Talay Chicago

​Stopped by Talay Chicago over on Madison for dinner with some friends, and it was a solid choice. We each spent around $35, which covered a couple of dishes and a drink. The Pad Thai was flavorful and had just the right amount of spice, and the sushi rolls were fresh and well-prepared. The Crab Rangoon was a standout appetizer—crispy and filled with creamy goodness. The spot has a cozy, laid-back vibe, perfect for a casual meal. Service was quick and friendly!

We had an absolute feast! We ordered: a Roku Gin Martini, 2 Play Hard Seltzers, a bottle of Saki, a glass of plum wine, crispy tofu, potstickers, and 4 different sushi rolls(Snow White, Farmer's Market, Philly, and the Futo Maki). It was all absolutely delicious and fresh! The service was fast and friendly, and we enjoyed our time here very much. This is a fantastic place to eat before an event at the United Center. I highly recommend it!!!!!

First time here. My new Thai go-to. Red curry was great. Plenty of veggies, the way I like it. Salmon-avocado roll was good as well. They have a full bar which is pretty sweet. Nice dining room.

This is one of my favorite places! The vibe here is Thai, and the food is absolutely delicious and tempting. The taste never disappoints, and they have a great selection of vegetarian options. If you're three people, I recommend starting with the veg gyoza and crispy tofu as appetizers. For sushi, the farmers market roll is a must-try for its incredible flavors. And finally, for the main course, I suggest trying the pad thai with tofu and the red curry with a variety of veggies. The staff here is really friendly and helpful when it comes to navigating the menu.

We made reservations for early dinner on a Friday night but really didn't need them. It was empty just before six. I was there with my family of four, baby in a carrier and the staff was very accommodating. I've been here several times before, the Pad Thai never disappoints. We ordered veggie soup for my daughter and the broth was delish. We also ordered a few rolls, the shrimp tempura and spicy salmon were our faves. The dimly lit space is very romantic, but casual enough for families. We will be back again!

Pad Woonsen didn't have much chicken at all. Everything tasty though.

Got takeout for Chicken Pad Thai and some steamed vegetables, not thinking too much about the veggies we just wanted to get some veggies in. The veggies themselves were priced well especially for the variety we got. For the meal - this was the best Pad Thai I've ever had. I ate leftovers the next day I never ever do that. I felt bad because I ordered a little close to closing time, but they were very kind to me when I came in to get it. I felt welcomed and not like it was a problem that I ordered last minute. We will be back for the Pad Thai and can't wait to try more! So much to choose from. Definitely try this place!!!

I lived at 1222 west Madison for a few years ten years ago. Not only can I tell you how amazing the food is. But the family who runs the restaurant is amazing. When we got sick they would make us ginger chicken and rice soup and bring it upstairs. I’m also gonna share that the sweet potato tempura roll is crack. Thank you! The Case’s

Everything was delicious! The pad Thai (which I never order but was in the mood) was nothing short of extraordinary. The Tom kha, really great galangal, kaffir, and lemongrass notes.

I've walked by Talay a couple of times and have always been curious. I love Thai food but it's rare that I ever find Thai restaurants that I enjoy and Talay left a mark. It is located on the quieter end of Madison and there is plenty of paid street parking available. We did a walk-in on a Friday night and were able to be seated right away. I love the restaurant's ambiance. It is very moody and cozy yet not too dark. The staff are also the best! They are all so nice and welcoming. We started with the Chicken Satay which is one of the best satay's I've had! Lots of places end up with super dry chicken but the chicken satay here is so juicy and also fairly large. Paired with the satay sauce and the side of pickled veggies, it is a must-get item. We shared the Chicken Pad Thai and the Basil Beef. The pad thai was flavorful but lacked the balance of the trio you typically get from pad thai (sweet, salty, sour). I find that a lot of restaurants don't get this ratio right but it still fulfills the craving! They also don't use the traditional pad thai noodles here and I prefer the traditional thick pad thai noodles rather than the thinner rice noodles. The Basil Beef was really good! You can choose your protein for this dish and we felt it paired really well with beef. There are so many more items I want to try on the menu, including their sushi offerings so I'm looking forward to coming back!

Do yourself a favor and try the Black Pearl. This was a recommendation from the server and it didn't disappoint. It's got great texture and flavor. This isn't our first time here and the food is always good. Would recommend and return!

