The 10 best Thai restaurants in Chicago

This list ranks the 10 best Thai restaurants in and around Chicago for diners who already have a go-to pad thai spot and want to know where to eat next. The picks run from Pilsen and West Town up through Lakeview, Uptown, Edgewater and Albany Park, with one stop in Evanston, and they cover northern Thai grilled meats, Isan papaya salads, Bangkok noodle soups, southern Thai fried chicken and a prix fixe dinner.

The ranking favors kitchens that season dishes the way cooks do in Thailand, and places that have held up for years or drawn steady praise from several critics. Most of these restaurants are casual and cheap. Noodle, curry and stir-fry plates generally cost $15 to $20, whole fried fish platters run $28 to $34, and several dining rooms are BYOB. Herb and NaKorn are the dressier, pricier nights out.

How we chose

The order comes down to how often and how consistently each restaurant shows up in independent coverage: the Michelin Guide’s 2025 Bib Gourmand list, Chicago magazine’s 50 best restaurants list, The Infatuation’s Thai guide updated September 14, 2026, Time Out Chicago’s Thai roundup, and coverage from NBC Chicago, WGN and WTTW. Awards and years in business moved a place up. A short menu or limited hours did not move one down when several outlets praised the cooking. Every restaurant here was confirmed open with a 2025 or 2026 source, and closed favorites such as Arun’s, Spoon Thai, Sticky Rice and Dao Thai were left off.

Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

Ghin Khao Eat Rice

Siblings Nova and Kami Sasi cook northern Thai food at Ghin Khao Eat Rice, a BYOB room on Cermak Road in Pilsen with graffiti-style signage and hip-hop on the stereo. Order Grandma’s pork belly, thin slices breaded and fried until crisp and served with house jaew sauce, then add nam tok made with pork shoulder or beef and a side of sticky rice. The Michelin Guide named the restaurant a Bib Gourmand in its 2025 Chicago selection, and that award, on top of years of local press, puts Ghin Khao first. The kitchen cooks only four nights a week, so plan on a Wednesday through Saturday dinner.

Hours: Wed-Sat 4 to 9 p.m.; closed Sun-Tue

Address: 2128 W Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60608

Why they made the list

• The Michelin Guide’s write-up singles out the fishcakes with cucumber-herb salad and nam khao tod, a crispy rice dish with ground chicken and pork skin.
• Nova Sasi’s family ran a restaurant called Lanna Thai in Edgewater from the 1980s to the mid-1990s, according to the restaurant’s own history.
• Sasi told ABC7 Chicago in October 2018 that he wanted to specialize in a few dishes, and the menu still sticks to salads, grilled meats, a handful of stir-fries and noodles.
• Crab fried rice is made with real crab meat, and the som tum Thai gets tamarind in its dressing.

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Immm Rice & Beyond

Thai street-stall cooking is the whole idea at Immm Rice & Beyond, which has held down Broadway just south of Argyle Street in Uptown since October 2015. The name means “I’m full” in Thai, and the menu makes that easy: curries and stews from the steam table, boat noodles, and green papaya salads pounded in a mortar, including a funky tum puu plah rah with preserved crab and preserved fish. The restaurant says Chicago magazine named Immm to its 50 best restaurants list in November 2024, and that recognition plus a decade near Argyle earns second place. Come at lunch for khao rad gang, a plate of rice topped with your choice of up to three dishes.

Hours: Sun-Mon 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Wed-Thu 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; closed Tue

Address: 4949 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• The khao rad gang lunch plate costs $11 with one topping, $12.50 with two and $14 with three, served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Papaya salads range from $14.95 for tum Thai to $15.95 for a version with salted duck egg, and each can be ordered from zero to five chilies.
• Immm has a separate alcoholic drinks menu and announced a weekday happy hour in November 2024.
• The restaurant sits about a block from the Argyle Red Line station, and tables can be reserved online.

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Andy’s Thai Kitchen

Chef Andy Aroonrasameruang opened Andy’s Thai Kitchen on Wellington Avenue in 2012 and later moved to Diversey Parkway, right next to the Diversey Brown Line station in Lakeview. Noodle soup is the reason to come. Get the classic boat noodles with beef and meatballs, or yentafo, a Thai-Chinese bowl in pink fermented tofu broth with seafood, fish balls and crispy wonton. Andy’s led off Time Out Chicago’s 2024 list of the city’s best Thai restaurants, and more than a decade of strong reviews keeps the restaurant in the top three. Monday through Thursday the kitchen breaks between lunch and dinner from 3 to 4 p.m., so time a late lunch accordingly.

