Sawatdee Thai Restaurant - Minneapolis

After a football game and a few too many burgers and fries, I was craving something different. Sawatdee Thai was within walking distance from my hotel, so I gave it a try. The restaurant itself isn’t the most modern — a bit of fresh paint and an interior update wouldn’t hurt. That said, the staff were friendly and welcoming, which made for a nice atmosphere. The food was good, with solid flavors and fresh ingredients. My only real complaint is that the portion could have been slightly bigger — I didn’t feel quite as full as I had hoped. Price-wise, it was reasonable and fair for what I got. If you’re looking for a break from fast food and want something flavorful and comforting, this is a solid choice.

This Thai restaurant has a large menu selection with some signature dishes that are good. For the price of the dishes the food could be better but we’re also talking about a restaurant in the Mills district so I suppose the expectations can’t be that high in regard to pricing. One time restaurant and I’m not sure if I’d go back again.

The food was very mediocre, not tasty. The waitress was polite but very slow, and they added dishes we didn't order to our bill. After we brought this to our attention, they fixed it.

I’ve read the reviews on this place and I’ll say this. If you’re planning on dining in, you’ll feel very alone. I’ve dined in here a couple of times and every single time, it felt like we were the only ones in there. I have a feeling most people order take out from here. I have ordered takeout more than dine in. I will mention, out of the 10+ years I’ve been ordering take out from here, the Pad Thai is the most consistent thing on their menu (and is what they’re known for). I’ve had Pad Thai all over the world and I constantly base my reviews off of this one because IMO, this one is the best. Most restaurants that serve Pad Thai serve it with a lime and this is one of the few places that serves it with Lemon. If changes the whole flavor of the dish and I absolutely love it.

We hired Sawatdee to cater our wedding and were absolutely blown away by the quality of their service. From the beginning, Cyndy helped us work out *every* single detail, which is saying a lot because we had a lot of questions and requests. She was always responsive, available, and helpful. The cocktail hour spread was so beautifully laid out. They printed a menu for our guests and brought extra spices and sauces on the side for the buffet dinner. They even cut our wedding cake for us. The staff were so efficient and it was awesome seeing them have a good time at our wedding. To top it off, the food at our wedding was the best we've ever had from Sawatdee - guests, even including our grandmothers and my great grandmother, went out of their way to rave to us about how much they loved the food. We ate the leftovers at work for lunch for a week and it made me feel emotional every time. I can't recommend Sawatdee enough if you are looking for something other than dry Italian chicken or steak for your event catering. You won't regret it, and your guests won't either!

*WARNING* If you are from culture that uses spices, skip this place at all costs. This place is for people who's descendents and themselves are not famous for using spices and flavors. Our server was not unpleasant but it was very apparent she did not want to be at work. Never stopped by after getting our food. She could have at least had two more drink orders but she couldn't be bothered. I ordered the spicy noodles with "level 3" and there was no spicy to be found. In fact, it was overly sweet. I wasn't expecting authentic Thai after looking at the menu but lack of any spices really was disappointing. My wife's soup, which wasn't bad but also lacked any spiciness we asked for as well. The chicken wings however were on point so it redeema one star.

Within 10 minutes of placing our order, bro, I kid you not, I look over and there’s a cylindrical server robot slowly approaching with our food. I almost laughed, was kinda startled, and honestly delighted. Aromatic, glistening, Studio Ghibli-esque dishes come rolling out on this robot, followed by our server. From start to finish, it was an eye-widening dining experience for all the right reasons; Sawatdee absolutely delivered with its enchanting atmosphere, friendly service, and mouth-watering food. I highly recommend the Sarong Sawatdee Special, chicken satay, tom kha, and papaya salad. Delicious, authentic, and really hit the spot. Good quantity for the price too. Hope to be back soon to try more of the menu. “Thai it! You’ll like it!”Thanks Sawatdee!

