The Magic Kitchen has the best Pad Thai I have found nationally. But this last experience at their second location, North Lewis Street, was a big disappointment only because of the waitress. She obviously didn't want to be there nor did she want us to be there. Had the waitress been more friendly, involved or just wanting to do her job, I would have given it 5 stars. read more

Magic Kitchen has the best Thai food in Springfield with huge portions for not a lot of money. They're usually very busy, especially at lunch, and it's for a reason. read more

Literally the best green curry I've had since coming back from Thailand! Their medium spicy was just enough for me... and I'm Indian and love my spice! I got the Green Curry tofu and added mushrooms and my friend got the beef basil and she loved it! It is a hole in the wall, but the food is great! read more

This is a hole in the wall place The "Magic" in the name comes from the fact that when you order your Egg Rolls, they deliver only the deep fried wrapper with nothing inside. The stuffing you expect is magically not there. Seriously, DONT ask for the egg rolls. The WORST I have seen in my life. There are no lunch specials, just the same items for a $1 or so less than the dinner item. Typically lunch items are combos with a soup or egg roll, not here. Apart from the egg rolls, The entrees were bordering on being alright. The portions were a bit smaller. the tables and the place overall needs a deep cleaning, it wasnt very clean. But I would not return to this place. Unfortunately, this seems to be the trend with restaurants in Springfield - below average and very disappointing. read more

$51 without a tip for a dinner of three (crab rangoon - 4 pieces, veggie wraps - 3 tiny pieces, lemon grass soup, shrimp panang cury, my friend ordered something with pork). Meal size was tiny! Like an appetizer. They ran out of thai beer! My friend joked it must have been a while then since they had at least four different thai beers listed in menu and they had NONE! Rice was hard and undercooked. Overall my panang cury shrimp tasted ok, but for $14 a dish Id expect left overs to take home. The place itself wants to ask a question whether its an old ran down McDonalds that has been closed down a while ago. Seriously Ive seen fast food places decorated better. No comments about cleaninness. Not returning! read more

Wasn't impressed. Sara B and I went and it was just a-ok like she said. Then again, there is another Magic Kitchen, the original, I think, and it may be the top dog. We'll hit it up. Maybe tonight!!! read more

Favorite Thai food ever!! I always get 2 orders of the egg rolls bc they are so good! Can't go wrong with this place

This used to be my favorite place for Thai in the area and just a top place to go in general. How ever over the past year I have decided I will never eat here again. The service has always been poor but I overlooked that due to the quality of food. I can no longer say that. Its just inconsistent and over priced. I shouldn't have to ask for hot plus plus just so my meal doesn't taste like nothing. Apparently its either so hot that my eyes sweat ( I love spicy food) or ZERO spice at all. read more

Tried this place once and will not be back. Interior is dirty and food is not good. Ordered a chicken dish and the meat was horrible.

The garlic white pepper chicken is the best! The female server I had was not the nicest person.

Visiting Springfield for work, I was told to eat here. The exterior was in disrepair; needed paint and updating. The interior was clean and we'll kept. I ordered in advance for carry out - chicken pad Thai. (I know, I know, so typical, but I LOVE IT!). I asked for level 3 and they advised they offer: mild; mild plus; medium; etc. I ordered mild plus and it was FANTASTIC!!! Fresh chicken, and bean sprouts and green onions and fresh peanuts. My only disappointment was the attentiveness of the staff. The young girl that retreived my food was nice but the other server was loudly discussing (not ignorable) that she had asked for Christmas Eve off, while the owner was defending her need for the server to be there . . . In my opinion, this should All be discussed out of the customer's ear shot. They barely knew I was there to pick up food. I'd eat there again. read more

