Papaya Thai Restaurant

The portions were big and service was very fast so that’s a big plus! I eat Thai food a lot and this green curry was like a 4/10. The tofu was good and there was a lot of it but the curry n veggies were just ok. The veggies were soft to the point of falling apart and the tiny cubed carrots and wrinkly greyish peas make me suspect both came from the freezer. Bummer. The spring rolls tasted fresh but I swear there’s a carrot shortage happening because the rolls were mostly bean sprouts and rice noodles. I hadn’t eaten all day and I was pretty hungry so that bummed me out. I’m sure they have other good stuff on the menu but I certainly wouldn’t come back for this order.

The food was okay, good amount, good taste but the server wasn't friendly at all with anybody, I mean I get it. She was overworked by her self she probably walked back and forth at least 35 times in 30 minutes I spent there. Ignores my questions just cause she was too busy but its okay, I'm not mad

Tried the Pad Thai noodles and did not like it at all. Had this peculiar smell which wasn’t good and when asked about it they mentioned it was the standard Thai curry paste. Had Chicken satay and Veggie potstickers and were decent. We had to leave the Pad Thai after one bite as we couldn’t even take the smell of it.

Pad Kee Mao was too oily and not well seasoned. The veggies seemed not fresh or overcooked. In general food wasn’t up there, service was nice and fast.

Great Thai food, great prices, the host is super friendly and we got seated right away. I was blown away with the fried tofu appetizer. The crisps on it was outstanding. I also got 2 brown rice, tofu yellow curry and Shrimp pad thai all of it was excellent. I'm definitely coming back here I highly recommend it.

Cute spot! Grabbed a quick Pad See Ew and Pad Kee Mao to go since it's close to the movies. They had my food done in 10 minutes. Not too busy Sunday night.

This is a a hidden gem, they only had one server, so when it came time to get dessert, it took too long to check back in with our table so I had to leave without it. It tastes very fresh. The food was very good

We ordered the green curry, mango stir fry, roti and iced coffee. The coffee was okay but the rest of the items were simply delicious! Pretty authentic flavors and great portion sizes. Highly recommend!

Whether it is an order to go, or sit-down at the restaurant, Papaya Thai is the best Thai food in the Fremont/Newark/Union City area!

I really have mix feelings about this review and I want to be as truthful as I can be, as I liked the food but won't be going back to papaya thai. I been wanting to give this place a try since I Love Thai food, and have ate at almost all Thai spots in city of Fremont/Newark. I went to papaya Thai with my fam of 4 as they opened at 5, we arrived at 5:30pm, mind only us and a couple at the Resturant. We ordered few dishes and liked the food, flavors were there for me and all. We ordered pad thai, chicken basil, chicken wings, pot stickers chicken, white rice, few drinks. Cutting down to chase, I give their service 3 star, and customer service is very important to me as I'm spending my money at the place of business. Me and my fam didn't really get the vibe from this place. Our server and person behind register/table weren't too welcoming)joyful

the worst pad thai i've ever had in my life i am not sure if id try again and only because the tom yum was great. the pad thai was flavorless the tofu was stale and the peanuts were stale too and onions were stringy - it was absolutely terrible! i'm extremely disappointed with my first time trying it. we literally threw it the trash after trying it which is so upsetting because despise eating food.

My latest food addiction is Laos Papaya Salad. There aren't a lot of places that have it, so we were estatic when we discovered that Papaya Thai in Newark does and they do it so well! It's so spicy, fresh and bursting with umami flavor. We also got the Pork Musuman Curry and Fried Sweet and Spicy Garlic Catfish. Their portions are generous and they do not skimp on the flavor. Service was typical of any mom and pop establishment. We will definitely be back!

