Shouts out to Ratana Bowden, the owner such a sweet and hospitable young lady! She greeted me and my daughter with open arms. She sat down with us and talked me through some of their specials and about the restaurants history, we happened to stop by on their 14th anniversary! The ambiance is homey, warm and a perfect spot to sit down and dine. Now on to the food, we started with the shrimp rolls and the chicken potstickers. They both held a crispy exterior and a juicy interior and paired well with the sweet chili and soy vinaigrette sauce respectfully and washed that all down with a cold creamy and refreshing Thai iced tea. We then were presented the Grilled Beef salad which was my personal favorite, the beef was seared to perfection, tender and the citrusy, sweet vinaigrette it was tossed in along side the vegetables and herbs gave my tastebuds a memorable experience. The next up the old fashioned Pad Thai, now my ONLY gripe with Pad Thai Is how sweet it can be, what I learned today is the OLD FASHION way is the same ingredients minus the sweetness....ill never order pad Thai the same. It's exactly what my taste buds crave when thinking pad thai...top tier! The Chicken Satay was the perfect combination of smoky and juicy and paired well with the peanut sauce. The tangerine chicken was juicy, tender, crispy and tossed with the sauce that was bright, tangy, sweet with the perfect amount of sour. Whole meal and experience was a 100/10. If you're in the Santa Cruz area and looking for a good sit down home style meal different from the carnival food stop by here! It's a 10 minute drive from the boardwalk. read more

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I had a great experience at Real Thai Kitchen in Santa Cruz! I love finding authentic Thai food spots, and this was a great place to check out when craving Thai food. The menu has plenty of options to choose from, and I would recommend giving this spot a try if you're in the area. Definitely worth adding to your list of places to explore in Santa Cruz! read more

Had dinner here with my son... Pros- we were seated pretty fast. There's a parking lot, shared, but still a big lot. They didn't skimp on shrimp for the Phad Thai, 6 decent sized shrimp in the dish. Service was fine. Cons- food was ok. Curry was one color, sauce and ingredients... normally there's carrots in yellow curry, so it's not one dimension, not here. Yellow curry was, yellow! Taste wise, it was the best dish, but I missed the carrots. The grilled beef salad had extremely overcooked beef in it, that was a bummer. Will try other Thai places in Santa Cruz... don't believe we will come back. read more

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The food is amazing and it's authentic, if you wanna take your girl out on a date this will be the one for you read more

We just hosted a birthday party for our dad with about 30 people... the owner Ratana was very attentive with the food and service . We had a variety of appetizers, sour, rice curry, pad-Thai, drinks... It was a great experience... I would recommend this restaurant read more

Absolutely amazing place. Got the Kao Soi, Crab Langoon, Trout in the Jungle and Pad See Ew. All of which were DELICIOUS! Thank you to the owner, Ratana, for a lovely time. Will definitely be back read more

Real Thai Kitchen - Pad 66. Phad See Ew 8. Crab Rangoon 19. Trout In the Jungle Kao Soi - Thai Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

***Overall 3.5 Stars*** The dishes are flavorful, the prices are fair, the service seems friendly. There is even a lunch special menu, which wasn't mentioned online so I'll need to come back to take advantage of it (see my photo)! The only reason for the 1.5 stars docked off is for the lack of ambiance, tight parking lot, and not great location. For me, Real Thai is a great takeout place. read more

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Just wanted to preface this review by saying I live in the Seabright neighborhood and order food from here regularly. (They even have my fiance's name and # on file). That's why I was extremely disappointed by their rude behavior tonight. Perhaps because I wasn't spending any $ like usual, just asked them to break a $20 dollar bill for me. The woman wouldn't even check for me, just said "no". Super rude, I'll take my $ money elsewhere. Later Thai kitchen. Great way to lose customers. No common courtesy. read more

The food is delicious and arrived quickly . The staff are friendly. The atmosphere is small and inviting. A very local vibe. I highly recommend. read more

Friendly, authentic and family owned! The food was awesome, and they even overheard me talking to my husband about how bummed I was that I couldn't have Thai iced tea anymore due to a dairy allergy and offered to make me one with coconut milk instead. It's exactly the kind of restaurant you'd hope to find in Santa Cruz read more

The grilled beef salad was amazing and refreshing on a hot day!! All the workers are so sweet as well:) Definitely recommend

Delicious food and great service. Comfortable ambiance. They also offer To Go service if you can't stay to enjoy their sweet dining area.

