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Elephant Cafe

4.2 (873 reviews)
ModerateThai, Noodles, Soup
Closed • 11:30 am - 3:00 pm, 4:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Updated 3 months ago

Order Elephant Cafe Takeout or Delivery

Elephant Cafe Photos

Business Info

ELEPHANT CAFE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for groups
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - Elephant Cafe

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Reviews With Photos

Orange chicken
Marisol R.

The best orange chicken I've EVER had! Always light crispy and side of the orange sauce is just amazing! Did I mentioned all white meat?! I have continued to order this 2-3x per week! Soooo addicted to it. The egg fried rice on point! I mean i seriously can't say anything better than this place is one of my favorites!

Egg Rolls (5 Pieces)
Sylvie C.

This is a long overdue review for my favorite Thai restaurant in the area. It's rare for me to be able to say that there isn't a single item on the menu I wouldn't recommend from this place. My favorite go-to items are the spicy eggplants, green curry, and their fried rice. Thai food is a great way to enjoy loads of vegetables without feeling like you're eating mouth full of bland vegetables. Whenever I am doing my 3x weekly meatless supper days, it's the first place I get my food from. What I really appreciate about the Elephant Cafe location is how flavorful the food is without it being too greasy, watery, or sweet. When I select spicy as the spiciness level, it's actually perfectly legitimately spicy. It makes my hot tooth sing and so happy. Parking is free and plenty in front of the restaurant. Takeout orders are always ready upon arrival and service efficient and friendly. The inside decor is beautiful. Many elephant related objects are carefully displayed. It's absolutely gorgeous. I know I wouldn't mind bringing my family here as we used to love visiting Bangkok to enjoy Thai food.

Pumpkin Curry
Vicky W.

Came with my mom to visit her friends in Irvine, they brought us here because they come here quite often because of the good quality of the food. Very welcoming and cozy environment as we walked in. I like seasonal food so I ordered a pumpkin curry with beef and mild spicy. Excited and looking forward to tasting my food. The wait time was a bit longer than I expected since there were only less than 5 tables in the restaurant but I did not want to criticize too soon. Took a bite and I almost clapped in the restaurant, it was SO good and flavorful. The pumpkin curry was so creamy and smooth, the spice was perfect and I even finished a whole bowl of rice which I have not done in years. So you know how good the food was. I will come back for sure but I need a ride lol really not a fan of driving.

Crying Tiger
Sydney H.

Elephant Cafe is my favorite Thai place ever! I love a cozy, homely spot. It's best to come with a larger group and order multiple things to share because you really have to try it all. The crying tiger is especially good - the tender steak with the tangy nam jim jaew sauce hits every time. The tom kha is also amazing with its spicy, sour, and creamy broth. I love that soup is served in a fire pot so it stays warm throughout the meal. On top of the food, the service here is great; everyone is very helpful and attentive no matter how busy it gets. I can't recommend this place enough, sooo tasty and comforting :)

Eating some danks.
Leslie B.

This place is so underrated. Such a hidden gem for great tasty Thai food. The service is great and food is delicious. Definitely recommend

Very stringy Chicken Satay (comes with 4 Pieces)
Rana F.

My husband and I love the papaya salad here. We will come grab papaya salad as a side even if we're cooking at home. I usually order the mild and it's good but the last time was extremely spicy and I couldn't eat it. I ordered the green curry with eggplant and chicken. Was very good. I loved the flavors of the curry. It could've used more eggplant. We also decided to try the chicken skewers but unfortunately they were a very weird texture and very stringy which is unfortunate because the peanut dipping sauce they came with was delicious but not enough to save it :/ wont be ordering that one next time

Rice
Victoria L.

Finally! We've found a solid, reasonably priced, consistent Thai restaurant in the OC. Every curry (green, yellow, red, and panang) we've tried has delicious savory and slightly sweet, creamy flavor. Chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu - regardless of protein, it's all good. The pad thai is sweeter than I'd prefer but others in my family enjoy it. The spice/heat level in most dishes can be adjusted to preference. Attentive service. Dishes come out at a great pace. Nice for a casual business lunch, family meal, and friends meet-up.

