Spicy Thai Lao

Reviews

• Daniel R.

  star star star star star 3 June 2026

  In Chicago, the downtown and north side areas are commonly believed to have the best restaurants: trendy, with the best chefs and multi-hour waits.
  
  Among the gems on the south side is Spicy Thai Lao. It have good foods.

• Ted K.

  star star star star_border star_border 22 May 2026

  This was a great experience from the get go. 5 star service from the guy at the register who you want to marry your sister.
  
  It was a hot and humid Friday night so he offered water while I waited. The place wasn't packed but had a good amount of tables filled. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Me too.
  
  Don't grammar me!
  
  I will return here and try other items. The two stars off are due to the fact that there's little Thai competition in the area.
  
  I'm accustomed to the best Vietnamese in the city from Argyle. The Thai spring rolls and dip sauce didn't have the depth of flavor or cohesion/complement of the other spring rolls I've had.
  
  If they had more competition they would up their game. I still love this place. I'll put it in the "developing" category.
  
  The entree was fair. Again, I am accustomed to the Argyle standard so I wasn't pleased by the few too many star anise they used in the sauce. I've made that error at home. A little goes a long way unless a licorice punch is what you seek.
  
  They have cool t-shirts for sale and a section with games of chance if you're over 21.
  
  3 stars, but open to giving more, and will definitely return.

• Jonathan N.

  star star star star_border star_border 21 May 2026

  #1) they messed up my order. Was delivery.  Wanted spicy lao style papaya salad not thai style. Also wanted lao style nam tok. Got thai. Zero spiciness. I am a little disappointed as I was really looking forward to some good lao style food. But nope. They prolly assumed I was a normal white person lol. The food I did get was still tasty...for a disappointment.
  
  Service: 3
  Atmosphere: N/A
  Cleanliness: n/a
  Quality: 4
  Value: 3

• Lois L.

  star star star star star 20 May 2026

  Y'all they updated!! I'm thinking maybe they read my previous review??
  
  The below review is from 3 months ago. I came back today and everything looks different!! They updated their table cloth, which is something I had suggested and the place looked a lot more inviting and cleaner. Even the bathroom was nicer. The changes really made the restaurant look a lot better.
  
  I had the spicy green chicken curry and it taste different than the one I ordered last time so I'm thinking maybe they changed chefs? It even looks different than my last photo. Overall still good and a great Thai restaurant and pretty authentic one at that in this area. The owner or manager is also super friendly and sweet.
  
  I'm giving Spicy Thai Lao 5 stars not since the food is still really good and I'll be coming back again.
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• Helene K.

  star star star star star 20 May 2026

  South side has very limited options for decent Thai food, just my opinion! This place is an authentic Thai place kinda divy, offers a dining area and even slot machines. However they have private parking. And the place was indeed busy, I was a little hesitant at first seeing that they are slammed with walk in, to go orders and phones. Everything though worked out better than we expected. George is awesome! Now I'm a weekly customer here. I recommend the panang curry, Kung pao shrimp, pad Thai of any protein, basil fried rice and I try something new each visit. Level of spicy is whatever your liking, I usually opt for spicy and it's really hot. But love it, the egg rolls are good too. Cheap eats but so good here!