My son and I ate here for a late lunch early dinner. The decor was very nice and clean feeling. We were so off timing that I think the staff were surprised. They were so gracious and seated us immediately. My son ordered the spicy fried rice and I the Thai spicy salad. Drinks of ice water and Hot tea [jasmine] were immediately served. The food was brought promptly thereafter. WOW the flavor of the salad was fantastic. I had never had a warmed salad with steamed rice served that way. Fantastic flavor profile of spicy, citrusy vegetable slightly warmed. My son loved the double pepper heat of his dish. Judged by the four take out orders picked up while we were dining this establishment is well known by the local culinary aficionados. read more

Thai Cafe - Thai spicy salad. YUMM! - A bowl containing Thai spicy salad with rice, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and cooked chicken, served on a dark table with a glass of water nearby. - Thai Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

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The service was quick and the food was excellent. Very cozy inside and the flavors were unmatched. Highly recommend. read more

Thai Cafe - Jungle Curry and Beef Pho - A Thai meal with beef noodle soup, spicy curry with vegetables and chicken, and a bowl of white rice at Thai Cafe in Ottawa, IL. - Thai Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

Thai Café in Ottawa is a must-stop! Always hits the spot. The peanut butter chicken skewers go crazy--make sure you order at least two!

My wife and I both had variants of fried rice for take-out. My spicy fried rice with tofu had good flavor, but unfortunately, very few vegetables. And the tofu wasn't fried, as I would have expected. I hope Thai Cafe will add more veggies to their foods to balance out the bulk of the rice. Since we did take-out, I cannot comment on the atmosphere or service. But, the staff was friendly when we picked up our take-out. read more

The lady that has been running this little cafe for years has done a fantastic job. This is one of my wife's favorite places to eat in town. The recipes seem very traditional and taste great, I've tried many of them. I definitely respect the spice levels indicated on the menu for each dish as she doesn't mess around! You're probably not going to get some elaborate greeting and you might think she is a little rude.... But I've come to learn that's just who she is so don't take it personal. I did appreciate the days they had the young waitress (I'm assuming family member), but she does honestly great for cooking and serving all tables herself. Great place for carryout! She will also allow you to bring your own alcohol in to drink with dinner as she doesn't serve any. read more

Excellent dishes! One woman show and has been in this small town for 20+ years. Very hard working woman. Of course, you can't expect to get all your authentic flavors and dishes from the country side of Illinois but her cooking exceeds expectations and extensive for being a small restaurant. Highly recommend! read more

Thai Cafe - Basil Chicken, Spicy Noodle, Pineapple Fried Rice and Spicy Fried Rice - Thai Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

I've eaten here a few times and it's always been great. I'll pick a new menu item every time.

I eat here whenever I'm in the area, which isn't too often, but still I come back. I've never been to Thailand so I can't speak to its level of authenticity, but have enjoyed every meal I've eaten. It has a small seating area, so I usually get my food to go. It is a good choice. read more

Love Thai food and I make a mean drunken noodle at home but - I have tried and tried and tried to like this place. Sorry - it's Just not that good. And way overpriced. read more

Great Thai food here. Service was also fast. In beautiful downtown Ottawa. Panang Curry was great.

I've had Thai food all over the US so comparing this to Americanized Thai. It's hard to find a good Pad Thai in the Illinois Valley and after eating here, I'm still in search of a good Pad Thai. I've never seen a yellow Pad Thai before, so that was a red flag. Up till now it's always been clear or red. There was a taste of curry, which would explain the yellow. Never had a Pad Thai with curry in it before. The chicken had no flavor and there were some funky colors strips in it. See pictures. I commonly get sprouts and crushed peanuts and received cabbage with nothing else What was right was the spice and amount of chicken. A medium spice brings you temperature up but doesn't slow down your eating with gulps of water. There were sufficient amount of chicken, but I would have liked to see more. All said, I would NOT eat here again. For a $12.95 lunch I would have expected more. ps...it looked like they were remodeling with cardboard taped to the floor. read more

Thai Cafe - Funky colored strips - Thai Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