Sticky Rice with Mango  Dessert (Seasonal)
John W L.

Colorful interior and friendly customer service. We went for lunch on a Sunday and were seated immediately. The food is authentic Thai cuisine and reminded me of the delicious Thai food I had growing up while traveling to Thailand. I enjoyed the meal and the dessert was spot on.

Tom Yum Seafood Soup
Rachel T.

Very cute Thai place in Lake Forest- Laguna Hill area. I'm suprised with their traditional decoration inside. Soup and broth are clear, Usually when I try tom yum the broth is usually more orange color ( because of the tomato) however to my surprise, it was a perfect balance of sweet and sour taste in their TomYum . We also tried the crispy fried wonton and it was decent I was impressed with their unique ceramic bowls and plates. Recommend going here if you're in the Laguna Hills area and wants some good quality Thai Food 3.9/5

Spicy eggplant tofu and mixed vegetable tom yum
Melissa O.

The spicy eggplant and tofu was so perfect that for the first time in the 20 years that I've been eating Thai food I didn't add any condiments at the table. Boom. And something as simple as the mixed vegetables tom yum could be such a write off other places - but here it's craveable. Chock full of vegetables, spicy, sour, perfect. The one less than bright spot was the Pad Thai which was mostly noodles and had very little egg or scallions and very little tamarind or dried shrimp flavor. That being said, the tofu was cooked beautifully and was served in a massive portion. Service is wonderful. Prices are great. Would return to keep trying more of the menu.

Reese J.

I've lived in South OC for so long and have always seen Elephant Cafe and was always curious about it. We got to visit on a Wednesday for dinner. We got seated right away. The restaurant has plenty of seating inside and the aesthetics is very cultured. It took a while for a server to greet us and take our order. We ordered shrimp fried rice and yellow curry. The food came out pretty quickly. Food had great flavor. I would definitely come back and try their other food items on their menu.

Pad Kee Mao Noodles, Crab Fried Rice, Rad Nah Noodles, Massaman Curry
Yena W.

This Thai restaurant is so good with cool protein options like duck and crispy pork. I love to get the pad thai with combination seafood because there are lots of generous fish portions that are deliciously grilled. The papaya salad is zingy and fresh. It feels like a comfortable mom and pop Thai restaurant.

Thai Basil Fried Rice
Alison R.

On this cold evening warm Thai food sounded perfect! One of our favorite local places is Elephant Cafe in Lake Forest. This small restaurant is on a busy corner intersection so if you aren't paying attention, you can miss the driveway to enter and then you have a long block before you can turn around. Elephant Cafe is a charming place with super friendly staff and amazingly authentic food. There are plenty of options for everyone. They even customize the level of heat on many of their dishes. Tonight the place was hopping! Booths full of customers chatting away and a constant flow of take out orders. I got take out as well and only had to wait about 10 minutes or so for our food. Tonight's menu was fried wonton, Thai Basil Fried Rice with veggies and Mild heat and Pad Kee Mao noodles with Chicken and Mild heat. We are so happy eating our yummy Thai food and watching college basketball at home! Prices are excellent too and I highly recommend Elephant Cafe!

Tofu Pad Thai Noodles

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11 months ago

Went here for lunch. Service was quick and friendly. The Pad Thai was a bit on the sweeter side which I liked.

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Elephant Cafe Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Elephant Cafe

Are you open for dine-in now?

Yup! Both dine in and patio seating is available

Can they prepare chicken dishes using dark meat?

Do they have vegan options?

Yes they do. The food is delicious and cheap considering it's location in So. OC. My wife and I are foodies and have been to numerous Thai restaurants all over LA and OC counties to include little Thailand in LA. This restaurant is as good as the… 

Are they gluten free?

No.

View All 5 Questions

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Soba Izakaya Minami - Lots of seating with bar counter seats as well

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Elephant Cafe - thai - Updated October 2026

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