The BEST thai food in the area! I am never disappointed when I eat here. This is my guilty pleasure and when we have work parties we order all three red, green, and yellow curries because we all can't decide which is our favorite! Basil beef and all the noodle dishes are so flavorful and not too oily.The level 2 is definitely an entry level kick of spice. Last time we came you did have to pay for the rice to eat with the curry. The inside is a little outdated but the service is great. You can call in to order which is very convenient. There is a lot of parking and it is in a nicer plaza with many other restaurants and grocery stores. I have been going here for years and will continue to go here.. read more

How come no one knows evil jungle? Ok it must be a Hawaiian thing but this is another place in San Diego that doesn't offer evil jungle. But at least they have the other stuff. The family ordered the following: tom yum shrimp, pad see eww beef, garlic chicken wings, and papaya salad. Tom yum was good. Larger chunks of tomatoes than I like but still good. I wish it was more sour but that's my preference. The pad see eww very good. My favorite of all the dishes. Good balance of meat to noodles and with the added red pepper fish sauce just the right amount of kick. Chicken wings were average. Nothing special to me and they didn't have much garlic flavor in my opinion. FYI, there is no stuff chicken wings offered here. Lastly the papaya salad is fresh. It's salad, what do you want me to say :p Overall four stars. The service was friendly, the kitchen was quick, the restaurant is clean and well maintained, and plenty of parking. Just no evil jungle :( M read more

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I was craving Thai food in the area & the bf and I decided to try this spot. My bf stated that this place was bomb back in the day, but now, the quality has definitely gone down. We ordered Chicken Red Curry spice level 4. This was more like an 8!!! This was super spicy that it was a little difficult to eat. The fact that they charge for white rice, is insane. You can't eat curry by itself so I was surprised that we were charged for it. We also ordered Chicken Larb, which was good, veggies were fresh. The third dish was the Drunken Noodles with tofu. The noodles weren't as fresh as I would've liked. It didn't have that bouncy texture. Instead it was soggy and sad. This was also a level 4 spice and this was also super spicy. I tried the Lemon Thai tea, which is basically like a Thai iced tea without the milk and more tart. Instead of lemon, they had lime. I guess they ran out of lemons. We also had the mango sticky rice, which was pretty good. Rice was the right amount of sweetness and mangos were soft and ripe. Food came out super fast and service was friendly. Kinda pricey for the food we got at 91 dollars. Didn't know about the already included tip, which is not advertised like some other Yelpers pointed out. There's so many other great Thai restaurants in SD. This was just okay for me. read more

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Watch out for the spice level! Level 1-5. We always do level 2 to be on the safe side. 3 is spicy and 4 is burning hot spicy ! I can't imagine eating level 5! Food is always delicious here. Customer service is superb and they are very attentive. During lunch hour the line is moderate but if you go during dinner hour, expect to be on the waiting list. read more

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Large menu with a selection of vegetarian options. Outdoor seating on a nice day is also a plus. Our food came out really quickly and the ingredients were fresh. If you like spices I would suggest getting a level 3 spice level at least. The waitress recommended level one which was not spicy at all. Lots of dishes to try. The eggplant was really good. read more

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Pretty decent Thai food, a bit pricier than I like, but these days, prices just keep increasing yet no increase in salary. You have to do more with less, so frustrating. Ridiculous wars jacking up prices which I didnt vote for. OK enough of my complaining and onto the review. After a failed to go order to a Thai place 5 min away, I called this place to place a papaya salad order. There are 3 options and next time I will try the Laos version. I asked for mild. I can't do spicy. I ordered a tofu pad Thai, also mild. Woman on the phone was efficient and said my order would be ready in 10 min. I drove over and sure enough, within less than 10 min, my order was ready! With tax and tip, both entrees came to $40! Wow! Happy to report that both items were good, not the best Thai I have ever eaten (been to Thailand and had the real deal all over Thailand), but very solid. Fresh ingredients, fast and efficient ordering and pick up and close to where I am, I will be back to explore more of their interesting menu! Thanks for saving the day Sab E Lee when Aaharn closed for renovation! read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Papaya salad - Thai style - mild and was spicy for me but good! - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

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Always consistent. Our go to for Thai. The only thing is that if you ask for level 3. You might sometimes get something closer to a 2 and sometimes closer to a 4. But always good quality. We enjoy;this place. read more

