I called to make an order for pick up. I ordered 2 spicy basil chicken, level 2 and 7 spicy. According to my husband, the level 7 wasn't spicy but his taste buds are a whole other level. Spicy to him would be fire to me. The food was yummy. We also got mango and sticky rice. That was also delicious. We haven't tried Thai in a long time because we haven't liked any place. Now we're happy to have a local Thai place that we actually like! read more

For years, I was an occasional diner at Sab-E-Lee Santee, which, at six miles, wasn't the closest Thai restaurant to my house, but was the closest good one. In 2024, Sab-E-Lee Santee was rebranded; it's now called "Faidang Thai Restaurant". In February 2025, Faidang was closed by the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality for these infractions: Holding Temperatures - Major; Vermin - Major; Food Contact Surfaces - Minor; Equipment and Utensil Storage, Use - Out of Compliance; Floors, Walls, and Ceilings - Out of Compliance; Impoundment - Out of Compliance. Ewwww. read more

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This place is great. Quiet and clean, nice and relaxing. The service was good and the food was awesome. Very flavorful with quality ingredients. I had the Spicy Basil Chicken and was able to order it with no spice. It was perfect for me. My husband had the Pas See Ew with Chicken spicy level 5 just enough to make him sweat a bit. My son had the Fried Rice with pork spicy level 7, he loved it. We also had the Tom Kah soup with chicken. It was so flavorful and full of chip and veggies. I could eat a trough of it! We can't wait to go back! read more

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This is a cute little unassuming sit down spot and has been an extremely popular Thai restaurant for a long time in San Diego. It's for good reason too! The service is very slow, but also very kind and attentive. I wonder if what other reviewers are reading as "inattentive" service is actually just a respectful distance - I felt like she was really trying to give us privacy in our conversation. Regardless, it was slow to get our order and get our check, so just make sure you have time to sit and enjoy. The food is delicious. I tried the fried tofu appetizer, which came out super hot with a sweet sauce. I got the red curry, always one of my favorites. The picky stuff first: I wish they offered ground chicken because I don't love large chunks of meat. I also love more bamboo in my red curry and fewer bell peppers and smaller cuts of all veggies, but all of that is so picky that I can't imagine anyone else caring. The star of the show, the actual curry, is probably the best one I've had in San Diego. All together I think I still prefer my favorite Thai in San Diego, Bahn Thai, but Faidang is a much more accessible place to sit and enjoy a meal (more seating, fewer crowds) and is also closer to me and I believe less expensive. I really enjoyed it and will definitely be back! read more

Food is amazing and the service was great. It has been to long since I have been here but won't be long before I make it back. Clean and nice with plenty of seats and tables. food comes out hot,fresh and delicious. read more

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I've been to the OG Sab-E-Lee numerous times which is one of my favorite Thai places in San Diego, so I was thrilled to try the Santee location. It's tucked off of Mission Gorge in a strip mall and is easy to miss. We ordered it to go and had it home in under 12 minutes, was secured tightly, and still hot when we plated it out. I ordered the King's curry at level 4, the hubby ordered the Pad Thai at level 2, and we had the crab Rangoon. The curry was disappointing, overly spicy at a 4 on a scale of 10, lacked flavor, the broccoli was limp, and I wouldn't order it again. I should've stuck with my massaman or yellow tofu curry. The noodles had a nice chew but again lacked flavor. The Rangoon was crispy and the best part of our meal. I'm not sure why this location differs in taste, spice levels, and flavor so much. Perhaps it was just an off night, so I'll have to give it another go again. read more

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My favorite place ever ! Owner and service very nice . Food amazing !!! Drunken Noodle , pad thai and papaya my favorite !! Yummy read more

