Khao Tiew

The price is fair and the environment is charming! I loved the decor—so many old Thai commercial posters from 20–30 years ago that give off a nostalgic 70s–80s vibe 🌟 The waitress was super attentive. Be warned though: if you come during peak dinner hours, there’s usually a long wait, but you can easily join the waitlist on Yelp! Despite the crowd, food came out really fast. Everything we ordered had such a great balance of flavors. 💯 My top recommendations: • Duck breast curry – rich, flavorful, and so satisfying. • Kaya toast – perfectly crispy and sweet. They also have a good drink selection, and we saw a lot of people ordering the crispy papaya salad—huge portion and definitely unique! If you’re craving Thai food, I highly recommend this place!

Came here with a group about an hour after opening and placed our names on the Yelp waitlist. We did not have to wait too long which was great but the place was packed. I thought the food was okay. We only had one dish I did not like because it tasted burnt. It was the steamed egg with large pieces of shrimp but the inside was burned and seeped throughout the dish. I would also pass on the mango sticky rice given presentation, size, and lack of complexity.

Absolutely delicious! We went earlier to avoid the long line and were seated immediately. Lots of vegetarian options, all were really well made and full of authentic flavor. The spice was actually spicy, thankfully. Would highly recommend!

Easily one of the best restaurants in SF, top 5 for me. Some of the best Thai food I've ever had. Beef fried rice and duck breast curry had me licking my spoon. MUST get if you go. The crab and shrimp glass noodle dish was good too, but a bit underwhelming compared to the others, and the most expensive. Wouldn't get it again. I will return here and try more of their menu. This place is definitely pricey, but worth the money. A MUST visit in SF.

The wait time is always crazy, so we did takeout. The food smells really good, and the prices are reasonable. But I don’t think waiting an hour is worth it. We didn’t order anything too special—it was just standard Thai food to us. I recommend trying takeout before waiting in line for an hour.

Easily the best Thai food in the city, very special and unique ingredients and cuisson on every dish. Our favorite dishes were the Pork Belly appetizer and the Beef Fried Rice entree. The Toast dessert is absolutely a must-have, it’s so good. My only recommendation is to make a reservation since we waited 2 hours on the waitlist on a Friday night. It seems that the minimum party size for a reservation is 6 ppl.

This is a gem in the West Portal and I highly recommend it and will return! We arrived an hour after opening and we're seated immediately. Soon after the was a line forming for dinner. You can try and get on the wait-list via Yelp. We ordered the Crispy Papaya Salad and it was amazing! The sauce was perfect. Not too sweet and not too sour. The Khao Soi was good, but a bit salty IMHO. The Duck Breast Panang Curry was good when all the components were eating together on one bite. The duck breast tasted like liver to me, but it was still tasty. The Burnt Butter Kaya Toast with Coconut Ice Cream was AMAZING! It was so big, but we finished it. It should not be wasted! Pro tip: arrive early for dinner or get on Yelp to sign up for the virtual wait-list.

Pad see ew was quite tasty and our Kaya toast was amazing!! My bf had the Khao Pad Man Nuer and I thought it was just okay honestly. You could tell this place was popular since TikTok blew it up. I recommend waitlisting via Yelp since they don’t take reservations. Overall a good dinner spot but it wasn’t extraordinary enough for more than an hour wait.

We loved our first visit so much that we knew we had to come back and try more dishes! This time, we came with a party of eight, which allowed us to secure a reservation (available for groups of five or more). We revisited some standout favorites, like the Khao Pad Mun Nuer, while also trying new dishes that were just as delicious. From this visit, my favorites were the Duck Breast Penang Curry and Kai Toon Lava -- both rich in flavor and perfect with a side of white rice. Parking can be challenging during peak hours, and the wait for walk-ins can be up to an hour, so plan ahead of time. Overall, I'd definitely come back again, but I highly recommend coming with a group of at least five and making a reservation if possible!

A Cozy Modern Thai Eatery with unique takes on classic and street Thai food. I think the presentation on all the dishes were amazing and the service here at Khao Tiew is really good. Everyone is friendly and patient, and are transparent about seating times and reservations. As a large table we ordered quite a lot of different dishes to share. First was the Crispy Papaya Salad - 2/5. It tastes a lot like calamari batter was used to fry the papaya. It was really crispy but the flavors didn't really meld well together in my opinion. Crispy, sweet and tangy, but it felt badly oily because it was fried. Supposed to be refreshing, felt too oily for me. Pad Thai Bolan with Fried Chicken - 3.5/5 Noodles were stir fried really well, flavors of the noodles were really good too, savory and slightly sweet. The fried chicken was a thinly fried chicken thigh. I like how it was fried with a thin batter. I do think the chicken was quite bland. The overall dish was still really good, it felt like the chicken needed a sauce. Drunken Ma Ma with grilled beef short rib - 3/5 This dish was good, only if you like MaMa noodles. I love instant MaMa noodles, so this stir fried one with peppers and were really good. Not everyone likes this though and the price is quite expensive for stir fry instant noodles. The beef short rib was disappointing. It was closer to rare than medium rare, so it was still really tough to chew even though it's boneless short rib. The short rib was also really bland where it didn't have it's own flavor. This brought the dish score down in my opinion. Duck Breast Panang Curry - 4/5 Really good curry and duck. Absolutely loved the taste of the rich and spicy curry. Very velvety and pairs so well with rice. The duck was good on it's own and great addition to the curry. Rich and full of flavors. Kai Toon Lava (Seafood Ground pork steam egg hot pot) - 3.5/5 Great presentation, steamed egg with ground pork and a variety of seafood. The egg itself was kind of bland, but the texture of the egg was amazing. The seafood was good, but there were barely any piece of ground pork. Khao Ob Mun Pu (Crab Clay Pot Rice) - 5/5 If I were to come back, I would come back solely for this dish. Absolutely amazing claypot rice, cooked perfectly, with a good amount of crab. Each bite was flavorful but not too heavy. I felt like I could eat 2-3 bowls of this easily by myself. A must order if you were to come. Average between dishes would be 3.5 but the service was great, only thing is that it gets quite warm inside the establishment. I would come again for the crab clay pot rice