OK is a pretty good way to describe my experience at Papaya Thai. It wasn't bad but it wasn't really great either... just OK. One big pro about Papaya Thai: they're open late (until 10 PM). When the pad thai cravings hit late at night, they were just about the only ones open in the area after searching on Yelp so to Papaya Thai we went. The "meh" parts I almost want to chalk it up to being there late, though. The restaurant decor is a beautiful nod to Thai culture but the vibes when we arrived definitely felt like it was the end of the night and folks were ready to go home. There were a few other parties in there and doordash/delivery folks going in and out. But aside from the sound of everyone talking, it was really just... quiet. And once it was just us and another table, it was practically like an awkwardly quiet dinner. The service was also less than great. Not very welcoming, but that's not a huge problem for me. It was a bit slow though - our appetizer came out about 15 min after ordering and the entrees came out about 30 minutes after that. Then from there, we were very close to closing time so it almost felt like we were rushed to eat and leave. The food was pretty good though! We ordered the thai samosas ($9) which were more fried than I expected (can something be more or less fried? I don't know, but this was just not as bready as other thai samosas I've had). It was good, but I've had better. I also ordered the chicken pad thai ($14). Generous portion - definitely one to share with the table. Also was pretty good, but not as good reheated the next day. My husband ordered their crispy catfish with garlic sauce ($17). This was so huge! Such a generous portion - enough for lunch/dinner the next day as well and he really liked it. I'd be down to try it again but I likely wouldn't go out of my way to go there.

Came in with my family of 5 for dinner and got seated at a table which was too small for all of the food we ordered. We were constantly struggling to pass food and pick things up. I think the spring rolls were crispy outside and soggy inside. The roti was not worth it and the fresh spring rolls were just fine. I expected more from the soup. We got the tom yum and it was meh. The pad Thai also should have had more flavor and the pad see ew was just noodles and way too much oil. I expected much much more for a Bay Area Thai place.

Horrible experience for to go. They forgot my thai iced tea. I had to come back to retrieve it. It wasn't in the bag. The green curry tasted awful with really dry pork and not much green curry. Super small portions. Rice was super dry and old. Mango was NOT ripe and the sticky rice was super hard. For to go it's a NO. The dine in food looked okay though.

Everything is perfect. Food was delicious, server was attentive and respectful. Parking s/b easier after busy lunch/dinner hours. Would definitely be back again & again.

We ordered pad see ew (with chicken) and crab meat fried rice. Also we asked for mild spicy. Both are very delicious, plenty of crab meat in the fried rice. The pad see ew is full of broccoli, chicken. The flavor is kind of mild, which is expected with the spice level. The crab meat is real, no imitation!! My only minor comment is the rice is mushy and the carrots in the fried rice are kind of undercooked! But overall, this is a nice Thai place, I am not sure who authentic the food is. But having tried several Thai places in Bay Area, I would rank this place in top 10 Thai places I have tried all over the bay.

Homestyle eats in a Mom n Pop kind of establishment. Friday night was busy with only one person working the whole front (host/server). Customers were pretty nice about waiting patiently to be seated. I guess returning guests know what to expect. Decorated in authentic Thai fashion with sculptures up front. Each table has a QAR code for the menu but actual menus were brought over too. A friend and I shared a couple dishes: *Roti with curry dip *Crispy Calamari *Shrimp Pad Thai *Crispy Catfish with Garlic sauce *Steamed white rice Roti was flaky with good chew and a mildly spicy-sweet curry dip. Calamari was a bit overcooked, but still enjoyable. Pad Thai seemed heavier to me in terms of flavor and consistency. It wasn't saucy or anything, just different from what I'm used to. Noodles were cooked well. Catfish filets were crisp with a sweet and almost tangy garlic sauce. I'd ask for sauce on the side to maintain crispness as long as possible. Large three piece portion. So cute how the rice was shaped like a star. Little details like that make me smile. Presentation on point. We were in food coma mode by the end of dinner. It made us sleepy! Still had leftovers to take home.

The owner here reminds me of Apa from Kim's Convenience lol. All kidding aside I like this small Thai restaurant. Always good to eat here they are friendly they are fast and most importantly their food is really good. Lots of people love Sala Thai in Fremont l, but I personally think this place is better. Can't go wrong with Thai food though. I just think this is a smaller place and doesn't have the popularity as the other restaurants. If you want Thai food give this place a try. You will not be disappointed!!!!!

