I heard this place was good, but when I was driving there it was hard to find. Passed it twice, I suggest to use a G.P.S but back to the food. I like curry food, and this curry food was different from what I usually get. It was more on the sauce side so it was great to mix with the rice. The downside, was there was a lot of sauce. It was different, and I like trying out different foods. My friends order, the Pad Thai, the Roasted Duck, and this soup. The Pad Thai was really good, and I recommend getting that! The Duck, was good too. I forgot what the soup was called but it was sooooooooo good, I order another one, and finished! It had ginger in it, I forgot what is was called! For sure this is a good date spot if you want Thai food! read more

Best Thai in Tucson! I love Thai food, so I've tried a few restaurants in town. This is the closest to authentic that I've had so far. read more

Char's Thai - Thai Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

I will admit that my rating is limited but this is for their Vegetarian Pad Thai with Tofu - so good. I have been trying to recreate it at home and have failed many a time. Have gotten this dish 3 times and planning on many more! read more

Seven of us ate here last night, and we all enjoyed our Thai food. Having been to Thailand, I am critical, and to me all the food here was reminiscent of food we had in Thailand, and very tasty. We had several curries, pad thai, and squid. The curries (green, yellow, red, and panang) all were appropriately different in spices, the squid was sweet and my wife said the pad thai was the best she has had. There were no chopped peanuts on it, however, but there was a generous helping of large fresh shrimp. Service was slow but good. Prices were very reasonable, nothing was over $10. They also have great $6.95 lunch specials. They must have remodeled as we found the atmosphere and decor pleasant enough. The restaurant was about half full so it was comfortable and not overly noisy like many places. read more

Delicious food -- i got takeout menus on my way out & will definitely be going back! We had the pad thai and a beef in peanut sauce, which were delicious. Service was really nice and pretty fast, considering how busy they were. The Singhas were cold and the desert murals on the wall with thai warriors added in are so awesome. Thank goodness for yelp -- now I can get my Thai fix on in Tucson! read more

If you want the best Thai Food in Tucson, this is the place to go. I especially like the curries and veggie fried rice. If you are vegetarian, be sure to ask for your plate with no fish sauce. Only downside is the ambiance isn't spectacular. But more than made up for by the food. read more

So we decided to give it another try. We got there and there were only two more tables at 12:15. We notice that they are open on Sunday's now. The guy was short and not very friendly the food came out in a decent time. First thing we notice is Where Is my FOOD. One thing that drives me crazy is when restaurants cut the portions and give you less food for smaller portions. Please don't do that. I do t mind paying more but I want my food. The food was good but not excellent like it use to be. I waited 3 months to come back and yes I'm still very desapointed. read more

Char's Thai - Thai Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

We decided to try this place out, while we are in town. We came here for lunch with hopes of finding a good thai restaurant. We were not disappointed! We were seated right away and it didn't take long for them to come and take our order. The waitress was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. She was also able to recall dishes from the menus. They took our order at 12:18pm and our food was ready by 12:29. Which was perfect because we had to be back at work at 1pm. Loved it and would totally come back. read more

Char's Thai - Thai Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Went here with coworkers at their recommendation. Venue/decor is bleak and dreary. The food is subpar in both quality and appearance. Both the food and place can be a lot more vibrant. There are better thai places to eat in town. Dont bother with anything else besides the curry here. read more

Stop. Don't even go here. A truly bad dining experience start to finish. On arrival we were promptly seated then ignored for 9 minutes. After the order was taken another 7 minutes went by before we had to ask for our drinks. We started with egg rolls at 2.00 each that came on a plate with no garnish and little taste. We had 4 people and 4 different entrées. All were bland, with extremely liquidy sauces. The service throughout was very poor, the prices way too high, and the decor dreck. I spoke with the person in charge before leaving and don't beleave they really care. We won't be back. read more

Used to be my favorite,used to ,they have gone cheapo!Sauce is watered down to save money,skimpy on the brocklie I ordered,extra,got one piece.The wine you get is in a tiny glass,shameful size for the price your charged.Really to bad,they are so skimpy now.Many other places to to a fair shake. read more

