RiceTheory

I’ve had two very different experiences here, and I struggled to choose between 3 and 4 stars.
First, you order by touch screen computer. My only real issue with this is that a) I’m short, and because of the sun the first time I visited, I had trouble seeing the top half of the screen and b) if you clicked the wrong thing, you have to start all over, there doesn’t seem to be an «undo» or a good «back» button, so…
Anyways, the first time I went, the menu only had 4 entrees, I think 3 appetizers, and 3 desserts. While my favorite appetizer (fresh summer rolls) were missing from the menu, my favorite entrée was on it (pad see ew). I got the pad see ew and fried spring roll. The prices were fairly reasonable, and I thought the food was great (despite the spring roll being much smaller than typical). Possibly the best Thai I’ve had in the area.
Tonight I went craving the hot, oily noodles, thinly sliced beef, and Chinese broccoli. I walked in to find the menu had expanded, about triple the size for entrees. I still stuck with the pad see ew, since I was craving it. I made it a meal (an extra $ 3.50 for two other items) with crab rangoon and chicken satay, and finished it off with a Thai iced tea.
The pad see ew wasn’t great today. Despite being fresh, it wasn’t hot, and there was approximately six eggs in there. Not pieces of egg through the dish, but I pretty much ate an omelette with some broccoli. You pay extra for beef (as opposed to pork), and there were four small pieces. There were very few noodles, and oddly, Chinese broccoli was mixed with steamed regular broccoli. But really, the egg was the worst part. Huge, huge pieces, thick and soggy from the sauce. Just a sin.
Now, the crab rangoon and chicken satay were both delicious. That being said, both could have used «more.» The crab rangoon needed more filling, and the chicken satay was a tiny sliver.
For these reasons, I ended up going with three stars. I hope the next time I go back, I’ll be inclined to update the review to 4 stars!

I was looking to try a new Thai place near my house and I hadn’t yet experienced Rice Theory.
Their menu seemed a bit small, but I tried to not let that deter me, so I ordered the masaman curry for myself, drunken noodles for my fiancé, and dumplings to share.
Well, to start, they forgot my dumplings. Not good.
Next was the masaman curry. I noticed it seemed a bit pale in color. I began eating and sure enough, it tasted almost like pure coconut milk, with very little flavoring or spice. As for the other ingredients, there seemed to be very few peanuts and peppers in the curry.
This was probably the worst masaman curry I’ve ever eaten.
The one saving grace (and why this review isn’t a 1 star) is that my fiancé’s drunken noodles were quite good. That being said, it was still nowhere near as good as Krua Thai or other places closer to/​within Boston.

Good food and a convenient location but they don’t seem to have ironed out the ordering system yet. I ordered online through Unilocal and when I got there, they had in fact made my food but for some reason the order hadn’t populated into their computer and therefore they didn’t know what to charge me. After some discussion the owner took out a paper menu and scratched my order and cost in whole numbers on side of a brown paper bag. Then he just rounded it down to $ 20 because I don’t think he had any change. I got a heck of a deal but I felt badly not paying what I owed. They have the menu and ordering set up on a computer but it’s not slick like a iPad on a platform, it’s just a laptop sitting on top of the counter. Seems like once they get the computers figured out this’ll be a great spot to get some Thai food right off of route nine.

I stopped in yesterday to try this place out and was delightfully surprised! What a hidden gem! The staff was amazing and the food the best Thai ever. Wish it was closer to where I live, but if you’re lucky enough make this your regular Thai place. Thank you Rice Theory you are amazing!

Great food, but a ridiculous touch screen ordering process in an understaffed kitchen made me wait 20 minutes… i never got my lunch and walked out with another customer that had the same experience. Shame that they won’t be there very long, the food is pretty good.

I usually get takeout and it’s okay but today I got delivery and it’s amazing. The best Thai I’ve ever had was at Vik in Chelsea, NY. This comes pretty close to it. I used to love Moksa in Cambridge but it had closed down, they had the best roti canai. Rice Theory luckily has roti. It’s delicious. I ordered a drunken noodle, fried rice, sticky rice, panang curry, and roti and everything is delicious. Perfect amount of spice and flavor. Delivery was quick and the employees are so sweet. Definitely recommend this place if you’re in the Natick area.

This is my favorite Thai food restaurant near Wellesley. Unlike other restaurants I’ve tried, the food is less greasy (relatively speaking) and more savory. I especially loved the dumplings and drunken noodles. Highly recommend for quality fast food.