My friends always order take out from here so I had to try it myself! I ordered the shrimp shumai and veggie Pad Thai. Would recommend both! Though I didn't dine in, I definitely would like to! The environment inside is intimate, welcoming, and comfortable seeming. The staff here were on top of everything and so friendly.

Finally tried Talay after months of living right next to it. I shouldn't have waited this long! Wonton soup: some of the most flavorful broth I've ever had. Delicious and will be getting a large of this on cold days and next time I'm a little sick. Idaho - this sweet potato sushi roll comes with a tempura sweet potato in the middle and then the entire roll gets lightly fried as well. It's a decadent roll..really tasty. Spicy tuna with avocado - always a go to for me, and this was excellent. Super high quality tuna. It's one of their cheapest rolls so a great quick lunch option. Black Pearl - this is quite the roll. It's massive. Shrimp tempura, avocado, cilantro, and jalapeno rolled in tempura crumbs and topped with spicy tuna, unagi sauce and black tobiko. It's $21, but a real treat. The inside isn't massive, but they have plenty of tables and it's a nice casual atmosphere. I got everything to go, and the staff was super nice.

Stopped by here on a whim for the first time. Got some sushi rolls and the chicken pad Thai (hot). I tried the Black Hawk roll which was solid. The pad Thai was very good and deserving of 5 stars. I've always struggled to find a good Pad Thai. It seems like everyone "loves" Pad Thai, but I've never been able to find one for my liking. I think I finally found a place with Talay. Also, the service was friendly, they played great music and you could get a small bottle of Sake for $9. I'll definitely be back.

This restaurant is underrated. They have a huge menu with so many things to choose from. On top of this, the service is always amazing. Their Mongolian beef is one of my favorite dishes. If looking for a more casual night in west loop this is your spot

We loved the fish! Very fresh! And the service was great..... she was so attentive. We will be back for sure!

I got takeout, so I cannot really speak to the service or setting besides that my order was neatly packaged when I arrived and it looked nice enough that I would come back and eat in. We got the Pad Thai, Chicken Rama, and Green Curry. I was not impressed by the Pad Thai - I think the noodles were a different shape than I'm used to/expected and the toppings were in sections on top rather than sprinkled throughout - I think I would've liked it to be tossed before serving. I wasn't a huge fan of the peanut sauce on the Rama but my friend really liked it, so that's probably just personal taste. And it's nice that it came with broccoli rather than having to do a la carte. The Green Curry was pretty tasty!

This place has a very calm and quiet ambiance with fast service and very somber decor! I absolutely loved stopping by here as if felt very soothing. Food was good, but not great. We felt the red curry was far too watery in consistency and pad Thai noodles were good. Portions are big for the price, but as someone who has a lot of Thai food, this place doesn't quite hit the mark. It's a good spot for more casual vibes!

My go to Thai. I've always gotten to go orders and all the fried foods are always still crispy by the time I got home and their pad see ew is my favorite, not too sweet like most other places.

Ordered take out from Talay last night and we all really enjoyed the portions and choices. I almost wish we could have stayed to eat in the restaurant though because when we picked it up, the decor and ambience was lovely. Note for the crab rangoon, the crab pieces of meat lay on top of the cream cheese filling, I hadn't seen this before. The chicken pad Thai and the Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles) were both delicious. The pad Thai take out size was a pretty big portion, I definitely had leftovers for lunch the next day.

A hidden Thai place on Madison that kills it with their sushi. I love substituting items to make my own speciality vegetarian roll. It's huge and comes with many sauce options! Also, how pretty is that roll?! It's reasonably priced as well. I wasn't too big of a fan of their Thai food. The curry was not spicy at all and lacking in flavor (after asking for it to be really spicy!) and the noodles were just average.

It was a quiet and slow Saturday night for them, so we were apprehensive. But Talay did not disappoint! Their menu is a mix of sushi and Thai food. I've been struggling to find a decent sushi spot in Chicago but Talay's was good. Only thing I would say is that a couple of them had too much Mayo on them but we took it off and the sushi was still delicious. My favorite was the crunch spicy tuna with avocado. Simple, fresh and delicious. The Thai food was also great! Got the green curry with chicken and ordered it hot level spicy. It was delicious!! And the pad see ew...this also was tasty! Service was great! Drinks were just so so. Go there for the food, not the drinks! Highly recommend Talay!

