Ezankaya

We stumbled upon this hidden gem Thai restaurant by accident! We were visiting Chicago for vacation, and I was craving Thai food…so we searched for a nearby spot, and this one happened to be the closest to our hotel. We decided to walk over and give it a try, never expecting a Thai fusion restaurant to taste this authentic… but wow, it turned out so good!! The place is beautifully decorated with Japanese sakura flowers blended with Thai Esan vibes~ so fitting for the name Ezankaya. It’s honestly so cute! The food? Absolutely amazing…so flavorful, authentic, and just insanely tasty. 10 out of 10! My friend’s favorite was the Hat Yai Fried Chicken…we devoured everything like we were back home in Thailand! 🇹🇭 Our server was also incredibly sweet and polite. We’d definitely come back to this restaurant if we visit Chicago again!

We had an amazing meal at Ezankaya! The highlight was definitely the Thai-style hot pot set – packed with fresh veggies, vermicelli, thinly sliced beef, seafood, and a flavorful egg yolk marinade. It came with Thai instant noodles for that authentic touch.

I came here and ordered from both kitchens, sushi and Thai. The service was great. The staff are welcoming and attentive. First, I ordered hamachi sashimi, tuna sashimi and hotate sashimi. In my honest opinion, I would like to recommend them not to use small scallops for sashimi/nigiri. I think they are bay scallops if I’m not mistaken. They are totally bland. It felt like they defrost them by running them in water. There was no taste of scallops at all. I also was disappointed with the yellowtail slices. The chef sliced it incorrectly, going against the grain, which made it tough and unpleasant to eat — especially with the tendon running through the piece. Proper slicing is really important for sashimi texture, and unfortunately, it took away from the experience. You can see it in the photos. The tuna sashimi pieces were Huge! Too big for a piece of sashimi. Coming to Thai dishes, they are all amazing. The Tom Yum Goong Omelette, the papaya salad, the Larb moo were amazing. Portions are big, flavors are great! In conclusion, would recommend to try the Thai dishes they have to offer but would not recommend the a la carte sushi/sashimi. The rolls may be good but I havent tried them.

Came here on a Monday evening with a party of four around 6:45. We were seated promptly and the very kind staff took our food and drink orders shortly thereafter. The interior has a very fun vibe to it. The food was quite flavorful! The basil fried chicken (basically a pad krapao) was great and the side order of sticky rice was awesome. The crab rangoon had the great familiar taste you’d expect. The mom’s curry puffs had a great sweet potato and curry taste! The taro puff dessert was similar, but with a sweet custard interior that I definitely enjoyed. Definitely recommend checking this place out!

My husband and I haven’t had thai food since our honeymoon in Thailand, and this place hit the spot! The khao soi was absolutely delicious. My husband ordered the Tom Kha (his favorite soup in thailand) and it was the perfect spice level for him. We shared the crab egg omelet and that was also phenomenal. Highly recommended if you want a taste of genuine Thai cuisine.

Great options of food: - the papaya salad and the fried ones are really good. - Hot pot is interesting, the sauce is really good - crepe is very nice and not too sweet - chicken skin is super delicious! The service staff is very friendly but also very busy, slow for water refill etc.

Loved this place!! Got the cruncy spicy roll and some Thai ice cream and a Thai tea just to test out a couple things and it was delicious!! The service was fast, and you can tell it’s a really nice family oriented business. Also beautiful in there!!

Great place if you want some good Thai food! I got the pad Thai and it came fast. Amazing flavor and they did not skimp on anything especially the protein! It also has a nice vibe to it, would be a great place for friends or even a fun night out! Highly recommend.

I saw a random influencer video advertisement for this restaurant and was immediately intrigued- I'm always on the hunt for amazing pad Thai. I ordered thru door dash for a Friday evening treat; pad Thai chicken, crab Rangoon, and dragon roll (I love that they have sushi here). I love the crab Rangoon, it's on the sweeter side, but creamy and delicious. Pad Thai was so flavorful. They put foil in the bottom of the takeout box, which I thought was a really smart way to maintain the sauce and help it to easily slide out. The dragon roll was excellent too. I would order all of this again! Can't wait to try it in person as well.

Came here for a late dinner with the girls and it was such a great ambiance. My friend was Thai so recommended this place and it was so good. We had crab Rangoon, pad Thai, hot pot and cry tiger. This fed 5 people and the service was amazing. The waiter took our order and our drinks came out pretty quick. The Thai tea was really good was a nice color and flavor. The people here were so kind, even after closing time we were sitting around to talk and they didn't rush us out. Recommend coming here for a night dinner or even lunch. They have some great happy hour deals as well.