We briefly (a little over a year) lived in Springfield, IL six years ago, but we've always had fond memories of Magic Kitchen. The green curry chicken was to DIE for, and my husband craved their pad Thai long after we left. We returned to Springfield this past week-end to visit family, and to re-visit our favorite restaurants in the area, Magic Kitchen being one of them. To say it was a disappointment would be a HUGE understatement. Every single aspect of our meal was horrible. We walked in the door and had no idea whether we were intended to wait for a hostess, or to seat ourselves. Since there was no sign and no sign of a hostess, we made our way to a table. We waited only briefly before a very awkward, uncomfortable server showed up to take our drink orders and leave menus for us. My husband decided to shake things up a bit and order the Three-Flavor fish; I ordered my favorite, green curry chicken, and my mother-in-law ordered cashew chicken. As soon as our food arrived, I knew something was drastically wrong. My green curry chicken bore no resemblance to the dish I remembered; a sweet, spicy delight in a creamy sauce served over rice. Instead, I was served a dry dish consisting mainly of bamboo shoots and tiny slivers of chicken coated in green curry paste and served over rice. There was no sauce; the dish was extremely dry. My husband's three-flavor fish consisted of a few chunks of EXTREMELY pungent fish in a strange sweet and sour sauce served over rice. My MIL's cashew chicken had no discernible traces of chicken, and precious few cashews. I took two bites of mine, then set it aside. My husband and MIL powered through and ate most of their meals. I'm ashamed to admit that none of us felt comfortable in telling our server, "Look...this is horrible. I'd like to order something that you know to be edible, or you can remove my entree from the bill." But no...my husband paid for our meal and we went on our merry way, stopping at Taco Bell to get something for me to eat. Since we no longer live there, I have no idea what happened to this place. New ownership? New chef? All I know is that we will never, ever, EVER go back, and I would strongly discourage anyone from trying this restaurant if they have a craving for Thai food. read more

The food has gone downhill in the last couple of years but the real disappointment is the horrible service. There are 2 male waiters there that are the rudest that I have ever encountered. I have heard the same complaint over and over again from friends. MeKong is far superior. read more

I've been here many times and I don't know whether to give this place five stars or two stars because sometimes the food is phenomenal and other times it's just sub-par. I don't know if it's just different cooks or what, but that's been my experience. More often than not the food is at least decent - it's just frustrating because I've gone here and had such delicious food and then I get the same dish the next time and It's just okay. The service here is not great - sometimes it's good, but often times you have to wait quite a bit to get seen. read more

I go to this place 3 times a week, it is right down the street from where I work. The chicken chili paste is awesome and the people who work here are friendly! A+++++ read more

As a former Springfield resident, I used to frequent the location on Peoria Rd and absolutely LOVED the food. The garlic & white pepper chicken, the bume noodle soup (dry), and, of course, their egg rolls and peanut sauce....just divine! I recently had to come to Springfield on a business trip and was really excited about going to the new (well, new to me....this one opened after I'd left Springfield) location on Lewis Street for lunch. Unfortunately, the service was so poor, I never actually got to eat the food while I was in town. I stopped in the restaurant, hoping to dine-in, and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to seat myself or wait to be seated, as there was no hostess nor was there signage telling me which I was supposed to do. After a few minutes standing there, another customer finally told me I was supposed to seat myself. So....I sat down and waited about 10-15 minutes for a member of the wait staff to acknowledge me. They never did. They bustled about the dining room, clearing off tables, but no one came over to take my order. Meanwhile, a guy who came in AFTER I did got waited on within a couple minutes, while I still sat there, waiting for someone to come to my table. Because I only had an hour for lunch, and had to get back to the office for a meeting, I knew that even if someone came over right then, I probably wouldn't have time to eat my food. So, stomach growling, I put on my coat and left. Very disappointing. I still plan to go to the Magic Kitchen the next time I am in town, but I think I'll stick with the one on Peoria Rd. It's not as convenient, but I have never had bad food OR bad service at THAT location. read more

I order the same thing every time I eat here Pad See Ew with vegetables, chicken, extra shrimp and add bean sprouts . My order was made incorrectly and when I drove all the way home and saw it was a completely different meal I called and let them know. They told me to come back and it would be corrected. Mind you it about a 15 minute drive both ways and I had the flu. When I arrived the lady said she would have to charge me for the corrected order too. She said that they had Chicken Pad Thai written down and that is what they made. I understand that completely but it isn't what I ordered. She then began to yell and got very rude in front of everyone. I asked "Let me get this right I am expected to pay twice for the mistake that you made?" It took one of the cooks to come out from the kitchen and hand me my food before it was over. When I got home guess what it wasn't correct either. No bean sprouts! After 20 years I hate to say I will never be back. If I pay $19.00 for a single noodle dish for one person it is to treat myself. To me the place was about the memory of my mother and I eating here together. I was so sick and missed my Mom something awful. Now the only memory I will have is of the lady yelling in my face over a mistake that I didn't make in the first place. read more

By far the best Thia you'll get anywhere, especially in Springfield. It's a joke that some have given tough reviews. The chicken chili paste is the best thing you'll ever have. read more