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This may not be to OG of the Sab-E-Lee restaurants but it's one of the last 2 standing locations with the other being in Rancho Penaquitos. I've been a Sab-E-Lee patron for years having eaten at all the locations and I'd say this cook is not the same as the one in Linda Vista because the spice levels are more palatable. They do caution their customers when ordering spicy but my eyes didn't tear up and my nose didn't run when I got a number six papaya salad. Our party of two decided to feast and get the papaya salad for an appetizer, along with the Tom kha soup which has a nifty little fire contraption to keep it hot. We usually opt for curry but this time we tried the king curry which is curry stir fry. Instead of a soup it was a highly concentrated version of the curry in a sauce. We also got the pad Thai. Which is good but not necessarily outstanding or their best dish. I would definitely re order all of these items. In the past I have had their fried rice which is very delicious. The fried rice has a char taste to it that you can only get from a very very hot wok. Difficult to achieve that taste at home. I recommend one of their fried rice dishes. Located in an unpretentious location with a coffee bean drive thru, nail salon/barber shop and a bar. It's a nice quiet little place to enjoy dinner. In the last couple of years they have renovated the inside of their restaurant making it a great place to invite family and friends for a Thai dinner. You won't be disappointed. read more

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Pretty tasty Thai food. I had a simple dish of veggies and chicken stir fry since I was looking for a healthier low sodium meal. Place is run by a nice Thai family. They have mango sticky rice too which I want to try next. read more

Faidang Thai Restaurant - Vegetable stir fry with chicken - Restaurants Near Me - Santee, California

Food is always amazing and the service is top notch. I highly recommend this place. Clean a quaint. Very nice read more

Was a long time customer of Saab-E-Lee.... Thought I'd try it, ordered Satay chicken, got fried bald chicken sticks with worst peanut sauce I've ever had served in taco shop salsa containers and had to ask for more lol. Also ordered green curry was good but smallest portion ever served to me in ANY thai restaurant. One beer and water and $40....PASS... read more

I did a Togo order since the restaurant was about to close in 30 mins. I ordered red curry with chicken spice level 10 and king curry with beef spice level 10. After I picked up the food I came home to eat it. I was disappointed with both dishes. They didn't taste good at all. Don't know how to explain the taste to both dishes. The red curry taste was off and the king curry was not there. To me, since I love spicy foods, the spice level 10 was not a 10. It was more like a 5 to me. Not sure if it was almost closing time but the food tastes off. Will not be back. read more

I would say this is one of the best Thai place we have tried in San Diego. We love the food here and the quality is consistent. Great customer services. Papaya salad Thai style: love it. Papaya is fresh and crunchy and you can adjust the spice level. You should try Thai style if you can eat dried shrimp and not allergic to peanut Curry: very good and strongly recommended. I tried different type of curry here and all are good. Pad Thai: very good, you should try this read more

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We've not been here for many years so it was nice to visit again. The interior has been redecorated since and the parking lot seemed busy with the drive thru coffee stand. Upon entering we were greeted warmly and chose to sit by a window of course. I appreciate the pick your number for the spice level. Since I'm never sure if it's gonna be too hot I chose a one. Perfect for me! The pineapple curry with brown rice was my entree. I was very happy they offer brown rice as is my preference. The mix of fruit with vegetables and curry was very pleasing to my palate. Daughter loved her drunken noodles so much she ate the whole thing! For dessert we shared an order of mango sticky rice. A must have for sure with just the right amount of sweetness. Looking forward to our next visit! Note: Lunch specials are served Tuesday thru Friday 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. read more

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No, just no. When my cousin and I walked in the place was empty- there was us and a familiar of 4 dinning yesterday afternoon. Within minutes of being seated, the sh*t show started. A female waitress and the restaurant manager were not only disagreeing with one another but full on yelling about orders, customer service and when they should speak. After using the restroom the waitress left, but that didn't mean the show was over, the entire time we were eating we were forced to listen to the manager tell the story over and over and over to the remaining staff members. If that wasn't enough, my cousin found a hair in her pad Thai noodles. One more negative? Since the waitress left, there was no one to serve us! The irony? The waitress was pleading her case that she was tending to tables and customers which is why she did not have time to talk with him. Haha! So, with her gone it took well over 30 mins for him to bring us our check. The one star I granted was for the Sam go sticky rice. read more

