Thai Cafe

Very disappointed!!! We eat here often or get takeout on a regular basis. Tonight was horrible. We had a large group (12 people). ²⁄₃ of our group received our food but the last four waited over an hour and were then told they needed to be patient. No compensation was offered the four finally got up and left. Took more time for the rest of us to get our checks and that is when we told them we needed our bills as we were running late for our event

The Unilocal help chef here and im starting a new thing here where i will be traveling all over rating resturants based on my experience in the food industry for over 17 years and let me state these are my opinons and views only. And my first stop on this new journey will be here at thai café in howell, mi. I had to make this my first stop because its one of my favortie hidden gems in this town located right downtown of howell. Has been here for years and is very underated. Its your basic little run restaurant but packs a punch to your tastebuds! If your into all kinds of foods like me this is the place you have to try. As i first walked in it looks not busy at all for i was there during a lunch hours i sat in a corner booth. For me, i like a nice quiet and private place to eat, but anyways i was greeted in timely fashion. Now when they asked me for something to drink they had 20oz bottles which at first, i thought was strange but got to thinking you know what i actually like that because those fountain pop machines have so much crap in them if they are not properly maintained so i do think that is a good thing. I started out with the appetizer crab ragoons and those were amazing as always nice hot and fresh with just that right amount of crisp to the top of them with the sauce. Got to have that sauce lol. Then they follwed it up with a nice mild heat cabbage soup which was on point as well. Then, came my favorite that i always get here the pad pai curry with chicken! And it never lets me down great taste everything cooked perfect to the tee! Now remember this food has heat so be prepare but if your a spicy food lover like me, this is your place to challenge that. For me i usually like a good medium heat to my food but get ready cause the medium here is on that higher scale which when i used to get med. It would be point, but then they switched it up a notch and that medium is up there so now i order mild instead. But if your in or around this town and looking for something healthy, spciy, or just something to try new this is the place to come. I see they have alot of bad reviews but hey everyone is a critic these days so come on down and try for yourself and see why this is one of my favorite places to come when im here.
Sincerley,
The Unilocal help chef

Absolutely awful!!! We have been going to the Thai Café since we moved to Howell 10 yrs ago and always enjoyed their food even after new ownership this past year or so. Yesterday my husband and I went for lunch and had a nice «curry» vegetable soup and vegetable spring roll which was nice. Then our main meal came before our 2^nd appetizer and this is when all things went bad. The chicken balamaki were deep fried in what tasted different than what we remembered. We each got different rice dishes with veggies, chicken (tofu on mine) and those both tasted of rancid oil. We could only eat a portion of it and took the rest home. After spending the rest of the afternoon in the bathrooms at home with severe cramping and diarrhea… we’ve have decided that this is no longer the nice restaurant we used to visit in the past. We will not be going or ordering from them again and our doggie bags went into the garbage.

I am very surprised by the poor reviews, as I have experienced the exact opposite. I started coming to Thai Café about a month ago, and I wish I had taken a chance on this place much sooner. For entrees, so far I have had curry fried rice and Pad Thai, and both exceeded my expectations. Excellent flavor in the curry fried rice. I could actually taste the curry, which is a huge accomplishment, as even my most favorite Thai restaurants in other parts of the state and country don’t come close to having the curry flavor that is found in Thai Café’s curry fried rice. As for the Pad Thai, great flavor and a perfect amount of sauce. I find that Pad Thai is usually dry at other places, so I appreciate that there is a perfect amount of sauce in the Pad Thai at Thai Café so that it does not get dry. As for appetizers, so far I have had the spring rolls, crab rangoon and Tom Yum soup, which are all very excellent! Someone mentioned staff giving them a hard time not ordering meat in their entrees. I have not experienced this. As a vegetarian, I ask for steamed tofu and no one at Thai Café has ever blinked an eye at my request. On top of that, staff have always been able to willingly and politely answer my questions. I find staff at Thai Café to be quite friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Looking forward to giving Thai Café my continued business. Well done, Thai Café!

Rude staff! I asked if something could be substituted for squid in my dish, could have even paid more. Brandon rudely told me no substitutions. I don’t believe I saw no substitutions written on the menu! It would have been an easy fix to make a customer happy. Instead you lost a customer. I told Brandon I would not return, his reply was «ok.» When my food was done he handed it to me and said «there you go.» No thank you.

Great good paired with fantastic customer service. The spice levels are spot on. I’ve enjoyed every dish ever tried from here, and settled in on the build your own with a fun veggie medley & red coconut curry with rice. It’s perfection!

Food is amazing Marrissa is the chef and she cooks home made Thai food. Order how you like it. Thy have a option where you can order your protein vegetable and sauce the way you want it
Also be aware they use real hot peppers. There hot is 3x hotter than most be careful on the heat range here.

Great Thai food in Livingston county! I was quite surprised. Right on with the spice! Looking forward to going back and trying out some other dishes.

Okay. Only Thai option in Howell, and I’m glad they’re here rather than not at all. But that’s the only reason they get 3 stars and not 2.
The customer service is rough. They always give me a hard time about asking for tofu instead of meat (really?! You’re a THAI restaurant). They are a bit over-​indulgent in how much sauce they use, soaking the dishes. And be careful on the spice level. Medium is a typical spicy in any other Thai I’ve tried across the country.

