One of my absolute favorite places to eat in CU. I've been eating there pretty much as long as it's been open and there are very few Thai places that can compare. The staff is always incredibly friendly. The owner and all her family are really friendly and always make you feel welcome. You might want to show up a little early for lunch as it can get very busy at that time. One thing you'll notice right away as you're eating are the quality ingredients which to me justifies the price of the dishes here. My favorite dish there is the Thom Kha Gai. At this point it is like comfort food for me. Whenever I'm having a down day or if I feel like I'm coming down with a cold I'll go in and order it. It has a lot of different levels of flavor that you just don't get anywhere else in town. There's just a lot more ingredients in the dish then most places and they blend perfectly. I never, ever leave anything other than an empty bowl. I usually get it about mild to medium spicy. The thing to remember when ordering here is that their spiciness levels can vary and almost always swing towards HOTTER than you might expect. So always get mild if you have any fear of getting too hot of a dish. I have yet to be disappointed by their curry, but my favorite is probably the Massaman curry. I'd also recommend their spring rolls and their pot stickers for an appetizer. Although I've never tried it, one of my friend's can't stop getting their Duck so that might be worth a try as well. I might steer clear of the Pad Thai here. Strangely it's the only thing I've never been 100% happy with, but frankly you can get a decent Pad Thai just about anywhere so it's more fun to branch out and try something new. read more

Horrific decor, terrible location, great food. Prices are a little bit higher than you would expect for fast-food Asian food, but this place's quality is higher than your standard fast-food Asian joint (though it looks no better). The Mock Duck dish is one of their best. FYI, mock duck is seasoned seitan, aka wheat gluten and is similiar to tofu in that it is a plant-based protein that is pretty flavor-neutral until it is made a part of a dish, but is different in that its texture more closely resembles meat and it seems to have more protein and fiber. I think that like many places, the takeout portions are larger. read more

Great Thai Food! Would travel the miles just to eat here again. Just off of I74. Enjoyed my egg rolls and Mongolian Beef. read more

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Hands down my favorite Thai place in CU. This little nook of a restaurant is surprisingly authentic - I believe it's run by a Thai family. The location is a bit sketch (in a motel parking lot), but the food is amazing and worth the trip out to bufu. The menu is traditional Thai dishes (none of that fusion nonsense), and if you ask for spicy they will deliver...It's a little bit pricier than the takeout/eat in Thai places around town and a bit farther from campus, but imho it's worth the trip out if you're serious about your thai food. My faves from the menu are the pineapple fried rice, the duck dish and the mango/sticky rice for dessert. read more

It's usually a battle between the two of us as to which Thai place we get to go to on our trips back to Champaign: Golden Wok or Thara Thai. This place has the best pad see ew I've had. Period. This even includes the cao he fun in Chinese places. Also, their spicyness scale is a bit skewed to the crazy spicy side, where even Medium borders the too spicy side for me. Service is relatively slow, so if you're meeting up with some people here, expect to spend a decent amount of time there. Even though this place is a bit more expensive than the other places in the area but it's worth stopping by. read more

Sitting here since 30 mins. The guy doesn't even take a look. Told him that we are ready with the order and he doesn't even come back. Saw the reviews were good and thought of trying it out. I won't recommend this place of you have time constraint because it will be atleast 40-45 minutes before you come and get the order on your table. ---- Edited Had that experience just once. Has been a quick service there. My favorite is Basil Fried Rice! read more

I love Thara Thai. My favorite dish is the Pineapple Pad Thai but their Pho comes in at a close second. I also love the Pineapple fried rice, the spring rolls (best peanut sauce in town), and the Curry. I usually call ahead and order carry-out since seating is limited but I love when we do go and sit down because I can always expect to have an enjoyable visit. I get Medium hot on many of the dishes as the spicy levels are definitely up there. Their prices are a bit higher than some of the other places in town but the quality of the food is so much better that I find it is totally worth the extra. I cannot express how fabulous the Pho is, I get it whenever I feel under the weather and many times during the winter just to warm my belly. read more

We are at U of I for Halloween and looking for a quick bite of Thai. We found Thara via Google maps and decided to give it a try. The staff was friendly and accomodating - we arrived in full costume garb and acted the parts (magician and bunny and three blind mice). The place was crowded and service was slow, so probably not a place to go if you are in a hurry, though they could have been under-staffed. However, the food was excellent. The Tom Kha soup was among the best I have ever had, the pad sie ewe thai was delicious (according to friends) and the spring rolls were fresh. A couple of call outs: they don't serve alchohol, it was a bit pricey, but we are used to Chicago, where there are thai places on every corner. Finally, when they spice things, they really heat them - if you want mild, really stress that. read more