Something for everyone. Beef, chicken seafood, vegan and it's all yummy. One of our favorites is the Drunken Ma Ma: a plate of deliciously seasoned stir fried noodles topped with either grilled, boneless, short rib or oyster mushrooms.

Came here on a Monday night and did a walk in at 5pm and the waitlist was short and we were seated pretty fast. The inside of the restaurant is really cute- definitely has date vibes . Ordered the duck curry and khao soi, both were good and well made/ plated! However, I think ordering 2 very similar profile foods made both dishes a little bit too heavy. So giving it 4 stars instead of 5. Overall a solid restaurant and would come here again if I was in the area!

Went here for dinner with friends on a Sunday and the wait was quite long. We arrived around 5:30 pm to join the waitlist and ended up getting seated around 7:30 pm. While the wait was really long, the service was kind and accommodating to our party's nut allergies! We got a variety of dishes to share and the food was definitely worth the wait. Everything we got was amazing! Favorites were the crispy papaya salad, fried chicken pad Thai, khao pad mun khoong, and Kaya toast

Busy on a Wednesday night! Couldn't place our names on their waitlist via Yelp unless we were within a 1 mile radius. Wait times fluctuated between 45-70 minutes when we first added our name. At around 6:15pm or so, we were #18 initially. We were seated before/by 7pm. This place remained busy throughout our time there. We started with the fried oyster mushrooms (YUM! Light and crispy) and the calamari. The calamari was good, but I think we were expecting more of the salted egg yolk sauce. For entrees, we went with the specials - the crab claypot rice and the steamed egg topped with seafood. Both went well with each other - that claypot crispy rice topped with the steamed egg . . . so good! For dessert, we had to try the kaya toast. We also saw so many other tables order it, too. It was a good sized dessert portion - warm toast, all that kaya spread, and topped with a heaping scoop of coconut ice cream! If the wait wasn't so long, I'd return just for dessert alone.

The food was phenomenal! Our favorites was the rice with beef with cured egg yolk, and the duck Panang curry. The rice with beef with cured egg yolk had tiny little bits of meat in it, and mixing the rice with the egg yolk gave it the perfect taste and consistency for an umami bite. The duck was cooked to perfection and the curry that accompanied it was perfect. We thought the Korean noodles were good. But the papaya salad was just alright (the sauce was bomb tho!!!) thought the kao soi was also nothing in particularly special but still a good one. The ambience was loud and sometimes hard to hear the ppl in my party in our conversations, but it made for a lively and fun environment. Inside is cute and the tables and chairs have a nice spacious aesthetic. Can't wait to come back and try the other dishes! Oh also, here's a tip: this place always has a huge line. So definitely recommend going early to avoid the wait, or put yourself on the Yelp wait list! We put ourselves on the waitlist and waited around an hour for our party of 4.

6/5 to Khao Tiew! While seating can feel a little cramped, the food here was OUTSTANDING. I feel like you'd have to try really hard to order a dish from Khao Tiew that wasn't delicious. My friends and I came here for a dinner, and we all ordered the Khao Soi (HIGHLY recommended by our waiter), duck over rice, beef boat noodle soup, and krapow moo sab. After our entrees, we also shared 2 of their burnt butter kaya toasts. Everything tasted so perfect. I love that the menu also specifies allergies, for those parties who need to be mindful of ingredients (e.g. gluten-free, vegan, gluten-free option). I highly recommend coming to Khao Tiew!

Small cozy place tucked in a neighborhoodly yet very lively part of West Portal! Interior is very cozy and brightly decorated and felt very comfortable. We came on a Friday at 7:40 and had to wait about an 40 min to get seated. They have a Yelp waitlist at the front which is helpful because you can check your place in line on your phone. Food came out a bit slowly but we didn't mind too much; service was otherwise super friendly! The food was yummy -- we got the khao pad mun nuer (steak over fried garlic rice -- best part was the rice) and the pad thai with fried chicken (the fried chicken was soo good!) But the star of the show was definitely the kaya toast dessert. Crispy fried & lightly sweet milk bread topped with a generous scoop of coconut ice cream and a decadent slather of kaya topping, it's a heavenly dessert and we couldn't stop eating it even though we were so full. A must order for sure.

People weren't joking when they said to get here early otherwise there's going to be a wait. We got here at around 5:30 on a Sunday and there were two tables ahead of us, but the time we finished eating there was a crowd of people waiting! They do have Yelp waitlist which I highly recommend so that you don't have to wait there. It's a fairly small restaurant with only a handful of large tables. They sat our party of 3 on a two top which was totally fine. We ordered three dishes and a dessert which was more than enough, but the portions are a bit on the smaller side. Everything we ordered was delicious. We got the duck curry, drunken ma ma noodles with mushrooms, the short rib and soy cured egg rice and of course the kaya toast! There's a few other things on the menu that I definitely want to try the next time I'm here, but everything we ordered I would order again. Highly recommend and I'll definitely be back!

