The 18 best Thai restaurants in NYC

If Elmhurst houses Little Thai Town, then let Ayada be the official welcome center. The restaurant offers a broad selection of dishes from all across Thailand, including Thai sausage from the Northeast Isan region and kang som sour curry from the South. While you might be tempted to order familiar favorites like pad thai or pad see ew, this is the type of spot that you’re going to want to expand your palette to all that Thai cuisine has to offer.

It’s common to find stalls that specialize in just one dish throughout Thailand. While this concept isn’t as prevalent in the U.S., Eim Khao Mun Kai is all about one thing: khao mun gai. The dish is a Thai version Hainanese chicken and rice but is served with a spicy, fermented bean sauce. The $12 set meal includes tender steamed chicken thighs (halal), fragrant ginger rice, a savory broth-based soup, and sides of cilantro and cucumber. This tiny-but-mighty spot is cash-only, but make sure to bring a few extra dollars to get a Thai green tea (one of the few spots in the city that has it!).

Nestled on the corner of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Kru is a gem that is working toward challenging the expectations of Thai cuisine—and we’re all better off for it. Led by Chef Ohm Suansilphong (formerly of Fish Cheeks) and his wife, Kiki Supap, Kru reimagines traditional royal Thai dishes with modern twists, with an emphasis on the Kingdom of Siam’s ancient culinary technique and flavor. 

The restaurant’s industrial-yet-cozy ambiance is ideal for both casual weeknight dinners and special occasions (the restaurant also offers large-party accommodations). Starting your meal with a Ma Hor, a savory fruit bite, is a non-negotiable. And then you’re going to want to go ahead and order a handful of small plates—the young jackfruit salad is a revelation full of creamy lemongrass spice—and don’t skip the tender Beef Tongue Massaman Curry (I spend my days fantasizing about it).

This intimate 20-seater opened a few months ago in East Williamsburg and specializes in 19th- century recipes from the royal consort of King Rama V’s court. Kaew Jao Jorm, named after the former King’s favorite flower, brings a revitalized taste of regal Thai cuisine to the city. Don’t miss the signature flower dumplings—chicken and peanut filling encased in delicate blue dough—that are just as beautiful as they are delicious and highlights the elegance and complexity of Thailand’s royal culinary technique and flavor.

With the recent departure of Ugly Baby, one of the city’s spiciest (and most beloved) Isan spots, many feared the city’s northeastern Thai food would lose some of its edge. But Zaab Zaab remains a bold force, pushing Isan flavors front and center. Led by Pei Wei and Bryan Chunton with chef Aniwat Khotsopa, this vibrant restaurant has a handful of the usual stir-fry favorites, but do yourself a favor and order the herb-packed larb ped udon, a specialty of Khotsopa’s hometown of Udon Thani that features ground duck, fried liver, and crispy skin. It’s spicy, but that’s what the side of vegetables are for (pro tip: chewing on raw cabbage soothes the heat!). The pla neung manow (branzino) comes steamed with a garlicky-lime sauce that you’ll want to scoop up with a spoon (I regularly do). 

With a strong presence of Isan cuisine in both Elmhurst and Williamsburg, Zaab Zaab also has a spot in Essex Market that specializes in next-level Krapow burgers.

Ann Redding and Matt Danzer, the duo behind the former Michelin-starred Uncle Boons, opened Thai Diner back in 2020, a lively casual restaurant that blends the classic dive diner feel with Thai favorites. In classic diner spirit, breakfast is served all-day. Some standouts include: the Thai Diner egg sandwich (with sai oua herbal sausage wrapped in roti), massaman curry smothered disco fries with fried shallots, and custardy-sweet Thai tea babka french toast.

The heat is forgiving, and it’s the type of spot I bring out-of-towners to if I really want to impress. Just be warned—reservations can be tricky to secure, so it’s best to go early if you want a table.

Since opening in 2020, Soother has evolved into what was once a Thai noodle shop to an expansive (and beloved) restaurant in the East Village that serves Thai dishes from all across the country. But even with all the variety, I still stand by that the noodle soups are the real start here—and quite possibly the best in the city.

Sure, you can go for the signature shrimp pad thai and it’ll taste delicious (as pad thai often is) but you’re sorely missing out if you don’t prioritize the expansive noodles that this spot has to offer. The Sukhothai-style tom yum noodle soup, for example, is a signature at Soothr and features a deeply savory salty-sour clear, fish cakes, meatballs, and rice noodles. It’s out of this world. 

It's almost been a year since Sappe (the sister restaurant of Soothr) opened in the West Village and has quickly made a name for itself in the city that captures the not-as-much-highlighted playful nature of Isan Thai cuisine in the city. The restaurant has an impressive cocktail program that features $18 drinks inspired by Thai movie stars. If you’re looking for something to ogle at while you eat, you can’t go wrong with the Somsri, a tequila-based frozen guava cocktail with spicy salted plum powder but my go-to is the Riam that is made with an in-house sticky rice-fermented vodka.

