Serves meat, vegan options available. Dishes are marked if can be made vegan. Small, simple modern decor with dark wood furniture. Previously named Thai Idea and located in Polk St. Still has original large vegan menu which, as of March 2013, does not appear on website. Open Mon-Fri 11:00am-3:00pm, Mon-Sun 5:00pm-10:00pm, Sat-Sun 12:00pm-3:00pm.
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3221 Mission St (at Bernal Heights), San Francisco, California, USA, 94109
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Last update on 27 Dec 2024 by Seitan_Nic
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Added by ·X· on 12 Nov 2011
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10 Reviews
First Review by ·X·
Seitan_Nic
Points +301
Thai with true vegan options - Edit
First off I want to note that this is not Thai Idea and was never a fully vegan restaurant. This place has been around for a long time, it’s owned by the same people that owned Thai Idea but it’s always been omni with vegan options. Thai Idea was the all vegan offshoot of this restaurant, it closed earlier this year (2024).
Read moreThis place is okay. It’s hard to find a Thai restaurant that understands vegetarian means NO FISH SAUCE, and the staff at this place understands that. The vegan dishes are vegan. It’s not the best Thai food I’ve ever had but it’s pretty good and they’ve got quite a few options.
Guest
Worldvegkitchen
Points +1317
Good not great - Edit
This place works if you are fixing to satisfy your Thai craving. Decent and ok (cheap happy hour!), but definitely not your Thai place you take out of town guests to.
Read moreGuest
solarkismet
Points +239
Okay Food, Great Everything Else - Edit
The place is nice. The staff is friendly. The dish presentation phenomenal (an orchid flower with every plate). But we only like 2 out of 3 dishes - spicy mock duck basil was good; pad thai (bland) and spicy tofu green beans (kind of bbq, but not supposed to be) were not. Given the number of restaurants in San Fran (I don't live there), I'd probably try a different one next time.
Read morePros: nice staff, good ambiance
Cons: only liked 1 out 3 dishes
Guest
FoodAndLoathing
Points +294
Love This Place! Mostly Vegan! - Edit
Really great, I could go for some Thai iced tea right now. All their menu is vegan except the desserts. Really cute and friendly and not overpriced.
Read moreFoodAndLoathing
This place is not mostly vegan anymore, and not vegetarian anymore. They've added animal's flesh to the menu but they still have their vegan menu if you ask for it.
Read moreGuest
rommiej
Points +42
A diamond in the rough - Edit
We discovered this little spot a couple of months ago via a recommendation from my barber. It's located in a fairly sketchy neighborhood, so maybe our expectations weren't as high as they might have been, but we came away completely charmed. After several follow-up visits, we have yet to try anything we didn't enjoy, but the real standout has been the Pumpkin Curry, which is kabocha pumpkin (basically a winter squash) and veggies in a red curry sauce that has fantastic flavor with just a hint of spiciness. Every dish is a visual masterpiece, looking like they were created with an artist's brush. The menu features a lot of faux-meats (not really our thing), but there are loads of veggie and whole-food options, too. The decor is clean, casual and comfortable, service is quietly efficient and the prices are extremely reasonable. We really can't recommend Thai Idea highly enough.
Read morePros: Presentation, Value, Flavor
Cons: Neighborhood, No alcohol
Guest
Pylt
Points +56
Filling and tasty - Edit
Excellent service and huge servings.
Read morePros: Value, Taste, Portion size
Cons: Rough area, Limited staff
Guest
Lolamoviola
Points +78
Very Very Good! - Edit
We stayed in San Francisco for only 4 days. When we discoverd thai idea we decided to have diner again the next day: it was soooo good!
Read moregood creative presentation, good prices, really good food and a nice waitress!
Guest
Chia
Points +3635
Pretty Good - Edit
I had read about this place on happycow and decided to eat here on my last trip to San Francisco. Here's my Thai Idea review.
Read moreIt's a little restaurant with a good size menu, all Thai food. My husband and I got a tom kah soup (with coconut milk), $7.95, and a masaman curry to share (sweet, yellow, potatoes, veggies, peanuts), $8.95. And red rice, separate charge.
The presentation was very nice, and the portions fair. Flavorful.
The menu is vegan friendly, some items contain egg and/or dairy. Everything is marked.
Pros: fresh and hot, waitstaff eager to please, nice presentation
Guest
soma
Points +115
Decent Thai restaurant in bay area - Edit
Our family went to this place few days ago. Overall experience was good. Wing bomb appetizer was excellent. We had Tom Yum Veggie and Tom Kha soups. Tom Yum Veggie soup was very good. However Tom Kha with shrimp was average. Unfortunately they came back after about 15 minutes and said they did not have the dish my wife ordered. Thai IDEA beef was below average and greasy. May go back another time to see if we get better experience.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on Friday December 02, 2011
Second visit - much better experience from lunch time. gracious hostess and excellent service. awesome tom yum & tom kha soups and wing bomb again. bangok duck was crispy and well presented. lamb yellow curry was outstanding. panang avocado shrimp was really good with an excellent sauce. spicy green beans with mock chicken was kind of greasy and not very good unfortunately.
all in all, definitely worth more visits when craving for vegetarian thai
Updated from previous review on Saturday December 03, 2011
Pros: veg thai option in bay area, excellent appetizers, wing bomb
Cons: expensive
Guest
·X·
Points +23045
Thai Idea - Edit
Thai Idea is a small restaurant located in the Tenderloin District. When we arrived the place was packed and three of us ended up by having to share a two-person table - we were good sports about it. We began our meal with two appetizers, both of which I felt were average (mainly because of the sauces that accompanied them), Crispy Spring Rolls and Crispy Tofu. I ordered the vegetable combination with seitan instead of tofu - it was good but I felt the sauce could have used more flavor. My boyfriend ordered the best meal at the table though, the volcano beef - it was very spicy and incredibly flavorful, that dish alone warrants a 5 star rating. But alas, when looking at the big picture Thai Idea is really a 3.75-4. I'd certainly go back again and would order the volcano beef in a heartbeat.
Read moreGuest
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