Tuptim Thai Cuisine
4896 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108
Tuptim Thai Cuisine Menu
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Visit below restaurant in Ann Arbor for healthy meals suggestion.
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Address :
4896 Washtenaw Ave
Ann Arbor, MI, 48108 - Phone (734) 528-5588
- Website https://www.tuptim.com
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :11:00 am - 2:00pm
- Mon : 11:00 am - 2:00pm
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : Yes
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Accepts Bitcoin : No
Good For : Lunch, Dinner
Parking : Private Lot
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : No
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Dogs Allowed : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : Yes
WE SERVE THE FOLLOWING STATES
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Katie J.
I've never had Thai food before, but I was incredibly impressed with the food at Tuptim. From the iced coffee and tea to the curries to the mango sweet rice dessert, everything was flavorful, unique, and delicious. Our server was really nice, too. We were the only people in the place so I wanted to give a good review so more people will eat there and keep it in business. Give Tuptim a try, you definitely won't regret it!
(5)Grace O.
This place is amazing! We came to Ann Arbor to visit some family, and this is the place they always take visitors, because the food is so darn good! We live in Northern California where you can get a ton of Thai food, but it is mostly mediocre. I never would've expected to get some awesome food in Michigan! The larb and beef salad were really good, but the chicken wings were perfection! Crispy and golden, and the sauce was amazing! I was spooning it up because it was so good. The stand out dish was definitely the catfish though. The sauce was perfect, it was sweet, tangy, but also had just the right amount of kick to it. The catfish was perfectly cooked--tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. My son also LOVED the pad see eu. It's usually hit or miss with him with meals, but he couldn't get enough! Definitely end your meal with the mango sticky rice. It was absolutely delicious. Service was wonderful. They were really attentive and polite. They even had a changing table in the bathroom, which as a mom, I always look for as a sign that a place is kid friendly. We will definitely be back again before our trip is over!
(5)Jen Y.
My husband and I were visiting the area over Labor Day weekend and found this gem. The food was flavorful, the portions were huge, and the staff was extremely attentive and nice. A couple of things that particularly stuck out to me: i) they don't use any MSG like other local Thai restaurants but are still able to create a lot of flavor, ii) they use good ingredients like all natural chicken, and iii) the food is very authentic (having just vacationed in Thailand earlier in the summer I can attest to the authenticity). Some of my favorites were Tom Yum soup with shrimp, Pad Kee Mau, Chicken Larb (off menu item), and Hot Drums. The Thai ice tea was delicious as well. Would definitely come back again when in the area.
(5)Jenny K.
Nothing stellar on the menu except I would highly recommend the mango sticky rice dessert. Ooh, the warm coconut cream on rice with sliced mango here is wonderful. Their coconut Tom Kha soup is good as well. Everything else is just okay, in my opinion. Note, I say opinion. This place elicits quite a range of responses. Like a Rashomon story, everyone seems to have a different takeaway of Tuptim. From "the portions here are HUGE" to "where's the rest of the food?," or "this place is meh" to "Voted #1 in Ann Arbor x number of years straight," it seems that there is a lack of consensus. They're ok. A solid 3 of 5 stars, decent, enjoyable; they're not bad, but not spectacular. I for one think the portions could be substantially larger for the amount they are charging. Lunch specials begin at $9 and include a tiny scoop of rice and a half portion of meat/veggie medley and a miniature egg roll. Dinner prices jump to $13 and you don't get much more portion wise. I get sad when I'm still hungry after I eat, it makes it seem like the meal failed me. I'm not even a big girl, but I know a good deal when I see it and I see that they could at least give an extra scoop of rice, come on. As for ambience, this former LJS is pretty cozy. Service is nice as well.
(3)Naz M.
It's probably wrong to judge a place by how good their Thai restaurants are, BUT this is my life and I'm sharing my feelings with you all. Deal with it. I love Thai restaurant food and all my life I was spoiled and lived in a space that had a multitude of places to choose from. I decided long ago that Drunken Noodle (Pad Kee Mao) or Pad See Ewe are normally my defaults and if you can do those right, you're alright by me. I did not dine-in, instead my posse and I decided to order in for New Year's and it turned out to be a great idea. The food was ready in time for pick-up, and it went without a hitch. Everything was well prepared. Luckily we got to taste a little bit of everything, a bit of a smorgasbord if you will and I think I will be venturing into new options as I thought the Crispy Cod was just delicious. The sweet garlic chili sauce was delectable. If you know anything about me (I'm about to share), I love sweet things. Sweet things include people LOL, meats, sauces just yum yum yum. My Pad See Ewe was simply okay, I'm not going to call my mom about it. Same thing goes for the Pad Thai and the additional curries. Not great, but more than edible which is more than I can say for other places I have been to in the area. This is an adequate place to have a Thai meal. The staff is courteous, the food is decent and they can accommodate groups for their sit-in or take-out meals. I'm not mad at them.