Three of us came in for dinner after seeing the Yelp page. Their web page food pictures sold me. We ordered the chicken skins right away. The service is a bit slow because there's only one guy waiting on tables, answering the phone, dealing with order pickups as well as trying to serve 6+ tables of 2-4 diners. It appears that this also reflects the number of staff in the kitchen because the food comes out slow. I guess the cook is balancing take out orders and eat-in guests. The guy is friendly but has way too much on his plate. Back to the food. We had to call the guy over to order we ordered drinks, chicken wings, cucumber salad, and the soft shell crab noodles. We got the drink order in a reasonable time but waited to get the food. including the chicken skins we had ordered as we sat down. The chicken skins are a killer appetizer. Nice portion of super crispy and well seasoned skins. Almost paper thin. Comes with the standard thai sweet chili sauce for dipping. about 20 minutes later the cucumber salad and the chicken wings arrive. The wings are huge. and comes with the same dipping sauce. The cucumber salad is fresh and we wolf it down and order another one. The crab noodles arrive later. It's in a coconut curry sauce which I normally like, but this is a bit too sweet for me. the crab is fresh and crispy and a treat to eat. We'll return for sure to try the other items.

Came in on a Sunday night, place was fairly busy. Not to the point that the waiter would take such a long time to take our order even after putting down our menus. What's even more strange was it took twice as long to get the check, which was disappointing considering we were the only ones who had these issues, even though our table was literally in the middle of the restaurant and quite impossible to ignore. But I'm going to give them another try since the food was actually good. Definitely order the soft shell crab lava omelette with salty egg sauce, chicken skin, and grilled pork salad. Portions are shareable and prices are fair. I am looking forward to trying more items on the menu but I hope I don't experience this kind of service next time, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth...

Came here on a Monday evening with a party of four around 6:45. We were seated promptly and the very kind staff took our food and drink orders shortly thereafter. The interior has a very fun vibe to it. The food was quite flavorful! The basil fried chicken (basically a pad krapao) was great and the side order of sticky rice was awesome. The crab rangoon had the great familiar taste you'd expect. The mom's curry puffs had a great sweet potato and curry taste! The taro puff dessert was similar, but with a sweet custard interior that I definitely enjoyed. Definitely recommend checking this place out!

Read the reviews and after moving my daughter into her new apartment wanted to go somewhere close. So very very good. Chicken skins were great crisp and salty. Unagi was well done, eel perfect. Ssoft shell crab was crispy seasoning was great and wife's pork Pad sew was quite flavorful Service was really attentive and fast, must have hired some more help, on a Saturday night really quick. Cute decor and friendly. Not really very spicy but well done

Ambiance - super cool interior, lanterns on the walls and in the ceiling Service - only 1 server on a Friday night but he was definitely attentive as much as he can Food - crying tiger was my favorite (super flavorful, cooked medium), pad khee mao was my least favorite (felt like something was missing, not tossed in enough sauce, also had mushroom which I'm not used to)

Came here at open 11:30-ish for some lunch. Had Pad Thai. I asked for spicy with chicken. The meal was delicious. It wasn't very spicy but that's ok because the flavor was outstanding. Everything seemed fresh and perfectly made. The atmosphere is a bit of a laid back and chill with friends vibe. There is a very "20 something bar" like feel if you catch my drift. I could see hanging here and throwing back some cold ones for a few hours. Music was absolutely perfect (soft dance if that's even a genre) and a pleasant volume. You can hear it clear but still hold a conversation at a normal speaking level. Highly recommended. I'll be back.

Nice, eclectic, fun space. Non-generic Thai cuisine, well executed with a light touch. Friendly and capable servers.

We chose Ezankaya because its new and within walking distance of the Raven Theatre. We had an outstanding experience! First of all, the decor is enchanting and we received a warm welcome. It was hard to choose from so many interesting dishes, but we had one of the papaya salads ( the first one) and the spicy ribs. They made them Level 1 spicy which was perfect. We had plenty of food sharing those two dishes. My friend had Nutella cake and I had homemade coconut ice cream for dessert. A great meal with impeccable and friendly service! And it's BYOB - even better. This is definitely a neighborhood gem. Can't wait to go back.

Very cute atmosphere, excellent food, great service. A cute find worth returning for.

Stopped by Ezankaya in Edgewater for lunch and grabbed the Pad Thai, crispy chicken wonton, and a spicy basil chicken rice bowl. Spent around $30--including tax and a Thai iced tea--which felt fair for how much food you get. The Pad Thai hit with legit tamarind flavor, and the wontons were golden and crunchy, though the basil chicken could've used a bit more heat. Staff was super laid-back and the lantern-lit dining room gives good chill vibes . Only gripe is the chicken bowl sauce was a tad light, but overall it's a solid spot for casual Thai-Japanese eats. Definitely coming back when I'm craving noodles and chill eats.

We ordered takeout from Ezankaya because our usual places were closed on a Sunday night. They have the best pad Thai in the area. We really like the khoa soi tofu too. The pad kee mao was on the dry side and had a bunch of different veggies than the classic. It wasn't as flavorful as the other two, so not sure we'd order that one again. But we will definitely be back for that pad Thai!

Stunning authentic food, super eclectic decor that's all little all over the place but still fun absolutely will be back, as a bonus byob, service was attentive and well paced love it new favorite

Cute decor, fresh food seasoned well. Small place, Just one waiter on the day we went. So, service was slow but he was friendly. We will go again.