Second time here and the food is always so good. Their dinner time opens at 4 pm so I came a bit early to avoid the wait. Got seated within minutes, ordered and received everything within 10-15 minutes. Service is super fast if you're dining when they first open. The food was fresh and hot. Ordered the Tom Yum, Spicy Won Tons, and Khao Soi. Tom Yum was so creamy and honestly hands down the best I have ever had. It's a big different than other Tom Yums but I love it. The Won Tons were good but not that special. Khao Soi was amazing but definitely one of those entrees you should share with the table. It's a bit on the heavier and filling side. The restaurant is small but it can fit a lot of parties and makers the ambiance very warm and cozy. Great place for family dinners or with a group of friends!

Only been around since May 2024. They don't take reservations but do have the waitlist. Had a party of 8 and got on the waitlist at 6:30. Got seated around 8pm. Service was good. Place was clean and the food was very delicious. Every dish appealed to our senses. Other than the wait, it made for a perfect dinner. Great menu offerings. Every dish was well made and delicious. We do recommend and will be back.

The expectation of the food was what I expected. I had ordered the Drunken mama that came with the steak and noodles, Duck breast panang curry, Pad Ped Nuer Sabb (Spicy wagyu beef), Burnt Butter Kaya Toast with Coconut Ice Cream, and lychee ice tea. To sum it all up: The duck was on point and tender and just the right amount of spices that went well with the coconut sauce. It was very tender and went well with a bowl of white rice. The Pad Ped Nuer Sabb was really good. You would think at first sight that the meat itself was going to be dry and tasteless but once you bite into it the explosion of spices will hinder your taste buds. Mind you that this dish has a kick of spice to it and the portion of this order was kind. Now for one of my favorite dish. The Drunken mama. This has got to be one of my favorite dish here besides the spicy wagyu beef dish. When you first plant your eyes on it the tenderness of the beef will make your mouth water. When taking a bite of this dish I realized that the noodles tasted very similar to the indomie ramen. Which isn't bad because that's my favorite dry ramen to go to when eating ramen at home. The only difference is that the noodles here are more tender and moist and not too over powering with the sauces. Overall this is a great dish to try when coming to this place. The Burnt Butter Kaya Toast. This dessert was really good and I rarely eat dessert after dinner. I love the green sauce that they coat over it before putting a good amount of coconut ice cream on top. The toast itself was delicious. It was well toasted and crunchy with rock like sugar in it to give you that crunchiness to each bite. This place can get busy so I suggest pre planning it by reserving your spot on the yelp app or you can do it there at the door. The place was decorated nicely and very modern like but with some interesting antique commercial ads on the walls to make it feel nostalgic. Service was nice but could be better. I'm not sure if they are going to hire more staff or not but there were only two wait person servicing the whole place which were packed. Food took awhile to get to our table, and when it was time to go, we waited a little longer to get the bill and the to go boxes. But overall with the staffing they had it wasn't that bad.

** 4.25 Stars out of 5** I would recommend coming early to avoid long lines and to do family style and have multiple entrees to share! ** Food 4 stars overall ** Tom yum seafood hot pot - 4.75 Stars. I really liked how this was a creamy Tom yum where it was somewhat similar to a Tom kha due to the cream. The portion of seafood was a healthy amount, 7 big jumbo shrimp pieces and lots of calamari pieces. The seafood tasted fresh and it was a nice soul warming dish on a cold day. My only issue with this dish was that it came to the table "warm" and although they place a mini flame brick underneath to continue heating the dish it never really got "hot" enough for me. Khao Soi - 4 stars This dish was a bit heavy but very tasty and the braised beef shank was super tender and melted in your mouth. This isn't necessary a noodle soup but more so like a thick curry sauce. Spicy wontons - 3 stars. Not the worst but I've had better wontons. the dumplings were filled with pork and the sauce had a slight tang to it but otherwise they were just average dumplings with nothing memorable. I'd probably skip these in favor of another appetizer next time. Service 3.5 stars - Nothing bad and nothing especially good. The server took our order pretty quickly once we sat down but as the restaurant got busier it felt like they were running around to deal with other tables. I actually don't mind being left alone and don't need servers constantly checking in on me but I think the only time they spoke to us after delivering the dishes was to get the check and take out boxes.

Wow! This place was incredible. It far exceeded our expectations. The food was amazing (well worth the 30 minute wait), the service was pleasant (if a bit slow at times), and the space was inviting! Our family of 2 adults and 1 child enjoyed the following (and had plenty of leftovers): 1) Khao Soi with chicken - delicious! Our favorite dish! 2) Noodles with braised beef - flavorful and unique 3) Ground chicken with rice - great 4) Sizzling shrimp and other seafood - excellent 5) Pad kee maw - good (though our least favorite) 6) Toast with custard and coconut ice cream - absolutely amazing! This dessert was phenomenal! The service was good overall, though not perfect. Even though a table for 4 was available when we arrived around 6pm on a Thursday evening, we had to wait nearly 30 minutes for a table for 3 (a spacious 2 seater that could fit our child) - this didn't make sense to us. Later, they took a while to take our orders. The food came out quickly, but they took a while to check on us after that. We had to flag down a waiter to ask for dessert, the check, and boxes for our leftovers. The space was pleasant and we liked the decor (Thai movie posters, soda advertisements, etc.) All said, the food here is truly outstanding and we cannot wait to return!

