Waldo Thai
Thai restaurant · Santa Fe Hills
8431 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, MO 64114
Highlights
Northern Thai cuisine focus with inventive cocktails & small plates
Northern Thai cuisine focus with inventive cocktails & small plates
"Waldo Thai creates a whole new small plate menu every Wednesday. So really, one visit just isn’t enough to do this excellent Northern Thai spot justice. You’ll want to try as much as you can, so go for the Lanna Samplers, which allow you to create a combo of their chili dips and pork sausages with sticky rice. Always throw one of their excellent curries and noodle dishes in the mix too, especially the brisket kow soi. We also like coming for an after-work drink to fill up on herbal Thai liquor mekhong and rice before a long evening at the nearby KC Bier Company’s Biergarten. The Waldo Thai family also owns the Thai-fusion restaurant Buck Tui, which happens to be one of our favorite BBQ spots." - ryan bernsten
"Waldo Thai is unique in the metro for its focus on Northern Thai, or Lanna cuisine, and date-night atmosphere. The restaurant’s expansive menu of small plates, which changes every other week, is an ideal way to sample as many of chef Pam Liberda’s dishes as possible. If you’re ordering off of the regular menu, start with the nam prik ong, a richly spiced chile dip with fried pork rinds, or the gaeng hung lei, braised pork belly curry with ginger and tamarind. Best for: Dining in. The rotating small plates aren’t always offered for carryout." - Liz Cook
"I noticed Waldo Thai drawing fans who loved its tofu pad thai, and learned that many regulars ask for a half-and-half off-menu order so they can pair the noodles with the restaurant’s popular lemongrass pork — a combination that’s become a stadium favorite." - Xiao daCunha
"Waldo Thai is unique in the metro for its focus on northern Thai, or Lanna cuisine, and hip date-night atmosphere. Start with the nam prik orng, a richly spiced chili dip with ground pork, or the tum makheur, in which grilled eggplant and peppers are perfumed with fish sauce and mint. The restaurant’s cocktail menu changes frequently, and it’s always got a sense of humor (currently, the drinks are all named after pop songs)." - Liz Cook
"A Thai restaurant/bar whose bar manager, familiar with baijiu from his Malaysian Chinese background, initially hesitated to introduce it but came to treat it like whiskey in terms of variety; the venue now hosts baijiu tastings aimed at educating and converting bourbon-oriented, discerning customers." - Valerie Li Stack