I was excited to order from here - saw lots of great reviews - we ordered the lo mien, fish cakes and fresh spring rolls - it was ok. All decently flavored, no heat. The Tom Yum soup was by far the best item! Will order that again.

Maybe it's because I went in with mediocre expectations but I loved that every chicken dish offered minced chicken and I almost always judge a thai place based off its basil chicken. Talay passed that test with flying colors. Great flavor profile, great spice to it, well balanced and sitting in a little bit of sauce. Loved it. Service was rather slow I will say but the food was delicious and reasonably priced for West Loop. I would come back.

Checked out this place late Saturday night and the staff was kind enough to seat us 45 mins before closing. We ordered the Godzilla roll, spicy salmon roll, and Thai red curry chicken. All of the dishes were sooo good! You can tell the sushi was freshly made & the thai red curry was the perfect balance of flavors. I'll definitely be back to Talay to try the other items on the menu!

I have had way better in NY I have not found a good Thai restaurant here in Chicago. The food was ok but nothing that you must have again.

Food was great even to-go! Definitely would recommend for affordable sushi in the area. Pad Thai and seaweed salad was great! Definitely would've preferred a better quality of wasabi. Placing a to-go was a breeze, paid upon arrival.

Some of the best food in the West Loop! The service has been great we love the owners Even though we no longer live in the city we will return to the area to have our favorite foods

Ordered pick up on my bus ride home and when I got to the restaurant it was ready. Quick service and good food. Can't ask for anything more

Talay is my go to thai place with tofu pad Thai being my go to dish. Today I tried changing it up by ordering from another popular west loop/west town Thai restaurant and I was disappointed. I will no longer deviate from my norm and only order from Talay!

Love Love Talay! Best green curry I've ever had! Staff is always so nice and inviting when we visit. All the curries are my favorite. Great great menu options. I want to try it all

The service was great and my food and drink came out very quickly. I got a really good mango martini and the Kao Soy was delicious. I will definitely be coming back

I'm a vegetarian, so I have been looking for a good vegetarian sushi place in Chicago for a while now. Talay has excellent vegetarian sushi in my opinion for a somewhat decent price. I've only ever gotten takeout, so I can't necessarily comment on their service, but they have always been nice in my brief interactions with them during pick up. Overall, a good place for vegetarian friendly sushi!

Cute restaurant near the United Center. The sushi is delicious so are the entrees. Whenever we go to see a concert or sporting event we always come here. I don't know what I'm more excited for... the show I'm going to see or the food we're going to eat at this wonderful restaurant. I highly recommend this gem of a restaurant.

I got takeout and ordered the drunken noodles with vegetable. The drunken noodles had no spice/kick flavor to it and was all just soy sauce and basil flavor. The vegetables was the odd part - there were two big tomato pieces in there, which ive never seen put in drunken noodles at other restaurants. The tomato pieces were the ends too, so not appetizing to eat. Overall, i was not satisfied with the food.

food was the definition of average I'm truly having such a hard time finding a good thai restaurant in Chicago!! Crab Rangoons were awesome and sushi was okay but the pad thai was mediocre at best. The service was nice though so overall 3/5

Ate here last night with my boyfriend for the first time. It really deserves all of the great reviews. This is a perfect spot for a wonderful dinner before a United Center event. We highly recommend the combination Pad Saparot. A unique dish with tons of flavor. We almost licked the plate clean The ambiance is nailed. Dim and calm Enjoy this restaurant and its great food!

If I could give less than one star, I'd be so grateful to warn others not to come here. Started off with the crab rangoon. Hands down worst I've ever had. Tasted stale and like it was fried in old oil. Barely had a bite and asked for a different appetizer (which I was willing to pay for). Manager came over and was very sassy, insisting that they sell "thousands a day" and it was made "fresh" and that he can't keep giving me "samples". What??? Despite his nasty tone, I politely asked for egg rolls and although he was reluctant, he finally brought some over. The rest of the food was underwhelming and barely seasoned. I would not have even written the review, but the manager was just so rude and condescending. I will absolutely never be back, and I definitely would not recommend to anyone who wants a nice Thai meal. The vibes are just ok. Wouldn't be surprised if this place is out of business soon.