I'm writing this review because I genuinely see the potential in this place and hope that the owners see this/make some changes! Unfortunately, after my last visit with them this week, there's a few improvements that need to happen before I can rate them higher, particularly with regard to their food. The Good: I've been here once before when it was under a different name. While this appears to be a new restaurant, and the interior has been updated, the staff seems to be the same staff from the last time I went about a year ago. The staff here, as before, was super friendly and attentive. Hands down 10/10 The Bad: I decided to try this place again because I noticed the new name/sign out front. Had that not happened, based on my previous experience, I would not have come back. The reason comes down to the food. At this recent visit, there were a few sparse gems here and there (crispy chicken skins and the pineapple fried rice were great) but the quality of the two main dishes we ordered was terrible. The Thai spicy ribs were room temperature/almost cold in the middle. The river prawns that were part of the pad Thai were mushy, as if they'd sitting been in boiling water for awhile. The mushroom skewers were tough to eat, and had an off putting taste as if they'd were right on the verge of being spoiled. All of this said -- better oversight on the food quality is a must before I can rate this place higher. To the restaurant's credit, they were apologetic about the quality of some of the items so maybe this was a bad night. But I remember the last time we went here before the revamp and also recall the food quality being pretty bad.

This place was amazing!! They have a lot of authentic Thai food. I love hat yai fried chicken!!!!!! 10/10

Fun and funky decor, celebratory and relaxed ambiance, DELICIOUS food and stellar service by friendly art unobtrusive staff. Reasonably priced. Win/win!! RECOMMEND HIGHLY!! AND try the Godzila roll!!

Amazing flavorful thai, sushi and very unique dishes. Great ambience - such a chill atmosphere! Will be back. Very nice people.

I don't have time for long post, I'll just say this was one of the most delicious meals I've had in months. I can't wait to bring people here. Absolute gem. Great service. Super delicious food. Cool vibe.

very cool inside! yummy food and great service :) our fav was the crispy chicken skin

Phenomenal. Wonderful flavor, atmosphere and service. Highly recommend and happy that they are in the neighborhood.

Food was so great! The staff was super nice and helpful. The inside is also very pretty. Definitely recommend going.

The food was absolutely amazing!!! The service was top notch and the ambiance was impeccable!! I went for my 6 year anniversary and the hubby loved all of the items we ordered!! We are both coming back again!! They made sure to make our anniversary extremely special!! I definitely recommend it to everyone!!

This restaurant is so cute and the food is so delicious. The staff is very friendly. I am excited to have this Thai restaurant in Roger's park. They have more than just your American take on Thai food. The menu offers a large variety of options I can't wait to come back to try more. They have a ton of vegetarian options. The parking is so convenient and right in front street parking. I can't wait to come back

The service was incredibly slow. A family beside us got there 10 minutes after us and left 10 minutes before we got our check. The portions are also way too small. Replaced a truly amazing restaurant in the neighborhood only to jack up the prices and decorate it. Not worth your time.

Fantastic and authentic Thai cuisine matched with prompt service and a perfect ambiance! My friends and I also had a chance to meet the owner Mos, extremely friendly and welcoming. Can't recommend enough!

Great food, great service, adorable atmosphere. Good portions, and a vast menu of things I'm a little afraid to try but will one day soon.

Really good and authentic thai street food! I'd recommend the Crying Tiger or the Khoa Soi Noodles. Drinks were amazing too, def worth a visit

Some of the best Thai food I've ever had. The pad Thai is so flavorful, and the egg rolls have an amazing texture

This place is so cute on the inside and the food is even better! They have multiple khao soi options, curry's, and noodle dishes. I can't wait to come here with friends and get the hot pot.

We ordered delivery so our review is based on that only, no in restaurant experience. Most portions were small, especially in comparison to the higher than average price for comparable dishes. "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad" , someone should have told Ezankaya this. The Fruit Salad contained tomatoes which seemed very out of place. The Pineapple Fried Rice was very boring with very little in it other than barly flavored rice. The Crispy Chicken Skin was good and would have possibly been better if they had included the sauce that was supposed to accompany it me. They have some unique items on their menu, but with the smaller sized portions and higher price I feel this may have been out first and last time ordering from Exankaya.

The soft shell crab khao soi was incredible, as close to authentic Thai food as I have found in Chicago. Perfect amount of spiciness without taking away from the flavor. Also had pork skewers and a chicken and rice dish that were very good and had fairly large portions. Ordered takeout but will definitely be back to dine in!

Fantastic large menu of unusual things! We loved the stir fried squid with salty egg yolk, giant prawns in tamarind sauce, and Thai omelette with soft shell crab. The wall of lanterns is very cheerful. And the portions are quite generous. So lucky to have such a high quality place in East Rogers Park!

Wow! My favorite, have had a lot of Thai food and this was my favorite. Ask for Moss, he's great. It's so cozy in here.