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AMAZING food and service. The lady running the place is working hard and it shows! The decor is very old fashioned, and it's great! The iced tea is the BEST!!! Definitely recommend. Would come again! read more

I had tried their masaman curry and it was delicious. The right amount of spice and sweet. I wish there was a bit more rice but other than that it was very good. read more

Definitely unique for this area with TOP NOTCH food and experience. The owner works so hard and it shows

I stopped in here for carry out. I live in the Logan Square neighborhood of ChIcago, where there is a lot of Thai food. And this curry is some of the best I have had. Authentic, delicious, spicy. I highly recommend! read more

Thai Cafe - Green Curry - Thai Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

It is a reasonable version of Thai food, which is still eatable if there are no better options. Yet, this place is rather on the bottom of many dozens of Thai restaurants I tried. We tried three different noodle dishes, all look the same. Pad see ew uses the same thin noodle as pad Thai. All dishes are quite greasy. read more

Delicious food! Unfortunately when we went they were only doing takeout orders. After seeing that it was literally just one woman working (making the food, taking walk-in orders, and answering the phone) I understood why they weren't seating that night. We ordered spring rolls and two things of sweet & sour chicken. The spring rolls were good, but fell apart easily. The sweet & sour chickens were very good, but seemed to have an abundance of sauce in the bowl. I would like to go back to experience dining in there. read more

Good food! No alcohol costs them a star, as does over charging us for beer corkage. We did some good skydives today, and this was a fitting dinner to follow. read more

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This is a quiet, lovely restaurant with steady take-out service. Dining in is nice, and I found the service attentive and friendly. The vegetarian duck is tender yet meaty in texture. The spicy sauce and veggies go great with the mock meat and fluffy white rice. I also enjoyed the spring rolls and fried calamari. The thai tea and thai coffee are very sweet and addictive. For dessert, we shared the fried bananas. They come in egg roll type wrappers topped with honey and roasted cashews. One order comes with four bananas, so it is certainly quite filling for one person but perfect to share! This is a great restaurant and definitely worth a try. read more

Thai Cafe - spring rolls: lettuce and cucumber in a wonton wrapper covered with sauce and peanuts. Thai coffee in background. - Thai Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

Let me just say...some of the most amazing food I have had in Ottawa. To be honest I had no idea what to order so I asked a friends advice. I loved everything. This is definitely a hidden gem in Ottawa. I don't like spicy so a friend recommended some non spicy things and I couldn't get enough. Thank you to the owners ! We will definitely be back multiple times ! read more

We are in town for the US Skydiving National Championships and went to try the restaurant. We have a registered military service that was trained by Rebuilding Warriors for 18 months for PTS and Traumatic Brain Injury. The owner refused to serve us even after we informed her about the Illinois law prohibiting her from refusing us service. I served 22 years in the armed forces and encourage all veterans to avoid this establishment. read more

I love the Thai restaurant in Bloomington, IL. So, when we were in Ottawa visiting family I suggested we give this place a try. We pulled up and there was NO ONE in the restaurant making us feel like it might be not a good place to be, but we tried it anyway. Our first impression was it smelled quite bad in the restaurant and our table cloth was dirty. Our server was completely rude when my mother (who has never eaten Thai before) had questions. We ordered some spring rolls which were ok. Not the best tasting, but I could stomach them. I ordered vegan Pad Thai and I would have to say it was the worst tasting vegan Pad Thai I have ever had. The portions are TINY!!! My Mom had the chicken Pad Thai and you could barely find a piece of chicken on the dish. The women's bathroom smelled so bad!!! The toilet seat was broken and my kids were faking off of the seat trying to go to the bathroom. Not to mention the toilet was filthy dirty. Our bill for 3 Pad Thai dishes, one spring roll appetizer and 4 cans of root beer was $50! We will never be returning to this restaurant! read more

Everything we've tried here is quite good. We especially liked the Panang curry. We go here semi regularly and have always enjoyed our meal. If I have one criticism it would be that the portions are on the smaller side read more

This is my all time favorite Thai spot!! I sometimes visit from Chicago just to eat here. Authentic and tasty. I wish I could come more often! read more