The food is ok. I used to go to this restaurant quite often and the food and service was always good. However, as of lately, the trips to the restaurant have been less than enjoyable. Most recently we ordered carryout. I paid $32, they handed me the food and I went home only to discover they gave me the incorrect order. We called and they blamed me saying I "grabbed" the incorrect order?! So instead of telling us to keep the food and give us credit, they had us return it which I question because by law, they can not serve it. When I gave them the food, they set it on the counter instead of putting it in the garbage. They gave us fresh food, but charged me an additional $16. So for 1 order of lemon grass soup and 3 entrees, I paid around $50 plus the headache of 2 trips to the restaurant. I will give them credit though, they did apologize for the mix-up. The time before this, we stopped in 1/2 hour before closing time. We were told they would not serve us because they had already closed the kitchen and put everything away. The waitress did ask the cook if they would cook us food, they did but we had to get it carry-out. The dining room was still about 1/2 full and people were still eating. We found out later the owner was in Thailand on vacation. The time before this, they were busy, we had a carry-out order. I waited about 20 minutes for the food. While I waited, the waitress told me several times they were cooking my food right now, they would have it right out. I finally get my order. I take it home which is less than a 5 minute drive. Every dish was cold and the crab ragoon was soggy. The time before that, they put so much fish sauce in the food that you couldn't eat it. read more

If I could give this place a negative 1 star, I would. This is not "Thai" cuisine, it's just more local garbage. A few months ago I ordered my favorite Thai dish "Gra-Prow" (translation, fresh basil) with chicken.....why did the chicken look like it was curded?!?! Chicken breast meat is supposed to be smooth in texture not look like an old sweater covered in fuzz balls. This dish is also supposed to have peppers in it bell and chili/jalopeno. This restaurant provided what was supposed to be pad thai at a multicultural event at the local college and it just looked like swill, hot garbage. The picture on this page of pad thai looks nothing like what was delivered to the school. The people who rave about this place need to leave this town if they want to experience real Thai cuisine. A few suggestions: Bangkok City in east Dallas, Archie's (yes! Archie's) Thai kitchen in Las Vegas, Bua Thai Cuisine in Washington DC, Thai Flavor in Waldorf Maryland - GO ANYWHERE BUT THIS PLACE! read more

Worst Thai ever! I had the pad Thai and crab Rangoon. Pad Thai had no peanut/sweet taste and the crab Rangoon filling was pure cream cheese. Blech. read more

This is my favorite place to get Thai food hands down! Their Pad Thai and fried rice is the best!!! Will travel back for this soon. Yes it's worth it! read more

This use to be good. I think they cut back and now not nearly as flavorful as they were in the past. If you like your Thai very mild and bland - then this is the place for you. If you want SPICY and FANTASTIC go to Thai Kitchen 2 on Monroe and Chatham Road. read more

Excellent excellent excellent. Best Thai ever. Don't be put off by appearances. Diamond in the rough. Be sure to BYOB. Best of Springfield

The food at the Magic Kitchen on Lewis is always good. The problem is the honesty of one of the owners. Time and time again she attempts to short change when I'm paying. Today my bill was $12.15. I gave her a $10 and a $5. I got $1 back in change. This isn't the first time she knows exactly what she's doing. When she does this she always rushes off as if she's in a hurry. I've actually been charged for double entree in the past. I had stopped going to the Peoria Rd location and decided to give her Lewis St store a chance. It's only a problem when she is running the register. In the future I will stick with the Thai Kitchen 2 who I believe is owned by her ex husband. Their food is of the same quality if not better, their prices are more reasonable and the people who are running the restaurant are much more pleasant to work with and honesty has never been a problem. The woman owner at the Lewis St restaurant is, let's be honest, a thief. read more

Red curry was great! Food came out timely manner. Going again today

Overrated in my opinion. People rave because you can bring your own beer and wine. The food is good, but overrated in my opinion.

Food was priced at $9.75 ON THE MENU and I was told it was $2.00 extra for shrimp for the fried rice. However, the price for the shrimp was on its own line as $9.75, so there is either a misprint on the menu or the waitress was being dishonest. Either way, as a visitor but frequent diner, I will not be going back again. The response was unacceptable, the waitress pawned the issue off on the owner, who was not there, and I don't the 'misprint' will be taken care of in the near future. I really should not have tipped. read more