Nara Noodles & Grill

This place is the cousin of Nara Thai Express, which is on the other side of the gas station. Confused why they have two different restaurants side by side but they are both bad ass!!! Very authentic place. The menu is pretty simple. Try the Khao Soi — it’s like nothing I have had before. The neighborhood is obviously sketchy, but it’s totally worth it. Maybe get take-​out if you’re scared.

Had been meaning to go to it’s counterpart, Nara Thai, for a long while. Driving by a gas station and seeing a Thai restaurant right inside of the lot always spikes curiosity. Finally got a chance to stop by and ended up on the wrong side! I’m glad I did! The options of what you can order can be confusing… there are a limited amount of entrees on the actual menu, but their board overhead list a bunch of rice combos. I imagine all the items are equally marvelous, because the two my boyfriend and I blindly picked were GREAT! He ordered a more traditional wonton noodle style soup and the broth was quite flavorful and veggies were fresh. I went for the curry chicken noodle soup and I wanted more it was so good. The chicken flaked right off the sizeable drum they give you. The broth was perfect yellow curry with at balance of sweet and savory and the noodles weren’t gummy at all. Service was a little on the slow side considering we were only two out of 4 guests at the restaurant and dishes like this don’t take much prep time (Broths are usually on standby in a pot), but other than that, I didn’t mind the wait. Will definitely be back.
Caveats: This is a gas station lot across from the Greyhound. Lots of homeless people in the lot will come in and beg for money or food. This may dissuade some from coming in at all.

So I actually ended up here on accident. I was looking for Nara Thai Express and found out after the fact, that it’s on the other side of the gas station. They’re both Nara so no big deal, I’ll try the other place next time. So both Nara Noodles & Grill and Nara Thai Express are both connected to but on opposite sides of a big Texaco station on the corner of Fannin and Webster. They’re both very hole in the wall places and don’t look like much on the outside or inside, but I’ve gotten recommendations from several people to give Nara Thai Dining Express a try. Pulling into the parking lot I just saw Nara and assumed I was there. In any case the menu at Nara Noodles & Grill is very small (in a good way) so it should be quick and easy to order. The person manning the counter could tell it was my first time, so she guided me on through options which were between rice bowls, noodle bowls, rice plates, or even bahn mi Vietnamese sandwiches. It’s meant to be quick Thai style street food. I opted for the build your own rice bowl with street rice, chargrilled chicken, and the Khao Man Gai sauce on the side. Needless to say it was pretty good and came out quickly. It’s a pretty good portioned size which left me full but not too full. The rice was seasoned and the chicken was good but a little on the dry side. One of my coworkers got the Chicken Curry Noodle bowl which looked and smelled delicious. And my other coworker ordered the chicken bahn mi and a side order of wings. Neither one had any complaints. We were all satisfied but it would have been nice if we all got our food at the same time. But given the fact that I saw a total of 3 people behind the counter, I could see why. The inside isn’t much to look at, but it’s clean, and the staff is friendly and helpful. The food is inexpensive, good, and your order comes out fairly quick. I noticed them using the microwave to heat some of the dishes, so i’m not surprised that my chicken turned out a little dry. Regardless, it’s a decent hole in the wall place if you want something cheap, quick, and easy. Next time, i’m going to try the Nara Thai Express and see how that goes.

I saw the reviews on Nara Thai Express and was going there, but guess I got confused and ended up at Nara Noodles & Grill street food. It seems they are both the same owner in the same gas station/​strip. I am glad I came here, because the food and the service was great.
It seems like they have traditional types of Thailand street food. I made my own rice lunch bowl, with Thai street rice, then added grilled pork and spicy sauce. The lovely cashier also gave me their teriyaki sauce, so I mixed it with the spicy sauce and it was awesome.
If you’re looking for Thai food, not just typical dishes like Pad Thai, I say you should give Nara Noodles & Grill foods a try. They serve Thai dishes that you do not see at typical Thai restaurants/​dining.

Awesome food!!! Can’t explain. Mouth is full and in food heaven…
Friendly staff and clean. Upbeat music to make you wanna work all the calories you WILL eat. You’ll wanna try everything! !!

Didn’t know what to expect when I step into the store, since the menu is somewhat different from the typical Thai restaurant I been to. The girl was very helpful at helping me pick a dish.
I order the Khao Soi (chicken curry noodle). It was delicious! The curry has great coconut smell and taste very rich. The noodle and chicken are awesome as well. I’ll definitely order the Khao Soi again and can’t wait to try different dishes!

Nara Noodle (or Street Food) as the sign on the door says– let me say that the girl at the counter was very pleasant– I ask what the best thing was and she did not lead me wrong Khao soi was deliciousness. Now I will say my friend from SA had the pork noodles and wasn’t thrilled with the flavor, or lack of flavor in the pork. So another friend had Koa Man Gai and it was good to go. We also had a sandwich (Bahn Mi) and the meat and veggies were right on, but I personally do not care for a doughy bread, I prefer the crisp crust of a good bake on a french bagguette. With that being said, there is a dark side — as lovely as the girl at the counter was, she wasn’t very thorough– many times going to the tables to verify orders (was that pork or chicken) and service was not crack on– grated I got my first bowl (yes I had two) of noodle straight away, as my friends waited about 20 min I figured I could order another and eat with them… no dice on that one… anyway– once they iron out the ordering and delivering the food (my second bowl hung out on the counter for a bit while the main dude ran around figuring things out)…THEN, and only then will they get that fifth star (and I am dubious of the 5 stars you other guys put up… jus sayin– Enjoy

This place is just around the corner from Nara Thai Express. It’s excellent.
If you’re looking for Thai food, not just Pad Thai, I would direct you here first. They serve favorite Thai dishes that get left off the menu at most Thai places.
The Khao Mun Gai was just like I remember getting in Bangkok. The side of broth was flavorful, the poached chicken reminds you why we should poach chicken more often, and the sauce was so flavorful.
Still, it will always be second on the list for me. I went for the Khao Soi and I wasn’t disappointed. It was everything I wanted — northern Thailand’s premier soup. Next time I will order double broth so I can really indulge. The noodles were fantastic, as was the chicken. What a treat to find it as it can be hard to get in Thailand when not in the north. I have only found it in LA and STL here in the USA.
The staff still speaks Thai, which is great if you need to brush up on your rapidly diminishing language skills and are fun to chat with in English if you don’t know any Thai.
I will try the Keow Teoy next time. If it is as good as the other two dishes, I don’t know what I will do — potentially just go three times a week?

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