I have been looking for a good Thai place around my house for so long until I found this restaurant! The food is so good! I don't dare to confirm if it is authentic, but i really like the taste, kinda similar to the dishes I had in Thailand before. We ordered: Tom Yum (with an additional bowl of rice), pineapple fried rice, pad thai, and mango sticky rice. I love all and highly recommend all. The price is also reasonable with the portion. The space is also calm with beautiful Thai decoration. Just a little note is that: we came at a Saturday night so the restaurant was a little understaffed with just 1 couple running and they looked so tired. Cheers for them

New to the area and moved from the city and wanted some good tom yum soup! There's def didn't disappoint especially how they had a non-spicy option since I can barely handle spicy foods. Delivery thru GH which was great and quick! Will def have to dine in soon and try other dishes!

Great ambience, love the noises. Server was lit af. Water was just a little warm which kinda bummed me out :(

We took a takeout for vegetarian food but the food has smell of fish sauce especially Panang Curry. We ordered Veggie Fried Pineapple rice, Panang Curry w Veggie and Panang Curry w Tofu. Either the wok was reused or fish sauce was added despite clear instruction on order (No egg, No fish, No fish sauce, No meat, No mushroom). I wouldn't recommend or try again as this is not what we asked for and we got!

This is my favorite Thai restaurant, from the quality of the food to the cozy ambiance of the restaurant it's self everything about the place is excellent. I would easily recommend it over an other local Thai spot

Food was delicious! This is will be our go-to for Thai from now on. We were able to order to the desired spice level and it didn't disappoint. The flavors were good and the portions generous for the price. Note: we had this delivered thru a third party which made the transaction a little more pricey.

Love the papaya salad. I would love it more if it had more green beans n stinky sauce. I absolutely love the laap. Wow...... spice level was to my liking for sure. Will be back soon. The fish though it's ok. Not my dish but others may take to it more ‍

I ordered through Uber Eats and unfortunately didn't enjoy our meal. The Pad Thai was ok. There wasn't any flavor except for spice. I ordered Mild for a 1 on a scale of 5 and it was extremely spicy (more like 4/5 and I wish I was exaggerating). I tried picking out all the pepper and that didn't really help since the spice was in the sauce too. It was extremely difficult to eat for both of us and we stopped after a few bites. We ended up making ramen for dinner and unfortunately had to toss the meal. I also paid extra to sub the protein for squid and there were only 3 pieces in the entire dish. Lastly, this one wasn't a huge deal breaker, but adding on to everything else, it was just another disappointment. This was a delivery order so I requested no ice, but ice was added anyway so the drink was extremely diluted by the time we received it.

Papaya Thai has amazing food. The fact that they stay open late is a plus. We work late on most nights and being able to get quality food is wonderful.

Did takeout. Good amount of food for the price. Got Panang curry, fried catfish with garlic sauce and crab fried rice. All pretty tasty and seasoned well. I really appreciated that they separated the garlic sauce from the fried fish, so that the fish isn't soggy. They couldn't adjust the heat level on the curry, but it was a pleasant mild heat level, totally tolerable. Will I come back, yes!!

The food here is decently tasty (typical Thai), the portions adaquete (neither stingy or generous), but the wait time to pickup an online to-go order is ridiculously long. An order was placed Sunday evening at 8:08pm, with the confirmation email stating the food shuuld be ordered in 15 mins. I arrived at the restaurant at 8:38 (30 mins after ordering) and was told the order would take another 15 minutes. The food finally was ready at 8:57pm, 49 minutes after ordering and 34 minutes after the order confirmation stated. On top of that, I asked for some sauce to go. The restaurant staff handed me an empty sauce container and the jar of sauce from the table and told me to fill up my own sauce cup. I can't understand why restaurants just don't seem like they care about the customer experience as much anymore.

