My favorite thai place in the area. The flavor is always spot on, and I love that they are the spiciest in town (definitely order one level lower than what you normally do!). The people who run the place are super nice too (it's family run). read more

Food is always on point! I stop in everytime I'm in town. Great friendly staff! A busy restaurant means its good!

We came in on a Sunday evening after seeing a movie and it got pretty busy as we were there. The wait staff were very friendly and I noticed that they held conversations with some of the other folks in the place, mentioning that they had not seen them in a while or asking about how other family members were. This place must have a ton of 'regulars.' We got the pot stickers as an appetizer. They were good, not fabulous, but good. We also got a red curry dish and pad see eiw. Both were medium spicy. The portions looked small for the price but when we ate, I realized how big they were! Two of us ate and took enough home for both of us to eat another meal too. The food was very good and very spicy (more than I anticipated). I left feeling full and with my mouth burning...in an awesome way! read more

We decided to try this place due to all the great reviews, and just returned from our second trip a week later! Needless to say, I'm pretty depressed that I just discovered Thara Thai after living here for 4 1/2 years. The food was fantastic. Over both trips, we ordered the chicken satay (our 2 year old LOVED the peanut sauce and ate half of the appetizer), spring rolls (cold, not fried, came with a delicious sweet sauce. tasted very fresh), chicken pad kee mao (great variety of vegetables, ordered it medium which was very spicy - exactly how I wanted it), ginger chicken (excellent flavor, good veggies), chicken basil stir-fry (great flavor, good amount of sauce), and chicken pad thai (the best pad thai I've had around here. Most places go nuts on the peanut sauce with peanuts in it and topped with peanuts yaaaay peanuts, and this was much more mild on peanuts so it allowed the other flavors to ring through) Only negative is that the portions were a little small (with the exception of the pad kee mao which was massive) For the price I'd expect to have some leftovers. Service was just fine both times we went; we had a really friendly waiter who was quick to refill the water (important for spiciness!) The decor is a little tacky and dated and the surroundings are iffy, but seriously who cares about that when you just want to grab some yummy Thai food! We'll be back :-) read more

Delicious Thai at a fair price. Thara Thai is a small mom and pop establishment that has been going strong for about 9 years. Lunch specials are available 11a-3p and are very nicely priced for the frugal foodie. read more

I love thai food, probably my biggest crave is some good spicy noodles, a curry, larb gai, well pretty much everything at a good thai joint. I've eaten at every thai place in champaign urbana many times but none more than thara. It's not for ambiance, it's not for a wine list (sorry no alcohol) its simply the best thai food in town. Family run, mom's in the kitchen just plain great. If you like it spicy, or you don't, be warned they don't hold back, thai spicy is real thai spicy so choose your level accordingly. personally i like a good sweat and medium plus will get you there. full thai hot and watch out! enjoy!! read more

The service was very slow from the time we got there until we left. We waited over a half hour for a table, it took the server at least 10 minutes to bring us water followed by another 10 until we ordered. Our food took an unusually long time to come out as well. The table next to us wasn't bussed for over 30 minutes, which was kind of unsightly. I was hoping it was worth the wait, but the food wasn't super amazing or anything. We ordered crab rangoon and fried pot stickers for an appetizer. The crab rangoon had celery or cucumber in it which made for a very weird tasting crab rangoon. The sauce that came with the pot stickers was too fishy for my liking. However, it paired well with the sauce that came with the crab rangoon. We ordered chicken pad thai for our entree. We ordered it medium I believe and it was a good heat level. It was tasty, but kind of heavy. In fact, our whole dinner was pretty heavy. I can order crab rangoon and chicken pad thai at other places and not walk away with that feeling. In my opinion the food was worth exactly 3 stars. Kind of tasty, but not anything amazing. read more

Really good food in general. Best summer rolls in town, and good noodle dishes. However, we waited an hour for two dishes. My vegetarian Pad Thai also had a large piece of chicken in it. If cross-contamination doesn't worry you, I can recommend the food, but I don't think I'll be coming back. read more

Best Green Curry Thai since I was in San Diego. The hot is "Thai Spicy", if you don't know what that means, then I suggest that you don't order "Hot" because it is a welcoming "Hot"! The medium is a mid-west "Hot". Service was excellent, place was clean. Bathrooms were small, however they were clean. I highly recommend this place and we will stop again on our way through this area. read more

Great place, AMAZING food, and good customer service. Best Thai restaurant I've ever been too!