We gave this place so many chances before I decided to write this review. We’ve been up all night sick from their pad see yew, again!!! The beef tasted old and off, the noodles were super greasy and the outcome just sick again. We’ve ordered other cuisines before and they weren’t that great so wet switched up on the menu. Very disappointing due to the fact that we love Thai food, never again at least until someone tells me it’s gotten better, authentic. At this point, we are staying away.

We stopped here before A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie. Everyone had a different version of Pad Thai and they were all very good. I forgot to photograph the food as I was watching the robot. He delivers food and then zips back to the kitchen for more. Our human server acted rushed even though it wasn't busy at all. We were celebrating an anniversary but they apparently don't do anything for anniversaries.

I had a chance to check out Sawatdee to celebrate a friend's birthday, and our host did a solid job serving our party of 10+. I tried Sue's Egg Rolls, the fried chicken wings, and the tropical fried rice. I enjoyed that I could choose my spice level here, which really lets you tailor the dishes to your taste. The food was good, though not something that would necessarily bring me back. The space itself is nice and roomy, making it a good choice for larger gatherings, although nothing about the decor particularly stood out. Parking can be a challenge in this area since it's mostly street parking, so plan accordingly if you're stopping by.

Dissapointed. Flavorless. Ms sues egg rolls just have plain ground beef in them, tastes like they just cooked the ground beef and rolled it up. Zero seasonings. Everything we ordered tasted bland. No seasonings were used in these dishes. I guess I can only blame myself, I didn't read the reviews before ordering. Those would have told me everything I needed to know.

Excellent Thai food!!! Sawatdee is kind of a Thai landmark in town, everyone knows it. The food is delicious and just what you're looking for to get that authentic Thai flavor.

We stopped in around mid afternoon and Makayla made our experience here much more amazing. There wasn't a lot of people seated to dine in , but had a ton of takeout orders. I ordered the Tokyo rose cocktail and my husband opted for the same , we both enjoyed how tasteful it was! I liked the fisherman's delight but it wasn't as spicy as I'd hope. Makayla went above and beyond to bring us extra chili and jalapeños. 10/10 from the cleanliness of the restaurant to the efficiency of the customer service to the taste of the food. Immaculate!

I get takeout for here every once in awhile. I get the chicken pad Thai and the cream cheese wontons. Food is really good. However, it's not great for leftovers in my opinion. The service is always pretty good as well. Parking is all metered street parking or parking in a nearby ramp. It can be sometimes tricky to find street parking.

Sawatdee on Washington. Over the past 30 years, I've been to the old and new STP locations, the dear departed 4th St location in the Warehouse District, and seen the buildings build up around this Washington location. Their Thai Style Catfish in red curry was as good as it was thirty years ago. Their Coconut Shrimp though . . . wow, even better than I remember, especially putting tons of chili pepper oil in the sweet sauce. Stellar. And a delicious Iced Thai Tea

We had a quick lunch at Sawatdee Thai due to it's close proximity to the Renaissance hotel on the 3rd avenue. I ordered Pad-See-Ew, my go -to dish for Thai foods. The sauce was good, however the noodles themselves were not cooked well and the noodles were smaller than what typically used for Pad-See-Ew. They use broccoli in stead of Gai lan (Chinese broccoli). My friend ordered chicken pad thai and she thought it was ok. The service was average (normal 3-time checks for order/foods/and checks). The restaurant is hugh and very quiet for weekday lunch.

I was craving some curry as one does and after my Trader Joe's shopping and found this place. When we walked in we got placed in a broken booth and couldn't sit in the booth we wanted because they had already closed down that section. I got the red curry (the spice level is white people spice level) and while the flavoring was good the vegetables were kind of chunky. My friends got the Pad Thai and they said it had very little egg and not many vegetables. The service was very decent until the end when we waited for our check for a while. Not the best thai food in Minneapolis :/ if anyone has suggestions let me know.