4.5/5 overall. I often drive by this place, and there's always people waiting outside. Luckily, we found street parking pretty easily and were seated immediately at 5:15 pm on a Thursday. The entrees and dessert are where it's at. I just found my favorite khao soi in SF! Creamy, rich, mildly spicy, and comforting. The khao pad mun nuer with soy cured egg yolk was quite flavorful with the beef tallow in the rice, and I'm happy with how many perfectly cooked short rib pieces it came with. The burnt butter kaya toast was pretty big and super yummy, and I liked the little coconut meat pieces in the coconut ice cream. The longan juice was too a bit sweet in a syrupy way but became better once the ice melted some. The Hed Tod fried oyster mushrooms were surprisingly chip-like with their super crispy thin batter. I would've preferred a spicy, soy based dipping sauce over the basic sweet and sour sauce though. Give this spot a try if you're in the area!

Khao Tiew is located in a semi-residential part of West Portal. Finding a parking spot was a challenge. Reservations could be made through Yelp. Otherwise, there is a kiosk (powered by Yelp) at the entrance to get on the waitlist. We waited for forty minutes to be seated, and we waited another half hour for our food to arrive. The Seafood Pad Cha we ordered came on a cast iron platter, but it wasn't sizzling as it should've. The only seafood on this dish were only calamari and shrimp. The sauce was flavorful though. The Khao Ob Mun Pu (Crab Clay Pot Rice) was a little too salty. Although they used real crab meat mixed with egg, the mixture they used was mostly egg. The Khao Sol (crispy fried chicken) was a little too salty and greasy. The chicken meat was moist and not overcooked. The outer part was crispy as advertised. The servers were friendly and helpful.

3.5 STARS The last time I had Thai food, it was on a sleepy block of Parkside. It took me out - it was bold and burn your booty spicy just the way I like it. I had high hopes for Khao Tiew also located in a sleepy area of the city especially with so much hype and "Best" of claims. Farmers market pop-up turned brick and mortar, Khao Tiew opened in March 2024 in the former Chaiyo Thai. They're open for takeout and indoor dining only. Walk-in only but you can remotely add yourself on the Yelp wait list. Rezzies accepted for parties of 6 or more only (via Yelp). Entire party needs to be present to be seated. Read about the long wait/line so we arrived at 4 pm opening (no wait). When we left at 5 pm, there was only one other table. Pays early to eat like a senior. M E N U Thai cuisine with a modern flair and fusion touches. No msg used. Beer and wine available. F O O D * Pork Pad See Ew: Wok-fried flat rice noodles w/ house sauce, pork, egg, and chinese broccoli ($17) // 3.5 Stars: https://tinyurl.com/5jrz8khh - Requested Thai spicy Smooth, supple noodles with good wok hei. I enjoyed the smoky charred edges of the flat rice noodles. Could have had more a better ratio of lean pork + crisp gai lan to noodles tho. Flavor-wise, it ran too sweet and was not spicy at all for Thai spicy. =( They only had Thai chili powder for heat. * Khao Pad Mun Nuer: Beef short rib tallow fried rice w/ boneless beef short rib, scallion, fried garlic, soy-cured egg yolk ($25) // 3 Stars: https://tinyurl.com/yv6nu8cs - Default temp: medium rare I was most excited for this dish that food critics loved but sadly, it was a letdown. While the fried rice with bits of fried beef was tasty cuz tallow/fat = flavor, the beef short rib legit tasted like cold, unseasoned steak. It had no flavor and the soy-cured egg tasted like a regular yolk. I wish they included a side of jaew dipping sauce to bring this dish to life. * Duck Panang Curry: Sous vide duck breast, panang curry, fresno chili, kaffir lime leaves, grilled shishito peppers ($26) // 3.5 Stars: https://tinyurl.com/3d5nz2pn - Fixed spice level: medium spicy For being sous vide, the duck was on the dry, overdone side. Prefer a harder sear for a crisper skin. The thin curry was sweet and slightly nutty, lacking depth and complexity. Medium spicy was mild. * Sticky Rice ($4) // 4 Stars The sticky rice's absorbent texture is a perfect vehicle to pair with curry. * Burnt Butter Kaya Toast w/ coconut ice cream ($15) // 4 Stars: https://tinyurl.com/yc4fpjb7 Inspired by a Singaporean classic breakfast item, the thick toast is caramelized in butter, slathered with a Kaya (custard jam), and finished with a heaping pile of coconut ice cream. The highlight of our meal, I enjoyed the contrasting crispy-soft textures and warm-cold temperatures with a delicious vanilla and coconut flavors of pandan. Not too sweet which is the biggest compliment you can give an AZN dessert. S E R V I C E Friendly, polite, and prompt (not busy at the time). A M B I A N C E Cozy, low-key vibe with retro Thai ads/posters and 13 tables (took over Chaiya Thai). P A R K I N G Difficult street parking. The west portal station is just 1.5 blocks away. Overall, Khao Tiew fell short of expectations given the hype. While I appreciate the modern and fusion spins on Thai classics, the flavors and spice levels were too muted for me. But, considering West Portal is more like a small suburban town and not quite a food destination (compared to other parts of the city), it's def one of the better options in the area. Come early to beat the crowds!