The flavors here are very authentic. The pad thai, panang curry, and cashew nut were all delicious and came out piping hot. I liked that they also serve brown rice (extra $1 per serving). The lunch specials are decent proportions. The salad sauce was spectacular as well. I liked that they used fresh spring mix for the salad. The restaurant's exterior looks small, but the inside was spacious and had a warm vibe. There was also parking available in the plaza. Service was excellent! My water was filled and they swung by multiple times to ask if I needed anything. read more

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This is just a placeholder until I sit down and write an actual review. If I don't do this I'll never write the review. This is the best Thai place I've ever been to and the service is amazing. read more

This is the best green curry I've ever had. It's definitely one of my favorite dishes of all time, and I highly recommend trying it if you haven't yet. Much like a great pizza, it just hits the spot. I never knew I liked eggplant, but when it's mixed with the basil, green curry paste, and coconut milk, it creates a unique flavor unlike any other. It has a perfect balance of sweet and savory in every bite. I'm not a fan of heat, so I order it mild, and having it with chicken makes for a truly incredible meal. read more

The food was really good! I ordered stir fry chicken with vegetables and rice. My friend ordered Phad Thai with Chicken and Shrimp. I really enjoyed my meal. My friend raved about hers being exceptional. The restaurant was immaculate. The table service friendly and attentive. I highly recommend. read more

Quick service, quality food, and reasonable prices. The restaurant is small but mighty, lots of tables and and they get food out to you FAST. -Tom Yum with Shrimp (5/5), the perfect balance of tangy, tasty, and familiar. There are a lot of mushrooms in this dish, which I enjoyed. - Pad Thai (5/5), so delicious and saucy. The balance of tamarind is great in this one, and it's a large portion. -Yellow Curry with Chicken (3/5), the coconut flavor was too overpowering in this one, and the chicken was dry. The portion is fair, but just a bit smaller than I was expecting. Can still be shared between two, but order something else too. -Thai iced tea (5/5) - PERFECT sweetness. I've been here twice now and will keep coming back when I'm in Santa Cruz craving Thai. There's parking in a lot, and we were seated immediately on a Saturday night. read more

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Quaint restaurant. Each dish is made to order. I decided to order the Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken. When the dish came the fried rice wasn't what I expected. It was still mostly white. It wasn't very warm at all and when I began to eat it, I cut into some chicken that was raw. My waitress was gracious and took it back without question. She too saw it was raw. Several minutes later, I received my second dish of Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken. The dish was hot which is what I expected. It had great flavor although not a stitch of pineapple. I was quite surprised as the dish is literally called "Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken". Sigh. read more

Real Thai Kitchen - Pineapple fried rice with chicken - Thai Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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Sadly, this place has gone downhill. We've eaten here for years, our favorite dish was always Trout in the Jungle. The portions have been getting smaller and smaller, and the last time (November 2025) it was laughable. The piece of fish was so small and thin, I doubt it was even trout. There was really only one decent bite on the entire plate, not a good deal for $18. Order the Pad Thai, they do a good job with that. They should take the trout off the menu. read more

The lunch special is yummy, you can add a bowl of soup with it for another $3. Delicious! read more

Real Thai Kitchen - Tom yum soup with lunch - Thai Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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We love the Thai food here and our favorites are the Tom Yum Noodle Soup with chicken and shrimp and the cashew chicken. The service is always friendly, quick and the food is delicious! read more

This small local spot has one of the best green curry in town. I always get that with either chicken or beef. The papaya salad is a nice fresh complement to the curry. On a rainy cool day, definitely one of my favourite places to go to. Another one of my favourites is simple veggies with tofu. Their medium still has a nice kick to it. We've ordered hot before and it was very hot so we never tried thai spicy lol (can't handle) read more

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Fantastic and the best Thai food in Santa Cruz County. Tasty, fresh, authentic and just plain delicious. Loved being there in person and enjoying the fresh food in person. Service was great and welcoming. read more

I popped in here on Christmas Eve day on a mission to find a veggie-filled snack among all the sweets. Luckily, the fresh rolls here are just the ticket, and they're only $10 (before tax & tip) for four generous rolls, peanut sauce, and sweet chili sauce as well. Staff are super friendly and very efficient. My favorite part of the rolls is that they have lots of delicious sprouts, which is not usually the case...fresh indeed! read more

Real Thai Kitchen - Fresh rolls! - Thai Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Waited 30minutes to order. Food was not good. To much bean sprout used. Took the family to visit the boardwalk and they wanted thai food for dinner. Worst experience we had thats why review is written. Never going again. read more

I love this restaurant! I always get the Tom Yum soup here. It's the best one in town. The service here is fantastic. Everyone is friendly, and helpful. The service is also very efficient, and the restaurant is clean and welcoming. I highly recommend this place! read more