Sawatdee was the first place I ever remember having Thai food. It was an introduction into a world of new flavors and spices. I hadn't been in years so stopped in last summer. I was quickly greeted seated and given water. The place has an older feel and decor could be refreshed and maybe some sprucing up. There was a great deal which was awesome the table shared one of the appetizer samplers it was great to try out a few different things and they all tasted really good

We came here for the lunch buffet. It was pretty small with only 1 hot table but the items were tasty. They had chicken wings, cream cheese puffs, pad thai, red curry chicken white rice, veggies stir fry and other various items. The price was decent and was able to find street parking fairly easily. I forgot to take photos because I was lost in conversation.

Disappointed by the general lack of flavor. Appetizer platter - Cream cheese wontons were fine - Fried spring roll seemed like an egg roll with noodles - Sarong was not what at all what I expected. What we got was basically a fried ball of noodles, not as described on the menu Stir-Fried Silver-Thread Noodles with tofu Super bland and definitely needs more sauce, the onions tasted off (maybe frozen?), tofu was standard fried tofu Pad See Yew with pork Also bland and needs more sauce, doesn't really taste like any pad see ew I've had. The flavor was pretty similar to the other noodle dish so I imagine it's just the same sauce on both

Not good at all. The Penang curry was the most bizarre I have ever had, it was just a plate of string beans drizzled with some curry. The supenns Thai style pasta also had no flavor, it was a mushy mess. The service was also not good - the waitress did not check in on us at all after the food was served and did not refill our drinks. We should have known better than to eat here when we did not see a single Thai person working at the restaurant. I've been to a lot of Thai restaurants, and this is hands down the worst food.

A convenient location in downtown Minneapolis is this delicious Thai place. The service is friendly, though a bit slow. The food is delicious and the prices are reasonable. The pineapple red curry was outstanding! I would definitely go back!

Whenever I try a new Thai restaurant, I go to the basic dishes at first. Ordered chicken pad thai, curry fried rice, Sue's egg rolls and fried calamari. Got a 4 (out of 5) on the spicy scale on the pad thai and a 3 for the curry fried rice. Not too hot but good spice on the two entrees. Chicken pad thai was tasty. Noodles were good, not pasty. The spice added to its flavor. Good pieces of chicken though a tad dry. Curry fried rice was a good surprise. I liked the curry taste of the fried rice and the spiciness added to it. Just maybe a little more salt to season would have made it better. Sue's egg rolls had good filling and a nice crust. Sweet and sour dipping was a little thin. Fried calamari was your typical frozen variety. But since I was hungry for calamari, it was ok. Food was pretty good. I will go again and try other curry dishes.

My, oh my...I can't rave enough about the food here! I ordered the Som Tum green papaya salad and ginger chicken stir fry. Samuel was my waiter and he did a great job at juggling three tables. It was about an hour before closing and the restaurant had pretty much cleared but we were all seated fairly close to each other near the back of the room. I was seated promptly and service was quick considering one of the tables was a party of 6 and another was 2 parents and a toddler. It took some time to choose from the menu because I wanted it all. The aroma filled the room from the kitchen and it ignited my hunger. The papaya salad had ample peanuts and just the right consistency. The sauce was amazing! The cook put the perfect proportion of ingredients. It's distinct fish sauce, lime juice and spices coupled with the hint of sweet made this the best papaya salad I've had to date. The ginger chicken stir fry held its own weight. With fresh green, red and orange peppers, celery, strips of ginger, mushrooms and onion, there was no food wasted! If I lived here, this would be my go-to for Thai food!

This restaurant has sadly gone downhill over the years. Used to be a good place for Thai food, but the food quality and flavors are no longer present or authentic. Went with a friend before a show, and the restaurant was able to get food out to us quickly, but it was not good at all. Papaya salad tasted nothing like it should - tasted like peanut sauce with vinegar and no fish sauce. Stuffed chicken wings were completely bland. The vegetable curry was nothing but a pile of green beans. Will think fondly of meals I had there years ago but won't be returning.

