Portland’s Top Spots for Thai Food

But Portland’s Thai scene is more than its big names. The city and its surrounding suburbs are home to plenty of casual but excellent spots churning out bright piles of som tum and comforting bowls of boat noodles, in addition to glitzy restaurants offering inventive takes on Thai standards, like Eem’s Thai barbecue.

From vegan-and-vegetarian-friendly twists on classics at Kati to restaurants focused on region-specific Thai cuisines, the cliche that there is something for all tastes rings true. This August 2026 update brings a bunch of recent openings — OK Chicken & Khao Soi, Guay Tiew, and Bangkok Belly — join the ranks, as well as Sivalai Thai, a neighborhood spot quietly making great eats and cultivating a devoted customer base for years. Find more great restaurant recommendations for Thai food and beyond by downloading the Eater app for iOS.

Portland has one of the best Thai food scenes in the nation, and it’s got the awards, accolades, and direct-to-consumer product spin-offs to prove it. From chef Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s regional and, at times, historical takes on Thai cooking at 2024 James Beard winner Langbaan to Nong Poonsukwattana’s simple and spectacular khao man gai, many Thai chefs in the Rose City have developed celebrity status, selling sauces in grocery stores and developing restaurant empires.

But Portland’s Thai scene is more than its big names. The city and its surrounding suburbs are home to plenty of casual but excellent spots churning out bright piles of som tum and comforting bowls of boat noodles, in addition to glitzy restaurants offering inventive takes on Thai standards, like Eem’s Thai barbecue.

From vegan-and-vegetarian-friendly twists on classics at Kati to restaurants focused on region-specific Thai cuisines, the cliche that there is something for all tastes rings true. This August 2026 update brings a bunch of recent openings — OK Chicken & Khao Soi, Guay Tiew, and Bangkok Belly — join the ranks, as well as Sivalai Thai, a neighborhood spot quietly making great eats and cultivating a devoted customer base for years. Find more great restaurant recommendations for Thai food and beyond by downloading the Eater app for iOS.

Hat Yai

Inspired by traditional fried chicken from Southern Thailand, Akkapong Earl Ninsom and Alan Akwai’s truly unforgettable uber-crispy thighs and drumsticks are the things of local legend, thanks to a coating of rice flour, peppercorns, and fried shallots.

Locals know to get the combo with the dippable curry and roti, though sleeper hits like the restaurant’s wicked-spicy Southern Thai ground pork are worthy add-ons. Both the Belmont and Killingsworth locations are open for onsite dining, delivery, and takeout.

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• 1605 NE Killingsworth St, Portland, OR, 97211, US
• (503) 764-9701
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Sa Bai Thai Cuisine

This strip mall Thai restaurant is a neighborhood favorite for the classics: takeout dinners of saucy pad kee mao, extra-large salad rolls, bright papaya salad, and a handful of curries. For those seeking something a little different from the standards, the restaurant’s red duck curry, pairing smoked duck with pineapple, is a worthy diversion.

Ba Mee Thai Noodle House

This window-lined Thai restaurant on North Williams specializes in its homemade egg noodles, available in soups or topped with roast duck.

You’ll find them in standbys like tom yum, but the house noodle soup — a delicate broth fragrant with garlic — is a good place to start. Be sure to add a few wontons to any bowl.

Mee-Sen Thai Eatery

A quick stroll down Mississippi will reveal Mee Sen, a casual restaurant with plenty of seasonal patio space out front and a cozy wood-paneled interior.

Here, meals start with char-grilled meats on skewers alongside tamarind-laced cocktails, followed by Thai salads like the glass noodle yum woon sen. The best move is to get one of the restaurant’s customizable soups, which come with a choice of noodles and deeply exuberant, acidic broths.

Langbaan

Thai traditions of old meet the of-the-moment bounty of the Pacific Northwest in the multi-course tasting menus of Langbaan, restaurateur Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s James Beard Award-winning restaurant.

