Thai Gai Yang Cafe

A place of usual selection of Thai dishes — Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup, a wide range of curries and the like. As well as being good value, the food is mostly authentic and flavorsome. The Thai-​style fried rice was awesome.
It may be the cleanest among the three Thai restaurants on the Loop, with no sewage odor or dead bugs served in water. The place wasn’t roomy and tables were close to each other, and some wobble, but it was nicely decorated with vibrant colors and holiday-​schemed lights. Portraits/​posters of the Thai boxing champions watch over proceedings. It felt warm and cozy that it’s easy to forget the traffic and the noisy construction outside on the Delmar Loop. Service was a bit slow though.

We were subletting an apartment right above this restaurant so of course we had to try it.
It was honestly better than I expected, but not great. We had the crab rangoon, which were by FAR the best I have ever had anywhere ever! I then had number 42. It was okay, but nothing great. I would defiantly come here again, but would order a dish with peanuts.
The service was good and efficient. They must have listened to all the reviews complaining about their slow service.

Decent Thai food and huge menu selection. They used to specialize in BBQ chicken (I remember all the chickens in the windows years ago) but they recently expanded their menu and have a very large and diverse selection with lots of options for vegetarians (and photos of many of the dishes) so we decided to finally try them!
Had the spicy Pad Thai and it was good, it was spicy as I was expecting but the sauce was pretty basic. We got some other dishes as well and they were ok too but none of the sauces were overly-​exciting.
The service was spotty but everyone was very friendly. The interior atmosphere is interesting – quiet, bright, basic and functional with some touches relating to Thai culture. I would agree it is «fast and functional» as their web site describes.
I did enjoy sitting in one of the front tables which are in the window display area of the converted store-​front the restaurant occupies. We had great views through huge plate-​glass windows of the busy Delmar street life and the new mixed-​use development on the north side of the street (which looks spectacular).

I had the Pad Thai, it was excellently flavored and had the right amount of bean sprouts and green onion. My friend had the Tom Yum Soup, it was a delicious blend of sour and spicy flavors. So as far as the food goes we were very satisfied!
Service was AWFUL since it took us 10 minutes to get water. The food came relatively fast within 5 minutes. We finished our food and waited for 30 WHOLE MINUTES before being able to finally get someone’s attention to get our check.
4 stars for the food. Shave down 2 stars for the abysmal service. I sincerely hope that they learn from customer feedback because the food is truly great, especially for the price!

Really delicious meal some language issues ordering but it was done perfectly and served quickly and hot definitely some the most tasty and well made Thai food around. Great stop after the Tivoli. No problem with vegetarian options. Come here.

They expanded emir menu quite a bit recently and the new items are very good! I tried their meat congee and was impressed. Their curry I think have improved too. Worth revisiting this place if you haven’t!

Walked in to this restaurant and was seated immediately. Followed by 3 other groups. It took 15 minutes just to get water service. Every other table had their food by the time our order was taken. It took 27 minutes from when we walked in to have our food order taken. They were not short staffed or all that busy.
Once our food arrived (spring rolls, crab rangoon, pad thai), it was hot and it was really good. This stuff was spicy though, had to wait for refills for about ten minutes. Took another 10 minutes to be able to get out check. Another 10 for them to take our payment. Another 7 for them to bring back the receipt.
All in all, great food — awful service.

I love some of Pat’s other Thai restaurants. I used to love this one way back in the day when this restaurant used to serve Gai Yang. (Notice the name of the restaurant, Thai Gai Yang.) What is Gai Yang you might ask? It is legal, edible crack. It is charcoal grilled chicken in a delicious garlicky marinade, served with a side of steaming, yummy sticky rice and gai yang sauce (which is a pinkish-​orange, sweet chili sauce). It’s great with really spicy som tum. It’s classic Thai beach food. For some reason, and I’m sure they had a reason, Thai Gai Yang stopped serving Thai Gai Yang. The irony here (other than the obvious irony) is that, especially with the new Wash U dorm opening up across the street, they could serve JUST Gai Yang, egg rolls, som tum plus Thai iced tea, Singha and NOTHING ELSE in the wee hours and they would rake in the dough. Ok fine, I’m no expert on the restaurant biz, but this is my dream, or at least this is my stomach’s dream. Now, without the Gai Yang, Thai Gai Yang is really Used to Have Thai Gai Yang, and that makes me sad. I’m sure the other food they serve is perfectly fine, but I am still mourning the loss of my favorite dish and the restaurant’s namesake. (I will note they have some dish called Gai Yang Peanut Sauce; this is not what I am longing for.) I’m lucky: I have a Thai mother-​in-​law who makes great Gai Yang. Nevertheless, I’m sad for the rest of you.

I’ve been here two or three times, and the food is okay.
Not the best pad Thai I’ve ever had but still good.
The last time I was here the service was pretty slow — we went on a Sunday evening and our group was one of two in the restaurant and our food came out in pairs. (Our group was only 6 ppl, too)

The beauty of living steps from the Loop is easy access to lots of restaurants. My daughter and I craved noodles last night and decided to try Thai Gaiyang Café. It was around 6pm so there were a few dinner diners in the spot, but they were not crowded.
I order the Tom Yum Soup with rice noodles and my daughter order the Pad Kooa Noodles.
Mediocrity at it’s finest! The service was just ok and the food was just ok. The spring rolls we ordered tasted like the packaged ones form the grocery store. We came, we saw, we got full and we probably won’t be back.

Excellent food. Mediocre service.
I brought co-​workers from out of town. They raved about the food. It was my first time here also.
I love red curry. The curry here was excellent. Very fresh food. Prepared perfectly. We had appetizers also. Excellent as well.
St. Louis has lots of good Thai restaurants. I will definitely go back.

