Janejira Thai Bistro

Loved this place. Got the Tom yum, pad see ew and crab fried rice. This will be my go to Thai food in Pasadena

Absolutely delicious and authentic Thai dishes. I loved it. I recommend.

Janejira Thai Bistro is a great find — friendly staff, very clean atmosphere, and fair prices. Their rice and noodle dishes have excellent flavor balance, noticeably less sweet than the Thai place next door. Everything tastes fresh and well-seasoned without being heavy. Definitely my new go-to spot for Thai in the area!

I recently ordered the Pad Kra Pow from this restaurant, and I must say, it was absolutely delicious—just as yummy as the dishes I enjoyed in Thailand! The flavors were vibrant, and the pork was perfectly cooked. Additionally, the appetizer was equally impressive, complementing the meal beautifully. I highly recommend this place to anyone craving authentic Thai cuisine; it truly exceeded my expectations!

Small place, amazing Thai food 🍜🍜 I came here with a group of friends (7 of us) and everyone enjoyed it! The atmosphere is very chill and cozy since the place is rather small, so we felt great.

I’ve been here in LA 3 times and my third time here, we found this amazing Thai spot. Oh my gosh the food is so, so flavorful! This was my first time trying Thai food and I must say I am obsessed. I got the Pad Thai lunch special and it comes with such great variety. The service is very good too. 10/10 spot.

Very kind, friendly, and personable staff. Truly focused on customer service, and being present with the guest. Every team member we encountered was focused on helping us, being present, and really connecting. This was refreshing, and very nice! The food was tasty too! Our favorite dish was the garlic fried entree. Your choice of protein cooked up with garlic and cabbage. Beef with broccoli was good! Eggplant with shrimp was tasty, but not our favorite version of this dish (they a thick syrup/sauce with the eggplant, we typically prefer a light, stir fried version), pad se ew with beef was great, and the rice was traditional fair. We enjoyed the shrimp egg roll app. There is slight ($2) up charge for shrimp and some proteins; same with upgrading to brown rice. Mango stick rice was sweet, and hit the spot. There is some parking out front on Colorado directly in front of the restaurant. Side streets also provide nice parking options. They were quick, food was ready and fresh within 12min of ordering. Thank you Janejira Team! See you again soon!

Service was fantastic, Kevin provided delightful service and made us feel cared for! My pictures do not reflect the food proportions. I just almost forgot to take a picture before I finished. Try the Pad Kee Mao and the Orange Chicken!

Delicious Thai food with great service. They have some great lunch specials at $13.50 that comes with a salad, soup, and eggroll. I picked green curry with chicken with brown rice ($1 extra, they don't tell you about the upcharge but I figured so). Salad and soup were good. The soup was basically cabbage soup. I loved it. So simple. Egg roll is tiny and just okay for me. The curry was delicious. I would order again. Beef salad: Delicious. Best to eat it all there. It get a bit soggy if you eat it later on as leftovers. Tom Kha Hot Pot: Delicious. I would order this again. It has a sour coconut flavor. So good.

Small place but cozy. We stopped in for lunch and ordered a few appetizers and the lunch specials. The appetizers were mixed: the shrimp roll had almost no flavor, just tasted like oil. The sweet dipping sauce didn't help much. The tofu, though, was pretty good. For our lunch specials, we got three different curries, each with a few pieces of meat inside (maybe because it was the lunch portion?). Everything leaned noticeably sweet, even the savory dishes had a sweet note, which got a little repetitive. On the plus side, service was attentive and friendly. Okay for a quick lunch, but I wish the flavors had more balance.

I was just here this past weekend and let me tell you. Janejira Thai Bistro is a solid Thai spot in Pasadena that definitely delivers on flavor. I ordered the pineapple chicken fried rice and the orange chicken, and both dishes were excellent. The pineapple fried rice was perfectly balanced--savory, slightly sweet, and packed with flavor. The chicken was cooked just right, and the pineapple added a fresh twist without overpowering the dish. It's one of those meals that keeps you going back for another bite. The orange chicken was also a standout: crispy, tender, and coated in a flavorful sauce that wasn't overly sweet. You can tell care goes into their cooking, and the portions were generous. Overall, great food, comforting flavors, and a spot I'd happily come back to when I'm craving Thai food in Pasadena. Definitely worth checking out.

