Kapow Thai Street Food

The food was so good!!! Yes, it is a small, simple dining room (with some outdoor seating as well), but this is my favorite kind of place. It is not fancy but the service is excellent and the food is amazing. In my opinion, it is so much better than some of the more popular Thai restaurants in town. The prices are very reasonable as well. They did not have the mango sticky rice when we were there. Just an excuse to go back again soon! I saw a lot of people picking up take out orders as well which is also an option when you have a hungry crowd at home!

I had a great experience at Kapow Thai Street Food. Food (5/5): The Basil Veg Fried Rice was perfect—cooked just right with great flavor. The Khao Soi (vegetarian soup) had crispy noodles and was tasty, though a bit on the sweeter side for my preference (4/5). The Hot Saki was also excellent. Service (5/5): Friendly, attentive, and quick—everything you’d want. Ambiance (3.5/5): Simple and casual, but a few flies inside did make it a little uncomfortable. Overall, the food and service were outstanding, and I’d definitely come back again.

Absolutely loved my visit to Kapow Thai Street Food! From the moment I walked in, the service was friendly, fast, and welcoming. The place is small and quaint—clean, cozy, and full of charm. I ordered the Pad See Ew with chicken, and it was absolutely delicious. The noodles were perfectly cooked, the chicken was tender and flavorful, and the whole dish had that perfect balance of sweet, savory, and smoky from the wok. You can really taste the authenticity and care in every bite. If you’re looking for amazing Thai street food in a relaxed, clean, and friendly spot, Kapow delivers. Can’t wait to come back and try more! 💥🍜🐔

Gwoooooorl!! My knees were weak after eating this. It was very good. You can tell by how good a Thai place is by their spicy level. I got the hot level pad Thai and I was levitating. Definitely one of the many best pad I have so far. Got the chicken basil and basil fried rice, she was a smoker for sure, very Smokey flavor! I would recommend this for anyone who likes Thai food and are passing by Wilmington. Slaaaay mama!!

31 Jan 2023: My friend and I were warmly greeted when we arrived for lunch. The place was pretty much empty except for a couple of people. This is a small place that seats around 26-28 people (just a quick estimate, as I didn't count the seats). This is a great little place for some wonderful Thai food. They have a lunch special (11am to 3pm) with lots of good choices. While my friend and I waited for another friend to show up, we were served a small bowl of their soup of the day to start. I did wish the waitress had waited for our friend to show up. When she arrived only a few minutes later (we waited to eat our soup), she looked a little perplexed thinking we had already ordered our food and started without her. That wasn't the case. I ordered Drunken Noodles with pork. My friends ordered Green Curry with chicken; and Cashew Nuts with chicken. The vegetables in my dish were fresh and the pork was tender. My friends enjoyed their food too. Good portions for lunch and I had some leftovers to take home. Hot green tea for me in a very large mug, which warmed me up. If you're looked for some tasty Thai food with friendly service, I highly recommended this place.

This was our first time going back since the expansion. We sat for 10-15 minutes with one waitress glaring at us when walking by and eventually had to flag down another one to order. The water tasted like pool water. The curry puff appetizer was good. Spring rolls were okay. Red curry was awful and the pad Thai was different than it was before, not good. We won’t be going back.

Ultimate gem of Wilmington! Everything my family and I have eaten here has been delicious! Staff are great at acknowledging every customer that walks in (letting them know to have a seat wherever they choose and will be right with them no matter how busy they are) and great service! Restaurant is a tad small, but cozy. Servers immediately bring out complimentary egg drop soup to keep people from getting Hangry while waiting to order and getting main dish. Treat yourself and spoil your taste buds with AUTHENTIC Thai food!!!

Our never fail go to Thai food spot. Food is flavorful and you can pick how mild or hot you want it. Thai hot will definitely have you sweating. Desserts are great too. I would definitely recommend this place if you like food in general and want to explore your taste buds.

I really liked the Kapow dish, it was not spicy at all which I was happy about. The restaurant is small inside, so it's more suited to get to food to go. But I heard they bought the old restaurant next to them and will be expanding the inside.