I came here for an early dinner today and was underwhelmed. They were out of Thai iced tea, and my coke came in a 20oz bottle with a glass of ice… weird.
I ordered Pad Thai with shrimp and the server never asked what level of spice I wanted. I only realized this after I received it, and it had no spice at all.
The serving size was average, but for $ 11 I was surprised that it didn’t come with anything else. No shrimp chips, no soup, no spring roll. The food itself was somewhat bland, and ended up tasting mostly like the lemon I squeezed on it. I haven’t been here in about 4 years, and it’s definitely not what it used to be. Still, it’s the only game in town as far as Thai food goes, so beggars can’t be too choosy, but I swear this place used to be much, much better!

First of all, whoever said they were offended by a «splitting fee» should go eat at a Thai restaurant anywhere else. Hello. Thai food is traditionally served family style. Just ask for a second plate! Why would they split your meal in the kitchen for you?! They probably instigated the fee to deal with annoying customers that don’t know WTF they are doing… Soapbox over.
OK, so I moved to Howell from Seattle and more recently, New York City, where I’ve had some damn good Thai food. I like authentic ethnic food, but who am I to say it isn’t authentic here? The chef is Thai, the wait staff is Thai, the food was good and used the right ingredients. The wait staff was very friendly too. I ordered pad Thai and fresh salad rolls. I ordered my pad Thai flaming hot and it was excellent! I’m so sick of ordering my food extra spicy and getting bland dishes in return! These guys don’t mess around. It was hot, it tasted awesome, and the fresh rolls were pretty good too. Their Thai iced tea was exactly what I wanted. Every ethnic restaurant will have it’s own regional take on a traditional dish. These guys are friendly and make good food. Give them a chance and try them out! Order the pad thai or pad see ew. Both are good choices, the latter is best if you want something more mild. Also, they give you a coupon towards a future visit with your bill – a nice touch! Thanks guys! STAY IN BUSINESS, I NEED MY HOT AND SPICY FIX REGULARLY!

The food is okay, not bad, but not great either. The «sharing fee» that is just introduced recently really petty — no effort at all from the kitchen or the waitress to actually split the dish — and this is for a large dinner entrée! Is this because we are both Asian? The first time I came with my White friend there for dinner was no sharing fee. It is a shame. Good bye, will not come back again.

Yes, I think there are better Thai restaurants in places like Ann Arbor, but way out in Livingston County — I don’t think there is a better place.
So given that, I’ve rated this place at 5-​stars because I am concerned that some other reviewers unfairly gave 1-​star, which isn’t deserved given the context of the area it’s in.
That said, I recommend the pad thai and any thing with their peanut sauce in it. Very excellent. Oh, and crab Rangoon is very good as well.

Excellent food. Food is very spicy. If you’re bothered by this just order it without and they’ll bring you some pepper flakes on the side:)

Ever since the change in ownership the place has down straight down hill. Price increases, reduction in serving sizes and the customer service is non-​existent. Go somewhere new. You have a better chance with the unknown…

We had the beef curry fried rice and the pad Thai curry. Holy crap it’s good. Really tasty and fresh tasting. I am glad Howell has such a good Thai place! Service was also good.

I have been to this place many times over the past few years. The food has always been great. When I was at thai café today I realized that the menu had changed slightly… Thinking nothing of it we ordered our regular meals. We then realized that soup is no longer included with dinner. I asked if I could order egg drop soup and was told that it is no longer available for dinner, only lunch, and they aren’t allowed to serve it with dinner… I was bummed. Food was very good, and very spicy (I ordered medium spice). My husband ordered extra chicken on his dish for $ 2 extra. It did not appear that he got any more chicken than normal. The shock came with the bill… My sister asked for no broccoli and to add three other vegetables, as she always does, and it was always free of charge. The additional vegetables were a $ 3 charge, for a total of $ 13.50 for her meal. Had we known this in advance we would not have ordered the extra vegetables. The price of the appetizers have also been raised.
Still worth checking out if you like thai food, but I won’t be coming here regularly, as I did last summer. Not happy with the new owners– higher prices and less food!

It’s not what I would call real Thai… Not sure if it’s just because I’ve lived in Australia and Washington DC so have had very good Thai, but I was disappointed. I ordered very standard dishes the 2 times I tried the place and was shocked they loaded up the pad Thai with carrots, green peppers, etc… Just completely ruined the dish and didn’t taste (or look) like pad Thai.
My friend loved it… So if you don’t really know what Thai is you may be just fine.

DELICIOUS & HOT
Hadn’t been here before and being sorely disappointed with the Thai in Brighton I sought out Thai café for takeout. It will become a regular!
Ordered the Pad Thai, spring rolls, and crab Rangoon, all were delicious. I ordered the Pad Thai medium spicy, and it was HOT! I like spicy food, so I was surprised at how spicy it was. I know Thai can be notorious for consistency in spice, but I will definitely order it mild next time.
Would consider 5 stars after I try more dishes.

I’ve traveled far and wide looking for pad Thai as good as Thai café and nothing comes close. Love love love this place! Favorite dish is Pad Thai and pineapple curry both medium spice with chicken. So yummy! Great service! Fast and good food!