Chow Thai Cafe

Beantown and Thai, beginning to think the two don’t mix! Second try at take out dinner. Tom Kha Kai, not a lot of depth, the request ingredients, but no zing or interesting flavor. Blah. Edible, but would not order again. Next, Crispy Pad Thai. Three words, take off menu! WTF! I usually aways order a Pad Thai to gage the quality of food from a Thai restaurant, but figured crispy would be interesting. Wrong! You know those crispy noodles from a can you can sprinkle on Chinese food? Bingo. Somehow, made into a «PadThai». Uhg just don’t ever serve it again please! Enough said. Um not from here, so I will just move on to what Beantown does better.

Nice place authentic Thai food I recommend the chow Thai platter chicken massaman curry, and the pad see yu excellent extra sauces on the side well worth every penny my mother in law was from Thailand before she passed away we took her here and she said it’s the most authentic thai food besides her own plus dan n his wife are amazingly friendly nice atmosphere to relax n chill with great food

WOW! all i can say its the best pad thai that i have ever had. came here after doing a quick run to the petco and whole foods across from here and ordered a thai iced tea and a pad thai that was so yummy and fresh. i would be back here again and again :)

Not the bestest Thai food I’ve ever eaten, but it’s still very yummy. I’ve never had a bad food experience here. The waitstaff are very friendly. The food is reasonably priced. This place is rarely crowded when I go (usually around early dinnertime) so it’s always a very quick process. The décor is lovely and interesting for a restaurant. There’s not much food diversity in Charlestown, so if you’re hoping for decent Thai, you’re in luck!

Tom yum soup is my go-​to here. Portions are big. Ask if they have their smoothies available, as they are fantastic.
Docking 1 star as service can be a little slow, but then again it’s usually one waitress servicing the entire restaurant. Service has always been very friendly.
Also a great place for take-​out.

So nice to have a thai place near us. Good service, especially for take out, just ask for approx. timing. Pad thai is delicious and dinner portion is quite big… not sure why people say it’s pricey, seems reasonable to me. Never crowded if dining in.

After 10 years of ordering takeout from Chow Thai I am officially in search of a new source for my Thai food. While it has nothing to do with the food, the inconsistent staffing and service have put me over the edge. My orders have been incorrect the majority of the time over the years but I have tried to remain loyal to this local establishment. But it has now almost become a joke between me and my husband as to what will be messed up the next time we order. The worst part is that the owner/​Dan always seems to make excuses instead of apologizing and making right of the mistakes. While I have remained loyal over the years, it is time to break up. :-(

Living in Charlestown two years now this has been my #1 take out spot. Tonight I called at 7 to place an order for delivery (had to call back few times because of busy signal) and after an hour no delivery happened. I called the restaurant and owner said I should be patient as they’re having a busy night, no waive of delivery fee or anything. This is terrible service and I will not be ordering from here again.
4 stars for food but 1 star for service.

Well, I love thai so maybe this is skewed…
LOVED it. Had the Twin Curry (¾ spice level) so yummy. Had it with chicken and brown rice, it was delicious and I want it again.
Tried the Green Curry that a friend ordered… delicious.
loose one star because it is pricey for the quantity of the food that you get.

Just ordered take out here last night, while it’s not mind-​blowingly amazing thai food it is definitely a solid choice. The man on the phone was incredibly nice and so was the delivery person. They arrived in under an hour, their prices are reasonable. I’m super excited to have something in my new neighborhood that isn’t subs or pizza. I ordered green curry with tofu, I appreciated that there was an ample amount of tofu and vegetables (enough for me to split into two meals if I added my own rice). The curry isn’t overly spicy, but it’s not so under-​spiced that it’s bland. Will definitely return.

This is one of my favorite Thai food restaurants in Boston. The staff are so nice, always happily modify orders, the restaurant is clean, they deliver to the crowded streets of the north end with a smile, and of course the food is excellent. I work near here and get take out lunch quite often. Usually takes 15 minutes to prepare and well priced lunch for size. Love this place!