Back for Friday dinner. Ordered Kaikua, curry, tom ka. Good came pretty fast. Friendly and efficient service. Quaint ambiance. Solid Thai food in north county. Too bad no room for dessert. read more

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Had takeout on this latest opportunity to enjoy Sab-e-Lee. Drunken noodles with pork this time with spice level 3 since I was sharing it. Delicious! I usually order 4, but was glad I didn't this time. My eyes were tearing and nose was running. This place does a robust takeout business, and they're geared up to handle it well. The order was ready on time and still hot from the kitchen. read more

Their tomyum noodle was so good! I love anything tomyum so this definitely hit the spot. Their green curry was also another one of my favorites, everything here was so good! We got our food relatively fast and our server came by to make sure our water was always full which was nice. Very nice vibe here, plenty of seating. read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Tom yum noodle - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

Classic Thai spot in San Diego. My go-to Thai food. Price is reasonable, service is good. I don't think there's a dish there that I wasn't happy with. The food tastes so good. Try the Pad Thai, Pad Woon Sen and Pineapple Fried Rice. You won't be disappointed I love that they have outdoor seating so I can bring my pup. read more

I haven't been back here in a couple of years since the last experience was disappointing, but well, I'm here. Last time: I ordered takeout during the pandemic and the quality had gone down so much. The pad thai was sopping wet with an overly sweet sauce. The drunken noodle (with level 1 spice) was mushy and just a dash of ground black pepper. Come on, give us a real Level 1 Thai spice! I came back because a friend wanted to come here for dinner and so here I am. The pad thai was much drier this time, and the level 1 spice had a good kick. The crab fried rice was fried correctly, though the crab flavor wasn't really too present. There is crab, just not flavorful. I don't think you can tell it was crab fried rice if you ate it with your eyes closed. It could have just been egg fried rice. My friend ordered the level 4 seafood tom yum and she really enjoyed the spice. Rice still needs to be ordered separately for the soups and curries, which is really strange. The other thai restaurant nearby, Aaharn 56 gives rice together with your and for several dollars cheaper too. While there was some improvement in cooking, I haven't found any dish that would make me specifically come here. Suggested tip starts at 20% read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Crab Fried Rice (). Rice good. Crab- not flavorful enough - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

My friend lives a 3 minute walk away from this plaza and we decided to give another chance and okaaay a lot better than last time! Our server this time understood our spice levels perfectly. Last time we went I think we went too mild and they also interpreted us to handle even less spice. Red curry spice level 4: 5/5 yum!!! Real vegetables and not frozen cheap cubed vegetables this time. Good amount of spice. Larb () spice level 3: 3/5 can never find larb as good as in Thailand but it was still good Pad Thai () spice level 2: 4/5 hard to get this one wrong Also was able to get free iced tea for checking in via Yelp, so that was a W too. Thanks to the server for letting us know! read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Red Curry () - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

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i used to come here all the time growing up but unfortunately, i can't justify it anymore. they have some of the best thai food i've ever tasted but have put an included gratuity that they don't make enough of an effort to notify their customers of. there's no visible sign in the restaurant either. they also have really bad service that i've always just ignored because the food was really that good. also extra cilantro being 3 bucks is wild. read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

I have visited this location dozens of times since they moved into the shopping center a few years ago. Every meal I've had there has been outstanding. They get extremely busy in the evenings and on the weekends, and they close on Mondays and between lunch and dinner shifts. I really enjoy their Thai fried rice, their yellow curry with sticky rice, and pad Thai. read more

They're well known for their authentic and very spicy Thai dishes. Unfortunately, I feel like I enjoyed the food at the original location in Linda Vista better. That location shut down a while back. My go to dishes is drunken noodles, boat noodles, fried pork ribs, garlic chicken wings, grilled pork neck and papaya salad. 1st time trying the beef pineapple fried rice, beef tendon soup and the beef salad. Pineapple fried rice is good, the meat in the soup is tender but the broth got a little salty for me and I wished the beef in the salad isn't so well done. TBH I've had better elsewhere but not bad. Spice level 3 is their medium and can be pretty spicy. It's usually a full house. Our servers have always been pleasant & food comes out quick. read more

