Anajak Thai Cuisine
Thai restaurant · Sherman Oaks ·
Southern Thai fried chicken, natural wine & Taco Tuesdays
Southern Thai fried chicken, natural wine & Taco Tuesdays
"Over the course of two months in 2025, Anajak Thai chef Justin Pichetrungsi shut down his popular Sherman Oaks restaurant to embark on an ambitious renovation. The restaurant first opened on Ventura Boulevard in 1981, though Pichetrungsi took over in 2019 after his father suffered from a stroke. Less than four years later, Pichetrungsi won a James Beard Award for transforming the traditional menu into one that keeps the team busy, especially during Thai Taco Tuesdays, when Pichetrungsi’s team prepares inventive Los Angeles–centric tacos. But there’s also that fried chicken, some of Los Angeles’s juiciest and crispiest, always best shared with a group. Tack on the stellar wine list, and Anajak is a destination that can house far more with its expansive and bright dining rooms. It’s also festive for holiday dinner party season. Just be prepared to revisit and refresh the reservations page, as Anajak’s tables fill up quickly." - Eater Staff
"For more than four decades, this vital San Fernando Valley dining destination has drawn even the most quick-to-snub-the-Valley Angelenos with refined takes on classic Thai dishes and an impressive wine slate. In 2019, chef Justin Pichetrungsi took over from his parents, revitalizing the menu and space while keeping the quirky, weathered interior adorned with artwork, and installing one of the best wine lists on the West Coast; he added top-quality seafood like hamachi, local farm-raised shrimp, and dry-aged fish fillets dressed with nam jim, and kept popular dishes such as pad kee mao, fried chicken, and Dungeness crab fried rice. Mercilessly tender Massaman braised beef falls apart in a pool of masterfully spiced, silky curry with hunks of Japanese sweet potato, the glossy, chewy pad see ew lingers in memory for its kick of white pepper (you may want two orders for a table of four), and pork ribs painted with a rich, smoky pineapple glaze will have you gnawing every morsel off the bone. On Tuesdays, Thai Taco Night transforms the restaurant and is so popular it’s practically a block party as people queue up on Ventura Boulevard; lines can extend to the dozens, and limited reservations are now available. The vibe is unpretentious but glowing—its neon sign bathes the sidewalk in red light—with a pleasantly noisy dining room of clinking glasses and friends sharing dishes, and a vast outdoor patio that wraps around into the adjacent alley, with white tablecloths and space for more subdued conversation. Expect a diverse crowd fit for a third date or a family night, from thick-spectacled pêt-nat nerds to young families, where parents can enjoy fried chicken and chardonnay while others order orange wine and kampachi crudo; book a table early and purposefully because reservations are competitive." - Hilary Pollack
"You likely don't need me to recommend Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks—it’s a mainstay on every “best restaurant in L.A.” list out there. But I’ll do it anyway. This family-owned restaurant challenges every notion that Thai food is best enjoyed as takeout and elevates it to Michelin-worthy cuisine (once a month, they even offer their own take on an omakase experience). It’s tough getting a reservation—set your Resy alert!—but on Tuesdays, they have a no-reservation Thai taco night. " —Elise Taylor"
"What began as a pandemic-born Thai Taco Tuesday at Anajak Thai Cuisine grew into a signature experience, with dishes such as a carnitas taco and a sashimi-style yellowtail tostada topped with nam jim–salsa negra marisquera and papaya salad that helped the restaurant gain national attention." - Ben Mesirow
"Anajak Thai has reimagined Roy Choi’s Asian–Mexican observation into something on a tostada pedestal—think dry-aged fish and oceanic offerings—paired with wine in a back alley of Sherman Oaks, and it's cemented as the restaurant to be at in LA." - Eddie Huang