Was craving Thai food all week and this hit the spot this isn't like other Thai places in the sense that they ask how spicy you want it, but the spice of the food was reasonable. Tbh the red curry actually wasn't very spicy but it was still super tasty. Also, the rice was shaped as a heart which is super cute! The only weird thing is that we order pork pad kee mao but when we got it we really thought it was chicken. When we asked about it they said it was pork so I guess their pork is very chicken like lol? But still very good and yummy and def would go again

We did a to go order and the food came out quickly! We got the pad se ew with beef, red chicken curry with rice, and mango sticky rice and we LOVE them all! So delicious! Would highly recommend this Thai restaurant!

We tried Papaya Thai last night and I was amazed with the food quality and portion sizes. We were not expecting the portion sizes to be so substantial so we ordered: Tim Yum seafood soup, crispy catfish garlic sauce, Basil pork, and crab meat fried rice. The service was pretty good! And the place is cozy and a bit romantic with lots of Thai accents to the place. The plates were real! And overall it was a wonderful dinner. All of the food was terrific! At the end we had to take both the fried rice and basil pork to go, and had a sticky rice with mango as desert. It was interesting that other places make their sticky rice sweet, whereas this place had salty sticky rice that went well with the sweet of the fresh mango. Great place! We will be back!!!

It's a nice place for dinner. Food is tasty, service is good. There's plenty of parking as well.

Food was not good. We had ordered Red Curry and Pad Thai. 1) Curry in-spite of writing Mild, was super spicy. 2) Curry had taste of a paste and seems like was not fresh 3) Pad Thai Tofu had no veggies We will not likely order from here again.

This has been our go-to to-go thai spot for years. It's always a little spicier than needed but that's the default? I'm ok with it but other people may not be. The service isn't friendly but they are fast. Never really dined in but that's the impression I got each time I picked up.

CURRY: INDIAN VS THAI When you think of curry you think of Indian food. Indian cuisine has a unique flavor. I tend to find that find cuisine too earthy for my taste. Due to this I find Indian curry not one of my favorite foods to eat especially when Indian curry is extremely hot. That doesn't mean Indian cuisine isn't delicious. Thai curry has that sweet texture that I prefer. I don't eat a lot of spicy foods, but Thai curry is one food I really like spicy as the fruit flavor balances the spiciness for me. Last year I did an experiment for myself. There are four types of Thai curry: green, yellow, red, and panang. During that time I ordered different types of Thai curry from Papaya Thai. For each curry I ordered different types of meat. Around April last year I ordered the green curry seabass, which I requested extra hot. The seabass was moist. The red bell peppers acted as a sweetness to contrast the spicy flavor. About a couple of weeks later I ordered the yellow curry beef special. When I placed my order through Yelp I requested this curry to be extra spicy. What I liked about this curry was there was a lot of beef. The big portion of beef helped absorbed the spicy curry. I will admit this dish was spicier than I normally would have. In June I ordered the red curry with chicken. As with the previous curry I ordered it extra spicy. Thai basil adds a unique flavor to Thai curry. The basil elevates the spiciness yet adds an aroma that makes the curry sweet. Most people who think of Thai curry think of panang curry, which has a texture that is closest to Indian curry. Several months later in November I ordered the panang curry with pork. The panang curry has slight spice yet not overpowering. The meat was moist but not dry. What I liked about the panang curry from Papaya Thai is the balance between the curry and meat. If curry isn't your thing to eat there are other items at Payapa Thai I would recommend. The first is the crispy catfish with its crunchy breading and moist meat. The second is the Thai beef short rib as it is slightly spicy yet sweet. Overall the curries at Papaya Thai stand out. If you love curry whether Indian or Thai I recommend trying the curry items from Papaya Thai. Maybe then you can experiment if you prefer Indian or Thai curry.

Papaya Thai is OUR number 1 best Thai food spot to eat! Our faves : garlic crunchy catfish, garlic beef, pad see ew, roti, and their fish sauce with chili peppers! Caevin requested we spend his 13th bday here!

I ordered from Papaya Thai on March 8 at 1:15pm. I was really craving some Thai food. I had their food delivered, it was my first time trying them. I was greatly disappointed. The yellow curry chicken: hardly any chicken, might be a good thing because the chicken was dry and more like jerky. Not much potatoes either. The broth flavor was good. Crab rice: not much flavor and had weird flavoring, like a spicy flavor. Did not understand it. Steamed pork. Disgusting is all I have to say. Will never order again.