Amazing food! The best Thai we've had maybe. We ordered Tom Kha soup (coconut) base w/beef protein. Also, an order of Pad Kee Mao with chicken. We love the basil and peppers that was in this dish. We usually order pad see ew or pad thai, but tried this. Everything was delicious and the portions of course was enough for two more meals. We came at 11:30 just before lunch it wasn't busy yet. It was probably because it was raining. There were a few more people when we left. Anyway, the flavors were true to Thai and vibrant with lots of flavor and well seasoned. We will be back for sure when in the area again. Im pretty sure this is a family owned business. The service was great and sincere. You have to try this place for sure. Hidden gem in Pasadena. Finally, the prices are very reasonable. Enjoy!

We ordered food thru Doordash because we were out of rice. By 6pm, I was dying of hunger. My husband got us the beef broccoli, skewerless chicken satay, tom yum with rice noodle and lots of white rice. Normally, I'll scarf stuff down, but seeing a fishball in the tom yum was unusual for me. It was a ground pork and seafood tom yum, and it didn't really have that authentic thai flavor and tasted...sweet. It was still edible, but... did they make it palatable for non-asians on purpose? It is definitely not Tom Yum for me unless it is a fusion or from another region. The beef brocolli had a weird flavor like it was5 day old leftovers and the chicken satay was dry-ish. I hate voting down restaurants, but I havent been this disappointed in food since eating dried up kid's cheese pizza at Descanso. Since this is delivery, we didnt get to experience their service, ambience or parking sitch. I hope this is just an off day for them.

The food here is really good! There is another Thai place like 3 spaces over, the ambiance here is very tranquil and inviting. Unfortunately I didn't want take interior photos because I didn't want to get others in the picture. Service was phenomenal! The menus are paper and taken away quickly my mistake for not taking pictures. This is about the food. Anyway I've eaten here plenty of times and highly recommend trying it

Such a tasty and terrific luncheon spot! My pad se ew with chicken was perfectly seasoned and cooked: lots of nice green veggies, husband loved his garlic pepper stir fry with pork. Only 1 slight miss was the veggie roll was lukewarm and a bit tasteless, Wonton was tasty although note there is no filling, accompanying salad was fresh and tasty with a mild mustard dressing. Overall it was a great meal and staff couldn't be kinder nor more willing to assist. This one is a keeper for regular rotation. Hope to see you here, fellow yelpers!

Great food and service! Highly recommend. I'll be back soon!!! My chicken Red Curry was fantastic.

We had a pretty bad experience here. Not with the food or the service, but when we ate here, we had some leftover food that we took home for my 5 year old son. The next day, we heated up his leftover food and found a piece of metal foil that looked almost like a stapler in his food. Fortunately, he found it in his mouth before swallowing. For this incident, I'm giving this place 1 star and will never go back. I hope they are much more careful with their food preperation as that could have seriously injured my son if he swallowed it.

We wanted to try a new Thai place. My girlfriend selected this restaurant since the menu looks amazing. There is a huge selection from each category. The prices are good in today's inflationary environment. We ordered the chicken skewer, it was good. We tried the Tom yum soup with shrimp. The flavor was bold with the right amount of sourness and spiciness. We shared the papaya salad with woke up our appetite for our entree. We then share the Pad see Ew with beef. The sauce was a little too sweet, but that's the Thai flavor. The best was for the last, mango sticky rice. When we had our first bite, the delicious flavor captured us!!! The sweet and warm sticky rice is a perfect match with the mango. We had so much for dinner and regretted not leave enough room for the dessert. We were very pleased with the dinner and I'd love to come back to try other dishes.