Very disappointing. There were only 4 patrons in the restaurant throughout our meal and we were a party of 3. Not a good sign. My husband and a friend each ordered ordered chicken massaman curry and were not impressed. The portion was incredibly meager... A few pieces each of chicken, onion and white potato instead of the traditional sweet potato. No carrots or other vegetables. The thin broth was plentiful but tasted heavily of paprika, not peanuts. I ordered the vegetable curry with added fried Tofu. The Tofu was not heated through and tasted like it had been kept uncovered in the fridge for over a week. I had more vegetables than my husband (of course, it was a veg curry), but I found myself spooning through the thin broth looking for something more to eat. Even the portions of rice were meager. The three of us left hungry, determined never to visit this establishment again. read more

4.5 stars. Great atmosphere, quiet even though it was during the dinner rush. The staff was courteous and prompt. Nice place to have a simple no-nonsense Thai meal. read more

Char's Thai - Pan Priking. Loved it! Next time I'm getting the HOT version. - Thai Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

I have been coming to this restaurant since I was a little girl. Now as a grown woman I bring my own children here. The food is absolutely the best Thai food I have ever eaten!!! Thank you for your incredible service after all these years. Your devoted customer. read more

Wanted to try something new... not what I expected... I wish 1/2 a star was an option Horrible service Food didn't taste good Hairs in our food My boyfriend and I went here to eat last night. First my boyfriend ordered Diet Coke and then they gave him coke(which is fine because it gets busy and people mess up) but we told our waitress and she took about 10 mins to get him his drink he order. Then on multiple occasions he need his cup refilled and they just passed us and didn't even care.. Also they gave me a regular cup and they gave him this like kids cup which I found very odd. The worst part of the whole experience was the food. First it didn't taste good... and we found 3 strands of hair in our food... we told the waitress and all the manager did was give us 10% off the two dishes... then we were disgusted so we asked for the check. 20 minutes to get the check... it was horrible experience.. worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant... Never going back read more

I recently had some self-important douche on here accuse me of ripping off other people's reviews, so I'm going to tread lightly. As such, I will assiduously only mention things other people have not touched upon. 1. This place is super hit-or-miss, in my humble opinion. Some nights, the pad kee mao tastes like God's saliva, and other nights, I feel as though I'm paying to suck on a taxicab's floor mat. 2. I haven't eaten at this place in a while, but I used to live across the street from it. The last day I lived at my old apartment, I witnessed 3 border patrol SUVs pull up in front of the place, haul what I can only assume was the entire kitchen staff out of the establishment and in to the back of their trucks, and then go back in for beverages...classy. This may not bring anything to bear on the review, but I can't help but wonder if the quality of the food has changed since then. 3. The sweet, sticky rice dessert = sex. Seriously, if you don't lose control of your bodily functions while eating it, please hit yourself in the face a few times. 4. The table tops were, as best as I can tell, designed by a middle school arts and crafts class. One is adorned with collaged pictures of Elvis, Nicole Richey, and Jessica Simpson. Another is littered with southeast Asian travel brochures. I'm not sure what they add to the place's ambiance, but at least they're strange. 5. Char's is better than Karuna's in basically every respect, if only because, when I eat there, I neither feel as though I'm going to get typhoid by sitting in a booth, nor do I (to quote Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice) feel like I'm going to have a stroke from the amount of MSG in the food. 6. I loves me the red curry. They'll actually make it spicy for you. Generally speaking, food is served on a "white person spiciness" spectrum, but they will actually listen to you if you ask them to pump up the jam. Char's is decent Thai food in a city that is left severely wanting. It gets three stars from me, because it feels like an oasis in a desert of bleah. Sure, the pad thai is still drowning in grease, and the chicken could be a little less tough, but compared to the alternative, the choice is an easy one. read more

It's been a while since I've been here, but tonight's dinner pretty much guarantees I won't be back. Although the veggie spring rolls were good, the main dishes were WAY TOO SWEET, especially the Pad see ew. I only ate it because I was hungry and no one came to ask how we were enjoying our meals. Pad see ew, a noodle dish, is my favorite and I've had it at many different Thai restaurants, but this just left a bad taste in my mouth. read more

