Thai Lai Restaurant

Super surprised at how delicious this place was… But don’t be fooled there is NO THAI food here.
On the outside it looks drab and plain. On the inside the tables are fairly new and it looks decent.
we rolled the dice… ordered… and hit a 7!
Their broth is truly distinct… I had the phở with beef ball, brisket and flank. BOMB!
I also had their noodles with chicken and gravy. it tasted like pad ke mao. amazing. I highly recommend this place

Craving Vietnamese food? Thai Lai is the spot to go! They are a small family owned business which delicious food. I love their customer service, very polite and sweet. My favorite is the dry egg noodles, mmm. :)

Not the best but still good enough to come back. Phở was delicious, oddly a little sweet but better that, than bland. Definitely something new.
The spring rolls were a little disappointing. Small and just a little too much with the mint leaves.
Service was great. I waited no more than 10 min for my food. One thing about their service was their honesty. After I walked out, the woman working there came out to my car and gave me the $ 20 that I had dropped.
Overall great service, reasonable pricing and decent food. I recommend this place if you’re in the area.

— We was waiting for 45 minutes now and the food hasn’t come. What take you that long to cook noodles?
— No organized staff what so ever.
— Two person came after us and got the food served already (come on. Where is your priority criteria? None?)
— Dirty window (haven’t been cleaned for years I guess
–If you are in a rush do not come here because their service is super slow.
— About the food! If getting worst and worst. Either too salty or too blank. And the meat smell old, and strange. That’s why they put the extra spices to cover??? nice try!
— Never come again thank you.
— One star is for the yogurt here.

Preface: I have an extensive history of Phở exploration. I have tried in every US city I have visited and in Vietnam where it originated. I’ve also tried it in France and Czech Republic as an accidental finding.
AMBIANCE: Small ma and pa shop. Very much family owned and ran.
LOCATION: Stand alone building with a tiny parking lot.
SERVICE: Fair, able to get food out reasonably
FOOD: Phở was just okay, nothing stood out, but nothing was bad either. It was just another bowl of phở. The ratio of meat to noodles was very poor. That is probably the worse thing that can happen to a bowl of phở is get to the end and still have tons of noodles but no more meat.
PRICE: Good pricing for the size of bowl.

Had the best bun bo hue! I got the one without the pork foot, massive flavors and the noodles weren’t over cooked.

I really like this particular restaurant in this area for several reasons. They remember my order and how I like it cooked. I have been here for several times in at least 6 years or so. Recommend Thái lai for their noodles dishes!

Place was good. Cash only! Small parking lot. Prices were great for authentic vietnamese food. Phở was superb.

This is a small mom and pop restaurant that has been around the neighborhood for over 10 years. Excellent choice for Vietnamese food not just in the South Bay, I think they even taste better then alot of them in Viet town.
My favorite is the dry thick egg noodle with veggies and chicken and shrimp and they give you a bowl of marinated house special soy sauce that goes on top of the noodle and you mix it up!
Their Phở and eggrolls are very tasty and authentic too.
If you like Durian, you must try their Durian milk shake. Filled with fresh Durian taste.
The only thing I have to complain about is the amount of noodle they give you. not much… you add $ 1 extra noodle but it still seems small.
Other then that… this place can be addicting if you love Vietnamese food! :-)
Prices are pretty cheap. A small parking lot that holds about 12 cars or street parking.

It’s no Brodard Château, but I didn’t think we’d find a high end Vietnamese place in Hawthorne. This place is a hole in the wall with a small parking lot. We came in and sat ourselves. No one really talked to us at all come to think of it. A man came and took our order. Someone else brought our food. And that was about it. No one came to check in on us, we had to ask for water, to-​go containers, and the check. At the end of our meal we found out it was cash only. Who carries cash around?
I went safe and ordered the vermicelli noodles with beef. It had two eggrolls, and a wrap with shrimp paste, along with two pieces of shrimp. The seasoning in the beef was tasty but I wish there was more meat.
My coworker and I shared the spring rolls. The dipping sauces were tasty and the ingredients were fresh. My counterpart had the rare steak phở. He said his broth was on the greasy side. His veggies that accompanied his dish were all very fresh.
Aside from the lack of service and the cash only thing, I would probably come back here for the Phở on a rainy day.