This is an update to my 2021 review. Maintaining my 5-star rating. If you don't already know it--this is the best Thai Restaurant in Pasadena and one of the best in the Los Angeles area--it's worth traveling to come here. The Cashew Chicken yesterday was outstanding--you will not have better anywhere ever. Their brown rice is the best brown rice you will ever have anywhere ever. All Thai restaurants should come here to find out how you make the best Brown Rice Ever! In fact, ALL Restaurant Owners that have Brown Rice on their menu should come here to find out how you make the best brown rice ever! In fact, there should be a law that you have to come here to find out how you make the best brown rice ever! The eggplant and chicken in the Eggplant Chicken dish were excellent--but it was a bit too saucy and oily for my liking. I had to transfer the items in the dish to the brown rice plate to minimize the sauce. I don't know what the solution to this except to order the Cashew Chicken next time and add eggplant which I love. The Cashew Chicken was not saucy and just right--perfect. Now if you are a big oily sauce person--you may be fine with it. Service here is as friendly as you will get in a Thai restaurant. Parking is on the street free in front. Again, this is not a romantic dining place--it's a place to go for great food. They keep in cold inside--bring a jacket.

Found this place on Yelp on the search bar for "lunch near me", as we were at Vroman's bookstore across the street. Arrived at lunchtime on a Thursday and the place was packed! Fortunately there was one available table that just needed to be cleared and reset for us. We each ordered the $12 lunch special, deciding on 2 items to share. The lady at the table next to us was boxing up the rest of her Pad Thai and it looked good. It was a nice rust color of seasoning, not light orange colored like other places. We ordered that and a green curry. They made a modification for me of no green bell peppers , and substituted red which pleased me greatly. The special comes with egg roll, small salad and a cabbage soup. The soup, although piping hot, which was nice, wasn't anything I would order. Kind of like when you go for Chinese and the special comes with sweet and sour soup, just not a fan. Overall, good sized portions for lunch and nice ambiance. The AC was cranked so it was a tad chilly, but it was 80 degrees out in mid December.

This place continues to be amazing. Perfect pad see ew and panang. Highly recommend!

Just ate here for the first time after an appointment. The Thai place I would normally go to was closed today. Thank goodness this was open just a few doors down because their food is absolutely delicious. They even have a $12.50 lunch special that I decided to try. The lunch special had an excellent variety of choices. I decided to go with the green curry chicken entrée and it was accompanied by a fried egg roll as well as soup and salad. Not only wonderful food, but a great portion for a special! If I still lived in the Pasadena area I would come back here often. It will definitely be on my list for when I go to the Pasadena Playhouse.

My parents both absolutely loved their lunch specials and staff, we were definitely satisfied. We tried the Pad Kee Mao, Green Curry with Tofu, and Papaya Salad. The Papaya Salad was refreshing! The shredded papaya was tossed in a tangy, sour, and sweet sauce. Topped with roasted peanuts, definitely my favorite part! The Pad Kee Mao noodles were packed with wok flavor, a silky texture and well-seasoned sauce (without being overwhelmingly salty). The chicken was tender and perfectly cooked. The Green Curry was served piping hot and creamy, with bamboo shoots and carrots adding great texture. Both lunch specials came with a generous side of salad, a comforting bowl of vegetable soup, and a crispy egg roll with a wonton crisp. A truly satisfying meal all around! Highly recommend!

After the Doo Dah Parade we headed over to meet some locals at one of their favorite restaurants. We were pleasantly surprised that the lunch specials are a 7 day a week option. 4 of the 6 of us ordered lunch specials, one ordered Papaya Salad and one did their Thai Fried Rice. I enjoyed the fresh little side salad and crispy little egg roll that came with the lunch specials. The dipping sauce was perfect for the egg roll. The Pad Kee Mao was good and the fresh tofu nicely done. The grilled onions were plentiful albeit one never finds them in Thailand. The soup, however, was utterly disappointing. More like chicken broth. A little bit of sesame oil might help. Good service. Nice inviting atmosphere.

Photos show half eaten dishes. Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodle) & Yellow chicken curry with rice. Perfection. Level 3 spicy: perfect spice and my tongue wasn't on fire. The first bite of the noodle was the flavor of DELICIOUS FRESH BASIL. Noodles have a great texture, chewy and soft (not sticky or stuck together) Yellow chicken curry with rice was very flavorful and the perfect amount of spice. Plenty of chicken, potato & carrots. Btw: I've visited Thailand a few times and my nieces are half Thai. I know great Thai food, that doesn't require driving to Thai town. Ps. My waiter, Kevin, handsome and absolutely attentive and courteous throughout my visit.

You can't beat the lunch special. The employees are always nice. It is usually busy during lunch but you can always order to go.