(3)Mia M.
Ehh, okay. So after coming here a few more times after my first review, I've decided to amend my initial review. I must have been so excited to find a place with excellent Thai Iced Tea that I didn't even realize I was spending $3 for a cup of ice and 6 fluid ounces of beverage. I can't be the only person who thinks that's a bit much. I've since tried a few more of their dishes, and while I haven't been totally disgusted by any of them, I haven't been impressed either. Most of the food is just okay. My partner likes the Drunken Noodles, I believe, but because we're vegetarian, they get them without any oyster of fish sauce. I've tried their Pad Thai, Pad See Ewe, something with eggplant and one or two other dishes and it's all okay. The spring rolls are good, but I can't just go to a restaurant for spring rolls and tea! Overall, I'd still say this place is worth a try. The service is still phenomenal and they're usually fairly busy, so there must be something that my vegetarian pallet is missing.
(3)Joe G.
Super good Pad Thai. Simple and quick. If you order medium spice they give you some spicy Thai chillies in the mix.
(4)Albert T.
I was very disappointed by the food here. I ordered the red Thai curry and it was very watery with little flavor. It seemed to lack much coconut milk or curry paste. We also ordered summer rolls and fish cakes. The summer rolls were made with what seemed to be store bought spring mix and the fish cake were simply very average fish cake with plum sauce.
(1)Ray A.
This is a very average mid-grade Thai restaurant. It's substantially better than others in A2, but not as good as average Thai places in bigger cities. That being said, takeout was quick. Dishes were packed neatly in foil-lined cardboard containers, easy to recycle. The food was okay. Pad see ew with tofu was much better than green curry. Skip the green curry.
(3)Aaron L.
We got take-out tonight from Tuptim: pad see ew, basil fried rice and green curry (all w/ tofu). The take out service was friendly and convenient. I appreciate that the two non-curry dishes came in biodegradable packages. The pad see ew was OK -- the sauce lacked the sweet/salty/smoky flavor that makes pad see ew such a crave-able dish and it included a red pepper flavor that is not my favorite. The basil fried rice was pretty tasty and nicely infused with fresh basil flavor throughout. The green curry was not worth ordering -- very soupy (mostly oil) without much flavor (Trader Joe's green curry is vastly superior). Overall, the ingredients were fresh but the cooking was mediocre. Tuptim does not fill the gaping need for good thai in the A2 area.
(2)Gregg G.
I have eaten here almost weekly for years. Love the basil beef, the ginger stir fry, and the chicken fried rice. The staff is always friendly and efficient. By FAR the best Thai food in the area - and trust me, I've tried them all plenty.
(5)Kip W.
I so wish I could write a glowing review for this place; however, I can't. I am writing this while I'm totally irritated. This place is just down the street from where I live and I used to go here twice a week, but they raised their prices and so started going much less frequently. Well, they raised them again and I may have to stop completely. I do understand the need to raise price, but doing that while portions get smaller and the quality is going down just doesn't work for me. I am on a budget and want to either get what I am paying for, or at least have the meal knock my socks off so that I don't care what I pay. Neither is happening anymore. Tuptim is located in an old Long John Silver's restaurant. The outside does have a bit of new paint, but inside is still almost the same. There is no ambiance here whatsoever. The tables are very close together and I was frequently getting jostled about by other customers. Again, ambiance is not that important if the food is worth it. So, I just started ordering my food to go. It was always a very generous portion and home was way more comfortable. I love the Panang Curry, or should say I "loved" it and I was also a pretty big fan of the Massaman Panang Curry with chicken or shrimp. I am now writing this review while looking over my half empty container (never was full) of Panang Curry, with almost no chicken. I will sign off now, so I can make some additional chicken to supplement my pathetically meager $14 dinner . Oh, I will also make some brown rice since they wanted to charge me an additional dollar for that! Again, that used to be free! I wish you better luck and DON"T bring a first date here if you want to impress her!