I had to head to Champaign for a couple of days while hubby did a presentation at the University. I was craving some Thai food and looked around to see if there were any good places. Finding a bunch of positive reviews for Thara Thai I lugged my 5-year-old into the snow and drove over to get some Thai yumminess. I have to say I was extremely disappointed. My son fell asleep in the car so I had to do take-out. I can't comment completely on the service but she was nice in that she came to the window near where my car was parked and let me know the order was ready. That's pretty much what the two stars is for. I was not at all impressed with the food. We ordered chicken satay, pad thai, vegetarian egg rolls and the vegetarian potstickers. The eggrolls and potstickers were so incredibly bland. The potstickers seemed to be deep fried instead of them being mostly soft with the outer crust on them. The pad thai was horrible. It was incredibly greasy and didn't have the classic sweetness to it. I ordered it mild but there was a pocket of some kind of chili peppers in the dish. I took one bite and almost passed out from the heat of it. The chicken satay... well, my son wouldn't even look at it and he loves satay. The meat looked almost grey and not at all appetizing. I took a taste of it and it was chewy and the flavor wasn't at all what I expected. I really wanted to like this place and am not at all a Thai food snob but this was just beyond bad in my opinion. The people were VERY nice though and I'm sure the service would be great. read more

My go-to Thai place in the C-U area. Delicious food though a bit pricy compared to other establishments. Wish they had a lunch menu on the weekends! I ordered chicken pho yesterday. Perfect for a cold winter day. Broth was flavorful, chicken was tender and the accompaniments were fresh. My husband has the Mussaman curry --- wow! I'll order it next time. Definitely worth checking out! read more

Yummy food, and really helpful staff. We had the chefs' son as our waiter, and he was really helpful *and knew what vegan was!* When I asked for a recommendation for vegetarian food, he recommended his favorite, but then immediately pointed out that it had egg in the batter (the mock duck) so it wasn't vegan. This is the first restaurant in Champaign where that has happened :) Everything is freshly made in the kitchen, and they seem very adaptable. We had a really good experience :) read more

Oh, delicious, delicious Thara Thai! I've tried many places in the C-U and none compare to Thara Thai. I don't know where they get those tiny little eggplants but they are tasty! Their curry is the bomb. Also, consider yourself warned about their spice levels... this is a THAI restaurant. That shit's spicy, son. I love spicy food and I order the medium... and its HOT. If you have a sensitive stomach you should also probably expect spicy poops. read more

The taste is 5 star. I love their Thai style pho! However, it's a mom and pop shop with unsystemized service. When there's too many people crowding in they don't do a good job of serving. If they would only hire ONE more server things could/would get better. Their combination fried rice is also good. Can't go wrong with that choice either. Stay away, however, from the spicest options. I can do spicy very well, but not their max spicy pho option. On Mondays and any random they of their choosing, the restaurant can be closed. So call before you go eat. ^^ read more

Definitely for sure the best Thai restaurant in CU, though notice that it still only gets 3 stars for being worse than the worst Thai restaurant I ever went to in Boston. The staff is friendlier than at Siam Terrace by like 100x, and in critical addition to that the food is better and also cheaper. It doesn't have "ambience" like Siam Terrace does; it's just a family style Thai Cafe with a Pepsi machine in the back and big green Apartment Finder bins out front. Eating there I feel like I've become the long departed favorite cousin of a big Thai family for an evening, especially when I dig in to my mega heavy all coconut milk nice spicy red curry. Don't even compare this place to Nitaya. Nitaya is a non-entity in the discussion about what is the best Thai place. read more

I was visiting Champaign and heard from a lot of current students that this place was a good find. It was delicious! I am writing this from my hotel room and I'm full and happy after the meal. We had the Shumai to start--very good, but just a warning that the sauce is a bit spicy if you don't tolerate spicy well. We got the mongolian beef, pad see ew, and the pad kee mao. Everything was REALLY good. The service was great--the entrees came out little slower that my stomach would have liked but the appetizer came out quickly enough for the wait to be tolerable. We also added one of the noodle dishes after we got our entrees because the portions were smaller than we anticipated. The 2nd noodle dish came out pretty quickly though, so it was nice to see how responsive and quick the kitchen was. Overall--very good and there wasn't a wait at 8pm on a Saturday. If I come to school here, I will definitely (and eagerly!) come back to eat here. read more