Sawadtee and especially their downtown location used to be a favorite of mine but we ordered via DoorDash and my Tom Kha was inedible.. literally tasted like nothing.. not even salty. We just flew into town and ordering from here was my first order of business so this was a huge let down.we were hopeful that the shrimp pad Thai would pull through but nope.. literally tasted like maple syrup on some noodles. Very sad.

Sawatdee used to be sort of underwhelming, but now is really great I highly recommend. They have robot that delivers the food to the table.

Great food and comfortable restaurant with good service. FOOD: I got the vegetable stir fry with chicken. I intended to get the brown rice but forgot to order that and channeled my inner Minnesotan and didn't speak up to get a second order of rice. Good food with good flavor. ATMOSPHERE: Comfy atmosphere. Noticed they had a cool private area that can be used for events. And good lighting. PARKING: I parked on the street two blocks away. Not sure if there's more convenient parking but that wasn't bad.

I was super torn between giving this place 2 or 3 stars, but rounding up because I've heard people have had good meals here (unfortunately not our experience). The positives: food came out hot and fresh, the papaya salad was tasty, portions were very large. The not so great: we ordered the pad see ew and pad Thai. The pad see ew strangely came with American broccoli/the type you think of for veggie trays, not Chinese broccoli. This dish was the tastier of the noodles, and we ate more of this plate than the other. The pad thai was sadly disappointing. We ordered it at a spice level 4/5 and it came out not spicy at all. The sauce was not what you think of for pad thai, but rather a bit sweeter in my opinion, it was lacking that classic savory flavor. We didn't dislike our meal, but it wasn't what we expected and I don't think either of us would return. It does look like they have a good happy hour menu tho, so that may be something worth checking out since we did enjoy our papaya salad appetizer.

Ordered Tom Kha and it was literally flavorless, inedible even. Like water. Can't believe this is even possible.

I've never done a negative review on this app before but I had to share this. The picture says enough. Our Panang curry container had hardly any actual curry and was about 80% green beans. I've never received a container filled so little with curry from a Thai restaurant before. Pad Thai was good flavor but not enough sauce so it was dry (noticing a trend). Will not be coming back here.

I have great food, but the ladies that work there are always in a bad mood. If you really want a delicious get it to go

We went to Sawatdee in a rush for a meal before my group and I were heading to a concert that night. The service was surprisingly fast especially with the 30 minutes we had before we had to leave. We got our food about 6-10 minutes after ordering and where given waters the moment we got our waiter. The food was delicious, the ability to chose ur spice level was amazing to see and customer service was very nice. I ordered Sue's Egg rolls which were fantastic, the sauce that came with it too was delicious. My friend order the Pad Thai which she thought was excellent. She ordered level two spice and said "this is the perfect amount of spice. Not to spicy and not overly spicy". Along with my other friend who ordered the green curry which was delicious as well. Definitely recommend going here. The bad reviews don't make any sense to me

Service was horrible , waited forever just for a glass of wine Asked for food to be mild spicy ... I couldn't finish my meal it was so hot ... drank 2 glasses of water .

Thanks to using @Opendoor we were able to get a reservation at 5 before The Rolling Stones concert at US Bank stadium. The restaurant was busy but our waiter was as attentive as he could be under the circumstances. I left him a good tip after hearing other conversations around us. We started with spring rolls fresh but only one had shrimp in it the other was vegetarian. SO had Laab he missed not getting sticky rice and ordered 4 on the spicy scale was not spicy and missed the acid of a lime. My food as pictured was good sauce was on the thin side and not used to the spice being dried pepper sprinkles. All in all an okay experience.

A Minneapolis staple, it has been around for a long time and the food is great! I love going here to dine in with friends or bring take out home.