Faidang Thai Restaurant - Flavorless Yellow Curry - Restaurants Near Me - Santee, California

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Went here on a whim for a family's Valentines Day for our fav cuisine -happy we did Were more than pleasantly surprised at the: Service Small touches Food Service: with a smile and automatically keyed in that I needed a kids cup when I went for a booster seat. Small touches: coozie for the beer. Cool metal rice bowls, and real roses on the table Food: best looking satay love seen in a while; peanut sauce on point! Pad Thai had plenty of peanuts and panang was flavorful and spice appropriate Lastly- our picky 11yo asked for a Second portion of Calamari - now that's saying something Well done! read more

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We were disappointed in our dinner experience at Faidang Thai (formerly Sab-E-Lee - sign says new owner, same chef, same food). Mainly, the service was terrible. We were seated quickly but took ten minutes for a server to greet us and take our drinks order (which then my husband ordered a coke and never got it). Food did arrive quickly though, which was nice. But Crab Rangoon had cold parts. And they forgot my brown rice, which then took longer than when the first dishes came to the table. I had to ask for it twice. We ordered Yellow Curry with tofu and Drunken Noodles with beef and shrimp. Overall flavor of food was great. But I noticed their portions are much smaller than most other Thai restaurants. I typically ALWAYS have to take home leftovers because most restaurants provide a lot of food. Faidang portions seemed half that, so just enough for one sitting. Maybe that's American over-consumption talking, but I was disappointed in the small portion size. Ambiance was nice, such a big space for so few customers on a Friday night. Only critique was the radio was a little loud but our table was right underneath a speaker. Music was lovely but anytime a host was talking, it was a lot of loud yelling. Parking is super easy, right next to the restaurant. Quiet part of Santee. read more

This place is our to go thai in entire San Diego! The flavors are bold and incredibly authentic, they always use freshest ingredients and the portions are huge. The restaurant team is always super nice, we bring all of our guest and family here on the regular. Attached our current rotation drunken noodles, pad thai and tom kha soup! Definitely must try for everyone! read more

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Place is OK, service can be a little slow when dining in, but the food tastes good. A little pricier than other Thai options in town. I thought it was going to be different when the name changed, but it's the same thing as before when it was called Sab-e-Lee. Always plenty of parking. read more

Great Thai restaurant! The lunch special offers a great portion for a great price. The food was flavorful and I appreciated the amount of chicken that was included in the drunken noodles. The restaurant is spacious, quiet, and our server Ken was friendly and offered fast service. I'll be back! read more

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They have the best Tom Yum Soup, Thai Basil Fried Rice, Penang Curry. I love the service, they are very friendly and very nice. Nice restaurant with a reasonable price. I would love to give recommendation to all my friends and families. read more

We used to love their food. Something has changed and the food is terrible, 1 single shrimp in an order of seafood fried rice! The staff at the restaurant is also not the same, unfriendly and rude. It's not like they are busy, it's empty all the time. The guy who takes orders on the phone is always in a bad mood and argumentative if you make the mistake of asking them to make sure your fried rice comes with more than one shrimp this time! Need a good Thai recommendation for Santee or El Cajon. read more

If you're looking for the food quality of Sab E Lee-it's no longer. We've hoped for the best and given it 4 chances since the name change but our most recent visit will sadly be the last simply due to how poor the food taste and quality is. It's truly that bad now. So bummed. We were told the original recipes were all staying the same but that is sooo not the case. Ordered our fave Tom Kha soup which used to be the best in the world and literally couldn't eat it. The Curry in our other dishes was like water with very little flavor and no heat despite ordering a 6 and the chicken was like bland rubber. Didn't even finish eating it and we were starving. Do yourself a favor and try one of the other thai places in Santee. :( read more