Yummy yummy in my tummy! Thara Thai is a small restaurant with a mom and pop feel. I say this because I saw a young boy sitting on the far side of the restaurant near the register playing on an iPad, it was pretty cute. The waitress, I'm assuming is his mother, was working alone, and handled all of the tables by herself (which was quite a feat, especially considering my table was of 10). I was really feeling some chinese broccoli, sometimes called Gai Lan. I know this was a Thai restaurant, but.. I was craving what I was craving ): But, I found a beef and broccoli dish with oyster sauce that sounded extremely appetizing! I was hesitant because I know what the 'beef and broccoli' dish looks like at Panda Express, and that was NOT what I wanted. Usually, when served with oyster sauce, you're going to be getting the gai lan, which is a popular dish served at Dim Sum. I checked a different dish that also had 'broccoli' listed as an ingredient and was paired with a picture, and I saw that it was indeed the gai lan, not regular broccoli. When it came out, it was not the gai lan, but the regular broccoli. I was sad. What was weird was that I found one single stalk of the gai lan in the dish, and every other green on the plate was broccoli. At least I got that one piece! The food itself tasted good. I opted for their spicy option (mild, medium, or spicy). The waitress even warned me, "Are you sure? It's really spicy!" But how could I resist? I LOVE spicy food :) It hit the spot in terms of heat level. She refilled my water as needed (which was a lot, because, y'know, SPICY!) My brother got their combo fried rice, which was really good. Very heavy in flavor, and was a HEAPING portion for the price. I'd probably only be able to finish a third of it! Mad respect for the mom and pops establishment making legit food. It's always nice to see the family owned places doing well, and it's a refreshing step away from the profit motivated corporate restaurants. I would consider coming back the next time I'm in town to try some more things off the menu. read more

I am a big fan of Thai food, so i may have too high expectation for it. I feel the one is a little bit overrated, the food is ok, but not enough options, and the place is not really nice. read more

This is my favorite Thai place. The chaing Mai noodle curry dish is my go to comfort food. I also adore the crab Rangoon, which has celery in it for an extra yummy crunch. The atmosphere is dive-ish and family run. read more

Great place with consistently great food and the staff clearly take pride in their work. This is what a 5 star review looks like everyone else! Wish they would deliver though. read more

This is my favourite thai place in USA. Whenever i visit champaign i do eat in Thara thai. There pad thai is just out of the world -it has the correct amount of peanut and egg combination. The medium heat is good amount of heat for me and i like it so much that i always finish eventhough the portions are big. Its a little expensive than other thai places but i can go to champaign(i live in chicago and there are thai places on each and every street) just for thara thai. I have tried other things in this restaurent like the basil fried rice, panang curry and few more all tasted good but my favourite is veggie pad thai and i usually stick to it :) read more

Definitely the best sticky rice with mango in town, but the line could be too long when you come here on weekends, and the food was fine but not great. I wish they do have more tables. read more

Good food, we stopped here while on a road trip west. Portions were good, price was pretty good. A little more than expected, but we enjoyed our pad Thai. I like it spicy so I went with hot. It was hot! No need to beg for the spicy stuff here. Nice staff. Shitty location, pretty sketchy town, but we wanted Thai. I learned a new phrase "BYA" from another review of another this place around here. Thara's will Burn Yo Ass if you let it. read more

This place is really small on the inside and it is difficult to find an open table if you want to eat in often, but the food is pretty good. Service, prices, and menu selection is all pretty good, and the food is well priced and portioned. Maybe prices are a little bit on the higher side. They have a knack for making everything really hot and spicy as well so if you want it mild or not spicy, MAKE sure you do. Even the mild is pretty spicy. I'm not crazy about this place, but I would definitely go again. read more

This place is a hidden gem in CU. The spring rolls and dumplings are delicious. Best part: there are plenty of options for vegans/vegetarians. read more

Pan fried pot stickers were awful! They were deep fried, not pan fried, and really dark. YUCK! The eggplant was oily and over cooked. Definitely not good Thai! read more

Some of the best Thai in Central Illinois, but it comes at a higher price than most. I genuinely enjoyed the experience, food and the staff. I had the Duck Noodle Soup medium spicy. The medium is definitely not for light weights. I even may have been a bit too cocky in my spice ordering. That's what makes a good Thai place, though. I would definitely recommend the soup, but beware the authentic spice levels. read more

The food here was not only delicious, but affordable too! I got the yellow curry with tofu and the flavor was amazing. The portion was large as well. Definitely recommend this spot if you are in the mood for some thai in the area. read more

This is by far the best thai in champaign. It is the best panang curry I have ever had anywhere in the United States. I have yet to find better panang curry anywhere (including Denver, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Chicago). This restaurant is family owned and the chef/mom and waitress/daughter always remember us when we come in. A little out of the way, but this place is definitely worth it. read more

Had one of their curry dishes and I gotta say it was about average. The service was fine. My entree cost $15 with tip.