I finally got to try this place after all these years and I can't believe I've never been here before. We went with a large group and we ordered a bunch of different dishes and everything I got to taste was so good. I think my dish was the best which was the red curry. It was so delicious And flavorful and even though I got level two spice, it was not too spicy. I would definitely come back here when I'm craving some Thai food. I was server was very nice and patient with us while we tried to figure out what we wanted, considering we were such a large party. At the end, we got so stuff we were not able to try their croffles for dessert, but we will be back.

My coworker and I searched for a lunch spot and so glad we found this restaurant. They have an affordable lunch menu and each meal is pretty substantial in my opinion. I got the beef pad see ew which came with hot soup, salad, fried wonton and fried spring roll. My coworker ordered pad thai and she loved it too. I will come back and try out the other dishes!

Love their food, order came out really fast, the wait is short and the food is tasty!! My son love their sausage fried rice!

Came on a Thursday night for dinner with a friend to celebrate her birthday and it was a great spot! Casual yet cute, friendly atmosphere and delicious food: pas see yew, papaya salad and the ice cream coconut banana rolls! I would pass on the tofu spring rolls as it lacked flavor. Overall I liked it here. Free street parking across next to Target.

If you're ever in this part of town, this place has super solid Thai food. We had ptsd from the tom yum from another spot the night before and needed a real tom yum. Janejira did not disappoint. Also had the larb and crab fried rice. Larb was tasty and the crab fried rice was delicious. They did not skimp on crab meat. Servings are very generous and staff are attentive and very nice. Quaint and cozy with a cute neon wall for pics

Right in front of the Colorado/Oak Knoll bus stop, Janejira serves a delicious lunch special of pad kee mao ($11.50). I enjoyed the noodle texture, savory flavors, and spicy kick. The lunch special included soup with a healthy serving of vegetables, salad with tasty dressing, an egg roll, and a small fried wonton. The sauce for the egg roll tasted surprisingly good though having a lighter flavor. The Thai iced tea ($3.50) didn't taste too sweet, and I ordered it without boba. This place is deserving of five stars for its filling portions, well-cooked food, and affordable pricing. I highly recommend this place if you like Thai food, and I'd definitely want to try another dish next time. Service here was good, and the server filled my reusable water bottle with the option to add ice. Although the restaurant is a little small, it wasn't too loud, and it got quieter around 1 pm as people exited.

Review for lunch only! My friend decided to come here for lunch for her birthday. We finally picked a Sunday to meet up! The great thing is that Janejira does offer their lunch special on the weekend except on holidays. The lunch special runs from 11-3 pm. There are about eight options. You can pick between curries, rice, or noodle dishes. I decided to pick Pad Thai with tofu as my dish and I really enjoyed my lunch. The lunch special also comes with a veggie soup, a side salad, a veggie egg roll, and a piece of fried wonton. I already got full off the sides. My favorite was the side salad. I love the salad dressing that I brought a container home. Yes, they do sell it to go so I'm glad I asked. Parking was street-only! The street parking was 1 hour except Sunday so we got lucky. This restaurant is right across from Target. The service was great. Overall, great deal and choice for Thai food if you're in the area.

Omg what can I say the prices for this place are insanely good. I've only had food to go from here so I can't speak much about the atmosphere other than it's clean. As far as the to go food, we've never been disappointed,especially for the price.

Portions are great for the price. The service is consistent have been here several times and always given great customer service. The flavor is great I have had the Thai green curry, the pork and broccoli, the larb and the garlic stir fry all delicious

Definitely not up there on my list of Thai spots but I guess it did it's job. It filled me up but definitely did not hit the Thai craving. I wonder if the flavors were just too Americanized? I have had better and this was definitely not one of the better place to be honest.

Prices here are great. Got the lunch special pad thai and the pad see ew. Comes with salad, soup and egg roll. I really liked the tom yum noodle soup. Street parking here only. We had to park 2 blocks away because most of the spots were 1 hour.

Ordered to go. Everything was packed nicely. Enjoyed most of the dishes we ordered. Thai spaghetti was pretty good; haven't had one like this for a long time. Garlic fried rice was very garlicky and flavorful. Tom kha hot pot with glass noodle was delicious. The only dish I didn't enjoy was the pad see ew; not used to the sauce they used.