I'm a sucker for chicken pad Thai, its my absolute favorite thing to order from here. I always make sure I order it spicy! The roti is very delicious too, the curry dipping sauce is just oh so tasty. The service Is great, they're quick and very friendly. The ambiance here seems like such a vibe too, very wholesome and you always see people inside enjoying their food.

Update on the food: We got the "curry puffs" and the Penang curry, both were awful. The curry puffs are not authentic at all (I lived in Thailand for over 10 years and grew up on these) Instead of putting any flavor into the filling they've seemed to stir fry some peas and potato into what I can only assume is a flour based wonton wrap. It's also served with sauce that absolutely doesn't belong with the dish. The Penang curry was incredibly bland. They likely used half the amount of curry paste and it was so watery they probably also cut the coconut milk with water. There seems to be an attempt to replace flavor with raw chilis to mask the blandness of it all but it was very obvious. The color alone was more of a pale peach than a vibrant red orange that Penang should be. The pork slices in there were probably less than a 5 oz total. Overall overpriced and a waste of a meal. It's great that they seem to get away with serving passable noodle stirfries, but from experience those are the cheapest and laziest things to cook. Curry is easy when done well, it's just about respecting the ratio of ingredients to get the right flavor. This place is a hard pass, Go to Sala Thai or make you way downtown to KhrungThai or Santi Thai. Those places are worth your money AND their service isn't a slap in the face.

Came on a weekday with a large group and got seated right away. Overall the food was average. Pad Thai was delicious but the others were just ok. They got our order wrong twice and one dish just never got brought out would probably go back

The food was excellent. The service was great, considering this man was doing most everything but cook himself! (Huge employee shortage, especially for small business owners!) He must have had 20 to go orders while we were there, as well as 5 tables full and a busy phone with more orders! And it was only 5:30! It was cozy, friendly and our new go to! A hidden gem.

The food is pretty bland and doesn't seem like good quality Thai food. I did take out and the woman at the counter was pretty rude :(

Update: going have to revise this from 4 stars down to 2. Pretty sure our household some kind of food poisoning or strong allergic reaction after eating this. In my wife's case, it was fairly immediate after eating it and I didn't feel like till later in the afternoon. It was a series of hot/cold sweats, stomach and joint aches for 12+ hours. Feel better today but still not 100%. :( =================== This is my new favorite Thai place - been here a long time ago before the pandemic and it's better than I remembered. Generous portions and great tasting food. Their crab fried rice is with real crab that you can see and taste - none of that fake whitefish stuff. Pad Thai is loaded with flavor and comes with additional limes if you want more zest (instead of just saturating it already).

Still wondering why I haven't left a review for this place so far. The first Thai restaurant I dined in here, probably around 9-10 years ago! This place hasn't changed a bit in all these years. The ambience, set up and especially the food. Nothing changed. Dined in so many times prior to Pandemic. Always enjoyed the food here. I am a big fan of their curries. Especially Red and Panang curries. Love every flavor of these. Whenever I dined in or took out food from here, one of the items was a curry. To maintain the consistency of the flavor, taste and quality; it's a terrific effort. Also liked the Fried rices - basil and pineapple. Only tried a few noodles items from here, Pad Ke mao and Rad na are really good. It's a small place, but the quality of food is really good. Delicious! Love this place, recommended!

Decided to come here on a Sunday night because we were craving Thai and it was one of the only Thai places still open past 8:30 PM. I was surprised by how busy the place was on a Sunday, but we were still able to be seated pretty quickly. We ordered green curry, Tom yum soup, and shared a side of white rice. The Tom Yum soup here is sooo good! We opted for the second to highest spice level, and it still had a pretty good kick to it. If you're sensitive to spicy foods, just be aware of that. The green curry was also really yummy and was pretty packed with veggies and chicken. I'd definitely come back here for some Tom Yum soup!

Consistently good food and the owners are very nice. We have been doning her for about 5 years.