I don't understand why this place has decent reviews. We ordered salad, curry and noodles so we can get a cross section of the food here. All three were way below expectations. I've been to Thailand a few times and grew up in the bay area so maybe my expectations are off. Thai food is usually full of fresh spices and ingredients and even little vendors on the streets understand this. The food was the cloyingly sweet, bland food and at times not fresh. The papaya seafood salad: the imitation crab (why?) was freezer burned, the calamari was unevenly cut so cooked unevenly and overall tasted fishy in a bad way. Papaya salad usually has fish sauce and salted crab (or dried shrimp) but it still comes off as clean, fresh, spicy (not just hot) and delicious. This version of papaya salad was the old seafood taste. As for curry I tried panang because like pad thai how do you mess that up right? I can understand maybe Tom Yum with more spices missing a few things harder to find in Tucson (like Kaffir lime or galanga or lemongrass) but panang? All sweet and no spices (not even spicy). Can't taste peanuts either. The veggies were under-cooked. The other dish was the same way. No basil, no chili... I was sad after eating today... If you're looking for Thai food, go to the monthly dinner at the Thai Temple (Wat Buddhametta) in Tucson. It's a fundraiser for the temple and the food is not fancy but solidly good. They don't bother try to convert you but want people to enjoy the food. Or if it is not the third Saturday of the month and you don't mind driving, go to Saing Thai Cuisine out in Rita Ranch where the couple running the restaurant will tell you made them happy that you ate all your food because that means you like it. read more

New in town we had heard that Char's is one of the best Thai restaurants in Tucson. I hope that is not true, because not only was it disgusting, it was one of the worst restaurants I have ever been in...easily the worst Thai restaurant, and amongst the worst of any kind. The place is ugly and dirty, and the service is beyond horrible. The only thing worse than the service was the food. We ordered a number of dishes so as to get a good variety. The Seafood Combination Soup ($14.95) was first delivered with no seafood. The server argued that we had ordered a vegetable soup, then agreed to add seafood. This amounted to 4 small shrimp, 2 mussels, and 5 pieces of fake crab legs. It was way too sweet, and barely tolerable. The Pad Prigking ($9.95) - we ordered it with pork. It was supposed to be in a prigking sauce, but was in a curry. It was overcooked and way too sweet, but we ate half of it. The Larb Neau ($7.25) tasted spoiled and was completely inedible. We worry that the spoonful we did put in our mouths will result in food poisoning. The Pla Ladprig ($14.95) - trout, was the best of all dishes, but because it was "drowned" in the wrong sauce, it was still far below our expectations. The servers were rude and ignorant. The woman cashier who appeared to be the owner was extremely rude and appeared to be annoyed with everyone. Not only will we never return, we will tell everyone who will listen that they should stay away from that disgusting armpit of an excuse for a restaurant. This place should be shut down. read more

Great Thai food. Panang curry the best! With just the right amount of heat, fish sauce, and peanut flavors.

As far as Thai food goes, this is my favorite by far. A delicious hole in the wall if you ask me. It's hard to find so keep your eyes open when you're on 5th street in between Swan & Craycroft. So here goes, first order the Thai Iced Tea, second order the Pad Thai, it doesn't matter what kind Chicken, Beef, or Shrimp, third order Yum Won Sen, fourth order the yellow Chicken Curry with potatoes, and last but not least the Pineapple Fried Rice. They are ALL to die for. Oh one more thing, I can't remember what it's called but the hot pot sour soup is PERFECT for the cold whether. When Spring and Summer come remember to order the Sweet Mango Sticky Rice for dessert. A GREAT family owned restaurant. A MUST GO EATERY... read more

I ordered some Thai food the other day because I had a long day. They gave great great service! I ordered panang curry with beef, two eggrolls, and another dish with yellow curry. Our food was good! My fiance loved it. Something about panang curry soothes the soul. The eggrolls were crispy and not dripping in oil. The only thing is I said medium for the spice and it was really mild not spicy at all next time I will say HOT. We enjoyed it we didn't dine in though just picked up. So I will have to come back to this review at a later date when we dine in. read more

When my son comes to town we always go to Chars. So far I have never had anything I did not like.. All the entries are excellent... My son always orders so I honestly do not know what I am eating;; I just enjoy! I know Pad Thai, fabulous.. Red and Yellow curry delicious. plus everything else;; read more