Tried out Rice Theory on a Friday night as a break from Lemon Thai and the occasional Coconut Thai.
Their online ordering is really clunky and at one point I was sent to PayPal to confirm my payment even without ever inputting an address – it might have prompted me afterwards, but it’s still kind of sketchy, so I resorted to calling in instead.
Had to order a $ 25 minimum to get things delivered, so I got a Beef See You Noodle, Hot Fish Cakes, Chicken Satay (to make up the $ 25), and a Thai Iced Tea.
Doesn’t seem like there’s an option to pay with cash since the person on the phone asked me for my credit card immediately when I was done, but I didn’t ask.
Delivery: Took about 30 – 40 minutes, which was what I was expecting. When the driver delivered, however, I asked if there was a straw in the bag since I couldn’t see one. He said «Yeah, I think so???» Checked when I was inside: no straw, nor any utensils – points off.
Hot Fish Cakes: I like these a lot better than the Tod Mun at Lemon Thai. They’re not overwhelmingly cilantro flavored and had a gentle spice kick to them.
Thai Iced Tea: Good. Half the cup was ice, though, so I felt very cheated (the tea really only constituted about 50−65% of the 14oz cup…)
See You Noodles: Also good. Less greasy and cleaner tasting than Lemon Thai and Coconut Thai, though for $ 11 the serving size could be a little bigger.
Chicken Satay: Came with two dipping sauces, vinegar (which I did not touch) and peanut sauce. Honestly better than I expected, considering that I only ordered this to meet the minimum delivery total. I probably wouldn’t get this on my own again but it is pretty good with the peanut sauce, and not too dry.
Overall: Food is good, but what would really make me order more often is a lower delivery limit and a more streamlined ordering service.

This is our fifth visit and I’m noticing a trend. Although the food is good and fresh, service seems to be declining. Typical wait time is twice what’s quoted, and I have found that I really need to check the bag before I leave. Found a couple missed items when I got to the car tonight and had to go back in. Kitchen was chaotic.
This could be a sign that they are overloaded because the food is good, but management needs to do a better job on the front end.

Tried Rice Theory for the first time, was not impressed at all. The ordering system, while a cool concept, was clunky, and I couldn’t customize to request no fish sauce. The person at the counter had to re-​enter my order. The combo order was confusing for my husband. His chicken satay was bland. Veggie spring roll was fine, nothing out of the ordinary. My Original-​style Pad Thai was very stripped down and 95% all noodles, with no veggies and the skimpy veggie protien was an odd variation of swirly crunchy tofu chips (?) and smaller dices of tofu. My husband enjoyed his drunken noodles with beef. We’ll stick with Thai Place, for tastier food & awesome prices. Krua Thai is another occasional option for our Thai that’s pretty good too.

Interesting offering… Kinda wish this place was more convenient to get to from my house. Their menu only offers a limited set of options but that’s not bad. You pick your protein and which dish you want it prepared in. Pretty happy with my chicken pad see-​ew, it was pretty light and fresh tasting. Good mix of meat, broccoli and noodles. I’d like to go back and try a few more things.

You’ve probably driven by this place a million times and not really realized what it was. It’s really good. Pad Thai is slightly different (seems like maybe different noodles and maybe less peanut sauce), but really good, fills you up without that gross stuffed feeling. Drunken noodles so good! Ice tea… probably not like anything you’ve ever had but yummy. Yeah, it’s a kiosk you order from but the guy is right there watching you in case you need help or have a question. It’s not fancy at all (think food court at a mall) but the food and quick service gets 5 stars from me.

How does this place have four stars? To be honest it’s not the worst Thai food I’ve had, but there are plenty of better Thai places within five miles of here.

Decided to try Rice Theory when hunger + lack of time collided before the holidays. The place doesn’t look like much from the road – or from the inside for that matter. But ignore the décor and come for the food!
We tried several dishes, each between $ 10 and $ 11 for a solid portion. The «original» Pad Thai was great and less greasy than the typical offering we’ve had other places. Rice Theory says it uses fresh, high-​quality ingredients and no MSG, and that comes through in the flavor.
The green curry was also excellent, with crisp vegetables and a rich broth. And the Thai Basil on Rice was a spicy treat.
Speaking of spicy, this place will make the meals spicy anywhere on a scale of 1 – 5. We’re quite heat-​tolerant in our food, and while one meal isn’t a reasonable sample, I expect we could push our limits plenty here.
They say they change the menu frequently, so we’re looking forward to trying it again soon. (If the owners are reading, how about Mee Krob at some point?)