We came in here after we saw that Sab-e-Lee refreshed with a new look and name. We had originally loved coming to Sab-e-Lee, but after a while the food went downhill so we opted to frequent another Thai restaurant on the opposite end of Santee. This renewed visit was very mediocre. The atmosphere was a similar setup, new paint, wall hangings. The feel was more modern and the music was more upbeat. Our service was excellent. We started with shrimp springrolls. These were definitely the worst spring rolls I've ever eaten. Shredded iceburg that was yellowing, no noticeable veggies such as carrots or mint. The peanut sauce was bland. Tom Yum soup was next. This was quite good. Clean broth, fresh tasting, the chicken was a bit rubbery. Panang Curry and Combo Pad Thai were our main entrees. The spice level was non existent, we ordered 5. The curry was extremely greasy and lukewarm. The noodles in the Pad Thai were a pile of mush, it seemed like they were sitting around for quite a while. Overall the food was subpar. We won't be back for a while. read more

I have been Here before it's my spot for some penang.trust you'll be back for more! I also love beef broccoli,it's savory and juicy. To be real many of their dishes are amazing. Today I was craving drunken noodles thanks to the movie on Netflix "hunger " i ordered drunken noodles with chicken and add green onions. Hitting the spot is an under statement I will come back for this dish soon And recommend you try them as is no soy sauce just embrace all the many flavors! Great customer service as well read more

Faidang Thai Restaurant - Drunken noodles - Restaurants Near Me - Santee, California

I thought this place specializes in papaya salad. I ordered it and immediately had to put lime on it to tone down the salt. With 3 wedges it still tasted bad. Extremely salty-mind you I like a lot of salt. Wouldn't recommend this place for papaya salad at all. read more

I have loved this place for many years! I didn't realize before arriving that the name had changed, but I was relieved to see signage stating the ownership and chefs remained the same. Delicious as always! They did change up the decor, so it's more "modern" now (I loved the classic decor before) but nothing to complain about. read more

The name might have changed but the food is still delicious. Everything thing is still the same don't worry! Looks like they did a nice little makeover as well. Get the nahm tok sooo good. read more

Faidang Thai Restaurant - Nahm Tok - Restaurants Near Me - Santee, California

First, walking in we were seated right away and given water. The server was prompt and took our orders and was very nice and helpful with spice level questions. Now onto the food. The chicken satay was decent. The peanut sauce tested more like peanut butter just less thick. The chicken pad Thai was just okay. The chicken was rubbery and scarce, not much flavor and it was lukewarm even though it came out fairly quickly. Now onto the pineapple chicken curry. It looks orange in the photo but it came out salmon pink. It's made with red curry instead of yellow or panang so I kept that in mind but it was odd. There were four total piece of pineapple in the whole thing and it was also lukewarm. The restaurant itself was clean and organized. The music wasn't so loud you couldn't have a normal volume conversation so that was nice. Our server also disappeared after bringing our food and we had to get up and ask for more water and then had to get up again after the person cleared our table to tell him we were ready to pay the bill. Ultimately, based of the food alone, I will not be back. There are much better Thai places in the surrounding area. read more

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Formerly Sab-E-Lee. Same owner with a fun new name that I was told meant spicy! I loved the Thai decor in the restaurant and the staff were absolutely friendly and attentive to their customers as well as their dishes! Ken was very kind to my friend and me. The quality of their food was authentic and delicious. We ordered the Drunken Noodles, Nahm Tok (beef salad), and Red Curry plus some Thai Tea. All of these were great! I would highly recommend going here for tasty food. Don't sleep on this amazing spot in Santee. Probably the best I've had in this area thus far. Also, great parking and plenty of seating. They are closed Mondays. read more

Used to be SAB-e-LEE. Same owner, same cook, different name. Food is still delicious, service the same; very timely and friendly. Parking is good and prices went up. I highly recommend this place if you are nearby. read more