I order the drunken noodle with pork($16) it came out in about 15 minutes. The medium spice was an actual good spice level where you could feel the burn without dying by the pain. The flavors however felt a tad off for some reason. I also personally wasn't a fan of the smaller noddles size instead of thicker ones at other restaurants. Staff were good and the interior was cozy. Overall it was a good experience but not the best. Food(50%): 6.0 Staff/service(25%): 7.0 Value(25%): 6.5 Overall: 6.3/10

Good little spot. Got there and it was empty, which gave me some hesitation about what I was getting myself into. Order the spicy edamame (it was spicy, good, but hot) and ground chicken Kapow. So good. The place filled up and was doing a lot of take out business. Was comfortable and clean.

As I sit here eating my leftover pho, I think with every spoonful how deliciously rich it is! We've tried to make pho at home a few times and we could never achieve the depth of broth, so now we go out for it. It's very difficult to find a place that even serves pho, let alone good pho! This is it! You found it! My husband had the Pad Thai and that was also delicious!!! Service was phenomenal! You will not want for anything while there. Not great ambiance but it's all about the food! Skip the jasmine tea as it's not flavorful. The food though - amazing!

Came here on a Saturday evening for dinner. Parking was easy in the lot and 3 of us were able to get a seat right away. The inside is small but cute and has ~10-15 seats. Lots of takeout offers as well. Workers were all nice and efficient. We started with some appetizers of curry puff and spring rolls for ~$7 each. Both were very good. We were pleasantly surprised by the curry puffs and really enjoyed them. Both very crispy. My mom and I split the prik khing chicken and pla Sam rod. Both were very good with good spices. Both dishes were a good size and we had leftovers afterwards. The pla Sam rod had some rough pieces of fish in it but overall very good. We had a nice meal!

This place was awesome. First, it was the only place open during the snowstorm 1.25. I ordered the KAPOW ground chicken. It comes with rice and it was enough for 2. The flavor was way better than expected. I do recommend this place if you like Thai food. And if you don't or haven't tried Thai, this is a must. You will like it. Great service and good food. The price is not bad either.

Well it turned out to be Thai Tuesday. The reviews scared me a bit since I didn't have reservations but it was fine. Plenty of parking and a two top just waiting for me so I filled it. Very sweet hostess and waitress that checked on me several times. They brought a bottle of water out along with the Thai tea so my thirst was quenched. The Thai tea was delicious especially since I had not had one for over a month. The Pad Thai was not spicy at all so that worked out well. You can order it spicy or they will bring out the sauce bowl but at this hour I do not need spice. Nice clean small restaurant with great service. Nothing fancy just good. They did have a couple of Japanese beers and two Korean beers in stock but I opted for just the tea tonight.

I thought I had written a review of this place when I visited last summer with my husband , but when I went there with two friends the other day and did my check-in here on Yelp, I realized I hadn't. My friend and I were warmly greeted when we arrived. The place was pretty much empty except for a couple of people. This is a small place that seats around 26-28 people (just a quick estimate, as I didn't count the seats) . This is a great little place for some wonderful Thai food. They have a lunch special (11am to 3pm) with lots of good choices. While my friend and I waited for another friend to show up, we were served a small bowl of their soup of the day to start. I did wish the waitress had waited for our friend to show up. When she arrived only a few minutes later (we waited to eat our soup), she looked a little perplexed thinking we had already ordered our food and started without her. That wasn't the case. I ordered Drunken Noodles with pork. My friends ordered Green Curry with chicken; and Cashew Nuts with chicken. The vegetables in my dish were fresh and the pork was tender. My friends enjoyed their food too. Good portions for lunch and I had some leftovers to take home. Hot green tea for me in a very large mug, which warmed me up. If you're looked for some tasty Thai food with friendly service, I highly recommended this place.

If you are in the Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach area and like Thai food, Kapow is the place to go.

Best Thai in town, particularly if you love spicy food. Do my best to eat lunch there when I can; also order via DoorDash quite a bit.

We are out of towners, in town, checking Wilmington as possible retirement place for us. And we had Kapow tonight. We have eaten a lot of Thai food in lifetime. And we can say that the food here is flavorful. We had Tom Yum soup - Shrimp. We also had the curry chicken, the drunken noodle chicken and the papaya salad. Of course my wife wants to eat Spicy Thai style and oh boy, it was spicy but yet good enough. There is no real ambience, just a small rest with about 10 small tables of 4 or less. But if u are a Thai foodie. This should be good. One weird thing is that they had Vietnamese food on the menu too! Our rating is 4.5

This was a very new restaurant when we visited (only opened a week). The staff was still training but our food came out fairly quickly and very fresh! The tom kha soup took me right back to Bangkok. It smelled and tasted so authentic. The spring rolls were very average, so it did not disappoint. The beef jerky was meh. I wouldn't order it again, it was very dry and chewy. The flavors were interesting. The Black Magic Salmon was insane. It was a huge portion and had a huge amount of eggplant, which was right up my alley. Super savory and perfect amount of spice. The white rice was a perfect way to soak up the sauce. The massaman curry was very delicious and authentic as well. We were too full to have dessert, but highly recommend this Thai restaurant!

