Real Thai Kitchen

I like this place! I order takeout from here at least once a month. The service is friendly and the food is pretty good. The silver noodle soup is full of flavor & it is similar to pho if you’re looking for good soup in Santa Cruz. I also enjoy the fresh spring rolls and the tangerine tofu.

Great staff - they know how to hustle! They were super fast and accommodating for our large party dining in on Christmas Eve all while having a steady flow of take out orders. All the dishes had unique flavors too - not like they were all sharing the same sauce. We got green curry, Tom kha soup, mango curry, pad see ew. All were great. Others got some fish dishes and pad Thai and such - didn't get to try them but there were no complaints!

I ate here last night with my three kids ages 11-21 and we all really liked it. The best Thai food I've had in the area. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it was very nice inside and the waitresses were very attentive.

I came here for lunch and dined in. It was a very clean and beautiful restaurant and we got our food and water quickly. I am vegan and was able to get my entire order made vegan no problem. I highly recommend the massaman curry with tofu. It was delicious!

This was a wonderful alternative to Seibeing, the food is just as good but less busy. I really liked it, I think this is a great place for a first date, not overly romantic, but quiet enough for conversation. The food was amazing, I highly recommend the Artichoke Tom Ka, quite delicious. I'm usually all about the spicy dishes at Thai restaurants but we tried the tangerine chicken, the chicken was fried perfectly and the sauce was amazing. Definitely visit this place!!!

Fresh ingredients, great teastes, original dishes and fast and friendly service. The kids loves the fresh spring rolls and my wife love the vegetarian fried rice. I had a fantastic eggplant salad that was spicy and delicious. The pad dishes were great as well! Very recommend if you are into Thai food in Santa Cruz.

One of those friendly, slightly disorganized places that fit right into a neighborhood like a key fits right into a lock. You know, that place that sits right in the middle of those two or three go-to places that you hit every time it’s been a long day and you can’t face the kitchen. They know your name, they know what you order, they know what your level of spice is. If you say kob khun krab as you leave (if you’re a guy), they remember you for life. I had a perfectly respectable Tom Kha with noodles that had plenty of chicken, good noodle lift, and filled me to the brim. When I ordered regular iced tea, they brought not only a good sized glass, but a carafe for refill as well. Now… I suppose that saves them extra work, but I think it’s a stellar idea. If you’re looking for high end Thai that pushes the envelope and makes you want to swoon, this is not that. It’s just good, solid, friendly, neighborhood Thai. The kind of place that puts down roots, sends their kids to college and becomes part of your lives. When the yuppie, hip joints have moved on, this place will still be here slinging noodles and Thai iced tea. And I’ll bet the locals are as loyal as dogs that get to sleep on the bed. Kob khun krab!!!

This place is truly underrated. We tried the fried sweet potatoes, spicy noodle, and mango sticky rice. It was wonderful that they use actual sweet potatoes instead of yams. The spicy noodle was great and the wide noodles were cooked to the perfect texture allowing them to absorb the sauce perfectly. The absolute highlight of the meal was the finale. YOU NEED THE MANGO STICKY RICE. It’s a need you need it. Perfectly balanced sweet sticky rice.

I think Real Thai Kitchen Santa Cruz may be the best Thai I've had since a greatly beloved childhood restaurant in the North of England. I get the strong feeling someone really cares that I love the food. Pineapple fried rice, mango with sticky rice, tofu satay and Pad See Ew all especially recommended. And they deliver via Door Dash to our area in Scotts Valley!

Loved the food here, a party of 5, ordered a lot of food and everything was delicious

Very courteous staff and delicious food! Not busy on a Saturday afternoon. The Thai tea is excellent!

Amir Shevat

Fresh ingredients, great teastes, original dishes and fast and friendly service. The kids loves the fresh spring rolls and my wife love the vegetarian fried rice. I had a fantastic eggplant salad that was spicy and delicious. The pad dishes were great as well! Very recommend if you are into Thai food in Santa Cruz.

Elija Bandersnatch

One of those friendly, slightly disorganized places that fit right into a neighborhood like a key fits right into a lock. You know, that place that sits right in the middle of those two or three go-to places that you hit every time it’s been a long day and you can’t face the kitchen. They know your name, they know what you order, they know what your level of spice is. If you say kob khun krab as you leave (if you’re a guy), they remember you for life. I had a perfectly respectable Tom Kha with noodles that had plenty of chicken, good noodle lift, and filled me to the brim. When I ordered regular iced tea, they brought not only a good sized glass, but a carafe for refill as well. Now… I suppose that saves them extra work, but I think it’s a stellar idea. If you’re looking for high end Thai that pushes the envelope and makes you want to swoon, this is not that. It’s just good, solid, friendly, neighborhood Thai. The kind of place that puts down roots, sends their kids to college and becomes part of your lives. When the yuppie, hip joints have moved on, this place will still be here slinging noodles and Thai iced tea. And I’ll bet the locals are as loyal as dogs that get to sleep on the bed. Kob khun krab!!!