(2)Shirley H.
My hubs would probably say this is his favorite thai restaurant but I can't agree. I do agree with a yelper who said they don't offer as much on the menu. Not to mention, they don't offer my favorite...minched chicken basil dish. I've ordered it a few times and was surprised when they told me they would charge me for them to dice up the chicken. So instead of asking them to dice up the chicken last night, I decided to go with a safe dish-the pad thai. I was so surprised at the amount of food that was on my plate and was really happy with the amount of spice in the dish. T is probably one of the better restaurants that nails the level of spiciness.
(3)Maura W.
Been looking for decent Thai in Ann Arbor and finally decided to try this place! My friend and I had the Tom Ka and Tom Yum soups- both were PHENOMENAL. Split a Pad Thai which was good as well, but wish it had a little more egg.
(4)Jason L.
Great food with some co-workers. A little on the pricey side but worth it.
(4)Vera Y.
Really excellent Thai food, however it is super expensive so I've only gone twice. The scallops I had were delicious, but a touch over-salty. My husband had a curry dish that was quite good as well. My favorite was the soup, which was infused with lemongrass. Yum! The ambiance is strange. It still retains the look of the old Long John Silver's, the management has decided the yellow works for them. I think it really distracts from the experience, and you start to resent paying $75 for a meal inside a cheap looking restaurant.
(4)Erin H.
Wow, I'm continually fascinated by the harshness of some of the reviews I read on here! When someone describes a complete aberration of an experience at a restaurant others rave about - either they were on peyote the night they ate here (or the entire staff), but it's hard to explain! I have lived in San Francisco and traveled the world and this is decent Thai food- the best ever? No, but tasty. Everyone needs to get over the exterior - how clever and resourceful that they re-used their surroundings! Sketchy? Um, you need to get out more - it's a funky and run down area, but it's not scary! It's a perfectly comfortable and cute restaurant on the inside. A view of the bay? No, but what were you expecting?
(3)Steve A.
New to Ann Arbor and had a craving for Thai food last week. I stopped in for dinner based on the reviews given here, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. I had the Basil Sauce entree w/ beef which is what I normally order at a new Thai restaurant...my barometer of sorts. It came with a soup which was ok. As for the main dish itself, I'd have to say this dish wasn't too flavorful, it was average - nothing spectacular but not horrible either...just in between. Given the price of the entree (~$20 including soda & tip), I excepted a bit more. The food came out promptly and the staff was friendly and attentive. Nevertheless, I can't get over the mediocre entree, especially for the price. I don't think I'll be going back.
(3)Dave Y.
i dunno why the rating here isn't higher. just went there last night and had one of the best thai meals ever, and i'm from LA and am used to good authentic thai food. i had pad kee mau and my gf had the pad thai, and they were both pretty damn good. i ordered mine extra spicy and boy it was really extra spicy, not your typical fake spicy. it is a bit pricey, but until i find a better place, this one just became my go-to place for thai around these parts
(5)Nadi T.
Tuptim Thai is an average restaurant. The menu has an array of food items to order. Each options sounds delicious and exquisite. Sadly though when you recieve your food you realize that for a price of 15 dollars the portion is small. Its extremely over priced and the amount of you food you recieve is a joke. My friend and I shared two meals. Overall they were fine, and nothing blew my mind. Sure the flavors worked well, but when you dont have much to try its a dissapointment. Service was decent. If i had to explain my experience in one simple sentence i would say that it would take a lot of convincing for me to go back.
(2)Kate S.
Tuptim is my favorite Thai place in Ann Arbor. It's a little pricier than I would like, but the food is really tasty. Their pad thai is the best I've had in the area. Service is good, and the inside of the restaurant is pretty (despite looking still like Long John Silver's on the outside). It's no big deal to go there in scruffy clothes, but it's a nice enough atmosphere for dates, too. Tuptim won't be everyone's favorite, but if you're looking for thai food, it's definitely worth a try.
(4)Margot L.
I was tipped off on Tuptim Thai by a friend and am dying to go back. Yes, it was formerly a Long John Silvers (hail the fried fish!) but it just adds to the charm of the place, in my opinion. In the winter, when spicy Thai food is best (ironic, because it never really gets cold there) the place is a bit drafty, so just bring a fleece or sweater and you'll be just fine. We went on a blustery freezing day and weren't uncomfortable. The food, oh, the food! This is the reason why you come. The coconut milk soup was light, fragrant, and perfectly tangy. The curries were well-balanced and delicate and robust. The mango and sticky rice or tapioca desserts hit the sweet spot. Recommended to all Thai food lovers everywhere. Enjoy.