This is one of our favorite restaurants in St. Louis!
I am not sure why it gets so many negative reviews – we have had nothing but great experiences here.
Crab Rangoon is the best we have had in the city. Perfect.
Thai Ice Tea is so yummy.
I used to always get a curry dish. I think I have tried them all — I like the green or red curries the best.
#34 the Thai Peanut Sauce something or other is my favorite.
My husband sometimes get the Pad Prik Thai something. He is pretty picky and he loves this dish. Simple, spicy and flavorful.
Service is always super fast and the staff is really friendly. They remember us when we come in… er maybe that means we go there too often?

The food here is precisely what you expect from a Thai restaurant (and I mean that in a positive way). The curries are good, the Pad Thai is good, and I’ve never personally known someone to have a bad dish here. The service is pretty alright and the prices are on-​par with most Thai places in the area. Overall, a solid choice for a Thai restaurant.

So I don’t recall the specifics as far as what I ordered and so forth, but…
Two reasons why TGYC failed the Diddy test:
1. The food took forever, and it was not even that busy. If memory serves, I think I was saving up for a liquid dinner and only ordered an appetizer. However, the rest of our group ordered appetizers and dinner, which took quite a long time. I believe that one of the appetizers even went missing and did not actually come out until after everyone and finished eating. It was a veggie tempura mix so have NO idea what took so long. The service — in general — was pretty damn slow, though.
2. They actually took our friend’s plate away before she was done eating. Yeah — it happened. She was still picking away with the intention of eventually taking the leftovers home, and they seriously came by and ganked her plate while we were talking. Weird.
So nope… not going back. Besides — there are plenty of other amazing Thai places nearby that are much, much better. Sorry Thai Gai.

Ate here during a weekday lunch hour and it wasn’t that busy at all which in a way was good because service was faster. Our server was really nice and prompt, definitely deserved his tips. After the lunch, my friend and I got to just stay and hang out for a bit which worked out for us and is another benefit of the place being kind of empty.
As for the food, I got the Gang Masman curry plate for about $ 9.00. It’s a yellow curry base with chicken, potatoes, peanuts and onions. I asked for it to be spicy and it was really good, just right for my palate. I didn’t try anything else but it looked like they had the basic Thai fare with decent options.
I’ll be back again to try their other dishes.

So I love Thai food. My favorite items are spring rolls with shrimp or fish, coconut lemongrass soup, and drunken noodles. Thai Gai Yang managed to give me a meh experience for all three items.
First of all, they have spring rolls, but theirs are either small and deep fried or giant. My bf ordered the giant one. It was ok at best. The presentation was kinda nifty (they cut it into slices like a sushi roll and cover it in sauce) but it wasn’t mind blowingly tasty. Nothing surprising, not great.
I ordered the coconut-​lemongrass soup with veggies. The veggies and the soup were fine. However, they kept chunks of galangal in the broth and it’s not very tasty to chew on. The slivers of lemongrass were a bit annoying but not too bad.
As for the drunken noodles I ordered, they were ok. The rice noodles were very large and not as flavorful as I would’ve liked. They were a bit too thick too. I got the very spicy version of the dish. It was spicy enough but the spice wasn’t as balanced as at other places.
All in all, it was a meh experience. Even though it’s close to home, it’s not as worth going to.

In short… my food at Thai Gai Yang was pretty good, but the atmosphere was a total snoozer. I stopped in on a weeknight with a friend and we sat at a table by the window which was pretty nice because I could look up and down Delmar, which is a good thing, because it was silent inside the restaurant! The kind of silent where you just end up not speaking to each other because you feel like everyone else can hear you.
My yellow curry dish was pretty standard but was good… lots of chicken, potatoes, onion, and a yummy yellow curry sauce. It had just the right amount of spice and overall it rivaled the yellow curry I love so much at King & I. Prices are fine, everything’s just fine… but that’s boring to me. I’ll go back if for some reason my usual Thai places aren’t an option, but that’s probably it.
They DO have a pretty extensive cocktail list and everything looked very good, but I try to behave myself during the week. Maybe next time and maybe they’ll help liven things up!

I went here twice. The first time was awful, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt.
Second time turned out to be the same. The food was disgusting, service wasn’t very good and nothing was timely. It’s interesting that the restaurant is owned by the same individuals as the others on Delmar because it is by far the worst.
Save yourself. Go to Thai Café. Or even Thai Country. Heck, even Thai Pizza is better. You’ve been warned.

I walked in, and was immediately relieved when I saw some Asian people eating here. If Asian people are eating here, then by god it must be good, right?
Wrong!
Quick service, but both of our entrees were cold, even though they came out no more than 6 minutes after we ordered.
I was on a date and subsequently she never contacted me again!
I blame you, Thai Gai Yang Café.

The Thai Gai Yang is one of several owned by the same owner in the Loop so if you get a similar feel for it all that is why. The interior hit me as the same as the Thai Pizza Company but there was a distinct smell that was not a nice one, although not real strong, might put some people off.
I ordered the combination app (crab rangoon, fried tofu, two different roll types, veggie tempura — all very good), the house salad (very fresh and came so you could mix it and presented very well with the peanut sauce dressing on the side, good stuff) and a noodle dish that had tomato sauce, beef, onions, tomatoes, green onions. pretty sweet taste but excellent. The food is definitely 4 star but that smell … reminded me of a hotel I checked into once, got into the room and decided I couldn’t stay and went across the street to a different one. This was just mild and not sure if it was from the cooking or something else but I would say, if you like good Thai food, go. If you don’t like the smell, walk out but if it doesn’t bother you, stay and enjoy.