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I had dinner here with my daughter. We ordered the drunken noodles, tom yum noodle bowl, and mango sticky rice. The Thai flavors tasted authentic, as if there was a Thai grandma cooking in the kitchen. We enjoyed the food and found the service to be pleasant as well. This is a small Thai restaurant and it's not as fancy as some of the other Thai restaurants I've visited. However, where they lacked in decor, they made up in flavor. Food presentation was ordinary but the flavors were extraordinary! read more

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I had takeout from here and the food was amazing. We got pineapple fried rice (spice level 3) and red curry (spice level 1) with tofu and both were very flavorful. Pineapple fried rice had lots of pineapple, cashews, raisins and the curry flavor came through. Red Curry was loaded with veggies and eggplant as well. Some of the best curry I have had in San Diego. This spot lives up to the praise it has gathered over the years! Can't wait to be back to try other dishes. read more

This is the BEST Thai restaurant in San Diego! We came here for small bites, everything we had was a 10/10!! We had: - Garlic chicken wings - $13.40 for 5 pieces, crispy, flavorful, just right - Fried pork ribs - $13.40 lots of garlic on top, sauce packed with flavor - Thai-Isan sausage - $12.34 hits all the taste buds, served with ginger, cucumber, lettuce, peanuts, and a few dried peppers, VERY GOOD Everything we tried was amazing, HIGHLY recommend! Need to try their whole menu! read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - left to right: garlic chicken wings, thai-issan sausage, fried pork spare ribs - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

Place is clean, staff was friendly and the food was felt pretty authentic Thai food. The spice level is spicy!!! I have pretty high spice tolerance but this spice really was next level. The reason I gave it a four star is because I was extremely thirsty after the meal and the next day which leads me to believe a lot of MSG.. I am not sure just speculation. I have no issues with MSG but based on how thirsty I was , might have been a bit much. But was the food delicious, it was very delicious haha. Price was typical price of Thai food. They were busy but we had a lot of dishes on the table and it would have been nice to have some of the dishes cleared. Overall, I still recommend the place. We had the pad Thai, pad see ew, tom yum, papaya salad, drunken noodle, cashew chicken, spicy eggplant and ... probably a few more haha I can't remember read more

After all these years, this place is still good! Nice little restaurant in a nice area. I really enjoyed the beef jerky and papaya salad. The beef soup was delicious. The green curry was on point. And the mango with sticky rice was an awesome treat! Prices are decent. The service was good. We will probably come back again! read more

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It was a full house when I came in but I got seated pretty quick since I wanted to sit outside. I was craving soup and so glad I came here for the boat noodles! They were very tasty, with tender beef and rich, flavorful broth. The food came out quickly, which was a big plus. I also ordered a Thai tea and it was delicious--perfectly sweet and refreshing. read more

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I ordered the curry puffs, and when I got them, the center was still frozen. So, if you order that, know you're getting something that's previously frozen/stored in a fridge. I let them know and they brought me a new one, and same thing, still frozen. This was a bit silly since it was clear that they just reheated something old and frozen before, so the logical thing to do would be to make it fresh, rather than do the same thing again. The drunken noodle was okay, nothing special. Also, our waitress was walking around wiping her nose and stuffy, which is concerning from a health perspective. One of the other waiters seemed annoyed that I sent the food back. I would steer clear of this place. read more

The food at Sab-E-Lee (SEL) has always been good-to-great, especially at their offshoot, Thai Papaya, but god damn has it been difficult keeping up as the restaurant opened, moved, split, morphed, closed, reopened, endured several changes of ownership and, more importantly, kitchen staff. Here, according to an article published last summer on Sandiegoville, is where we are, and how we got here: 2008 - Original SEL was founded by Don Runowski in Linda Vista 2012 - Second Original SEL opened in Rancho Penasquitos 2015 - Thai Papaya opened in original Original SEL location, and that Original SEL moved to Linda Vista Shopping Mall plaza 2021 - Thai Papaya closed 2022 - Original Original SEL sold, and rebranded Zab Linda 2024 - Second Original SEL sold; name remains "Original Sab-E-Lee" as of March 2025 As I say, I've always enjoyed dining with whoever runs whatever iteration of Original Sab-E-Lee I visited. You'll note that I've omitted any mention of Sab-E-Lee Santee. Its history of ownership and management is sketchy; some folks mistakenly believe that the "original owner" left Linda Vista to open the place in East County, but there's no record of a Runowski connected with the Santee business, so that's not right. And anyway, SEL Santee was rebranded in 2024; it's now called "Faidang Thai Restaurant". And anyway, I don't think I'll eat there, since, in February 2025, Faidang was closed by the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality for these infractions: Holding Temperatures - Major; Vermin - Major; Food Contact Surfaces - Minor; Equipment and Utensil Storage, Use - Out of Compliance; Floors, Walls, and Ceilings - Out of Compliance; Impoundment - Out of Compliance. read more