I like Thara Thai. My girlfriend does not like it, though she was biased going in. I've only ordered a couple of dishes and she ordered something I couldn't vouch for, so I don't think this hurts my rating of the restaurant. It is a little expensive, but I think it is one of the better Thai restaurants in town. Eat here and not Golden Wok (which is terrible) or Siam Terrace (which is ok). read more

Oh wow- that was amazing! I have found my new go-to place for Thai. I used to be torn between Siam Terrace for high quality, and Bangkok Thai and Pho 911 on campus, as the only place in town which could make a dish hot enough for me. This place brings the two together. Had an incredible Mussaman Curry tonight. We will definitely be going back. read more

Coming from someone who has made all sorts of Asian food throughout their entire life, I took someone out on a date expecting that it would be a great restaurant to impress my date only to get their bad service, terrible food, and food poisoning. The food was disgusting, my date was taking a bite of her food and she spit it back out and said she couldn't eat that cause it tasted bad. The noodles were over cooked, the water tasted bad it tasted like sink water. The experience was terrible overall. They also made us pay for all the food we didn't touch or eat because they felt offended and claimed it was "our problem" that we didn't like the food. read more

Delicious. I was in Champaign for business and this was the closest Thai place to my hotel. I also looked up the reviews on yelp on this place first to make sure it was not going to kill me. The food was good. I had a curry, forgot the name of it but it started with an 'M' and it was very close to red curry. The portions were not as big a my fav Thai place in Schaumburg - Thai Garden - but was still good. read more

best thai in town with a great staff. be warned spicy is thai spicy so go medium unless you know what your doing. They also have an excellent Pho soup if thats your thing. read more

Great Thai food. I eat there every time I come to Champaign. Beware when specifying the heat level: medium was quite fiery when compared to many Thai restaurants. Still, a wonderful place. read more

I have always loved coming to this restraunt. It is small but the staff is polite and friendly and the food is great. Everything from the appetizers to the entrees is amazing. read more

Best Pad Thai in town :) This is a good restaurant if you like thai food. I frequently visited Thara Thai when I was in Champaign. Pros: 1. Really good tasty Thai food 2. Family run and staff is really friendly. 3. Parking is not an issue Cons: 1. Slightly costly if you compare it with ab outside buffet which will cost you around the same amount. 2. Restaurant is small so waiting time of 10 mins in most of the cases. But taste of the food negates these cons to a great extent. read more

The best Thai food I've had in a while. Everything we ordered tasted absolutely divine. The food was very flavorful and the spice level perfectly accentuated those flavors. My biggest gripe with Thai places is usually the stir fried rice being too oily and soft- that was not the case here. Even the dishes with Tofu which run a high risk of being bland were tasty. The service was very friendly plus fast and for the price the servings were huge! Totally had lots of left overs. Can't wait to go back! read more

I've been feeling deep on a certain level- one I can't explain. Maybe it's the fact that I work at a restaurant where my mother is the chef. Maybe it's how the potatoes in the yellow curry seem to take me back to the days when everything was free- my soul, my love for sweet thai tea, for cilantro and cabbage all wrapped up in a waxy sheet of spring time. Anyway, this place is dope. I haven't felt free like this since I was a boy and grammy made sweet curry that I would drink up with a straw after it had cooled. I want to drink up Thara Thai's curry too like when I was a boy and I didn't have all these dumb friends and stupid tattoos yet. But gammy is dead now. I love this place. read more

The food is good, comparable to other Thai places in Champaign, but not great. Perhaps our expectations were too high due to the other reviews on this restaurant. With that said, the service was great. Servers were handling a very busy night with poise and were quite friendly. The stand out item on the menu is the spring roll--super fresh tasting with a great sauce! read more

Definitely one of the best Thai Restaurants in Champaign. If you live in Champaign and have a thing for Thai food, this is where you need to go. I cant begin to tell you how much i love the Tom Kha (soup) here. I wouldnt say it is the best I ve ever had, cuz i ve had much better Thai food earlier in other cities, but within Champaign- Thara Thai is by far the best Thai cuisines available. One negative aspect that i ve noticed about this restaurant is that, it is often understaffed during busy lunch/dinner hours. I have often noticed only one or maybe two staff members trying to manage all the 8 -or so tables available, during peak hours. They sure can afford to hire more staff, considering the business they get and to serve customers more efficiently. I ve deducted one star solely because of the fact that they are understaffed, resulting in slow service. read more

The place is ok. I'm not going to do a long review about it since I've eaten at plenty of Thai restaurant and Laos. This place is good for what we have around in Champaign, but by far only somewhat a copy cat of authentic Thai food. The place is over price by a lot, for it being in a small town. I can't give it anymore better than a 3 star. When in all reality their food only get a 2 star. read more