New Thai restaurant that is worth the wait and money! There is always a queue but it does move quickly. There is the bestest tables of 6 in the middle, tables of 4 on the side and a few tables of 2 on the other side. They have Yelp waitlist so I recommend joining ahead if you're a mile away. Food was amazing. It's been a while since I had Thai food that had flavors that shook my tastebuds. I could order everything on the menu because everything sounded so good. We ultimately got 3 dishes, 2 drinks and a dessert. Khao Soi - 10/10. The fried chicken in it was crispy even after it's been dunked in the soup. Not that spicy which was perfect for this weather. Duck Breast Panang Curry - 8/10. The duck was good and there was so much curry sauce. I didn't like that rice wasn't included with this because the rice and sauce tasted so good. Thai Tea - 10/10. Creamy and just the right amount of sweetness. Burnt Butter Kaya Toast with Coconut Ice Cream - 10/10. I love Kaya toast and the filling they had was just sweet enough to know it's sweet but not overpowering. Didn't feel like your tooth was going to hurt and you needed to see a dentist the next day. They gave an abundance amount of coconut ice cream with little meat pieces of coconut. The portions were perfect, if not, more than enough. I felt like the portions were well worth the prices I paid. The staff was friendly and helpful. Street parking only so come slightly earlier to find a spot!

Found this restaurant while looking for dinner near stonetown. Tried to make reservations via yelp but the reservation was closed. Arrived around 6:45 pm and in waiting list for more than one hour. Finally we are seated around 8 ish. It is sizable restaurant with simple interior. It serves Thai food with some twist. Menu is considered simple but unique dishes. The food come up pretty quickly. I like the most fried papaya salad and crab claypot rice. The fish is average but very fresh and part are crunchy. The khao soi is good but I like soupy one. Kaya toast with icecream is yummy. It was nice dinner.

Bf and I have been looking for an SF equivalent to Soothr... and Khao Tiew is pretty darn close. The wait gets actually insane around normal dinner times (too popular! it's a small/moderately sized place) and we went at 4pm on a Wednesday to purposely avoid the crowd. We were the second ones in. The duck curry was delicious- their panang was rich & creamy, packed with flavor. The duck was almost a bit overcooked for my liking? And could have used a harder sear, but it was still yummy. My only real gripe was that it came out lukewarm :( Maybe they need to heat their dishware? The khao soi was also very very good. I enjoyed the picked veggies & fun textures of the normal noodles mixed with the fried ones on top. The curry broth was a bit oilier & thinner than I expected, but still packed with flavor. Also got their burnt dessert toast, which WOW. Star of the show. I usually just like dessert toasts, but I loved this one. It's bruleed on the top and bottom, smothered in kaya cream, and topped with a heaping dollop of coconut ice cream. Absolutely superb with different textures & temperatures. Service was great-- they were all so sweet. Will definitely be going back as it is so easy to get there by Muni! Just take the K, L, or M lines. Not sure if it's worth waiting 2 hours, but try earlier and hopefully you won't really have to wait! PS, you have to be within 1 mile of the restaurant to join the Yelp waitlist.

Enjoyed our meal at Khao Tiew despite the 2 hour wait. We went on a Saturday night, arriving at 6:30 pm, and didn't get seated until 8:30 pm, so be prepared for a wait if you come at peak hours. But once we were seated, it was worth it. (5/5) Crispy papaya salad: Unique and unlike anything I've had. The radish was refreshing and I liked that the fish sauce was on the side. The addition of tomatoes and peanuts in the fish sauce added a nice balance. (4/5) Khao Soi: Curry noodle dish (we got the fried chicken). Flavorful with a little spice! (5/5) Khao Pad Mun Nuer with Soy Cured Egg Yolk: Rice was crispy with medium rare steak. It reminded me of a rice clay pot dish, with tons of flavor packed in. (5/5) Khao Ob Mun Pu (Crab Clay Pot): SO good! They did not skimp out on the crab meat. This dish was nostalgic that reminded me of childhood. The food was amazing but docking off a star for the wait. Looking forward to returning and trying more dishes. Highly recommend giving Khao Tiew a visit--just be ready for a bit of a wait!

This is hands-down one of the best Thai restaurants I've tried in the Bay Area! Not only was the food great, but the staff went above and beyond to accommodate us, even with a birthday surprise booked by the surprisee in question. The star of the meal was the branzino--perfectly fried and absolutely delicious. It didn't have even a hint of fishiness, which is a true testament to how well it was prepared. For a group of 9, we ordered two branzinos, two orders of wings, two papaya salads, a khao soi, pad see ew, beef fried rice, and beef curry. The beef curry was another standout dish--rich, tender, and bursting with flavor. The beef fried rice was equally impressive, with a fantastic wok hei taste. Although the restaurant size is on the smaller side, the staff was incredibly attentive and accommodating. They made us feel welcome and ensured everything went smoothly. I can't recommend this place enough. If you are looking for a great meal with a group, this is a spot that delivers.

I've been here twice and will always consider coming back again! Khao Tiew opened up last year and has been gaining a lot of popular (and for good reason). Each time I waited about 1-1.5 hours to get in on Friday around 6-7pm. I brought my very Asian mom here and she's usually skeptical about upscale and arguably expensive foods in general. But regardless, she loved this place and would totally come again. We ordered the duck, papaya salad, the crab fried rice, the boat noodle, the fried mushrooms, and the toast. Every single dish was a 10/10 with the perfect amount of seasoning and texture. My only complaint would be that if you go during summer, be prepared to sweat while waiting for your food.

This place is hard to find as it is not where all the restaurants are within west portal but this is a great spot to eat. Servers were nice and food was amazing, couldn't complain. The noodles were full of flavor and the duck was juicy like it was sous vide. Also must get the dessert, Kaya toast!