Faidang Thai Restaurant - Latest Hours of operation. - Restaurants Near Me - Santee, California

This place used to Sab-a-Lee. Ordered food to go. Test food for a Thai restaurant, Tom yum soup not good ,old rotten red onions ,nothing fresh in there. Shrimp ok ,rest of it not. Green papaya salad just ok,too hot,but ok. Padthai noodles with chicken, also not very good noodles hard ,chicken dry as a hockey puck,and again nothing fresh in there. No cilantro or basil or any other vegetable. Egg rolls flavorless. Overall, for$50+ dollars very disappointing. Don't think I will waste anymore of my money here. read more

This is my new go to for Thai food now that I live in Santee. This place is located in a little strip mall and it looks sketchy as hell but I assure you the restaurant is gorgeous and they are professional and they make. Wonderful Thai food very true to the culture. I ordered drunken noodles with chicken and also green curry with chicken at a level four spicy and it was perfect for me and I'm kind of a weenie. That's not their fault but it was wonderful. I ordered takeout on a Sunday night at 8:30 even though they close at nine. My food was made perfect it was fresh and on point. read more

Such delicious food! It's been a while since I've been here (due to the pandemic) and they've definitely upgraded the place! Looks more modern and spacious inside. Food tastes just the same-- authentic Thai food! Server was also nice! Told us about his mom and aunt's story with the Sab E Lee location that closed in Linda Vista. Will definitely come back and try the desserts when we're in the area. read more

Faidang Thai Restaurant - Crispy tofu appetizer:) - Restaurants Near Me - Santee, California

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Best Chicken Noodle Soup in Santee!! New name ... same GREAT FOOD!!! Our go to Thai Restaurant. read more

BEST THAI in East County! Been coming here for years and have never been disappointed! Even the take out is on point!!! Drunken noodles, panang curry & pad Thai are my go to dishes, but honestly have yet to be disappointed when I've ventured to try something new. Food is ALWAYS fresh and delish. The service is ALWAYS great. The staff is helpful and friendly. They've remodeled and it feels more open; so glad the food is still awesome! If you're in east county, or shoot just looking for good Thai, this is the place! And make sure to try the Thai coffee *insert drool face emoji* read more

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Sad to say that the restaurant has new owners & the recipes are not the same. Even the peanut sauce for the spring rolls is too spicy now. I really, really want to keep liking SabELee, but I will be finding a new Thai restaurant. read more

It's been YEARS since I've eaten here but I won't lie I won't be coming back. I got the combo meat pad Thai level 4 which was wayyyy too hot I was not expecting the amount of heat I got from a level 4. Because my girlfriend got the spicy green beans with beef at a level 4 as well. Hers was not spicy at all. Not to mention the meat was so dry! Had no flavor other than the spiciness. We ordered out so service and ambiance had 0 factor. Food spoke for itself and it was no good. read more

Note: name changed recently but it's the same business, I found out. Food I have been to many Thai restaurants in San Diego county and this is one of my favorites. I have been coming here for about 10 years and the food is consistently excellent. The meals are very flavorful, and the ingredients are high quality. Some favorites here include the drunken noodles, panang curry, and the spring rolls. They don't pull their punches when it comes to spiciness, which I love. I usually order 8/10 and my friend orders 0/10 (not spicy) and we are always satisfied. Service Service is always prompt, professional, and helpful! Ambiance Always clean, modern, and aesthetically pleasing. Good music too. read more

This is the best Thai food I've ever eaten at a restaurant. I got the green curry, pad Thai, and fried chicken wings, and the plates were licked clean. The sauce they used for the fried chicken was sweet and spicy and simply amazing. The restaurant was also beautiful inside with warm ambiance. Lastly, I went here at night when it wasn't busy and the customer service was amazing. read more

Faidang Thai Restaurant - Restaurants Near Me - Santee, California