Not to be mistaken for Ottawa in Canada, the city of Ottawa in Illinois doesn't have that much to offer. A tiny town located 85 miles southwest of Chicago, it isn't exactly an ideal vacation destination. But, I find myself here once a year for an event and I have to find a way to survive. And when I say survive, I mean find vegan-suitable food. I think you are pretty much limited to three options here: a Mexican restaurant, a Thai restaurant, and a Subway in a gas station. In fact, options are so limited that I often just buy Amy's frozen meals and eat in my hotel room. So, on this special night, we headed to the Thai Cafe. It had a real dumpy sort of look to it from the outside, but I remembered enjoying my meal here last year so I was actually looking forward to this dinner. When we arrived, there were only a few other tables occupied. We had about seven people with us so we had a fairly big party. We took a look at the menu for a bit then began to wonder if they'd ever bring us water. I finally had to actually request water for the table. After a 30-minute wait, a woman finally came around to take our orders. I ordered an appetizer and an entree. They had vegetarian duck, but I wasn't sure if it was vegan and the woman taking our orders not only didn't speak much English, but also didn't seem to have much time to answer questions and appeared to be the only server there that night, so, I stuck with a safe tofu- and vegetable-based entree. The guy working in the kitchen then proceeded to fill our orders as if we were sitting separately. And he was preparing the appetizers at the same time as the entrees. So, one person at my table would be served an appetizer and an entree, then about five minutes later, another, then another, and so on. I was one of the last people to be served and by the time I received my food, most others at my table had finished. How awkward! I had ordered a tofu-based appetizer and entree so when they served them at the same time, I refused the appetizer. I no longer needed it. To make matters worse, they no longer serve alcohol so we couldn't even have a drink while waiting. Needless to say, my entree was a complete disappointment. I ordered the Basil sauteed entree that was supposed to come with tofu, zucchini, onion, basil, pepper, and garlic chili. I suppose it actually did come with all of that, but it was not well balanced. The dish was mostly tofu and onions with just a few zucchini cut in the shape of crinkle fries and a few peppers. I basically ate a pound of tofu with onions. The sauce was runny as well. So, even though this is one of the few vegan options in this city, I can't say I'll ever return. The food and service were poor. The price for an entree was only $10, but considering the quality, I think it was overpriced. I can honestly say that I enjoyed my Amy's black bean enchilada meal the night before better. This is one of those experiences that make me thankful that I live in a vegan-friendly city. read more

The pad Thai is the best I've ever tasted and the massaman curry isn't bad either if you want something with a little spice.

delicious!!! i got the salad and my sister got chicken pad thai. we got a thai tea and it was a good size: i even drank some of hers, it was a good portion and delicious. the spicy thai salad is what i recommend read more

Thai Cafe - spicy thai salad shrimp - Thai Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

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Food was so-so. Service was horrible. Wife asked for substitution of broccoli on pad Thai and they insisted on a $2 additional charge even though it was basically the pad see ew with a different sauce. Never checked if we wanted dessert. Restaurant was empty except for us. Apparently we were less important than waitress checking her Facebook on her phone. read more

It's a shame but this place has gone downhill. No beer license anymore and poor service. We were the only ones seated when we went and still we were ignored without even placing a drink order for 5 minutes. The place has that dirty-sticky feel. read more

Checked hours online and saw they closed at 9pm. I called at 8:20 and owner said she closed already but would do carryout if picked up right away. She stayed open for me and I appreciated that. Food always delicious. read more

Maybe I eat a lot but the entree portions here are really not sufficient for an adult. Service is not good, I picked up the sauce and seasoning try from the neighboring table. Moreover, I saw another couple doing the same. Food was generally fresh and tasted like home made except that u could see the oil floating in the cashew curry. It is an average thai place. read more

Decided to try it after having driven by so many times. It's very good. They let use bring in Wine from Across the street. The bar across the way, Zeller Inn, had a huge selection of wine. Our food was very good and the pricing was decent for the portions. Will stop again. read more