What a delicious Thai restaurant!! So many options on the menu but also things you wouldn't find at a regular Thai restaurant. My family and I went, we put our name on the waitlist and the waitlist time was probably about 45 min on a Saturday night. The restaurant was definitely full and more people were waiting outside. We started off with some drinks - Thai tea, pomegranate lemonade, and lychee iced tea. All great options. For food we ordered the following Fried papaya salad - interesting take on the papaya salad, since it's fried you can't really tell it's papaya but nonetheless delicious! A steamed egg dish that I don't know the name off, this was okay, not my favorite out of all the things we ordered but my mom wanted to try something new. Drunken ma ma - like drunken noodles, I got it with the beef and the beef was cooked perfectly. I wished the noodles had more flavor. Beef massamun curry - delicious, my favorite dish I had all night. Get some rice to eat with it. I highly highly recommend getting the burnt Kaya toast, it was amazing! Star of the night. Definitely recommend giving this place a try!!

I've been noticing more and more friends coming here and finally gave it a try. There was a pretty decent line and we waited a while. I believe there is a yelp waitlist, which would be a huge game changer. When we finally were seated, we wanted to order everything since it all looked delicious. We shared the Pad See ew, Khao pad mun nuer (short rib over rice), duck penang curry, and kaya toast for dessert. Each dish was so delicious. The duck in the curry was extremely tender and went so well with the curry. I loved the pad see ew, it had a lot of smokey flavor. The Short rib over the garlic rice was perfectly cooked and I loved the garlic rice sooo much. The dessert was also huge, and so delicious and filling. It was sweet, but not too sweet. This place is easily one of the top thai places on my list and I can't wait to be back! Definitely worth it if you're willing to wait.

True rating: 3.5 Dined here for a girls night dinner and the wait wasn't bad for an early Friday evening. Key word - early. The wait looked quite long by the time we left the restaurant. We ordered three dishes to share: Pad Thai Bolan with fried oyster mushrooms, Duck Breast Panang Curry and the Khao Pad Mun Nuer with soy cured egg yolk. I also tried a refreshing hazy IPA called the Cuddle Puddle. Finished off with the Kaya toast for dessert. All dishes were pretty solid. My favorite was the Khao Pad Mun Nuer - the beef mixed in with the egg yolk and fatty rice hit the spot. Also don't sleep on the fried oyster mushrooms! First time having it in pad Thai and it added such great texture. What was off-putting was that we discovered hair (multiple strands) in our beef dish after we started eating it :(( They did replace the dish and the duck curry, but not the pad Thai, so we were a bit skeptical eating the rest of the night... However, if you can look past that, I'd say I enjoyed the food enough to try visiting again someday.

this place tasted amazing. we were in for a treat. passed by this place many times but didn't realize they changed management and the place has done a 180 in terms of business, with lines out the door on the daily. Tried some of the dishes that seemed to be raved about and didn't disappoint. Everything was simply spectactular. We had a strict plan for arriving at a downtime like early night time so we can sneak a table without waiting. we tired the Drunken mama and I think we agreed that was our favorite for the night. The meat was amazingly tender and noodles were ramen. Such a creative fushion twist and delicious thai flavors. My favorite was the duck panang curry and the dessert, the kaya toast. I like anything duck so that dish was a weakness. The kaya toast was interesting flavor, I'd never tasted anything like it. Heavy coconut flavor if you like that. For a thai place, definitely not cheap. I know they're trying to make up for the ambiance and expensive reno they had to do to the place. Still, wouldn't order from here everyday but the food is such a treat!

I came here last Saturday around 5:15. There were a couple parties before us, so we waited around 20 minutes to be seated. We ended up ordering the fried squid with salted egg sauce (pla muk tod sauce kai kem), seafood steamed egg hot pot (kai toon lava), and the burnt butter kaya toast. The salted egg sauce was pretty good and the squid was crispy, but it didn't have much flavor on its own. The kai toon lava was full of flavor, and had a silky texture, packed with protein. The portion was also huge. The kaya toast was definitely the standout dish. The toast was crispy and sweet, and paired so well with the aromatic kaya and coconut ice cream. The food was on the slower side, but they were consistently busy. Service was great and attentive! The atmosphere was cozy, and I especially enjoyed the halloween decorations :DD

A place I've passed by multiple times and been enamored by the smell of their grill. I finally got a chance to try them on a random Monday evening and I still had to get on the wait list when I got in range to be seated within 5 minutes of my arrival. A clean, and slightly upscale interior, but not pretentious. Tom Kha Hed. Simply an amazing soup. Big tang from tamarind and lime, perfectly balanced by the coconut milk and the huge aromatics. Then added the umami with the fresh mushrooms. All you could ask for in a soup. Highly recommended. Yum Nuer Yang. Excellent. Perfectly seared, tender beef with freshness of shallots and the HUGE tangy sauce of lime and fish sauce that just brings the whole dish together to be the perfect appetizer. Highly recommended. Khao Soi. A nice soupy noodle that has a pretty standard coconut curry soup flavor. Herby, earthy, with coconut milk and fish sauce, though to me, the flavors were a bit muted. I personally wanted a big time soup, but this was maybe built toward the more standard consumer. The added chicken thighs on top are a nice touch and the fried egg noodle give you that soggy, crunchy texture that is absent in Western cuisine. Overall probably worth trying. Tiew Klook. Honestly, I was hoping for something much more complex from the ingredients that were described. It has the simple flavors of home and is likely a nostalgic dish of what your parent valiantly threw together with what was left to come up with something pretty delicious. In the end, I personally wanted more - would probably skip next time. Burnt Butter Kaya Toast with Coconut Ice Cream. Goodness. An amazing pandan cream to give you the base flavor to perfectly blend with the coconut ice cream. Then you get the slightly salty and crunchy toast that makes this dessert exquisite. Highly recommended. Just maybe get this with more than 2 people, because it a beast of a dessert. Overall pretty good. Started off BIG TIME with the soup and appetizer. I may have strayed a bit from the classics and tried to be different, so I'm super willing to come back to try the other entrees, but I was just hoping for more with the ones that I ordered. I expect good stuff from this place, so I'll come back again.