At the heart of the menu is Thai Ping Yang, a nod to Northern Thailand’s charcoal-grilled skewers. These skewers—four for $20—are the perfect drinking snack and come in twelve different flavors. My ideal lineup is the lin wua ping (beef tongue), koong yang (tiger prawn), nung gai ping (chicken skin), and sai moo ping (pork intestines), but there are twelve different skewers to choose from and you really can't go wrong.

Sukh isn’t just a restaurant, it's an experience. Just steps away from the Fulton Street G-train stop, ambient jazz music greets you at Sukh's vintage train-car style entrance complete with booths reminiscent of the private luxury compartments of the 19th and 20th centuries. 

The food at Sukh is just as in on the bit, with a menu that spans the diverse regions of Thailand (and has a map marking cities and regions where each dish came from!). Standouts include the Northern-style kang pu, a spicy coconut crab curry and khao tom haeng, a Phuket-favorite featuring pork three ways—crispy pork belly, minced pork, and Chinese sausage—served with steamed rice and soup. 

This Isan-style spot in the East Village focuses on heat rather than sweetness (as is typically the case for the Northern Thai food). You’ll typically find this spot always packed on any given night, and that’s (don’t worry, they take reservations!) and for good reason, the food is great. Although some may think the real heat is in curries, it’s actually in the som tum, or papaya salad where fresh chilis are pounded to release their fiery heat. Come ready to go in on spice and order a handful of the som tum varieties that include grilled pork, crispy salmon, and added rice noodles.

Whether it’s the speakeasy-adjacent feel or the idyllic interior, there’s something undeniably cool about Wayla. The restaurant can be a bit hard to spot—really, it’s located in a basement storefront with minor signage—but that doesn’t stop people from gravitating toward the top-notch food and drinks. 

Speaking of drinks, Wayla nails the playful cocktail bar. I personally love the "The Land of Smiles" that’s kind of like a Thai-style margarita and nods at an old tourism campaign. The food also packs a punch on its own. The made in-house sai oua (pork sausage) are herbaceous and full of spice and then Moo Sarong are impressive crispy noodle-wrapped meatballs that are actually handwoven! You’ll want to stay for dessert and you can’t go wrong with the mango and sticky rice, or opt for the egg custard when mango isn’t in season.

Named for what is arguably the most tender part of the fish is exactly what you’ll find at Fish Cheeks, a vibrant eatery in Noho specializing in brilliant Thai seafood dishes. Owned and operated by brothers and Thailand natives, the food is a celebration of their upbringing; Grilled Branzino arrives with a cashew garlic sauce while the fiery Rainbow Trout Pad Cha is ladened with habanero chili, acacia leaf, basil and green peppercorns.

This cafe-restaurant hybrid brought to you by a mother-daughter team is worth the trip to Elmhurst. Pata Cafe first opened in 2016 with an emphasis on various coffees and teas before becoming what it is today—a Thai food destination doling out soulful Isan fare. The interior, too, with its wood beams and lush greenery, is just as inviting.

Woodside's destination eatery offers distinctive, traditional eats like catfish salad or Green Curry with Beef: a thick, piquant broth filled out with roasted Thai eggplant. The dining rooms, which sprawl out over two levels and a garden, are packed with lip-smacking Manhattanites who can be seen eyeing the plates enjoyed by Thai regulars, mentally filing away what to order the next time.

The low-key basement spot focuses on the fiery, funky foods of northern Thailand, and the roster is a challenging one, with categories like tod (fried meats), som tum (papaya salads) and yang (grilled meats) making up more than five dozen choices. You wanted real Thai food, it taunts, let’s see what you’ve got. How about a tiny skewer of blackened gizzards? The snack features chicken parts obliterated over an open flame. Or opt for the fried chicken (kai tod), succulent meat marinated in a tenderizing mix of Thai herbs and lime.

This small Hell’s Kitchen canteen by husband-and-wife team David and Vanida Bank of Land Thai Kitchen is a gem among the dozens of Thai–American restaurants lining Ninth Avenue. Foodies rave about this authentic hole-in-the-wall serving budget-friendly wok dishes and crowd pleasers like the Wok Chili Turmeric with Beef and Rachaburi Crab and Pork Dry Noodles.

Chowhounds rhapsodize about Wondee with an enthusiasm that borders on mania. At this operation in Hell’s Kitchen, the food is deliciously authentic—a welcome change from standard satays and noodles. Crispy Pork Basil is loaded with red pepper, basil, garlic and oyster sauce, while the BBQ Chicken is marinated in herbs and served with yellow curry rice and sweet chili sauce.

Head to this Astoria charmer for traditional Thai hawker fare and noodle soups dished out in a space that channels old-school Bangkok. Tables feature tin water cups straight from Thailand and plastic holders for chili sauce, sugar and other condiments that accompany bowls of beef boat noodles topped with crispy pork rinds.

From white-clothed fine dining to hole-in-the-wall cheap eats, find the best new restaurants NYC has to offer