Hours: Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 to 9:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 950 W Diversey Pkwy, Chicago, IL 60614

Why they made the list

• Before opening his own restaurant, Aroonrasameruang cooked at TAC Quick, according to Time Out Chicago.
• The restaurant’s contact page quotes a Chicago Sun-Times headline: “Andy’s Thai Kitchen Makes the Case as One of Chicago’s Best.”
• The Infatuation’s September 2026 Thai guide recommends som tum poo with raw crab and the wild boar curry.
• Tables can be booked through the restaurant’s website, which also handles takeout orders.

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Zaab E Lee

Jessie and Dennis Netisingha run Zaab E Lee on Lawrence Avenue in Albany Park, where diners sit in hut-shaped booths surrounded by neon signs, vintage Thai movie posters and license plates. The menu leans toward Isan cooking. Look for nam tok with grilled pork neck, sai krog Isan sausage and the house special som tum pu and plara, a papaya salad seasoned with plara, a fermented sauce made from freshwater fish. The Infatuation placed Zaab E Lee second in its September 2026 Thai guide, and WGN featured the owners on its Sunday Brunch segment in June 2026, which together put the restaurant fourth here. Bring a group so the whole fried fish gets finished.

Hours: Sun-Thu noon to 9:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat noon to 10 p.m.

Address: 3021 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

Why they made the list

• Wing Zaab, the house fried chicken wings, costs $10.95.
• Pra sam rod, a deep-fried whole fish in a three-flavor sweet, sour and spicy sauce, is $28.95.
• The owners told WGN that the name means “delicious” in one Thai dialect.
• The restaurant takes online reservations, and The Infatuation’s February 2026 review describes the dining room as BYOB.

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Noodles Party Aomjai Thai Cuisine

Owner Aomjai Phumpardit decorated Noodles Party Aomjai Thai Cuisine to look like a canopied food stall on Bangkok’s Khao San Road, and the cooking follows suit. In a July 2026 NBC Chicago piece, Kevin Pang called the Mayfair shop “the closest thing in the city to Bangkok street food” and singled out the boat noodles, which are thickened with pork blood. The menu changes every week and gets posted on Instagram, so one visit might bring duck noodle soup and the next khao soi or chicken rice. Two strong 2026 reviews, from NBC and The Infatuation, put Noodles Party fifth. Go at lunch, because dishes can sell out at dinner.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 4205 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60630

Why they made the list

• The Infatuation’s September 17, 2026 review warns of waits of about 15 minutes for a table at dinner.
• Pang reported lines out the door on Saturday afternoons.
• Most noodle dishes come with a choice of wide rice noodles, thin rice noodles or thin egg noodles.
• The shop is on Lawrence Avenue near Keeler Avenue, two blocks west of Pulaski Road.

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Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food

Northeast Thailand gets its own restaurant at Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food, on Clark Street near the Century Mall in Lakeview. Owner Ratchapol Treegamrongrit told NBC Chicago in 2023 that som means sour in Isan, and the papaya salads here are plenty sour, from tum Korat with fermented anchovies to the loaded tum Tuk Tuk. Fill out the table with laab moo tod, the crispy pork meatballs, a minced duck laab and charcoal-grilled pork neck with jaew. Tuk Tuk ranks sixth for a tight regional focus and steady praise from Time Out and The Infatuation. A second location is open on Division Street in Wicker Park.

Hours: Mon-Fri 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Sat 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 2852 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60657

Why they made the list

• BYOB is allowed at one 750-milliliter bottle of wine or one six-pack of beer per two guests, with a $2-per-glass corkage fee and no hard liquor.
• Plaa rad prik, a deep-fried whole snapper with sweet-spicy sauce, costs $32.
• Homemade coconut ice cream with palm seeds, sweet corn and roasted peanuts is $9.
• The kitchen closes half an hour before the dining room each night.

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J.J. Thai Street Food

In 2015, Chef Jiranya Thosatheppitak, who goes by Chef Jina, opened J.J. Thai Street Food on Chicago Avenue in West Town, and the small BYOB storefront still runs on Bangkok street classics. Get khao mun gai tod, breaded fried chicken over ginger-garlic rice with sweet chili sauce, and a bowl of guay tiew nam sood boran, a traditional noodle soup with grilled pork belly and house meatballs. Thai-Chinese staples like egg noodles with barbecue pork are on the menu too, along with a section of E-saan dishes. Eleven years of reliable cooking earn the seventh spot. Time Out suggests takeout for the heartier rice plates and a seat in the dining room for more delicate dishes.

