Insider Pages Reviews for Thai Tom

2 Stars: Great food, Extremely unsanitary (by Desiree O.)

Desiree O. — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:54:00 GMT

I used to love this place. The thai food is the best on the Ave (University Way). There is VERY few seating, however, and it takes a long time to get a table. However, it's a nice scene being able to watch the chefs cook in front of you. On the other hand, despite the great food, it seems very unclean. My dish had a cockroach crawling on the plate, and after that I never could make myself go back. However, if you don't mind that, it has AMAZING food.

4 Stars: Dinner and a show (by Jeff M.)

Jeff M. — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:24:00 GMT

Thai Tom is arguably some of the best Thai food in University District. With about five or six choices on University Way, it's hard to know which one to go for. Thai Tom is a really small place, so you should try and go during non-peak meal hours, because it is often crowded. But the food is awesome. I highly recommend the Panang curry, and be careful of the stars! It gets spicy! Not only that, but most entrees are around five to six bucks, so it's cheap. And you get tons of food. But my favorite aspect is seeing the man who I imagine to be Thai Tom himself, a tiny Thai man with sticks for legs in front of a wall of fire with intense focus making all the food all right in front of the bar seating. It's a fun place.

4 Stars: Pretty good food. (by Sarah C.)

Sarah C. — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:28:00 GMT

This place seems to be pretty popular. They do have some pretty good dishes but its not as good to me as everyone seems to rave about. I'm pretty particular about thai food since my mother is from Thailand. And I didn't quite get the "wow" factore. But nevertheless its still pretty good.

4 Stars: Good but very small (by Yen D.)

Yen D. — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 22:59:00 GMT

The food here is delicious though it's not the most authentic Thai food I've ever had. The restaurant is also very small, but the action such as the wok cooking is a sight to see. Prices are reasonable and they specialize in thai food. Many college students eat here due to its good Thai food but others who are Thai have said otherwise. From it's price and attraction to UW students, it's something worth trying

5 Stars: A dive, but worth the trip (by J G.)

J G. — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:38:00 GMT

I'll have to say that despite the seedy digs, street waifs surrounding the place, line out the door, limited hours and limited hours, this is an experience not to be missed. Tom is as entertaining as he is a great cook. No better thai soups and sauces to be found this side of Bangkok.

4 Stars: great (but maybe not QUITE as special as everyone told me) (by J W.)

J W. — Mon, 30 May 2005 23:42:00 GMT

After hearing from such a wide variety of sources that Thai Tom is far and away the best Thai restaurant around, I was a little disappointed the first time I ate here. It was certainly good, and one tofu & bean sprout dish actually was really great, but overall it just didn't seem as different from an average Thai restaurant as I'd expected based on all the rave reviews.