There has been an influx of Thai restaurants in the Uptown scene during the past few years. Chiang Mai Thai has hung in there even though Amazing Thailand, Tum Rup and Roat Osha could have stole some of their thunder. For the past four years Chiang Mai has been voted best Thai restaurant by City Pages, maybe they are on to something.

One of the best parts of Chiang Mai to me is I never have to wait. There is always a host at the station up front, super friendly and they get you seated. Chiang Mai has a lot of space in their dining room as well as a private dining area and bar and lounge. The dining space is intimate, but spacious at the same time. The huge booths give you privacy and comfort. The lounge area is also nice with high top tables and a decent sized bar. The walls are cream colored; the ceiling is covered with bamboo and paper lamps and it is almost like a resort (‘exotic vacation’ says the website).

For food there is a menu filled with apps, salads, stir fry, noodles and curries. My favorites are the chicken satay and fresh spring rolls for apps. I especially like the peanut sauce and cucumber vinaigrette that comes with the satay. I’m usually pretty dull and go with the pad Thai for my entrée. Chiang Mai does a great job with their pad Thai. It is fresh and not overly greasy. I also add mock duck which makes the dish only $10, a good deal when you have enough for lunch leftovers the next day. All items are reasonably priced and average $10-$12 per dish.

Lastly, they serve Taj Mahal lager in big bottles. They had me at beer. Chiang Mai also serves wine and a number of specialty drinks including the Black Widow, the Urban Monk and the Asian Knightmare (they named one after me, how nice).

Open daily from 11:00am to 1:00am. Full menu is served until 11:00pm
HH Sun-Fri 4:00pm to 6:00pm and again from 10:00pm to midnight

When you want Thai food in Minneapolis this is the place to go. I love their wide selection of menu options and they allow you to choose what meat or non-meat you want them to put in your dish. This is great for vegetarians. You can ask them to hold the MSG too. The ambiance here is very nice. My brother orders the green curry dish and I order the stir frys. They also have nice vegetarian spring rolls with peanut sauce. I’ve enjoyed everything that I’ve ordered!

Great curry entrees, extremely convenient for take-out