Hours: Mon, Wed, Thu and Sun 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.; closed Tue

Address: 1715 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Why they made the list

• Khao mun gai tod costs $17, a dollar more than the poached-chicken khao mun gai.
• The grilled squid appetizer, pla muk yang, is $25 and comes with a spicy Thai seafood sauce.
• Time Out Chicago counted 28 seats in its 2022 review, and The Infatuation warns that waits are common.
• Last call is 15 minutes before closing, according to the restaurant.

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Herb

For a slower, dressier Thai dinner, Herb on Broadway in Edgewater serves prix fixe menus from chef Patty Neumson, who grew up cooking in southern Thailand and came to Chicago as an MBA student in 1993. The Infatuation’s 2026 Thai guide describes five-course and seven-course menus, and Time Out Chicago notes plant-based options. Dishes pictured on the restaurant’s site include betel leaves, crispy prawns, a nam tok beef salad and chive dumplings. Herb ranks eighth as the list’s tasting-menu choice, a different kind of evening from the noodle shops above. Dinner runs only Friday through Sunday, so reserve ahead on OpenTable.

Hours: Fri-Sat 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Sun 5 to 8:30 p.m.

Address: 5424 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• The dining room is BYOB, according to The Infatuation’s September 2026 Thai guide.
• Neumson worked at a Thai-Japanese restaurant while studying in Chicago, which is when she decided to cook for a living, her biography says.
• Time Out Chicago’s 2024 Thai guide pointed diners to the papaya salad and a coconut curry with vegetables.

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Eat Fine Design By Khun Kung

Late-night Thai is the specialty at Eat Fine Design By Khun Kung, a small Bucktown restaurant on Damen Avenue that stays open until 2 a.m. five nights a week. Start with Hat Yai fried chicken, the southern Thai style served with sticky rice and sweet chili sauce. Then try the oddities The Infatuation singled out in 2024: massaman curry made with durian in place of potatoes, and pad kee mao built on crispy cup noodles served right in the cup. Eat Fine lands ninth for that mix of southern Thai cooking and playful one-offs. Dinner rush can be crowded, and a table is usually easier to get later in the evening.

Hours: Wed-Sun 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.; closed Mon-Tue

Address: 2062 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Why they made the list

• Hat Yai fried chicken costs $17.99 on the restaurant’s menu.
• The Infatuation’s July 2024 review describes the restaurant as BYOB.
• The Infatuation’s September 2026 Thai guide puts Eat Fine sixth among its 21 picks.
• The owners also cater, with advance booking for events in Champaign-Urbana.

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NaKorn

The suburban pick is NaKorn, which childhood friends Sam Rattanopas and Mina Sudsaard opened in a former bank space in downtown Evanston in fall 2016. NaKorn means metropolitan in Thai, and the cooking is more polished than most on this list: duck confit in red curry with grilled pineapple, Mina’s braised short ribs, and Khun Sompit’s Big Fish, a whole crispy branzino made in limited quantities each day. The bar mixes curry into cocktails such as the Stella Luna, with sweet potato rum and massaman curry. NaKorn rounds out the top 10 for a decade of steady cooking outside the city. Online bookings cover tables of up to six; larger groups should email.

Hours: Lunch Mon and Wed-Fri 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner Mon, Wed, Thu and Sun 5 to 9 p.m., Fri-Sat 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Address: 1622 Orrington Ave, Evanston, IL 60201

Why they made the list

• In a May 2023 profile of the owners, WTTW reported that both moved to Chicago in the mid-1990s for graduate school.
• Desserts cost $10 to $12, including a Thai affogato with hot Thai tea and sweetened condensed milk ice cream.
• Walk-ins are welcome, though during busy periods the restaurant may ask for tables back after 1.5 to 2 hours.

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Also worth knowing

Chef Chanita Chayaluk opened TAAN, a Thai restaurant and wine bar on Augusta Boulevard in Humboldt Park, on September 1, 2026, according to WTTW. That is too recent to rank, but the seasonal menu is worth tracking: miang of trout with candied tamarind sauce, green curry of mussels and whole fried fish with fish sauce caramel, with no pad thai in sight. Dinner runs Tuesday through Saturday.

On Kedzie Avenue just north of Diversey, Eathai sits at the line between Logan Square and Avondale with a colorful sidewalk patio and a rotating list of specials. The Infatuation’s 2026 Thai guide recommends the crispy duck wontons and the khao soi.

Under the Brown Line tracks near the Damen station, Aroy Thai is a Lincoln Square standby that The Infatuation lists as cash only and BYOB. Order the grilled pork neck salad and the sausage combo with Isan and sai ua links.

See a place we missed or a detail that has changed? Send us a correction.