Was in town on business and staying nearby and didn't want a chain, so I went here based on the reviews. I had a basil noodle dish and the portion was huge and excellent. I would go back here. read more

Always satisfied! Love coming here for lunch. Any cury/fried rice/noodles are delicious but since I am currently wanting something on the lighter side, their grilled chicken salad is where it's at. read more

On point. Place was busy which is a good sign. Small and no alcohol but food was perfect. I'd give 4.5 if I could based on size, cleanliness and no booze but who cares; food was bomba so 5 stars it is! read more

Came here on a Sunday night and had pad thai (hot level). It was awesome!!!! Get the crab rangoons as well!!! My bf has the chicken panang and it was amazing as well. read more

Moved away from CU but have to say this is the best Thai food I've ever had. Smaller family owed store means better ingredients which also means slightly higher prices. Every time I pay a visit, every table is full so I don't think prices are stopping folks from getting quality and very tasty Thai food! Make sure to pay a visit when you are in the CU area. It's completely worth every penny :) read more

I'm a true lover of Thai food and coming from Chicago and having spent some time in San Fran have eaten at some truly amazing Thai restaurants. Not to insult the C-U area or anything but the restaurants are overall lacking in quality in this neck of the woods. Thara Thai has all the typical Thai dishes you would expect. This place is pretty traditional so don't expect the yuppy-ized all white chicken meat in the dishes, either. The curries, pad thai, and pad see ew are all pretty average. There's nothing amazing about this place but it is probably the best Thai food available in the area. I do have to say, don't bother with the veggie spring rolls or veggie potstickers, I'm pretty sure those are frozen. DO however check out the sticky rice with custard dessert. Pretty yummy. read more

This is hands down the best Thai restaurant anywhere in the area - have not had better even in Chicago! My family and I have been eating here at "nice lady Thai" since they first opened up ~ a decade ago, and even though we now live several hours away we still go out of our way to eat there. This is a family restaurant - meaning the entire family is part of the business, and they are all great folks. FRESH - HOMEMADE - DELICIOUS - FRIENDLY Everything on the menu is good. They cook to order, so if you like it a certain way all you have to do is say so... and if you don't see it on the menu, you can bet that they can still make it as good as you have had it anywhere else. It is probably worth mentioning that they have expanded their menu a few times and because I love just ab out everything they make it gets harder and harder to decide what to order when I want to try the new stuff too... To Joe E, I have to tell you that Pad Thai(PT) is not the same dish as Pad See Ewe (PSE) at all - the only similarity being that they have rice noodles in them (yet still the type of rice noodle is even different). If you are a PT fan, the next time you go there you should ask them to make you PT with the wide noodles. Their PT is the best around, but it doesn't taste anything like the PSE as the former has peanut as a dominant flavor, while the latter is sweet soy flavor. Thara's PSE thai hot is actually one of my favorite standby dishes, with fresh wide rice noodles and chinese broccoli - YUM! I have yet to be able to make it better at home, although I have come close. A couple of my favorites here (and there are so many) are the shrimp/seafood soups (Tom Yum or Tom Kha) and the Panang Curry - all of which has the wonderful aroma and flavor of the Kaffir lime in them. We almost always order the crab Rangoon - which is not even in the same realm as the typical Chinese place stuff - this is fresh and delicious. My buddy loves their shumai, although that might be kind of an acquired taste as my wife is not fond of it.. A few folks commented on their high prices, but there simply is no substitute for good Thai food. The location is what it is, but they have never sacrificed the quality to stay in business. The fact is that even after they raised their prices you are lucky to get a table here in the evening or on weekends - they are almost always packed. This is a prime example of supply and demand economics at work. This is a real gem of a restaurant, and I love to support this great family. As long as they stay in business and keep making the food the way they do, they can expect to see us as often as we can make it there! read more

First time there today. Food is good but a little pricey for Thai food. Server was very friendly. Place is very cute and clean. The sticky rice with Mango is definitely a must-try!! read more

Thara Thai - Green Curry Chicken - Thai Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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The best food around. I've eaten here for 15 years. The staff is super friendly and the family is kind. We love this place! The Tom Yum Shrimp is amazing! read more

I have been going here for almost 15 years, and the only "issue" I have ever had, was the wait during lunch, can sometimes take awhile. I don't find that as an issue. It just shows that the place is good enough, that people will wait. I have had many dishes here, my main go to, is the Red Curry with Chicken, but everything here is amazing. I also love going here, because its supporting a local family, who just happen to be as amazing as the food. I have had the other places here in town, as well as in big cities, but they don't come close to the quality of Thara Thai. I'm certainly glad they are here in Champaign. read more

Outstanding food with friendly, reasonably fast, service. Don't ask for hot unless you mean it. I love hot food and this is one of the few places that can make me sweat! The pad thai is the best I have had and the soups are always good but I think my favorite is the Tilapia in a chili lime sauce. Don't miss the crab rangoon! read more