Was OK. Had the spring (summer) rolls which were very nice The Tom Yum soup was ok, not special. The green curry chicken also ok. Both were kinda bland, not what I was looking for in n flavors or spice ..... Was expensive for the quality etc.

Stopped by here for late lunch,, on a Friday afternoon,,,nobody, nobody in restaurant,,, that should have been my first clue. My sister and I got Raad Naa ,,, I added extra vegetables,,, but IT HAD NO FLAVOR ‼ And was more of a soup,,, not very gravy like. Nice location,, place was pretty clean,,, but won't go back.

The food here was OK. It was late so we just want it a few appetizers. We got the fresh spring rolls. The fried eggrolls and a chicken meatball wrapped in some kind of rice noodles deep-fried. The meatballs were not the best. The spring rolls fried and fresh were huge and very filling. We also got the cream cheese wontons which were nicely done and flavorful. Again it's just appetizers so we will definitely go back and try some of the other tie dishes.

Came here on a Saturday with some friends and the food was quite good! Got the red curry with chicken and the pad thai with pork and both were delicious and flavorful (however the curry was much smaller than we expected). Also got the fried chicken wings as an app which were fresh but nothing special, and the mango sticky rice for dessert which was delicious. Parking is hard to find since this is near downtown Minneapolis and the US Bank stadium. Street metered parking only.

It was absolutely awesome. The robot waiter was really cool to can't remember what I had coconut milk, curry and something else but it was very yummy.

I had a great experience at Sawatdee Thai in Minneapolis! The ambiance was amazing, truly great right from the get go. I felt super comfortable in the more quiet-like restaurant. The service was pretty good too, with typical check-ins from the server and just a nice, kind personality who seemed to take great care of our table. The food was very good, typical food Thai food, I want with the Pad Kra Praw, one of my favorite Thai dishes of all time, and it was very good. I also had an iced tea, and that was good too. All in all, a great location for the restaurant, being located near/in downtown Minneapolis, a touch I really liked. All in all, great experience at Sawatdee, and I would definitely go back.

"Thai good?....you like shirt?" (Simpsons). Neither here. This places stinks. I was hoping for a good Thai spot downtown. Even went twice just to confirm. Food is mediocre at best-perhaps and probably one of the crummiest Thai places I've been to in the country Service is slow too. If you really like hot, order the hottest (5 on their scale), which is not hot.

I ordered the beef pad Thai and spring rolls. The spring rolls were ok, which is why I didn't give this review a 1 star. The beef was extremely tough and the pad Thai sauce was not good. I ended up throwing out most of my meal. I won't return and would recommend Lisu Thai or even Thai Basil.

We've lived in this area for many years and have always just bypassed this restaurant and now I wonder why. Recently my husband expressed to an acquaintance wishing he could get a specific dish and they said go to Sawatdee so we did. We were treated to delicious food and wonderful service. A big menu so we'll be back often.

First time trying this place or pad Thai . I got the chicken pad Thai , I am admittedly a spice wimp so ordered low spice and sues egg rolls . I loved the egg rolls super crunchy and delicious and the pad Thai was also tasty . Will order again .

This place really isn't that bad, it was just...different. Parking/location: You'll have to find street parking. Ambiance: A bit different. They're going for Thai of course - but it just felt a little strange. I appreciated the high ceilings which gave the place a more comfortable feel. This place was empty - we landed here because 2 other restaurants that we went to had 45min wait times. Service: Meh - unmemorable. Food: Panang curry -interesting with all the green beans - never had one with green beans before and certainly not one with so many. Spicy noodle dish hardly had any noodles, but it had tons of veggies and meat. Holy Basil had good flavor. Recommendation: Nothing was quite what we expected - it wasn't that it was bad, it just didn't taste like the normal Thai dishes I've had in other big cities.