While I always try to do my part to ensure that friends support Tucson originals, they need to uphold their end of the bargain. Char's has done business from the cozy 5th Street storefront for more than ten years. The floating palace painted onto a southwestern mural is kitsch central, but they've become complacent about their food. My friend and I like it hot; I remember when I was able to order Tom Kha Gha SPICY at Char's and my eyes would water. I didn't used to mind when the appetizer and entree were served at the same time because doggonit this was a fine Thai restaurant in mid-town. We carefully explained that we wanted our pad thai HOT and it was sweet and bland. When we told our server, she handed us a lazy susan with a few spice pots. She pointed out the "hot" one, and although we doused both soup and entree, nothing produced even a minor burn. For those who simply crave decent Thai toast, green beans in chile sauce milder than Campbell's soup, and a rice and chicken stuffed pineapple (which will bring an "ooo" and "aaa" from a dinner group), Char's can still suffice. Sadly, though, P.F. Chang has a more diverse menu, more competitive prices, and much better service. read more

I will have to say I have been to several Thai places in the US and in Europe and this is actually the best one I have eaten at! Although I have only tried a few things on the menu I must give this place 4 stars until I try more. None the less everything I have tried has exceeded expectations. To start, Char's is open lunch ( Monday - Friday 11 am - 3 pm) and for dinner (Monday - Thursday 5 - 9:30 pm) and is open a little later on Fridays and Saturdays (5 - 10 pm) I recommend going their if you are looking for a good place for lunch it is very cheap and you get a good amount of food. Like most places they offer appetizers and desserts along with their lunch and dinner menus. To drink their ice tea and Thai tea are absolutely addicting, if you are a tea lover you will probably search for the nearest Thai market after your meal to buy it and will never go back to Lipton. It may also cause temptations to bathe in it's glory as well, well at least if that's what your in to. Char's offers a variety of menu items from beef, chicken, fish, and pork to a variety of vegetable and tofu dishes ranging from mild to hot in taste. If you come to dinner be prepared to take food home with you, you do get a good amount of food. Most dishes come with rice so you really don't have to pay for the "extras" some places charge you. They have one of the best pad Thai and curry meals I have ever tried. I also love their ka ree and panang dishes as well. I recommend to get them hot to get the full flavor of the dishes. If you are looking for soup I recommend the tom kha gai it has a really pleasant flavor. Their service is fast and meals come out piping hot, believe me they really do not disappoint. I really like their decor as well its unique and makes me laugh every time I go there. The one thing that I don't like is that it is easy to miss if you are going to it. It is located off of 5th street heading west past rosemont. It is in a small shopping complex across from 2 apartment complexes, pay close attention when you get to the cross streets because you will miss it and next thing you know your at the U of A. read more

Yes, Tucson May be short on Thai food, and I never been to Bangkok, but the food is tasty and as good I've ever had. Hearing Thai spoken in the kitchen is a good sign to me. I love it. It's worth ever penny and although can hard to find tucked away on 5th St., I highly recommend. I eat there often and am never disappointed. read more

I went here with a friend a while ago. It's located in a strip mall but it isn't too bad inside. I like that some of the tables are themed (we sat at the princess Diana table apparently). They have great prices for lunch and I LOVE that they have a lot of vegetarian options or you can make almost anything vegetarian. I asked and she offered to not only exclude the meat but also add a bunch of other veggies ( all for the lunch price). The food was good. Not the best Thai I've ever had but certainly not the worst. I won't be driving across town to be back but if I'm in the area again Ill keep this in mind. read more

It's overpriced, the portions are consistently too small, and it's not as tasty as other Thai places in Tucson, like Karuna's.

They serve a soup with magical power.."Tom" something.....Thai vegetable soup. Wonderfully yum. If you have a cold or feel one coming on, eat this soup and you will be well. I'm not kidding. read more

Wow! What happened ? Came into this place today for lunch.. Dead!! Now I can figure y! Lady said hey changed ownership and prices are higher! They might as well serve the lunch specials in a cup.. Pretty sad, we've been customers over 20 years.. Well sometimes change is NOT good .. Hope new owners read this !! read more