It's a little small inside, and there is no outdoor seating. I ordered to-go Thai Beef Jerky, Thai/Laos style papaya salad, Pad See-ew with tofu, Kapow with tofu, and house special Prik Khing Chicken. My favorite was the Thai beef jerky, Kapow with tofu, and Prik Khing Chicken. The beef jerky was so flavorful and crispy. The Kapow and prik khing were also flavorful. The curry paste on the prik khing tasted fresh, housemade. The pad see ew noodles could have been cooked just a little bit more, but I did like the wok flavor. The Thai/Laos style papaya salad isn't for everyone since it has a fishy taste. It came with whole pieces of crab in there so you'll want to watch out for that while eating it. Also received some pork rinds. Not sure which dish that came with. Too bad they didn't have desserts available. This is a worthy Thai restaurant to try.

Ultimate gem of Wilmington! Everything my family and I have eaten here has been delicious! Staff are great at acknowledging every customer that walks in (letting them know to have a seat wherever they choose and will be right with them no matter how busy they are) and great service! Restaurant is a tad small, but cozy. Servers immediately bring out complimentary egg drop soup to keep people from getting Hangry while waiting to order and getting main dish. Treat yourself and dine in with them!

Too bad I ate everything before remembering to take a photo. The pad Thai was delicious! I wish this spot was in Raleigh, but I'll have to settle for when I visit friends in the area. The spring rolls were average, nothing special. It took 30 minutes to make our order, but it was worth it. Would definitely stop by again to try more menu items.

Not the best Thai. There's better places. Don't get the fresh rolls- not worth the $10 at all. Basil fried rice was average at best, I will say the chicken was good but rice itself not really. The beef drunken noodles were good. Can't ever really go wrong there. Service was good for takeout- can't speak for dine in or the ambiance but it seemed nice.

I had a delivery from DoorDash of the Thai beef jerky and chicken pho. The Thai beef jerky was really tender and the fatty pieces were so delicious. I could eat this all of the time. Great flavor and the sauce with it was a nice accompaniment. The pho was not my favorite, but the chicken was good. Pricing was very high for chicken pho.

Just ordered from Uber eats last night and it was beyond delicious. I tried the beef jerky, the lo mein, and the orange chicken and every dish was so insanely good. I'm definitely going to become a regular and can't wait to try more dishes.

Not good. Dry meat and mushy vegetables. Did not include the rice on a carry out order so that didn't help. At $25 an entree your much better off with the standard Chinese carry out. Disappointing.

The food is good overall and meeting my expectations, but average food proportions is under my consideration to give it a four stars. One staff is good, can help to figure out what we need while eating but another just like did nothing only come to serve when called. Environment is clean. But 2 seated table is small, should be careful when you enjoy the meal.

Great food and highly attentive service! We came in during a rush of in-house and takeout customers, but the staff was locked in! Maybe ask for less vegetables in the noodle/meat dishes because they like to put a lot! 2 people at our table got the lychee tea drink, and they commented that it was great and similar to the one from Thai Basil. Duck noodle bowl (5/5) - This dish was what I would describe as a duck pho. It came with pork rinds on the side. I'm not a huge pho guy, and I didn't love this dish; however, everybody else at the table was raving about it. Definitely order if you like pho! Drunken noodles with chicken (4/5) - This dish was amazing in flavor and spice, but there was a lot more vegetables in it than preferred. The noodles and chicken should've been the focus, but the veggies took away from it. Cashew chicken (3/5) - This dish was less exciting than the drunken noodles but still tasty. The vegetable dilemma was even more prevalent in this dish as well, as the carrots and others outnumbered the chicken portion. Mango and sticky rice (4/5) - It was yummy but didn't scream dessert to me. It was my first experience with the dish...

Hands down the best Thai food in Wilmington. Haven't had this quality of Thai in a long time...