Cozy chill atmosphere and the sushi servings are HUGE! You definitely get your money's worth. I really enjoyed the Talay crunch. Good mix of cooked and raw maki options as well if you're squeamish about raw fish. Our waitress was very nice and helpful.

Food was solid. Most all though what we liked though...the music! Solid and very chill playlist. From Mac DeMarco to Toro y Moi to Washed Out, I was loving the vice of this place. Good little date spot. Whoever's running the playlist at this place - nice job! (insert applause here)

Talay is a hidden gem in the West Loop! Came here last week with my girlfriend after we were sick of eating Thanksgiving leftovers. They have a large menu and plentiful drink options. We decided to share 3 sushi rolls and edamame. Wow - by far some of the best sushi I've had in my life! We split the Talay, Godzilla, and Mexico rolls and The presentation was impressive. I'd love to come back to explore more of the menu. Talay is the best!

Im always a big fan of thai cuisine and when I moved to the area and realized I lived near this joint, I got pretty excited especially after I read all of the reviews here. They are pretty fast so you wont wait too long if you're doing pickup. Everything here is good so you cant go wrong with thai cuisine or sushi. Nice liquor selection as well. I have had all of the below and love it! BBQ Pork Fried Rice Pineapple Fried Rice Curry Fried Rice Basil Seafood Siam Chicken Crab Ragoon Spring Rolls Thai Iced Tea Tom Yum Soup Won-Ton Soup Yep Im obviously a regular here lol! I usually order takeout...I will more than likely dine inside.

Go to for take-out Thai in the city. They do have a seated area too, but it seems most of the business is take-out. Great apps, curries, and pad Thai dishes. They also have sushi which is a bit pricey but good.

Always friendly and fast. They make dishes without fish sauce which is nice for people with an allergy. I enjoy their tiger cry and chicken satay. My partner loves the sushi here. Overall a good place

We ordered the spicy shrimp and the crunchy salmon roll. And let me tell you.... It's probably the best sushi I've ever had. The service is great and it's a pretty chill spot. Definitely need to come check it out. BEST SUSHI

I really love this place. The ambience is very inviting. It's very clean. We ordered the Mini Egg rolls, Godzilla and the Blue Crab Roll. All dishes were really good. The mini egg rolls were crunchy and very nicely filled with ground pork, shrimp, egg and other stuff. I really enjoyed these. They were actually a nice portion size. You get 8 minis. The Godzilla Roll was my favorite. It was so tasty. The shrimp tempura and the other ingredients in this roll was was my favorite. The Blue Crab Roll was also very good. It has shrimp tempura as well but with other ingredients. It was not as tasty as the Godzilla but it was really good nonetheless. Also, this Roll is actually BLUE!!! The plating for the rolls were amazing! Loved the creativity in displaying these rolls. Very unique. For desert we tried the Lemon Pie Cake. Holy Lemons, this Cake was so GOOOODD! It was so moist, lemony, creamy, DELICIOUS! Overall, this place is a must try. I'm going back to try other stuff off their menu.

This is a review of the takeout delivery experience, which unfortunately, suffice to say, was a disappointment. SERVICE: 1/10 I'm sorry. I'm usually very generous with my ratings, but this was really bad service in terms of a delivery experience. I placed my order through GrubHub and I'm not sure if it was sent erroneously because of the system or not, but I did not receive what I ordered. I ordered seafood fried rice and mango bubble tea. One, I got 'basil fried rice' instead of the seafood fried rice. And two, I DID NOT even receive my mango bubble tea. Additionally, there was an order of spring rolls which was doubled up for an inexplicable reason. Not only was my order wrong, but part of it was DUPLICATED, and another was MISSING. Adding fuel to the fire, NO UTENSILS WERE INCLUDED. Disappointing. FOOD: 7/10 Basil Fried Rice - 7/10 - I did not order this, but admittedly, this was pretty good. The rice was moist, the light basil flavor complimented the dish well and the chicken cut into small pieces was pretty solid in the dish. Having this substituted for my actual order was not the worst, but still not ideal. Mango Bubble Tea - N/A/10 - Ordered this and did not receive it. VALUE: 1/10 Sorry, but paying nearly $6 for a drink and not receiving it is about the worst value you could ask for. PROBABILITY OF RETURN: 2/10 I've heard great, great things about Talay and it was highly recommended to my by many people. However, this experience does not show them in a good light and I am not sure if I would be willing to try just to get burned again. TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT: Sorry, but based on the bad service I got, I'd say, PASS. OVERALL: 5/10

Atmosphere was great. Food delicious. Service was superb! Price was moderate. I highly recommend!