Very friendly family-​run place.
You order on a touch screen which makes things pretty simple.
And the food is really good. Most Thai places give you a huge menu with names I can’t read. But this place has simplified it to 10 items (which you can customize).
Definitely one of the better Thai restaurants I’ve been to.

Fantastic little place. This place feature a «order it yourself» kios where the cash register would normally be. I thought this was pretty cool, but I think it kinda slow things down. It would be faster if we can walk up and say, «pad thai with crsipy chicken and an order of chicken satay.» But instead, we have to navigate the digital menu, type in preparation instructions, and then add to cart and pay. The food was great, and the staff was super nice. Since it was kinda slow (I think due to the big rain storm outside) everyone was kinda out talking to the handful of customers in the restaurant. I really enjoyed it there.

I met my best friend here for dinner recently. We weren’t looking for anything fancy. When it comes to Thai good, my experience has been that the less fancy the restaurant, the better the food.
Overall, the food was pretty good. The check-​in deal with Unilocal was kind of a false advertisement though. We got the chicken Rangoon’s. Unilocal said we would get a free appetizer for checking in but came to find out you get more like a sample of an app. Those were kind of eh. My friend also did not like her Tom Yum soup (I may be wrong about the name!) And said it was too sweet.
However, I enjoyed the Mango Curry that I got. My friend got a beef Pad Thai. She seemed fine with it but wasn’t raving about it.
We both got Thai iced tea and that was delicious!
The main downfall of this place is how they take orders. The touch screen was slow and other ppl ordering take out got order preference, so while we were ordering, the cursor started moving on its own! Then a woman there explained what was happening. It was annoying.
You order at the counter and then they bring it over. It was kind of hectic tho and they seemed a bit confused. You get a better deal when you pay in cash.
They serve everything in basically take out containers. So its easy to pack up and take things home.
I don’t know if we will be back.

Really love the Tom Yum soup. Dishes are prepared freshly but quickly. Tried most items on the menu and nothing is short of delicious. Homey interior adds to the restaurant’s casual vibe. Highly recommended.

It is rare now a days to find a concept that isn’t cookie cutter with excellent food and exceptional service.
Upon my first visit here, I was greeted by one of the friendly owners as she patiently walked through their menu.
I ordered on a touch screen which made things fast, fun and easy. This new fast casual Thai food concept was overall a great experience and I would recommend trying it.

It’s good in theory, but… (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
After reading the glowing review in the Boston Globe I went to try out this place with three coworkers. The consensus was ordering was confusing and the dishes were a couple bucks too expensive for the portion size and presentation.
This is a small primarily takeout shop located on Route 9. The dining area is small, but tidy and warm. My coworkers thought the chairs and tables seemed a bit rickety. We were promptly and warmly greeted by a young woman who walked us through the ordering procedure using the touch screen computer. She had to do this with every party that came into the restaurant.
I ordered a vegetarian version of the panang curry, extra spicy. My coworkers ordered Pad Thai and drunken noodle. They thought they ordered a combo meal, but it turned out none of them had. This confusion was also duplicated at the table behind us. This was somewhat dissatisfying for my coworkers and meant the store missed out on several appetizer orders.
The cooler for drinks is behind where the customers queue to order and I think that was also a source of some confusion. There were some authentic beverages to choose from in addition to soft drinks and bottled water.
The meals took a longish amount of time to all hit the table. All the meals arrived in to go containers. For my curry that was two separate 20 oz plastic containers. I had to marry up the curry with the rice and realize that the chip like things served with it was deep fried tofu. The curry was alright, but not terribly spicy. The person who brought the food to the table was kind enough to give me a ramekin of chili peppers to add to the curry right off the bat. There were far too few vegetables in the curry. A few mushrooms and some very nicely brightly colored green and red peppers floated in the curry. The rice was not stale, but my impression was that it was just a bit too dry to have been very freshly cooked. My coworkers were disappointed with the number of shrimp in their pad thai — just two or three.
There was handicap parking right outside the front door, but I didn’t note the ramp. I also did not check out the bathroom. If you’re in a wheelchair, I think the counter for ordering might be too high, though I’m sure the friendly greeter would help you. The small kitchen (one cook) was open to view and looked very tidy and organized.
This is a very promising concept for metro west. It wouldn’t last long in Chinatown in Boston or pose a threat to Dok Bua in Brookline, but that’s 15 – 18 miles away. I think ditching the confusing ordering process and cutting a dollar or two from the prices would move this restaurant more solidly into three star territory.