This was my first time and because I was craving Thai food I thought of Doordash from this place. I ordered three roti Prata, Basil fried rice with beef, pad thousi with beef and chicken satay. To my surprise the three roti Prata were three pieces and I was very disappointed. But what was more disappointing was that the curry was very salty. The basil fried rice didn't have beef, literally one has to search in that pile of rice. I probably may not try them again.

I'm so glad I tried Papaya Thai! I was given a Grubhub gift card for a Zoom work lunch, and I was really craving Thai food. The Thai place I usually go to wasn't an option on Grubhub, so I decided to check out Papaya Thai. What a great decision! I ordered the yellow curry lunch special and got white rice + chicken. I ordered medium spiciness but definitely could have leveled up. The medium was more like mild for me. The curry itself was delicious, though. It was rich and creamy and super flavorful! They also give you a ton of meat. Something that took me by surprise was how much I enjoyed the potatoes! For some reason, I am just not a fan of potatoes in curry. The middles of the potatoes are usually dry and have none of the curry flavor. I don't know how Papaya Thai managed to pull it off, but these potatoes carried the curry flavor throughout. Even the very middle of the potatoes tasted like yellow curry. Amazing! I was delighted. I also tried Thai mango sticky rice for the first time. Absolutely delicious. Made it onto my favorite desserts list. The rice was so chewy and coconutty and just the perfect amount of sweet. The mango was also perfectly ripe and juicy. I think they gave me a whole mango, which I wasn't expecting. Very generous portions for this mouthwatering dish.

Ate here after many years & had a vegetarian green curry with tofu & cashew nut vegetarian stir fry at lunch. The food was very good, service was fast & good, & the ambiance was nice. In 2014, used a Groupon for dinner for 4 people. The service was fast, they took our reservation on the phone, & the food was very good. Like other Thai restaurants in the area, this place is vegetarian friendly. We had roti, a Thai iced tea, small Tom Yum, Black Pepper & Garlic Tofu, Panang Curry Tofu, & 2 brown rice. We finished it all with a little rice left over. I thought all the food was great. This place is now at the top of my Thai food list for the area!

First and last time ordering from here. What seems like such simple instructions. "NO SPICY" but comes very spicy smh! Pad Thai is so bland. No flavor. Maybe that's why they had to add so much chili.

Good food, service was good too, the place wasn't too busy for a Friday dinner. Not too loud. Food was delicious a bit salty for my taste but it was still good. Definitely would go here again.

Ordered through Yelp and the wait was about 40-50 minutes, but we got there early and our food was ready. We ordered a lot of foods - Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, fried rice, crispy garlic fish, and papaya salad. The dishes were tasty and the portions I would say was somewhat generous for 2 people. We had a lot of leftovers! The pad Thai wasn't too saucy just like I asked and there were no peas on the fried rice. Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the foods. My bf thought the papaya salad was a little too sweet and wasn't a lot for $10. We both really liked the crispy garlic fish! It was probably our favorite dish. Definitely going to be coming back!

Placed an order through door dash last night which included khao soi, roti and the chicken satay. The order was prepared and delivered faster than anticipated. We'd never dined here before so we didn't know what to expect as far as quality but we loved the khao soi. It was the perfect amount of spice and coconut milk. The roti was crispy and the sauce was also spicy (which we were really satisfied with as well). We're particular about thai food at home especially with the khao soi since we usuallt compare it to the one we get at another thai restaurant in Santa Barbara - which, to us, is the best. But, this one at Papaya Thai was pretty impressive. I bet it'd be better if served fresh and straight-to-the-table but due to covid-19 restrictions and restaurants not allowing patrons to dine-in we'll have to wait on that. Would love to get more of that roti too.

Tried the papaya salad from a friend and decided to order one. As I was digging in, I found a hair mixed into the salad. I feel sick to my stomach.

We ordered from here for the first time. We got the pineapple fried rice, the red curry chicken and the pad Thai. All the dishes were delicious and generous quantity. The place has limited seating but you can easily plan for a large group . I saw a large table of 15 or so dining there when I went to pick up my order.. We definitely will go there again when we crave for Thai...