This review is strictly for takeout from this restaurant. We ordered two rolls of sushi (ebi shrimp and sweet potato roll), tofu pad se ew, and chicken pad Thai. We were not impressed with the pad se ew, there just weren't enough noodles. The pad thai was good, nice flavor and slightly too much chicken, I would say that your money is spend well in that dish. I've had some better pad Thai, but overall this was a solid meal.

"Mid-range" reviewers are out of their minds. If this restaurant was two blocks in the right direction, it'd be the Yuzu Sushi of West Loop and reservations would be tight. As it is, it's a satisfying Thai place with surprisingly AMAZING sushi offerings. Such a nice low key neighborhood spot.

Hands down the best Thai food in Chicago. We got the farmers market roll as well as the Godzilla roll and I'm pretty sure my wife died and went to Heaven after tasting it! The owners and their family are the sweetest people you will ever talk to! Constantly asking if you need anything, best recommendations, and super helpful when it came to diet restrictions. I could keep going on and on but seriously go and try it yourself.

My wife a friend and I were looking for a Thai restaurant near the United Center and were lucky enough to discover Talay. The food was excellent, service was fast and friendly. We'll definitely go back again.

Great sushi at great prices ! My favorite place to get sushi is here at Talay. Delicious food, fast friendly service . My favorite roll is the sweet potato maki ! The BEST sweet potato roll . Another yummy sweet potato roll is the Idaho Roll .

Best sushi and amazing prices. Great people that work here. Rest of the food is good, not great, or would give five stars. Don't miss jumping into this local spot

When you think of combining Thai and Japanese food together, it almost makes the perfect date night. A lot of people enjoy Thai food and Japanese cuisine has that "I'm bougie for reals" feel to the entire experience. Luckily, Talay was able to offer a great experience for my friend and I who are huge foodies with appetites. The menu is expansive with a blend of Thai, Japanese, and Chinese cuisines. While it's not necessarily a "fusion" restaurant where you'd be trying a Thai maki roll, the fact that you can pick and choose some staples all in one sitting is extremely helpful for indecisive folks. You've got a range of soups, salads, noodles, curries, entrees, and more. We split the Moo Ping ($7.95) (seared pork skewers) which comes in four and includes Thai sweet chili sauce as a dip. The meat was very tender and I loved the smoky flavor. Afterwards, our Talay Crunch Roll ($15) came which was filled with all sorts of ingredients- notably shrimp tempura, calamari, cream cheese, and masago. This roll came in ten (10) pieces and was one of the best house rolls I've had in a very long time. You can tell they put a lot of care and attention into making their rolls. For our Thai portions, we settled for the Lad Nar Pork ($11.50) and Karee Yellow Curry ($12.95). The saucy flat noodles in our Lad Nar were great but admittedly smaller in portion size. Our yellow curry however was fantastic and was the highlight of our meal. Definitely order the spicy and stick with the chicken because it was damn good. I also liked the concept of them also being BYOB while still offering drinks if you rather have a house-cocktail or beer. I would definitely recommend bringing a bottle since it'll be more affordable in the long run. Sadly, they seemed to have tone down on the plate decorations for sushi that attracted me to their restaurant in the first place. Other parties also didn't have a cool fiery dragon made from sauces ready to be dipped into by each piece. At least the food was great!

Ordered Talay after moving my sister in to her new apartment nearby; the process was easy through Yelp & order was ready quickly and perfect! The crab rangoons were delicious! My sister, mom, and I had pad Thai, I had it hot while theirs was mild- it was delicious! Great portion size too. Walked in to pick up the order and inside was so cute! Can't wait to go back and have a meal in person.

Pretty good, lowkey atmosphere. Inside is dark & intimate. Had it recently for the first time I'm usually skeptical trying random sushi places as I only swear by Niu B but this place wasnt bad at all try it if youre in the area or need a spot for a quick date hehe.