Housed inside Phuket Cafe, the restaurant is expected to relocate to a new space on the east side soon. For now, diners can expect an ever-changing tasting experience in a 24-seat space, with menus that shift based on inspiration and seasonal ingredients, but some favorites, like one-bite miang som with shrimp and Valencia orange or kanom krok, a rice cup filled with Hokkaido scallops and coconut cream, remain mainstays. The full tasting menu runs $145 per person, excluding a 20 percent gratuity, with an optional add-on wine pairing of $75.

Reservations are released on the 15th of each preceding month at noon local. Its sister establishment, Phuket Cafe, is the move for an a la carte option, from pad Thai with chicharrones to prawn curry.

Lily Market

For anyone who loves the ability to get Thai takeout while also stocking their pantry with Asian goods, Gateway’s Lily Market is a must-visit hybrid operation.

Visit the deli counter for a rotating selection of to-go dishes from papaya salad to pad Thai. Vietnamese, Lao, and Chinese options also make appearances.

Guay Tiew

Alongside Earl Nimsom and Nong Poonsukwattana, Chookiat “Hamm” Saenguraiporn is one of Portland’s Thai restaurateur heavyweights, with popular spots like Khao Moo Dang and Thai Peacock.

His latest, a neon-accented outfit in the Pearl District, is all about pick-your-broth-and-noodles Thai street dishes and soups, from boat noodles to tom yum, alongside a smattering of appetizers and rice bowls. Vegans and vegetarians will also be happy with the solid meatless selection, anchored by locally made tofu with choice vegetables and excellent broths.

Paadee

Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s Paadee puts the spotlight on regional Thai comfort food and Isan dishes: khao soi, savory curries, and duck laab, to name a few. The dining room here is stylish and warm and great for a date; still, when it comes to Thai takeout, Paadee offers some of the city’s best, with things like exceptional som tum dotted with dried shrimp, the saucy-sweet eggplant dish pad makhua, and the tangy, porky noodle soup known as ba mhee phitsanulok.

It’d be criminal to skip the restaurant’s mango sticky rice when on offer, but the Thai tea and chocolate tart, topped with sesame and coconut crumble, is also a treat.

Nong’s Khao Man Gai

Owner Nong Poonsukwattana is a Bangkok native who arrived in America with $70 in her pocket and somehow still managed to open a food cart in 2009.

While the food cart is now closed, Nong’s Khao Man Gai has become one of Portland’s most iconic restaurants, and the khao man gai is why. This is a deceptively simple dish of poached free-range Mary’s chicken, flavorful broth, aromatic jasmine rice, and ginger-y sauce. Pros know to order their KMG with livers and crispy-fried skins, but going classic certainly doesn’t hurt.

Along with this inner Southeast location, there’s also a downtown outpost, both of which offer onsite seating, takeout, and delivery.

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• 609 SE Ankeny St # Lower, Portland, OR, 97214, US
• (503) 740-2907
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Sivalai Thai Restaurant

This unassuming white building along Southeast Stark may not be the flashiest Thai joint in town, but the hospitality is second to none and the dishes top notch for the price. Grab a seat in the welcoming, living room-esque dining area for generous portions of pad see ew, hearty curries, and pla sam rod.

It’s a menu that’s largely recognizable to diners familiar with a more mainstream strain of Thai dining but still well executed and warmly shared by the lovely staff and owners. A complimentary mango sticky rice may sometimes grace the table come meal’s end as well.

Bangkok Belly

This restaurant on Southeast Belmont serves up a menu as compact as the intimate dining room, but that just means each listing is a dialed-in home-run. Skewers are the star, from grilled chicken with cucumber relish and peanut sauce to ethically raised Lan-Roc Farms pork collar with flavor-packed jaew sauce.

There’s also shareables, like steelhead trout with fried shallots and Thai chiles, and an inventive larb macaroni salad. Trade the standard mango sticky rice dessert order for the Belly Sundae — peanut sauce and toasted coconut over vanilla ice cream.

The drinks menu incorporates tons of Thai and pan-Asian flavors as well: tom yum-infused vodka and Thai chile tincture in the Ruay Ruay Ruay or a daiquiri with coconut-washed rum and pandan.