Excellent food and with good service. I love that they can alter so many items to make them vegan-friendly. Definitely the best pad Thai in Wilmington. Their lychee iced tea really surprised me. I was expecting something with a super sweet artificial taste, but it was so refreshing and delicious with the right amount of sweetness and a couple pieces of real lychee at the bottom. So good! There isn't a ton of space for dining in, but based on my experiences with takeout I would guess the service for that would be excellent.

This is really a place that makes me wish I could do half-stars so I could go up a smidge. A friend brought us take-out from here several months ago and it was tasty. I can't quite remember what I got, but I was pleased with it. A few days ago I ordered take-out - I'm rarely at that end of town but happened to be and was excited. I was quoted a 35 minute wait. I arrived at around 33 minutes and was told it was "just being packed". 20 minutes later (so over 15 minutes later than quoted), I was finally handed my bag of food. It's a small space so if it's cold out, waiting for takeout is a bit awkward. They were clearly very, very busy - almost every table was seated, and at least 5 takeout orders were picked up while I was there - but the lack of communication was a bummer. I actually did have a time-constraint so the lack of knowing when I'd get my order made what should have been an enjoyable treat pretty stressful, to the point that I almost told them I wanted to cancel and just get a refund. The food was good. We got drunken noodles, green curry, summer rolls, and tom kha soup (all vegetarian/made with tofu). The green curry had amazing flavor but was so spicy-hot to the point of being nearly inedible to me. I LIKE spice, had ordered this with 0 spice added on their heat scale so I could order my own...but it literally had me sweating. As an aside, I had asked for a spice packet with my order which they forgot; that ended up being fine since I sure didn't need any. The rest of the items I'd happily eat again. Altogether, they seem to do great business and their food is solid. But their customer service (lack of communication, over promising and underdelivering, forgetting an item...their voicemail isn't set up, so if you call and they're busy you get a generic message and are not sure you called the right number) was disappointing.

Amazing. The Khao soi is my favorite dish, the flavor is soooo good. Got pho, Khao soi, and Khao poon to go and it was so good even as take out.

We tried out Kapow for lunch today and the service was friendly and knowledgeable, the food was full of fresh veggies and tasted so delicious! Cozy clean atmosphere so be sure to get there early before they fill up! Outdoor seating available and beer and wine. Definitely recommend!

The food was delicious and exactly what I'd pair with a nice cold beer after a day at the beach. There is no spice in the mild food so If you like spicy I would highly recommend along for some

Wonderful vegan and gf options at this restaurant. We are in area on vacation and decided to try Kapow. Excellent service and selection of food. Very friendly and accommodating to our questions as one in our party has a corn allergy so the Chef was willing to make the eggplant dish to her specifications. I had the pad Thai tofu which was very delicious and my other friend had the pineapple fried rice. Definitely recommend and was so nice to have such good service , great value and generous portions.

Seriously some of the best Thai food we have ever had in the US!!! We ordered the pad Thai, kapow basil, and massaman curry. The medium is more like a hot at other Thai places so keep that in mind. Very nice and kind staff.

Had take out from here once. Actually was very good. The dumplings / gyyoza are to die for even when you get takeout. Thai wings had a sauce I've never had before. Had a good zing to them. Will order again and take pictures next time.

This place is fantastic! The staff is super friendly and the place is new and clean. The Beef Jerky is legit, crispy and flavorful. The gyoza were great but our entrees were the stars of the show. Really generous portion sizes (you will need take out boxes) and the flavors are authentic and elevated. I suggest the Prik Khing chicken (the curry paste is an explosion of flavor.) Not shown but of course we got a Thai iced tea and it was also amazing. Will be regulars for sure!

If you're looking for authentic Thai food, this is the place to BE! Chef Peter & Jon knows what they are doing & have had years (40+ yrs) of experience. This is a very small family restaurant but with a lot of power in the kitchen . Food is full of flavor , there's options for levels of spice (be careful with that Thai Spice!) , gluten-free, & vegetarians. Service will become your family & you will easily become a regular or if you're out of town.... You'll want to always make this a stop for great Thai food near the beach . This is what Wilmington needs, and coming from Los Angeles county where there's a lot of Thai restaurants, Kapow is top notch and glad it's here near the beach ! Tip your servers !

