Rick L.
Yelp
Just a quick paragraph on how I assign a 5-star rating to any business, I because I assign a lot of them. These ratings, of course, are subjective based on my own preset criteria. To rate 5-stars a business must offer a great quality product or service, and the customer service they provide must be world-class, definitely above and beyond. It could be as simple as a server's personality and professionalism, and it can be food so impressive it rates high value no matter its price. And 5-stars are especially awarded to those who give added value to the service they provide. When it comes to restaurants, a place that primarily offers takeout can merit the same Yelp 5-stars awarded to a 2 or 3 star Michelin restaurant if that business checks all the boxes. I prefer to post reviews that recognize businesses that offer a great experience, or criticize a business that in my opinion just doesn't care about customers based on my horrible experience with them. And it takes a lot for me or assign a 1-star rating to any business.
So, with that out of the way, 1-2-3 Thai Food is my latest 5-star recipient and why I went into that long paragraph. It's highly unassuming from the outside and inside With only a few tables for customers who choose eat in, it's focus is on takeout (with its huge open kitchen and it appears to do it exceptionally well. My wife and I chose to eat here because of the uniformly high Yelp ratings. We were greeted by a very friendly man who patiently waited to take our orders and also explained more about some of the dishes.
Yelper tip: If you order Thai Iced Tea, make sure you specify THAI ICED TEA. We just asked for iced tea and that's what we got--iced tea with ice cubes in a glass. We just went with the flow, vowing to order more clearly next time.
The food was served incredibly fast by the man at the counter as well as a second equally friendly --which meant that it was still hot on the plate. The Gyoza (pork pot stickers) was very good and came with yummy dipping sauce. My wife ordered the Pad See Iew with beef and it was also very good. Strangely it lacked the thinly sliced carrots that usually come with this dish although the menu stated they were included in the dish. But the flavors were there and it was abundantly served on a bed of steamed white rice. I ordered one of the specials, Thai BBQ Pork. Once again, 'abundance' is the operative word here with lots of tender, thinly sliced pork along with thinly sliced quartered cucumbers on a bed of steamed white rice. The pork was covered in the housemade red sauce (like a BBQ sauce which I guess gives the dish its name since the pork never came close to an actual BBQ grill). I primarily tasted five-spice in the seasoning blend but that's an easy one to get.
This came with the same dipping sauce as the Gyoza. I set out to reverse engineer it. I swear that one of the main ingredients was liquid hickory smoke along with soy sauce, white vinegar and come kind of hot chile pepper (some ingredient gave it some nice heat. But the important thing is that all the food looked great and was nicely presented on porcelain plates, one red and one blue. We were each given a fork. Too late did I look behind me and see the area where extra utensils and chopsticks were offered. Had I seen it earlier, I would've gotten a knife to slice the BBQ pork into smaller, more manageable slices. But wouldn't you know? After I told my wife I'd spotted where the eating utensils were she told me she'd already seen it. I think she enjoyed that moment...
What struck my wife and I was the friendliness of the staff, from the two men who served us to an older Asian lady who smiled and nodded at my wife to a young man working in the kitchen who nodded and smiled at me as I walked past. 1-2-3 Thai Food has genuinely earned all of its Best Of awards. And it certainly deserves a 5-star rating.