CASH ONLY CASH ONLY CASH ONLY
the food was alright. i got the combo phở and it came with a little catapiller but eh… scooped it out onto a lime and ate the phở without mentioning it to the waitress.
i loved how they made their spring rolls tho!
overall my friend and i both both phở, shared a spring roll, and she got a thai coffee that was too sweet for $ 21
not bad but not the best either… :/

Pleasant surprise! Friendly, reasonably price, CASH Only, Vietnamese restaurant. I enjoyed the Banh Beo which was more on the sweet side than fishy shrimp flavor. The rice was smooth and soft, not doughy, steamed perfectly (4 stars). The Banh Xeo was ok (3 stars), I have had better in Westminster, however this is good for the a local Banh Xeo fix. Add a little chili and the fish sauce and it is quite refreshing, then wrap it with the herbs and lettuce. My favorite of the four dishes was the Curry Fried Rice with slices of beef and chunks of pineapple. Lastly, the vermicelli bowl is a nice way to try their egg roll, shrimp, beef, noodles on top of lettuce and various herbs. Pour some fish sauce, toss, and eat.
This local Vietnamese restaurant is a nice alternative for those who want decent food and don’t want to drive to Westminster. I will be returning to try other items from the menu.

I used to go to the other restaurant because it was bigger and parking was just a lil bit better. For some reason, they closed it down and kept this one open. I guess it’s because it’s the original restaurant. First, parking can be a little challenging. Second, the restaurant is so small that sometimes there is a wait and the servers have you order ahead of time while you are waiting for a table to speed up the process.
But, it’s soooo worth it!!! They still have the same savory taste in their BUN THIT NUONG!!! It is so worth the wait! It makes up for everything else!
This crowded, shabby, little family-​owned restaurant is extremely hole-​in-​the-​wall and only accepts CASH. It is still probably the best Vietnamese restaurant in the South Bay area. It’s even better than some Orange County restaurants.

A shabby looking place but the service and food is incredible. This is NOT thai food– but vietnamese!
Their Mi Quang is incredible! It was my first time having that dish.

The Phở soup was too sweet for me.
I’m not a big fan of the dark soup bc it tends to be on the sweet side.
But I loved how they sliced their tendon in long thin strips.
It makes it easier to grab and eat.
It tasted good as well.
Their thai iced tea was good.
The place itself was actually kinda nice and didn’t have the generic cheap looking dining tables with the bright lights.
They have a small parking lot attached as well.

Authentic and delicious Vietnamese food that is more than just phở and vermicelli noodles. Great prices too.
The summer rolls and seafood stir fry is great.

We were in the neighborhood so we decided to try this place out based on Unilocal reviews.
Clean but small establishment
Private parking lot — limited spaces
Cash only
Reasonable prices
Large portions
Dishes were flavorful and delicious (still missing the WOW factor)
They had a steady flow of customers that day for Sunday lunch.

My group ordered pork skin spring rolls, egg rolls, duck with noodles and chicken on a bed of yellow rice. I ordered phở. Some were a hit (yellow rice and the egg rolls). Everything else was a miss. Especially my phở. It was a bit on the sweet side. I ordered an avocado smoothie and they just ran out of boba… grr!!! The portions were small
When we first walked in we thought it would be a hidden gem but ehh it was just okay. It wasn’t horrible and it wasn’t great enough to return.

Cash only
There Aren’t a lot of options for authentic Vietnamese eats in this part of town. Thai Lai (which is not a Thai restaurant but a Vietnamese spot) fills that niche well enough.
Steaming bowls of brothy phở, rice paper wrapped spring rolls, crispy egg rolls. The herbs and garnishes are simple, basil, lemon, and bean sprouts. They don’t have an extensive selection of authentic herbs but they have the minimal essentials.

Working from home has its advantages. Among them, I get to wander off for lunch, to places I normally can’t get to, as it’s too far from Long Beach, where my work place, is physically located. And that’s how I was able to stop in to Thai Lai for lunch on a weekday.
So, I hopped in my car, pulled up Unilocal and did a search for Thai food. Thai Lai comes up and I figure, WTH. I’m in the mood for Thai and it’s not far. I, later come to find, that Thai Lai, really isn’t a Thai restaurant. It’s Vietnamese. It also comes with its own private parking lot as well as having street parking available.
I came on what I would consider the tail end of lunch, but the place was still packed. However, I was seated immediately. Perks of being a party of one.
Looking at the menu, is when I notice that it’s not Thai food. But, I’m there — I had a great parking space and the dishes on the other tables looked pretty good. So, I stayed.
I’m glad I did because I enjoyed my quick lunch of spring rolls and a bowl of egg noodle soup with BBQ duck. Service could use some improvement because I felt like I was back in Westminster again. I was seated; my order was taken and then my food was delivered. Had i not called out for assistance, I would have never gotten my water refilled or been able to place an order for a Thai Tea. Your bill isn’t brought to your table. Just walk up to the counter to pay.
Didn’t bother me all too much as I was able to flag someone down. The food was decent and the prices were great.