Got the tom yum soup. It was watery and tasteless. Could not taste the coconut at all.
The beef satay has almost no taste. I usually love beef satay.
The duck was pretty good. I recommend that.

We have lived in Charlestown for five years and have frequented this restaurant. We love that they are extremely kid friendly and very accommodating for my dietary needs as I have Celiac Disease. The lotus wine, duck dishes, dumplings, rice and curry dishes are my family’s favorites. Dan, the owner, and his family always remember a face and go out of their way to accommodate us. We are so happy to have this gem in our neighborhood!

Excellent food, quickly delivered. The lunch special is great! Love this place. I had the chicken fried rice with pineapple and it was amazing.

Last-​minute lunch pick and a lucky find. Friendly and good service in a wonderfully cozy and eclectic room. Food was delicious, with a good range of veg/​non-​veg. Didn’t have enough time to linger but will try to return for a more extensive visit.

Best Thai food I have had in Boston. Everything from the atmosphere, staff, and food was awesome! A total winner. Thank you for a great experience.

What a pleasant surprise!
A few weeks ago, my bf and I originally wanted to head to Figs for dinner and wouldn’t you know, parking was a nightmare.
After circling around a few times we finally drove down the street right in front and we decided to pull over and just go for thai since we had been wanting to find a good local place for thai food for a while now.
We weren’t disappointed!
It was not very busy, but it was also a little late, probably about 8.30? Service was great and very attentive, and I have a feeling that even when busy, they would still try their best to accommodate everyone. (We actually went back for Valentine’s dinner right before a storm and it was a little busier and still great service).
Food… Very good!
We had the Tom yum soup for an app which was as expected. Pretty good and quite authentic.
The best was the duck Choo chee. Everyone get this dish. It’s crispy fried boneless duck with a choo chee curry sauce on top. Sooooooooo good!!!
The noodle dish was also good but honestly I was totally digging the duck.
Prices were very reasonable. You could get away with $ 15 a person easily. I think they even have lunch specials during the week.
Definitely gonna be a favorite from now on as it’s right around the corner and very good!

I have previously given this place a really great review and it’s unfortunate that since then I’ve repeatedly had negative experiences. First of all, Dan the owner is a very friendly and accommodating guy, so it saddens me that I’ll no longer be going to Chow Thai to chat with him!
So, every time I order from here, it’s somehow more and more expensive and I always get one of two things… both being noodle dishes! I understand the price increases depending upon it be lunch or dinner and what type of meat you get, but seriously? Being charged $ 13.50 for pad thai the last time I went in for a carry out order at dinner time was a little absurd. Other places in the area provide the same amount and quality for around $ 9.00. The other dish I will get is drunken noodles, but apparently there’s an up charge for them using wide noodles… but I’m not quite sure why this is a reason for an up charge considering drunken noodles will always be made with the wide rice noodles. Am I wrong here? I just don’t understand why the increased price isn’t the price that’s listed to begin with???
However, the final straw was when I attempted to take a bunch of my friends there yesterday AND IT WAS CLOSED. I know that they’re closed on Mondays considering that this information is posted on their website. The Sunday hours are listed on their website as being 11:30 — 9:30, so when I showed up and the doors were locked for absolutely no reason, I was livid. Chow Thai has definitely lost a Thai food loving customer over this one.

I give this place 5 stars not because it’s the newest, most popular Thai place in Boston. But rather, it is an intimate, zen experience… one that you want when you go for Thai food. They are ALWAYS nice. The selection of «create your own meal» is huge, and includes green curry, yellow curry (my fav), and about 10 more. If you have a chance, say hi to the owner. He has such good energy & is so well spoken. I enjoy everything on their menu. Try it out! (But only if you like secret hidden gems too)!

I have had Thai in Seattle, St. Louis, Chicago and Iceland. The curry here does not taste Thai, if I just tried their Satay, Panang or Green curries without knowing ahead of time what they were I would NOT know that it was Satay, Panang or Green curry. Taste more like Chinese than Thai. The service was poor but VERY friendly (which is why they got a 2). That’s generous too with the poor quality.