Excellent food and service. My barometer dish for whether or not a Thai place is authentic is their papaya salad and I am so happy to report that theirs is the real thing. Reasonably priced food that comes out piping hot within minutes of you ordering, paired with a great clean space that's got enough room for foot traffic (it's right across Target) - it's a winner for me. I'll be back because I want to try their garlic fried pork spare ribs and their other yummy dishes.

They have plenty of plant based / vegan options. We ordered a number of different items from the menu and requested they be made vegan, this was not a problem at all. Other family members got the chicken satay and loved the peanut sauce. I was bummed they didn't have a plant based milk option for a Thai iced tea.

Janejira was our preferred Thai place in Pasadena for a while. Then they closed and reopened again recently. Today's to-go order was the worst so far. I'm not sure what happened to them. Admittedly, our go to dishes have always been their pad Thai and their yellow curry with chicken. All their other offerings were just okay to us. This time around, the pad Thai was still pretty good but was lacking in chicken with only a few small pieces in the entire dish. The yellow curry with chicken was decent as usual. But the true disappointment was their chicken satay, which is probably the worst I've ever had. It was completely bland, dry and definitely not grilled. We couldn't even figure out what it was when we opened it (it looked more like sautéed tofu). There were barely 3 whole pieces. Presentation and quality seem much worse since they reopened. Again, what happened? Also, I'm not sure how being stingy with hot sauce and green chili condiments helps their business in any way. I'm going to try some of the newer Thai joints and maybe head back to Saladang again.

Have tried both in restaurant and delivery. Very nice and attentive staff. Food is good and fairly consistent. Great lunch specials.

This is my new go to spot for Thai food in Pasadena. It definitely looks family owned and there was a 25 minute wait for lunch on a Sunday. Everything we ordered was amazing. The Tom yum soup had such a nice tangy flavor. It was both sour and a little spicy. It also came in a hot pot so it stayed warm. The pad thai was actually not sweet for once like other Thai places and had a good sauce. The carrots, bean sprouts, and crushed peanuts were not mixed in. The green thai curry was also really good and came with a small side of white rice so we had to ask for more rice. They also had side chili sauces to pair with the dishes. The server was also very nice and helpful.

WOW I absolutely loved this place! Priced a little more expensive than what I'm used to paying for Thai food I still was extremely happy with the quality, portion, and taste. My family had a soup, pad see ew, garlic fried rice, Thai spaghetti noodles, Thai tea, and taro tea. Every single thing was a hit. I will definitely be returning and I am constantly recommending to my family and friends!

Wow... it's been over 1 year since my first review of Janejira and I haven't revisted it since until last Friday, 12/08/2023. Amazing how time just passes us by at a blink of an eye and that's okay. I'm back here again for the 2nd time with a great group of friends from work. This time around I went with the lunch special for Pad Kee Mao with shrimp. The noodles and shrimps were just ridiculously delicious! It had a slight kick to it. Of course, I chose mild spice and not anything overly spicy because I want to taste my food. Sometimes I do go with medium spice depending on the restaurant. The small salad was good... the dressing is not your run of the mill traditional dressing like ranch or italian... it's sweet and tangy... I love it! The fried veggie egg roll and wonton skin were decent. As for the soup, I thought it was a tad bland... it needs more savoriness or flavored oil or something added to it... good size bowl though. By the way, lunch special is $11.50 and with shrimp, it costs $2.00 more. Of course it does LOL. Anyway, I feel this Pad Kee Mao tastes better than the Pad See Ew IMHO. Don't get me wrong, I still like my Pad See Ew. Actually, Pad See Ew is on the sweeter side where Pad Kee Mao is on the spicy side IMHO. Maybe we need a dish that is the best of both worlds... that's an idea... to get both dishes and mingle them together... next time!!! You know I will LOL. I now have a new go-to. I will have to get the full size entree versus lunch special so I have more of the deliciousness going forward LOL. Funny, the rest of my colleagues got the same Thai Fried Rice lunch special. It must be good. I'll have to check that one out, too. Hey, when it comes to foods, I go big when I know they're good. No time to waste when enjoying great eats. Life's too short to NOT blah blah blah... you fill in the blah! LOL Till we meet again Janejira... thank you so much for the delicious dishes and the warm hospitality!!!