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Sunday, Aug/23/26. A family of 4 went to eat at this restaurant. It was empty no other customer was there still we decide to eat there, Service was ok nothing special. while we were eating, server were walking around talking loudly & trying to tell us to finish up quick. Nobody else was in the restaurant but still they were in hurry. I don't like the service. At the time of paying bill,Server was telling me give more tip then I told him you know what kind of service you provide. I will never go back to this restaurant. I feel they are more worried about the tip then the customer service. There are so many other options I will suggest avoid this restaurant at all the cost. Thank you. read more

Authentic Thai food. I usually order their drunken noodles with vegetables and fried tofu. Beware! Their food is spicy! A level 3 is medium as I was told when I ordered. I ordered a level 5 and that's usually a level 7 at other Thai restaurants. read more

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Back again after all these years and it still hits the spot! Came a little early and got ahead of the rush so there was no wait for a table. The food all came out quickly. It gets busy here! Everything was still as delicious as I remember. Old me can't handle spice as well, and man thai spice is no joke. 3 is a nice solid enjoyable spice level for me these days. Glad the food here is still top notch after all this time! Took the fam here to try it out and they loved it too! read more

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Food is very good and authentic Thai food. My favorite is the drunken noodle and the Lao style papaya salad

Sab-E-Lee has the best pad Thai in San Diego!! Their noodles are so glossy with so much flavor. Their other dishes are amazing as well. Perfect for sharing! read more

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Writing this so other people actually check their statements after eating here. The waitresses at this place commit fraud, full stop. I came in for dinner, paid with my card, wrote a normal tip and a clear total, and signed. Took a quick photo of my receipt on the way out, which is a habit I'd recommend to literally everyone at this point. A few days later I noticed the charge was higher than what I'd authorized. Compared my statement to the photo and the tip line had been changed. The total was overwritten to match. Not a service charge I missed, not a tax thing, not a rounding issue. The waitress went back after I walked out and rewrote what I signed for. I called to ask about it and got brushed off. Ended up disputing the charge through my bank to get it reversed. That's not something I should have had to do for a meal. The food doesn't really matter when the people taking your card are going to alter the receipt after you leave. And if you scroll the reviews, I don't think I'm the only one this has happened to. Don't come here. Unless paying whatever the waitress feels like writing in after you sign sounds like a fun surprise, go literally anywhere else for Thai. read more

I've given this place three tries, hoping to see why it's so popular but I've decided it's just not for me. Here are my main reasons: 1. The food is overly sweet. From the curry to the pad see ew, I could taste more sugar than any of the other flavors. It really threw off the balance of the dishes. 2. They charge extra for rice with curry. This one is mind-boggling. A small curry is already around $17, and yet rice isn't included so you have to pay extra. No one eats curry by itself! Most Thai restaurants I've been to include rice in the price but here it ends up being close to $20 for a basic curry dish. 3. Service is hit or miss. Sometimes it's fine, but during my last visit, my friend and I tried to redeem the free Thai tea promo they were advertising at every table. We both checked in on Yelp, but my friend had some trouble finding it after she checked-in. The server was dismissive and said, "Then just try Instagram." We eventually did get the tea, but the whole interaction felt awkward...if you're promoting something, at least be friendly about it. Overall, I wanted to like this place, but between the overly sweet food, confusing pricing, and inconsistent service, I don't think I'll be coming back. read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - front of menu - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

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This restaurant is ultimate proof that indeed inflation is real. When we first started dining here 4 years ago the red curry with chicken used to be $10.49. After covid they increased the prices to $12.49. Today the same dish costs $15.97. The fried garlic pork used to cost $8 but today it costs $13.59 and they reduced the portion to half. I am not sure if I will come back again read more