The Thai Cafe was delicious! There is very little diversity of food in the Illinois Valley area, and I was so glad to find this Thai restaurant. We ordered the Pad Thai and the Panang Curry for lunch. Both dishes were wonderfully seasoned, and the chicken and vegetables were cooked to perfection. Our waitress was attentive and friendly. It was a nice quiet, relaxing place to grab lunch during the week. However, I did note that the Panang curry was quite spicy, but it was not marked as such. My boyfriend and I love spicy food, so this was a pleasant surprise for us, but I can imagine this might not be the case for everyone. read more

Thai Cafe - Pad Thai with chicken - Thai Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

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I keep wanting to support this place, being the only Thai restaurant in O-Town, but alas, it continues to suck. I've been there 3 times, never again. This last time, I ordered 3 items for carry out, and 2 were incorrect, and one was just horrible. I ask for extra spicy, and it's not at all spicy. The crab rangoon has no cream cheese, and I get upcharged for shrimp and they give me chicken. Yup, never again. This place sucks. read more

Hidden gem! The spring rolls are very fresh and we always order them. If you like a little heat, you MUST try the green curry. Delicious! Any time we are in town we make sure to stop here. read more

We were the Only people in this restaurant on a Friday evening at 7:45. We were not approached with any enthusiasm...at all! Then we waited for several minutes for a waitress to approach. Once we decided we were not waiting any longer we got up to leave. Only then did a waitress approach us. We decided since they no longer sell beer and the service wasn't looking like it would be exceptional, we left! Leaving the place as we found it...Empty! read more

Just ate here today for lunch. First the bill was 30$ & we drank water. Second we got shrimp rolls with sweet chili sauce 6.95$ and one of the shrimps was still raw (you only get four). I got the massuman curry and the cashews were burnt on the top and it was the size of a small bowl of cereal 10.95$ My boyfriend got the sweet chili chicken and it was also a small portion for 9.95$ I think this is the worst "Thai" food I've ever had, and come on 30$ for lunch?! read more

Went here honestly expecting the worst, based on the reviews, but was happily surprised. We ordered the thai iced tea, crab rangoon, egg rolls, green curry with chicken, and pad thai with tofu. We shouldn't have ordered it all at once since everything came out at the same time - lesson learned. The iced tea was spot on and was in a 1/2 carafe bottle, so they don't skimp on it. The crab rangoon was ok - not great, but not bad. We got the egg rolls for our 2 year old and he didn't like the cabbage in them, but they looked pretty good. My husband got the green curry and it was SUPER hot; both temp and spicy! But it had a good flavor when you could get past the heat. My pad thai was good. Think I'd get it w shrimp next time since the tofu was kinda bland. We will be back! read more

I love eating at Thai Cafe. I usually get the chicken pad thai but sometimes I get stuff like cashew chicken and mango chicken. I like their crab rangoon appetizer with the plum sauce. I also like the spring rolls and chicken satay. The service there is not always very fast but the food is very good. The food gets done pretty quick but if there are a lot of people in there, it could take a while to get refills on drinks or get your bill and pay it. My boyfriend and I ate there last week and he had to bring our bill up to the front to pay it and then the lady made him walk back there to get his change. He didn't even want to tip her but I told him to leave her $5. I think they are under new ownership because their food used to be a lot better a few years back when I used to go more often. The pad thai used to not look so yellow and now it does and it used to look more brown. Also they used to serve alcohol there and now when I asked if they did the lady said they didn't. I think that is ridiculous not to have a liquor license. The thai place in DeKalb used to have a liquor license too and now they are bring your own booze as well too. But I think the food here at Thai Cafe is good for the price you're paying. read more

Must have new mgmt cuz it seems the prices are a bit better, but the food was nasty nasty nasty. We ordered two curries: chicken mussaman and jungle with chicken. Both were watery and not thick or creamy. Nonexistant curry flavor. The chicken satay was mostly gristle. The peanut sauce was perfect though. The pad see ewe was not right - should be big flat noodles with savory sauce, but was made from fetticinine noodles instead. Only good thing was that it didn't make us all sick. Waste of 50 dollars. Won't be back. read more