Shai Whalen

This place is truly underrated. We tried the fried sweet potatoes, spicy noodle, and mango sticky rice. It was wonderful that they use actual sweet potatoes instead of yams. The spicy noodle was great and the wide noodles were cooked to the perfect texture allowing them to absorb the sauce perfectly. The absolute highlight of the meal was the finale. YOU NEED THE MANGO STICKY RICE. It’s a need you need it. Perfectly balanced sweet sticky rice.

Jessamy Barker

I think Real Thai Kitchen Santa Cruz may be the best Thai I've had since a greatly beloved childhood restaurant in the North of England. I get the strong feeling someone really cares that I love the food. Pineapple fried rice, mango with sticky rice, tofu satay and Pad See Ew all especially recommended. And they deliver via Door Dash to our area in Scotts Valley!

Upma Sharma

Loved the food here, a party of 5, ordered a lot of food and everything was delicious

Kyle

Very courteous staff and delicious food! Not busy on a Saturday afternoon. The Thai tea is excellent!

I have been to a lot of Thai places and this was definitely on my top 3. Really Really good food. Everything was good. 😁

I love this place. The food is amazing, extremely tasteful, and seasoned perfectly. They have never gotten my order wrong. They're on top of everything, they don't play around haha. I usually do take out, but I dined in on my birthday a couple months ago and their service was amazing. The atmosphere was nice too. If you want authentic Thai food with great service, you should definitely try this place. I almost want to gatekeep because it's so good, but they deserve the business.

Grant Simon

I have been to a lot of Thai places and this was definitely on my top 3. Really Really good food. Everything was good. 😁

Leslie D

I’ve been here a dozen times. It’s a little gem with delicious food at reasonable prices. The service is kind and human. The decor is simple. They also offer delivery options. Most people would consider this the best Thai food around.

Will

I love this place. The food is amazing, extremely tasteful, and seasoned perfectly. They have never gotten my order wrong. They're on top of everything, they don't play around haha. I usually do take out, but I dined in on my birthday a couple months ago and their service was amazing. The atmosphere was nice too. If you want authentic Thai food with great service, you should definitely try this place. I almost want to gatekeep because it's so good, but they deserve the business.

Loved this place! Little hole in the wall. Loved the seafood fried rice - very flavorful. The green curry was awesome. Usually it's about what's in the green curry but this green curry would be good on anything! We also enjoyed the Pad See Ew was delicious the brown sauce was very good.

Friendly, fast service. Food is tasty and light. They serve brown rice, too! It's a homey, neighborhood place.

This place has home style Thai food that is generally not highly spiced to meet local tastes. They will spice as much as you want though. They have a nice weekday lunch buffet too - including a number of vegetarian choices. I like!

Solid Thai food in midtown Santa Cruz. Good spicy noodles (#67, aka Pad Kee Mao) and larb. I just wish they served larger lettuce leaves so I could actually eat the larb as a wrap. Definitely worth giving Real Thai Kitchen a try if you're in the area, though.

Decent Thai food in Santa Cruz. The basil duck was flavourful and the shrimp in our papaya salad was sou vided just right.

Matt Orbach

Solid Thai food in midtown Santa Cruz. Good spicy noodles (#67, aka Pad Kee Mao) and larb. I just wish they served larger lettuce leaves so I could actually eat the larb as a wrap. Definitely worth giving Real Thai Kitchen a try if you're in the area, though.

Bonnie L

Decent Thai food in Santa Cruz. The basil duck was flavourful and the shrimp in our papaya salad was sou vided just right.

We like it and eat their food at least once, and sometimes twice a month. Quick and convenient with a good selection. Remember to ask for hot sauce! Where the locals eat in Santa Cruz...Peace

Tasty food. Reasonably priced. Great service, food comes out quick! Overall I like this place a lot and would recommend it :)

Ben D-K

Tasty food. Reasonably priced. Great service, food comes out quick! Overall I like this place a lot and would recommend it :)

The Mailman

We like it and eat their food at least once, and sometimes twice a month. Quick and convenient with a good selection. Remember to ask for hot sauce! Where the locals eat in Santa Cruz...Peace

Maybe it's because I'm spoiled by all the great Thai restaurants in the Silicon Valley, but this place was disappointing. The flavors just weren't there. In fact, everything we ordered was a little on the bland side. Other reviewers complained that service was slow, but on a busy night we found them to be very fast.