Ordered food to go. This was my first interaction with this restaurant and I will definitely go in next to see how the vibe is in person. But over the phone I got excellent service, my husband had no trouble picking it up and then opened up my to go boxes to beautiful food. TBH I mainly ordered from here for the Mango Sticky Rice but the eggplant and tofu that came in the Green Curry was the solidifying factor for me. I've never ate eggplant that was that smooth and flavorful.

I was visiting a friend in Wilmington and we went to a different Thai restaurant on market street but didn't want to wait an hour and a half for a table so we went to Kapow. It was excellent and there was no wait. Nice quaint dining room with about a dozen tables. We ordered spring rolls as an appetizer which were great and just enough for the two of us. We both ordered drunken noodles. The dish was excellent and a large portion so we both had enough for lunch the next day! Highly recommend this little gem of a restaurant. So glad our first choice was too crowded!

Just overall a terrible experience. Wait staff was great and very attentive. Tall man that works the front was working very hard but the kitchen was lacking. Very long wait for the food, not any spice, and very oily. There are better Thai places in Wilmington. I asked to speak to the manager and was very politely told by the server that wouldn't be an option.

Just a "meh" experience. Food was spicy but otherwise didn't have a lot of flavor (we tried both the pad Thai and drunken noodles). Ratio of chicken to noodles was off in the pad Thai - but if you like a ton of chicken, that's great for you. Plenty of fresh, well-cooked veggies and good portions, though. The restaurant was busy and our to-go order took longer than expected.

Finally good Thai food in Wilmington... This place is legit, real Thai food with big flavours!! The spice tray was the first giveaway, we had the chicken kapow and eggplant delight and both were mouth watering.

Really great Thai street food! We love the other place in Wilmington too but it's always so crowded. kapow is as good and easier to get into

Everything is so good. Gluten free Crab rice is outstanding love the staff they are very nice

I've been here twice now with my housemate and it has been delicious both times! The pad thai, tom kha soup, and cashew but rice dishes did not disappoint and prices are reasonable with large portions. The dining area is a little small and gets crowded on Saturdays.

This is where I always eat when we come to Wilmington. Great food, service. I always take an order to go as well. I wish we had this restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Great food at great prices! The gyoza and Thai chicken wings were some of the best in town. The drunken noodle bowl tasted great, the veggies were chopped a little large though for my liking. Definitely more of a takeout spot, but we will definitely be going again!

The Finest Thai Restaurant In Wilmington By Far Authentic Cuisine Friendly Staff Great Prices

I get Thai all the time (usually medium spice Chicken Pad Thai). This place ROCKS - Most chicken and juiciest chicken i've had in years for Thai. STOP YELPING AND GO HERE!

I've only ever gotten takeout from here, but restaurant ambiance is quite pleasant, and the staff is very friendly. My new favorite place, and ONLY place for Thai. As a previous reviewer said, FINALLY - good Thai food in Wilmington. If you're a fan of Indochine - I'm sorry but you'll find out what REALLY good/authentic Thai food tastes like and never go back to that tasteless tourist trap. You can adjust your spice level, even the mild spice on the som tum (green papaya salad) is too spicy for me now, but omg, does it taste good. The Thai iced tea and Thai iced coffee are just they should taste like (not like the watered down version at that other restaurant mentioned above - that place doesn't even have good rice). My only complaint is it's kind of pricey for Thai food, but I'm sure the folks in the neighborhood (Landfall, Wrightsville Beach) won't think so - maybe that's the clientele they are going for. Probably going to get more takeout tonight (wish they didn't use styrofoam, plastic, and straws - especially so close to the beach - but oh well, that'll probably only make the prices go up. :D

Amazing food. I love their peanut sauce! The red curry is also delicious. Affordable prices

Just an update from another amazing meal... Tonight we ordered the Crab Fried Rice, Pork Pad See Ew, Beef Pho, and Gyoza. The crab fried rice was seemingly made from fresh local blue crabs (trust me I know what they taste like) or some insane copy cat. It was so fresh and delicious! The pad see ew was loaded with veggies (rare I find) and so tasty. Everything was so so good and made for a very lovely dinner at home with the family. Thank you, Kapow!

Best a Thai food I have had in Wilmington! No other place come close. Food is as excellent and authentic. Service great. I will be back!

Spring roll appetizers were good. Penang curry with chicken was very watery with minimal vegetables. For $16 I expected more and I had to add extra vegetables at home because the sauce was so thin (no coconut milk to thicken?) and later realized that a lot of MSG must have been used because I could not stop drinking water. I don't plan to visit again anytime soon.