Such delicious Thai food! I have been here many times and have never been disappointed. Although I cannot remember the exact name of my dish, it never fails to satisfy with it's variety of crispy vegetables, well cooked mushrooms (cooked, but not soggy - big difference!), and well prepared meat that is firm without being tough or hard to chew. The Thai tea is a personal favorite drink of mine, although the particular spice in it may not be to everyone's liking - I find it wonderfully different and sweet without being sickening (it's rather refreshing). Additionally, I can never refrain from getting their melt-in-your-mouth coconut ice cream, which is cool and rich and melts right away when it hits your mouth so that you aren't overwhelmed by that thick flavor. The peanuts on top add a nice nutty flavor with some good texture. Prices are all very reasonable for the portions and quality of the food. The waitstaff is very friendly (although I felt a little like I was being shooed out of the restaurant the last time I went even though there weren't customers waiting to be seated). The decor is wonderfully bizarre, with the tables consisting of pictures ranging from desert plants to gorgeous Thailand scenes to celebrities and the pictures on the walls depicting epic battles between Thai creatures (could be religious figures) across desert landscapes - I've heard the desert paintings were leftover from the restaurant's past life as a western joint. For delicious Thai food served by a friendly and obviously hard working group of Thai ladies (don't think I've seen a guy working there!), Char's is the place to go! Love the warm cozy feeling. read more

Came here as a recommendation and unfortunately it was not what we expected. The food was completely off starting with chewy noodles and rice. The fried shrimp and veggie tempura were greasy and tough to eat. On the plus side the service was good and accommodating to one guest of our group with allergies which is appreciated. read more

We tried this on a recommendation from someone. I'm not so sure of their experience with Thai food, but this place did not live up the expectation. The flavor of the different dishes we had from soup to entrees was bland. It lacked any kind of flavor. The only thing that helped a little was adding some chili sauce, but that just made it more spicy. We tried an appetizer that was supposed to be shrimp/pork/wonton along with fried vegetables. It was a sad imitation of tempura. Everything was greasy and the grease tasted old. Like so many places and different foods, it is always a personal experience. Ours was not good. Others have liked the food her. It is all up to the individual's taste. read more

We arrived at the restaurant at 6PM, and were seated immediately. We told the waitress that two friends would be joining us shortly. The waitress dropped four menus on the table, and our friends arrived after about five minutes. As none of us had ever patronized the place previously, we needed some time to review the menu, but the waitress insisted upon taking our order immediately. We thought that a bit offensive, but made our selections under duress. The meals arrived almost too promptly, and we dived in. None of the selections were especially tasty, and given the fact that I'd eaten Thai many times in other locales, I would have to assert that the fare was rather bland, and not at all inviting. After a few minutes, we were beginning to finish consuming what we could could, and the help descended upon us, swarming us, and briskly removing all items from our table. We weren't asked about dessert, nor was any inquiry made about the quality of our meals or our dining experience. We leaned back against our chairs to enjoy a little relaxed conversation. Almost instantly, the manager (owner) lady approached us, dropped to her knees beside our table, hands folded as in prayer, and informed us that we would have to vacate our table. She explained that another party was waiting to be seated. We were shocked, having never encountered such rude treatment in decades of dining all over the USA and several foreign countries. We departed immediately--total time at the table -1 hour. Food-2 stars out of five Experience-zero stars out of five read more

Nice quiet atmosphere. Very good chicken satay. #28 was a little gamey but my daughter liked it all gone.

Char Thai is the best Thai restaurant I've tried in Tucson. The food is fresh and if you order your meal 'Thai hot' it actually comes hot. My orders were accurate and the employees didn't print a snarky emoji on the receipt. (See Bangkok Cafe Tucson) The prices were higher than expected but that won't stop me from returning. read more

This place is overpriced. Also prices on the online menu are not accurate. My husband and I placed an order of two entrees and two egg rolls and our total was almost $40. The lady on the phone rather rude when we asked to verify the prices of our items. We cancelled our order & will not be ordering from this place in the future. read more

Char's Thai is really the best Thai food in town. Sometimes it's hard to convince them to make the food spicy enough, and sometimes the service isn't great, but it's still worth a visit. read more

Yes! This place is great and they have a huge menu. I ended up getting pad thai with shrimp (about $8) because I was told it would be the best ever, and it was definitely the best I've had. I can't remember what else we got, but it was great. I really want to go back and try their other stuff since they had so many different things I hadn't had before. read more

Second favorite Thai restaurant in Tucson, very friendly staff and luckily 5 min from home! My mother who is Thai also loves the food here. Unfortunately they did not have home made fish cakes when we went (tod mun) read more