You must just simply go here to try all the foods. It's just too good! Service is quick and friendly. Inside is a lot of seating, but put yourself on the waitlist for sure because there is going to be a line esp for dinner time. Order family style and share everything!

This new Thai spot in West Portal pleasantly surprised me! They have several different Thai dishes to order from and there is something for everyone. The best way to eat here is to share dishes with your dining partners imo. :) My favorite dish is the khao soi with fried chicken. It's so savory, flavorful, and a little spicy and you won't be disappointed! However, the BEST way to end your meal is the kaya toast with coconut ice cream. It's a huge portion so it's perfect to share with a few people!

My wife and I really enjoyed our experience at Khao Tiew. I had the Pad Thai and my wife got the eggplant which was cooked to perfection. For some additional vegetables. we got the Chinese broccoli which was very tasty. The restaurant had many large tables geared towards two tops sharing the larger table. The service was friendly and we look forward to returning:)

Really enjoyed our meal at Khao Tiew, all the dishes were flavorful and decent portioned and priced. We got the crispy papaya salad, the beef short rib rice with cured egg yolk, khao soi, duck breast panang curry, crab claypot rice, and last but not least the burnt kaya toast with coconut icecream. I loved all the flavors, but felt the khao soi lacked a bit of the richness and the crab claypot rice could have been a bit crispier in the claypot, but overall loved all the food there, alongside their thai traditional drinks like Thai ice tea, Longan ice tea. Definitely recommend going early or joining the Yelp waitlist. A great place for groups to share family style!

I saw this place a lot on social media and wanted to try it out for myself. I came here on a Sunday night and it was very busy. It was a small place so come early! However this place is worth the wait!!! I enjoyed every dish that I ordered here especially the drunken mama with beef, it was so flavorful and the beef was on point. Don't forget to finish the meal with the Pandan Toast, ITS A MUST! Overall, one of my favorite Thai spots in the Bay Area and definitely recommend it!

Highly recommended by friends and family. Went with friends and the food and service were exceptional. The key is timing, get yourself on the waitlist as soon as possible because they don't take reservations. Our faves so far, the duck curry, branzino and the pad siew. Make sure you save room for dessert, a sweet brûlée toast with pandan custard and coconut ice cream, the staff are all friendly and helpful. Even if you find yourself with a lengthy wait, it's worth it.

3.5/5 Make sure to join the Yelp waitlist! Nice Thai place in West Portal! My friends and I came in on a Saturday night around 7pm and we waited around 1 hour 30 minutes for a table of 3. The wait for the food itself also took a lot longer than we thought it would. We ordered: - Khao Soi with Crispy Fried Chicken ($20) - 3/5 the chicken was good like crispness was perfect but the flavor of the curry soup itself was alright - Duck Breast Panang Curry ($26) - 3.5/5 duck was tender but curry flavor could've been stronger & thought the portion would be bigger - Drunken Ma Ma' with Grilled Beef Boneless Short Rib ($23) - 3/5 the medium rare steak was cooked well + yummy but the noodles itself was alright like college dorm instant ramen vibe and not spicy at all - Burnt Butter Kaya toast with Coconut Ice Cream ($15) - 4.5/5 I like the fruit, coconut, but not usually coconut ice cream because the chunks are wack but THIS IS WHAT QUALITY COCONUT ICE CREAM IS! so creamy and the chunks are small and soft + portion was good! Overall, this place makes meat really well but I feel like the flavor profile of the dishes could be stronger. I'm glad I tried this place and I would come back for the toast! The wait is also pretty bad to sit down and to get the food so be prepared or just waitlist on Yelp. It's also pretty loud in the restaurant + gets hot easily inside. Portions are also a bit on the smaller side.

The room was filled with energy on Monday. We ordered a Pad khao mun nuer with soy cured egg yolk. It was yummy but the meat was tough for my preference. The pad thai with shrimp was good. You can't go wrong with it. Pomegranate lemonade was also a hit! The lychee iced tea was also delicious. The only thing I was I could change would be the meat on the pad khao mun nuer

I heard a lot of good things about this place, and finally got to try it. We ordered the duck fried rice with the salted egg yolk, a soup, and the khao soi. Khao soi was a little too salty, and the duck fried rice, the rice was a little too mushy for my liking. The duck, however, was very good, tender and yummy. I wanted to try the tom yum, but instead got the tom gai bai ma kham. I enjoyed the soup, but mind you, it is very sour (which is to my liking). I would like to give this place another try and try the other dishes as well, since there are many good reviews :)

10/10 so delicious! My friends and I came here for dinner on a Wednesday night, we were aiming to eat at 6:30pm but had to wait until 7:45pm to be seated. There is a waitlist but you must be within 1 mile of the restaurant to join. We ordered the Tom Kha Hed, Druken Ma Ma, and Duck Breast Panang curry to share. All three dishes were amazing but my favorite was the duck curry. The Tom kha is a coconut milk based soup with mushrooms and it had lots of flavor, you can taste the sweet and sourness plus the creaminess of the coconut milk. The druken ma ma noodles was loaded with garlic flavor and very spicy in my opinion. The meat was cooked medium, perfectly! The duck breast curry was so yummy, the curry was rich, creamy and sweet, complimented by the hint of lime flavor. The duck breast was not dry at all, super tender.