I used to work in an office a block away and loved picking up my lunch here as a treat. I usually had plenty of food for leftovers the next day or later. Dinners are good too but the lunch options are the best.

Most soliid Thai food in Pasadena. We hate driving to LA and this is the best Thai restaurant that we've found in the area. It gets the job done.

Great option for delivery! They took note in everything I requested for which was to provide all the spices and sauces. In addition, they don't skimp out on the spice levels which I love. There are places where you ask for spicy or very spicy and it doesn't even feel spicy at all. This place does their spice levels right. Got their papaya salad, tom yum noodle soup and spaghetti kee mao. I was looking for the spaghetti kee mao dish and this place was perfect since it had that and decided to try other dishes along with it. Everything was delicious. The spaghetti had great basil flavor and you can choose which meat you'd like in it. The pork went well together.

I think I found my favorite Thai place hehe. Food and service were both AMAZING. Came here with my mom and we ordered the lunch special: fried rice- beef and pad see ew-chicken. The portion was so nice! I loved how it's like a little bento box, a little bit of everything. There's the main entree, soup, salad, egg roll, and fried wonton. The fried rice was moist and delicious, great amount of beef. The pad see ew was nicely sweet, great noodle texture. Everything that was suppose to be hot was hot. Loved it! The service was really nice too! The guy helping us was very polite and checked on us if everything was good. He also answered our questions very thoroughly. Great experience overall. DEFINITELY will come back real soon! (: I actually tried this place two other times after hehe. Both times, still amazing, eating there and takeout. Two items that I tried aside for the choices of the lunch special were the mango sticky rice and the yellow curry chicken, mild spice. The mango sticky rice was great, not too sweet. The yellow curry chicken (not pictured) was good! We don't usually eat spicy but this was good! It has a hint of coconut flavor. There's a lot of yellow curry sauce leftover haha so you can definitely make more meals of it, just make your own rice to pair with.

This places it very tasty! Order Beef Pad kee mao spicy! Chicken Yellow curry and their amazing Thai Tea!!! Service was fast, friendly, and attentive! I recommend this place for sure!

Tasty lunch specials, we also ordered an entre the portion could have been a little bigger. Overall the food was well seasoned and full of flavor a must try! Space is small, lots of table, when busy its a little hard to hear. We'll be back!

I've been looking for a local quick lunch spot for Thai food and I found it. Very well-priced and the food is delicious! Service is quick.

Love their lunch special - a lunch-sized entree that comes with soup, salad, an egg roll, and crispy piece for a good price. Service was efficient and friendly too. I wasn't expecting such a solid Thai spot! Thanks Janejira!

I'm so excited to find this place! Cute, quaint, spot on Colorado. I ordered the Pad See Ew lunch special which came with soup, salad, a vegetable egg roll and a wonton. Everything came out hot and fresh, the meat was tender, the noodles were flavorful, the egg roll was fresh and the salad with a touch of sweetness that blended perfectly. My waiter Kevin was so helpful, friendly, attentive, and all around wonderful! Nice ambiance, great lunch specials, quality food, with reasonable prices, family owned and great service! this will be my go to when I'm in Pasadena again.

Extremely disappointed by this mango sticky rice. The sauce was extremely salty and it honestly ruined the taste of the whole dish. Have never had this experience with any Thai restaurant before. Maybe they mistook their salt for sugar? I'm so sad. Came here only for mango sticky rice.

- good vibes all around - low key - if you want to eat alone, this is the spot. No judgement. Saw 5 different people sitting there eat lunch alone. If you want to eat in a group setting, this also works. - enjoyed the Thai tea the most - the chicken larb and chicken Thai were solid - clean restroom - they were thoughtful and service and quick.

I wanted to try a new spot for Thai food and I am pleasantly surprised at the service and food of this place. They were really friendly and attentive when serving us. The food was reasonably priced as well. We got Chicken Satay, Pad Thai and Tom Yum soup which was quite a good amount. I am very picky with my Tom Yum and this place made it really good! The right amount of spice to zing. Would recommend to those who need a quick lunch to satisfy that Thai craving.