Each dish was flavorful with classic Thai aromatics...like some good home cooking a grandma would make! The pad thai was prepared deliciously. The phad see ew had a perfect beef smokiness and the noodles had an al dente chew. The sauce for the satay was finger licking good. Only issue was the tom yum, which unexpectedly had a sweet tomato flavor in the broth. Was expecting more spice and lemongrass. Soup was good but just different from all the tom yums I've had. Service was attentive and friendly. Glad we stumbled on this quaint Thai place to satisfy our cravings. read more

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Very nice thai restaurant. Went once for sit down before a show at the Rio theater and another time for takeout. Very good tasting dishes and they will adjust spiciness level based on your preferences. Very loud when dining in if the place is busy. read more

Table for two, we ordered Fresh Spring Rolls (EXCELLENT), Tom Kha Veggie soup (EXCELLENT) and Rice Noodle Soup with ToFu (EXCELLENT). All dishes have very fresh and healthy ingredients. And THE FLAVORS ARE WODERFULLY FLAVORFUL in the best Thai traditions. They emphasized the freshness of vegetables and Tofu in our dishes. Really healthy feeling to eat! Service was very good. We got prompt attention and very professional response to questions. Ambiance was casual. Dinning furniture was strong and sturdy. You can host a large group as they had a large table reserved for eight. read more

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We've been going there for a couple years, and have always loved it. Today there was a different crew, than normal. We had a salad mixed in with with noodles, on a to go order. When we called and asked if the dressing had any dairy products in it (severe dairy allergy), we were told yes (by a man who I had never seen there). We told him about the allergy and the salad being mixed in with the noodles. He said he would refund it. A while later, I get a call from the manager. She told me that there was no dairy in it. I let her know it was too late, lunch hour was over. She asked what I wanted her to do. I told her to refund that part of the order, like the man said he would. She said, "but we did nothing wrong, there is no dairy in the food". I started to get frustrated, and told her that the man said there was, and no one ate it. The she asked if we still had the food, and I got more frustrated, and raised my voice a bit. Then, she turned it to me, not being nice and she didn't like the way I was talking. At that point, I lost and told her, "if the fucking $15 bucks was worth that much to you, keep it. We won't be coming back again." Yeah, I said a "naughty" word. I guess that makes the run around, and incompetence alright with them. So much for an easy lunch. Sorry, for the rant. I'm still pissed. read more

I'm giving the real Thai kitchen 5 stars! I've been here twice and Both times the service and ambiance have been wonderful! The food is incredible everything I have tried has been delicious. Both times I've gone with a party of 6 or more and the food has been top notch and brought out in a timely manner! I think I have found my new favorite place to eat in Santa Cruz! One more thing the prices are so affordable and it is hard these days to find many restaurants like that! Thank you Real Thai kitchen for a great experience! read more

Have been coming for a while before COVID I loved the lunch buffet , post COVID is still as delicious as ever. Sticky rice is so delicious too ! read more

Real Thai Kitchen - 64. Phad Thai - Thai Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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. read more

Loved the food here, a party of 5, ordered a lot of food and everything was delicious. Highly recommended! read more

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Placed a GRUBHUB order on 12/12/23 when i was in Santa Cruz for work. Was staying at the Marriott by the boardwalk and was craving some soup. Ordered the Tom Kha Gai and Garlic Beef. Both items arrived hot and fast. Both dishes were solid and flavorful. Preparation/taste flavor was simple and not over the top too much. It almost tasted like home cooking, in which i crave most of the time when traveling for work. When i return to this area i would definitely return to this establishment but most likely dine in to try it fresh out of the kitchen ( it was still so good as delivery) read more

I can only review off of our take out experience. We ask for a recommendation and the waitress said the basil thai. My wife and I love spicy food so we had to get it at the spiciest level. The Food was great and the kids love the cream cheede wonton too! read more

Good food but service needs training. when it gets busy, service is out the door. I'll go back just to see if it's like that always cu food was pretty good read more

We were recommended by our UBER driver Rose, whom used to work here and this is her family restaurant, great driver and customer service! We ordered Thai iced tea, apple juice, Noodle Soup with Tofu, Mango Sticky, Fried Banana with vanilla ice cream, Spicy green bean and Papaya Salad", again recommended by Rose. Food are great, efficient and fast! read more

Flavorful pad Thai! Attentive and friendly service. My daughter loved that they had ice cream.

We picked up some takeout from here while we were vacationing the area. The food was decent overall. The pad Thai was flavorful. The yellow curry was also flavorful but watery. The sticky rice and peanut chicken were good. read more

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