My family really love their curry dish and it's the main reason we keep coming back if we're in the area. Yellow curry and green curry were both on the sweeter side. Their beef salad is definitely the best among all Thai restaurants we've been to! Lots of fresh herb flavor. One thing worth mentioning is we got all dish with spicy level 2/mild, but beef salad was more to the level 3/medium in my opinion. My son ate a piece of red chili pepper and said his mouth was on fire lol still did not stop him from getting more salad to his plate coz it was really good. Crab fried rice is the must-order-dish. Also, the server was very nice to give us the Thai tea prior to I actually checked-in on yelp. 5 stars no doubt! read more

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Delicious food!!! There aren't many tables for groups larger than 4, and staff have to combine tables so it was a little bit of a wait for the indoor seating. The food is delicious though and the crab fried rice is the fan favorite read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Thai Thai Ice Tea () - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

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Ordered the pa-nang curry but was disappointed that it did not come with rice. Most restaurants would serve a side of rice (or tortillas) when ordering a soupy main dish. This goes against all Asian food norms. Also, paid $15 for 5 pieces of their famous garlic chicken wings. For $15, I got a lunch special at Golden Chopsticks that came with soup, noodles or rice, and a plate of chicken wings (10-15 pieces). Food was flavorful but pricey for what you would get in comparable restaurants. I guess you need to keep up with inflation, but please don't skimp on the rice....Asian insult. I mentioned this to the server and he agreed. read more

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Garlic chicken wings ($15 for 5 pieces). - Asian Fusion Near Me - San Diego, California

Everything was so good!!! Will definitely be back. Great customer service. Good environment. read more

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...another thai gem located right in pq. i could barely hang with level 5. garlic fried wings. chicken pad thai. tom yum soup. eggplant with duck. mango sticky rice. food comes out extremely fast and piping hot and the service staff checks in on customers with the right frequency which is a skill in itself. a little pricey for the portion size but keep supporting local. read more

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Yummy Thai restaurant in north county of San Diego. The service was really good -- quick to refill our waters, get our orders, bring out our dishes, etc. It was pretty busy when we came for dinner and rightfully so. We ordered 3 dishes and it was pretty good! Shrimp pad thai (3/5): I personally don't like my pad thai on the sweeter side but my bf loved how sweet they made their pad thai. They did such a good job with cooking the noodles though bc some places, the noodles stick together but the noodles were cooked perfectly! I did think they overcooked the shrimp though bc it was chewy and rubbery to me. Pork jerky (5/5): perfect amount of fats and meat. The sauce is sooo good. Definitely order it with a side of sticky rice to pair with it. Spicy baked shrimp (5/5): Thai people know how to make the perfect 'raw' shrimp dish. The texture is not off putting and the sauce is spicy (we picked level 5/10) and complimented it perfectly. I was surprised to see bitter melon as part of the dish but it actually paired so well with the acidity and spice of the sauce. All in all, if I'm in the area, we would come back to try other dishes! read more

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Deliciously consistent. One of my "Go To" Thai restaurants in San Diego. The green curry is a favorite! Try any one of the desserts to wrap up a nice meal. read more

with plenty of parking in the plaza, this restaurant has delicious thai food and friendly service. it's nice for a casual stop by, and the prices are by your choice of meat in each dish. Pad Thai with Shrimp the noodles were chewy and delicious and the textures of the crunchy bean sprouts and peanuts played together nicely. the flavor was a bit subtle. it was still enjoyable but i would've liked a little more flavor here. Drunken Noodle with Chicken we usually order this over pad-see-ew since it has more veggies, but this was the day i learned drunken noodles are also sweeter which i didn't love. Spicy Basil with Fish Fillets spicy and refreshing, this dish had a lot of yummy veggies, but for the price the fish was pretty lacking which made me sad. Pa-nang Curry with Chicken this curry was smooth and savory with a subtle sweetness. it had plenty of meat and vegetables inside and was very enjoyable, although it didn't come with rice so we had to order that separately. Mango Sticky Rice with Sesame Seeds the mangos were soft and sweet and the rice was warm and chewy without being overwhelmingly sweet. the sesame seeds on this dish added a nice new flavor and texture as well! read more

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