Rukdiew Cafe

This millennial pink Thai restaurant, serving pomegranate-lychee juice alongside bowls of pineapple fried rice and boat noodles, is far more than its aesthetics. The dishes here are dialed-in interpretations of Thai standards like saucy kana moo grob with hunks of pork belly, or guay tiew tom yum, a sour-savory noodle soup piled high with springy fish meatballs and ground pork.

The restaurant’s khao soi is a standout, and classics like pad Thai become elevated with the addition of crispy soft-shell crab or trout.

Khao Moo Dang

This simply adorned counter-service spot combines thinly sliced five spice pork, crispy belly, boiled egg, rice, and Chinese sausage, topping them with a fragrant sauce.

The result is savory and sweet, tender and crunchy, all while being satisfyingly comforting. Since it opened, its menu has expanded to include a wide variety of stellar noodle soups, plus solid meatless options with Ota tofu.

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• 3145 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR, 97214, US
• (503) 206-6838
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Somtum Thai Kitchen

It’s not hard to find Isan staples like larb and papaya salad in the city, but Somtum Thai Kitchen from chef Sirapob Chaiprathum showcases lesser-seen Northeastern Thai dishes like tub waan, a salad of hot and sour pork livers tossed with herbs.

Of course, the menu features many renditions of the restaurant’s namesake dish, some that pair shredded papaya with fermented fish sauce and field crabs, as well as others that add salted duck egg and cherry tomatoes.

Nakhon Sawan Thai Restaurant

This Richmond Thai restaurant has all the classics covered, alongside little twists like the photo-worthy tom yum made with blue butterfly pea flower noodles and a pad kee mao that can be made with spaghetti instead of the traditional wide rice noodles.

The tender grilled duck over rice or egg noodles is a standout that nods to the Chinese culinary influence in Thai cooking.

Chick&Pig Thai Street Food

Seek out this Southeast Division food cart for street food-style barbecue pork and chicken skewers, fried chicken smothered in curry, complexly flavored papaya salads, and other inventive dishes.

The pad krapao, topped with a fried egg, is another highlight, made with your choice of meat from ground chicken to crispy pork belly.

OK Chicken & Khao Soi

Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok vaulted Portland Thai food into the national conversation.

Its old Southeast Division space now has a new occupant carrying on the Northern Thai and Chiang Mai legacy, with some of the city’s biggest food names — Akkapong Earl Ninsom, Eric Nelson (Eem, Yaowarat, and other buzzy bar programs), and chef Sam Smith (Tusk, Sweedeedee, and Yaowarat) — taking up the reins. Per the name, khao soi (with your choice of chicken, beef, or tofu to go with the noodles and curry) and fried or grilled chicken take top billing, but there’s also a hearty assortment of alternatives like som tums and nam prik relishes scooped with cucumbers or crispy pork rinds.

Siam Umami

This South Corbett Thai restaurant specializes in what’s known as “royal Thai cuisine,” which translates to intricately folded dumplings and cracker cups filled with sauteed vegetables.

Many dishes at Siam Umami are hard-to-find, like violet-hued chor muang (dumplings stuffed with ground pork and peanuts). Other highlights include the coconut water-braised pork belly, best paired with a swirl of coconut-whipped potatoes, and an oyster sauce-infused rib-eye.

Khamdee

This Beaverton Thai restaurant is named for the owners’ father, who still lives in Northern Thailand and provided the family recipes for the restaurant.

Many of its soups are served in hot pot vessels, overflowing with seafood and meat, depending on the base — stewed beef and pork livers stud the rich Khamdee More Fire, while the seafood tom yum brims with mussels, shrimp, and squid. The restaurant also serves two renditions of khao soi: nuea, with tender, curry-simmered beef, and haeng, a dry version with a small cup of the broth on the side.

Keep an eye out for specials, which are almost always worth an order.

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• 11793 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton, OR, 97005, US
• (503) 747-7897
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