The service was poor! We waited for our food for 40 min. I had to yell to get a waiters attention just to get some water. The only person that had any customer service was an older lady. She was very pleasant and friendly. If all their staff was like the older lady the place would better. The food was not spicy even though it said spicy.

Food: overall is good but the seasoning is not traditional Thai style and relatively on the light side. Personally I like the pad see ew to be more savory with soy sauce but theirs is lighter. The tom kha soup is sweeter than other places I tried. Service: very warm and helpful Ambiance: casual family house style

Lydia

Food: overall is good but the seasoning is not traditional Thai style and relatively on the light side. Personally I like the pad see ew to be more savory with soy sauce but theirs is lighter. The tom kha soup is sweeter than other places I tried. Service: very warm and helpful Ambiance: casual family house style

Online ordering system kept resetting on me, I had to try to order three times before it went through. Delivery wasn’t delivered to our motel address (on the first floor next to parking lot), we had to go down and get it from the office even though room number was on the ticket. For a $50 order we got 3 small boxes of food. I asked for utensils but nothing came with the order. My sauté dish was bland meat and boiled veggies in spicy water, not great. Regretting pre-tipping

Food was average for a Thai. Service was terrible ,borderline offensive, waitress snearing when asked to adjust spice level for kids, no mid-meal check-up, had to walk to front counter to request plain rice. Restaurant was not overly busy, several vacant tables.

Very inconsistent. First time here the pad Thai was terrible - not many noodles. After a few years I returned, they did delivery and I got the best pad Thai I’ve ever eaten. Last week and today meal was no good. Why is there no consistency?? Old Fashioned pad Thai did and should have peanut sauce, a signature Thai dressing. What is pad Thai without peanut sauce I ask you? A box of noodles. I could have boiled a pot of water ... I have Thai noodles at home I got from New Lead for $3.99 FBI w/ coconut ice cream = delicious

Had lunch with friends, two of us ordered off the menu and my husband and my friend had the lunch buffet. When wanted to try their food from the buffet the waitress rushed over and reprimanded us that it cannot be shared. For fearing that it might happen again, she kept hovering around the table. It's important to mention that the servings that two people had from the buffet on 2 occasions were small, we did not want to abuse the "all you can eat" buffet. To be monitored and reprimanded, took away the pleasure of going out with friends. Food was mediocre, especially the buffet offering. I would not go back there.

My husband and I have eaten here a few times but the food is not always good because sometimes it is prepared and put together incorrectly and not balanced.... and sometimes the portions are small while other times they are normal. It's too bad ,I think they would be more popular if they could get it right every time. I have a few other friends that used to eat there and have the same problems and say the same things about them.

Laura Smith

My husband and I have eaten here a few times but the food is not always good because sometimes it is prepared and put together incorrectly and not balanced.... and sometimes the portions are small while other times they are normal. It's too bad ,I think they would be more popular if they could get it right every time. I have a few other friends that used to eat there and have the same problems and say the same things about them.

Came to the restaurant for their all you can eat lunch buffet. Arrived at the restaurant and was told that they will be closing for break in 30 min. They mentioned that we can still welcome to come in for the buffet and they will refill the empty buffet food trays for us. It took 10 min for them to get the buffet food refilled and only refilled about 3 of the dishes in the buffet section. We are a party of 4. If you do the math, 3 dishes refilled + small amount of left overs in the other dishes, divide that by 4 people does not give us an even split for a normal meal! And this is supposed to be a buffet! Another 15 min later, they came out and started taking away all the food for cleaning. Long story short, that only gave us 15 min to eat a buffet and not all the food are there. If they don't have enough time to serve use for a buffet, then they shouldn't have accepted us. And if they don't plan on refilling all the food in the buffet, they shouldn't have said they will refill all the food. We would have been happy to find another place to eat if they had told us that not all the food will be refilled and the food will be taken away in such a short period of time. They run the business like a bunch of crooks. We felt robbed out of this experience. EDIT: Checking my credit card statement later, I found that they added $5 more into the transaction than what it was before! I still have the customer receipt to confirm this. Crooks! STAY AWAY from this restaurant! Disputing with credit card company on this overcharged transaction as I type.

restaurant with terrible service. I said three times when ordering that I would eat in the restaurant, not take away. brought out a bag with food. ate like a pig. having created (by myself) a rest for a spoon and called a rice plate from cardoon. tom yum - do not order. liquid and tasteless.