This is the best Thai Place in town and the second best Pho in town. I discovered it two years ago and have been coming back every chance I get. Quaint, little place right off prospect on Bloomington Road. You really wouldn't expect them to be this good just based on the curb appeal. I say give it a chance if you enjoy Thai or Vietnamese cuisine. You will not be disappointed! read more

Great pad Thai! Authentic flavors, warning their spicy is really spicy! Great sauces, laid back any atmosphere and great service. read more

Good food. Friendly family run business. Kid and family friendly. Location is a bit off the main road, so you have to look for it next to the big mexican place. read more

Went back so we could have a bit more time eating our food this time (with our very young baby at bedtime the first time). This time it was SO empty, with only 2 other tables (3 people total) in the restaurant, which was very different from the filled seating last time. We figure it was better weather and Spring semester ended a couple weeks ago. We enjoyed the Pad Thai last time, so we went with it again. We wanted to try something new, so we tried the Mongolian beef, recommended by the server. And to our surprise, we really liked the Mongolian beef more than the Pad Thai. Service: 5 stars both times Quality: 5 - much smaller space and very close tables/seating, but the windows all around opens things up visually. Not a nice ambiance, but all is made up for by the "mom and pop" feel I get from this place. Taste: 4 stars. (Excellent Mongolian beef, we've definitely had better Pad Thai, but it's the best we've found in CU) read more

Had the pad kee mau - sort of a spicy noodle dish with veggies and chicken. I thought it was delicious. The place was quiet but the staff was very attentive and the food came out pretty fast. read more

Delicious pad Thai, always reliable, good food with nice amount of heat. My favorite place in town to grab Thai food.

Best Thai food around, prices maybe one or two bucks over average for the area but it is worth it. Family business great people.

We go here every few months, always on top of list when deciding where to eat out. I would scale down a level on your usual spice level if never been here before. Service is always great. They will make larb(or larp) salad if you ask, my favorite dish along with tom ka kai soup read more

The food is a little pricey for this area in my mind and for being situated in the parking lot of a motel. The food however I must admit is pretty good. This Thai restaurant has probably the best Thai noodle dishes in the area and whoever the chef is, really knows their way with a wok. read more

My favorite Thai restaurant in the Champaign-Urbana area! It's also one of the best Thai food restaurants that I've been to. My favorite dishes are the pho special and papaya salad. Excellent service as well! Even thought it's far from campus, it's always full of customers. read more

The food is fine, but it doesn't warrant the high prices. I took one star off because even though the quality of the food is comparable to other casual sit-down Thai restaurants in C-U, the prices are about $3 higher per dish. The owners are friendly, the food is good, and the environment is pleasant, so all in all a good experience. read more

I moved away from Champaign to the NW Indiana area and have not been able to find a Thai restaurant with beef pho soup that's comparable to this place; get the red pepper sauce on the side though, it's very hot. The dumplings and Pad Thai are also two of my favorite dishes. Each time I return to the area, it's the first restaurant I patronize. On top of having great food, the staff are very friendly. Even though the restaurant needs a makeover, don't let it deter you from experiencing a great meal. read more

The environment is not that good. But all the dishes we ordered are not really bad. Really miss the glutinous rice and mango.

Stopped here on our way to Peoria and glad we did! Food was great, atmosphere unpretentious, and staff friendly. Took a little long to get our food, but it was a hoppin Friday night. The green curry with tofu and eggplant (spiciness medium) was the perfect balance of hot, savory and sweet. Note that medium spiciness was quite hot; perfect in my opinion, but might be too hot for some. Veggie potstickers were a nice start to the meal. Look forward to stopping here again on our return trip! read more

Have only tried the Pad Thai and Tom Yum Koong and both were excellent. Wait was a little long, but it was busy. Will return.

I've tried several dishes here, and every one of them has been wonderful! My favorite is pho, but I have also enjoyed the red curry and yellow curry too. They also have very nice lunch specials. read more

Totally legitimate Thai here, what a relief! It's very endearing to know that this is a family business -- Mom & Dad are cooking in the back and the kids are waiting tables. I love that they're not afraid to turn up the heat either - finally a menu with chili pepper indicators that mean something. My mussman curry chicken was very good - lots of "extras." Also, I thought the pricing was spot on. $11.99 - seems normal to me! I don't know why Chicagoans travel downstate and think things will be dirt cheap... Misnomer. read more