TLDR: Unassuming little hole in the wall that will be sure to impress your taste buds! I have driven past this place on the way home so many times and always been drawn by the amount of people who are waiting in line outside at all times of the night. Thus, when our party of 4 was looking for a place to grab dinner, Khao Tiew stood out as a viable option. At 6pm, the helpful yelp waitlist told us the wait was less than 5 minutes--by the time we arrived at 6:30, the wait had ballooned to 30-45 minutes! Tip #1: get reservations if you can! For four, we decided to share everything family style. We started with the crispy papaya salad, followed by the boat noodles, Khao soi, Khao pad mun, and duck curry. Our table roundly agreed that the Khao pad mun was the star of the show, with the right mix of flavors and textures to satisfy everyone's cravings. The crispy papaya salad was probably the most disappointing dish, more so because most of us were not expecting the texture (imagine crispy onions strings), though the flavors were on point. For desert, we capped off with the must try toast dish that is heavily popularized on yelp and other places--the coconut ice cream here was probably some of the smoothest ice cream I've had in awhile. Overall, Khao tiew was certainly on the higher end of food options, and I can definitely see myself making this a go to return spot!

Came for dinner at around 5 pm on a Saturday and we added our name on the waitlist. We were seated after 10 minutes and the interior of the restaurant was very modern with cool colorful posters on one of the walls. The service was a little slow but understandable as they were pretty busy. Tom Kha Hed - We've never had a fully mushroom, vegan tom kha soup but it was enjoyable with the variety of mushrooms they put in. It was creamy and the flavors were rich. Most of the mushrooms were cooked well, especially the flatter ones but some were a bit hard to chew. Khao Pad Mun Nuer with Soy Cured Egg Yolk - This dish was underwhelming. The rice was the best, it had a sweet and savory flavor to it but the meat was small, bland, dry and tough to chew through. Duck Breast Panang Curry - The menu indicated that this dish was going to be spicy but it was bland as well. The duck was soft though and was nice in the creamy curry. Overall, some of the flavors and the price of the dishes weren't on par but I think we'd go back to try some of their other traditional dishes and see if the flavors differ.

I came on a Thursday night and absolutely loved the ambiance of the restaurant. It's a very nice and cozy dinner place. The wait was short and we got seated very quickly. We ordered the Duck Breast Panang Curry and the Pad Thai with Fried Chicken. There was a lot of duck in the curry and was so worth it. Since the curry was huge, I recommend ordering two bowls of rice with it instead of only one. The pad thai was a little saltier than other ones I've tried but didn't disappoint. Overall, it was a very homey meal and I would definitely come again to try other dishes!

Favorite spot in SF for Thai food hands down. While getting a seat may take some time, the food is definitely worth the wait. Standouts were the crab clay pot, Tom yum soup, crispy papaya salad and the fried rice. Each dish was wonderfully flavored and portioned generously. The only "skip" would've been the duck curry, but that was because we were getting full.

Trendy new spot with great presentation of dishes & friendly staff, I'd love to come back and try their other dishes. PSA for the girlies -- leave some room for dessert! I was surprised with the portions of each dish. - Hed Tod (fried oyster mushroom) : a bit disappointing, wasn't a fan of the "batter" and it felt like chewing dried mushrooms - Kai Toon Lava : seafood and pork egg Tom yum hot pot, endless bouncy silky egg pudding in the bottom, huge portion. I wish there was stronger Tom Yum flavor but I still enjoyed it! Perfect for egg lovers. - Khao Pad Mun Nuer with Soy Cured Egg Yolk : tastes exactly how you expect it to taste, can't go wrong - Burnt Butter Kaya Toast with Coconut Ice Cream : crunchy on the outside, moist in the inside, goes so well with the coconut ice cream that has coconut shavings in it

Pretty amazing. Loved the Khao Man Gai (chicken rice) Loved the chinese broccoli. Also had the ramen noodles with short rib and it was excellent. Can't complain. Good Thai food here!

this place is a breath of fresh air into the thai cuisine scene in sf. what's deducting a star for me is the wait time and lack of urgency. so i've came here three times and i'm always impressed by the spacious interior, quality of food, and service. it's so modern yet cozy, portions are nice and hefty, and the staff has always been kind. i recommend the mushrooms 1000%, the curries (duck) is so good, and the noodles are great as well. (love the toast YUM) again i'm deducting 1 star because of wait time. from getting a table, to getting served/food wait time. the restaurant is decently sized but wait time is always a long time during dinner. i do think though that they have to implement a way to gently encourage folks who have been sitting in their table for a long time to leave so the turnout rate can be faster. for example, during my 2 recent times here, wait time was 1hr/ 1 hr 30 min. i saw multiple tables finished with their food yet still sat, chatting and chatting, because again the ambience of the restaurant is nice. but also i feel has folks have the "well i had my fair share of waiting for this table, it's now my turn to sit here as long as i want" mentality. either it's cleaning up/clearing their plates, serving them the bill faster, or gently probe asking "is there anything else we can get you" are some suggestions i have for staff. in the future, i'll either come waywaywayy before dinner time or order take out (takes 30 min btw).

Really cool hidden gem in west portal! Not sure how I found this place originally, but it had been sitting on my list for a while. So happy I got to try this place. I feel that SF is just missing exceptionally good unassuming Thai places that you might find in LA's Thai town. This place doesn't really solve that problem, but is a great step towards it. Amazing quality food, touches the upper bounds of causal, but also a place that you can go to for low-key fancy. Everything was great, my favorites were the Duck Breast Curry and Kra Prow Naeur Toon! Service was ok, but they were packed.