I am a tourist from Northern California. This was one of the worst experiences ever . The food looked great and presentable, however the taste was a zero . I ordered a take out for a beef noodle soup, spicy beef stir fry and a bbq pork ribs. It all cost $52 including tips. There was no condiments , nor Utensils. There was no taste and no flavor and nothing call home. Not “real” Thai food without flavors. This restaurant doesn’t deserve a 4.2 review but a 3 star . And they need to update their hours online.

Food was good but I've never heard of a Thai food restaurant where you have to order rice separate from the curry (for $3 each). Was extremely disappointing after getting back from picking up an order to have to drive back and pay for rice that should have been included from the beginning.

So you know those nostalgic Thai food places that you remember from traveling? Dreaming of basil and spices? Ya this is NOT that place. I ordered tom yum and the lettuce wrap. I actually came back because I thought they forgot it. Nope. You get a small dish with the meat mixture and all of other ingredients to go with it. The justification for it being separate made sense but whatever the meat mixture was tasted like dirty dishwater. No lie. I couldn't force my self to eat it. It was THAT bad! And the Tom yum was absolutely nothing special but I know 550 better ways to spend $20 7 small pieces of seafood and couple of mushrooms in warm coconut milk. That's it. No veggies, no rice on the side. So I am out $40and going somewhere else. Worst Thai food I have ever had in my life.

Was really exicted to try this place but ended up finding multiple hairs in my takeout order. Had to throw the whole thing away. Super disappointed since it was more expensive than most other Thai places

If you order for pick up check your order. I order three white rice. They say the large box is rice for two and the small one is white rice for one. The box is not much difference. And the sticky rice sad. So small. Not ordering from here again. And I tip 18% too.

Poor customer service and bad listening. I ordered a vegetarian pad Thai with extra vegetables but I barely got any veggies nor tofu as the menu says and I called to let them and whoever was at the phone laughed at me. Never going there again.

Kou thor

If you order for pick up check your order. I order three white rice. They say the large box is rice for two and the small one is white rice for one. The box is not much difference. And the sticky rice sad. So small. Not ordering from here again. And I tip 18% too.

Xochitl Arnold

Poor customer service and bad listening. I ordered a vegetarian pad Thai with extra vegetables but I barely got any veggies nor tofu as the menu says and I called to let them and whoever was at the phone laughed at me. Never going there again.

No substitutions without paying an extra $2, even on “vegan and vegetarian options available”. Can’t eat bell peppers and you want to substitute for broccoli? $2. You don’t want chicken and instead want tofu (which are considered the equivalent price)? That will be $2.

Concerned about this place’s cleanliness and most importantly how they addressed our concerns about these issues. I found hair in my soup and my fork had dried food stuck to it; We brought it up to waitress, all she said was “sure ok” each time instead of apologizing on their staff’s behalf. At the end, we brought it up to our 2nd waitress and the 1st waitress who initially handled our concerns got really offended and started defending herself in an unprofessional way. Food quality was below average.

Disappointing that these folks do not understand the American Disability Act and medically trained service dogs. We got denied service here. After I mentioned denial of access, they backpedaled and tried to seat us at a table in the window in the direct sun, which I can't do due to my health. Thus denying service and discriminating and breaking the law ... again. Unfortunate, I try to be understanding to a point, but not when it is flat out discriminatory and denies me access based on my handicap. Considering discussing with the department of justice on this one. BTW-we've eaten here before with my service dog, so there's inconsistency as well.

I can make peace with paying $4 more for beef in my pad thai, but getting home and finding they used chicken anyway is just infuriating. The food was tasty but it's pricey and there are better thai options in town. Also, while I love spicy food my partner does not. The heat for a mild dish was way too strong for her and I'd say it was definitely well above mild.

byers

No substitutions without paying an extra $2, even on “vegan and vegetarian options available”. Can’t eat bell peppers and you want to substitute for broccoli? $2. You don’t want chicken and instead want tofu (which are considered the equivalent price)? That will be $2.

Sean Singh

Concerned about this place’s cleanliness and most importantly how they addressed our concerns about these issues. I found hair in my soup and my fork had dried food stuck to it; We brought it up to waitress, all she said was “sure ok” each time instead of apologizing on their staff’s behalf. At the end, we brought it up to our 2nd waitress and the 1st waitress who initially handled our concerns got really offended and started defending herself in an unprofessional way. Food quality was below average.

Bo Jocoy

Disappointing that these folks do not understand the American Disability Act and medically trained service dogs. We got denied service here. After I mentioned denial of access, they backpedaled and tried to seat us at a table in the window in the direct sun, which I can't do due to my health. Thus denying service and discriminating and breaking the law ... again. Unfortunate, I try to be understanding to a point, but not when it is flat out discriminatory and denies me access based on my handicap. Considering discussing with the department of justice on this one. BTW-we've eaten here before with my service dog, so there's inconsistency as well.