't answer the phone so you have to go down there to place a take-out order.

07/26/08

Great Thai food; Great service; Nice ambience!

by savdxgrace

This is my first time reviewing a restaurant, but I had to do it after reading the reviews about Thai Villa. My daughter and I are visiting from out of town and came to this site to find a Thai restaurant close by. After reading the reviews - even though they were mostly positive - the negative ones left us a little leery. But being adventurous and in the mood for some Thai food, we decided we would try Thai Villa. We are soooo

glad that we did. The restaurant was nice and cozy; quiet atmosphere (you can actually have a conversation); friendly and great service, and on top of that the food was absolutely delicious! If we lived here, we would definitely go back - again and again. The panang curry was yummy. (Be sure you like spicy food if you order it! It definitely has a kick - just the right amount.) Have the sticky rice with mango for dessert - not too sweet and the perfect ending for a great meal. Highly recommend.

• Pros: EVERYTHING! If you like Thai food - try Thai Villa
• Cons: I'm not from the area, but we didn't have a very hard time finding it. The shopping center it is in isn't very appealing.

05/12/08

Pretty good Thai in hidden location

by darlla

Coming from someone who is somewhat picky about Thai food, I'm ranking Thai Villa as pretty good for this area. No it doesn't compare to New York Thai, but I've had some pretty terrible Thai in the Triangle. Until I found Thai Villa, Sushi Thai in Raleigh was my top pick but it unfortunately has suffered low sanitation ratings so I had to find another place. This restaurant is very small, and is tucked away in a very old and rundown looking strip mall off Buck Jones. Had a friend not told me about it I wouldn't have known it existed. Since it is so small, it gets filled up fast at lunch time. Since they typically only have two people running the entire front of the restaurant, seating, waiting the tables and getting people checked out, the service can suffer. It can take more than an hour to eat here. The restaurant isn't much to look at and the booths are uncomfortable, but the shrimp and pineapple red curry is close to what I used to eat in NYC. It has just the right amount of heat, and a good amount of shrimp and vegetables. I've had dishes here that I didn't care for as much, tofu that was chewy and dry on the outside and some dishes use canned vegetables. But I've been able to find a few dishes that I like enough to order time and time again.

05/11/08

Worst Thai Food in the Triangle

by NCLisa

If you are interested in a "southernized" version of an ethnic restaurant, then this is a perfect example. I give a place 3 tries before I decide not to go back, and all 3 tries were not good. There is nothing authentic about this thai food, it is a very watered down version of what is available in San Francisco or New Yorks authentic thai restaurants. Even the Thai iced tea was more like sweet tea with a little cream thrown in. We won't be back.

• Cons: Not authentic Thai Food

04/15/08

Best Thai In The Triangle

by mindcrime

I don't understand the most recent couple of reviews I've seen here at CitySearch for Thai Villa. I've never had a bad meal at this restaurant, the prices are very reasonable and in line with similar restaurants in the area and the service is usually adequate. I'll allow that the service can slip a little on occasion but in my experience this usually only happens when they are extremely busy (eg, an unexpected large group shows up at the same time as another large group). In this regard they are simply victims of their own success... Thai Villa is very popular and can get a little hectic in the day-time during the "lunch rush." If you go for lunch, I'd suggest going a little early or a little late to beat the rush. The restaurant isn't very large physically, so it's nice to go when the crowd size is down a little anyway.

All in all, I'd rate Thai Villa as the best Thai in the Triangle, unless there's some gem of a Thai place hidden away somewhere that I haven't heard of and tried yet.

• Pros: Delicious Food
• Cons: Average Service

02/22/08

Avoid at all costs

by cibomatto76

My recommendation to you is to avoid this restaurant. It was a horrible experience , and pretty pricy for what they had to offer. I ordered The vegetarian red curry, the tofu tasted like it's been recycled over the years, and the grapes were browning. My husband ordered the chicken pad thai which smelled like roadkill. We also ordered veggie rolls stuffed with lettuce and basil that had a hint of soap.