I remember coming to this place as a child with my mom and finding it really delicious! I don't typically leave reviews unless it's really good or really bad, but in this case, this was the worst Thai food I've ever had. I ordered laab, papaya salad, and thai sausage. Each bite unfortunately kept getting more and more disappointing. I ordered a level 5 spice (being the most) The laab seasoning wasn't even comparable to a traditional laab dish, the papaya salads sauce tasted like it was sweet & diluted with water... not to mention, Thai chili pepper was completely absent in all these dishes.... At a Thai place... They used dried chili flakes as replacement I guess? Which was very flavorless and not spicy at all. I'm not sure what changed, but I won't be returning. This is not authentic Thai food.

Date night meal, decided on Thai food at this specific location as we have not been before. Once inside there was not a host to greet us, rather a machine to enter our food options. We wanted to dine in, so choose this option, and went to find a seat. While looking for a seat, we were approached by an abundantly rude waiter. He went on to give us a "lecture" on how a restaurant works. Absolutely poor service. Among the worst service I have ever experienced at a restaurant. The positives was the ambiance, it's a nice interior. The vegetable egg roll was good, and the toam kai gai was also good, albeit not earth shattering Thai food. The horrendous rude service was a buzzkill, to know some people choose to engage in poor communication. I will be hard pressed to return and will seek other options for Thai food in the city.

I haven't had the opportunity to dine-in at this restaurant but have ordered take out a handful of times and have yet to be disappointed! The fresh spring rolls are definitely my favorite and the dipping sauce they come with is surprisingly flavorful. I find that they are perfect for when I'm looking for a healthy, light but still filling meal. Typically, I pair the spring rolls with the Toam Kha Gai soup (pictured). I took one star off of my review because the soup is a little more unpredictable. I find that while it's usually good, the flavor of the broth, the amount of herbs, and the size of the mushrooms (sometimes they are unmanageably large) varies pretty heavily from day to day. Still though, overall a good soup and a nice compliment to the spring rolls.

Sawatdee only has 2 1/2 stars? Holy crap! I didn't think it was that bad. So, I was just visiting Minneapolis on business. I will probably never be back here again. I got the lunch buffet and found it to be very tasty. I loved it. Not sure what the bad reviews are about, but this is Yelp. Everyone is entitled to their opinions.

I had a good experience here. This was my first time at this Sawatdee location, and on a Saturday at 2 p.m. I was the only one there. My favorite dish at Sawatdee is the Massamun Curry. I chose chicken as the meat. This is simmered in coconut milk and has potatoes and peanuts. I asked for medium spice and that was almost too much for me. It comes with a side of rice so that helped ease the heat a little. This location is spacious and has adequate street parking. No complaints about the service, but like I said I was the only one there so my server was attentive and the other staff were very friendly.

O order from hear at least once a month. I really enjoy their yellow and panang curry chicken with a spice heat of 4! It's too good to share!

Wish I had pictures of all of the food because it was all really delicious. I got shrimp pad thai, and my friend(s) ordered chicken stir fry and tofu red curry. Everything was cooked well and we had a really good valentines day dinner. The skewers were delicious too! We all ordered a desert as well. Some of the best matcha tea ice cream and Mango sticky rice. I am returning for my birthday dinner in a week!

The Pad Thai wasn't as flavorful as usual... Also, I ordered through bitesquad, and in the section that sends special orders to the restaurant, I specifically wrote  " please include chopsticks! " because they forgot them last time. Then when I got my food, there were no chopsticks, just a plastic fork and spoon. That is frustrating as well. Overall, not a great experience this time!

Yum yum yum! The food here never disappoints. Whether you are dining in or ordering takeout your stomach will thank you for making this selection.

We arrived at 8:15 on Monday night and we were the only people in the place. It was spooky. The waiter was very serious but very efficient. Our food came quickly, it was delicious. The bathrooms were clean. The tables were socially distanced and everyone was wearing masks. It was just spooky, like I said. Made me wonder what the future of restaurants will be....