(4)Anna S.
This used to be my favorite Thai restaurant, but lately I feel like there has been a some sort of change. Don't get me wrong, the food is still good and sometimes stellar, but I have had a few experiences lately that make me think I might be able to find better Thai in the area.
(4)Jen S.
Coming from NY and Chicago, lands of cheap Thai, I thought this place was pretty darn good. I thought it was a bit overpriced but everything, down to the thai iced latte, was tasty. The portions are big too so you really have two meals (unless you go there really hungry). I was impressed by Tiptum considering its location and will definitely come back here again.
(4)Chetan P.
I went to this place a very long time ago and had a pretty decent meal. I remember ordering the usual sorts of dishes - pad thai, panaang. The prices are pretty high and it is less greasy than most other thai places in Ann Arbor. With that said, I have to remind you that the thai food in Ann Arbor is not cool. I recently went here with my buddy and we decided to get their specials. Normally, the specials are the strong part of the restaurant. That's the dish that says ' look, this is what we are famous for and that is why you will remember us." The dish was a hawaiian snapper with an assortment of vegetables. The best part of the dish was the vegetables. The fish was overcooked. I mean rubbery-overcooked. FYI, the dish was much smaller than most of the other dishes I saw on other tables. So if you do order with a healthy apetite, get ready to order something else. The other dish was Madras Shrimp. It had hearty shrimp and was very tasty. Unfortunately, it tasted like my mom's egg curry - a fantastic dish. I felt kind of ripped-off only because I paid for a dish that I have very often for free. Oh well. The service was good, but I was unclear who our server was. In fact, I generally called random servers to the table when I needed something. Overall, so-so dinner with relatively good service. I've had better thai food and worse. For the most part, worse in Ann Arbor.
(2)Cathy H.
The best Thai restaurant teetering on the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti border. This Thai family-owned restaurant serves up every classic Thai dish you can think of: pad thai, pad see ew, green/red/orange curry. The congenial wait staff are very attentive to customers, and the parking is plentiful. This restaurant never disappoints!
(5)Nick P.
Not bad. The exterior is pretty funny. It even has a featured page at notfoolinganybody.com/19… , though now it's been painted red. We got the Pad See-Ewe with chicken, which was fine, but it might have had beef in it too? We also got Panang Beef, which was very good. The sticky rice was nice too, maybe worth the $1.50, not sure. The fact is that Ann Arbor doesn't have all that many good sit-down Thai places, so while I've had better in other cities, I'll probably be back. One bummer is that they don't have a liquor license, so I couldn't have my token Sing-ha.
(3)Alissa L.
Goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover. Tuptim looks ridiculously sketchy from the outside, but once you go in, its actually pretty adorable. This place has great lunch specials, and the pad thai is in an amazing sauce and is excellent. Everything else I've had from here has been great too. Also, there's an asian food store just a little bit further down washtenaw from Tuptim, just in case you're inspired to cook after going here.
(4)Adam H.
Who would've though the best Thai in ann arbor would come out of a former long john silvers! Highly recommend the spring rolls, panang curry, pad thai, pad see ew, and the yummy tapioca dessert!
(5)Chris G.
I and five other Thai food lovers had a great meal last night at Tuptim. The menu has gotten shorter, which is a good thing. And for a while this spring they apparently had an inexperienced cook, which thank goodness is over and done with. Our six dishes were all over the place in principle flavors and none of them missed the mark. One of the reasons we like Thai is because there are so many flavors in each individual dish. Bear in mind that this group of people tends to order "mild-medium" because we want to get all the flavors (some might disagree), especially for the aromatic dishes like the wonderful yellow curry. Enjoy. There's another restaurant down the street, Thai-thai, that's about as good, but different.
(4)Andy D.
Great food, service was really slow.
(4)Sly F.
I'd say I'm almost a year old when it comes to being a Tai food fan. My SO introduced it to me one day by stopping at a small Tai restaurant in Canton and introduced me to the wonder that is Pad Thai. Actually, an old roomy cooked that dish up for me, which was good, but even better from the restaurants supposedly specializing in that sort of dish! However, Tuptin was the place recommended to me by someone and then I noticed the array of awards on the wall as I immediately walked in so was reassured. What I ordered that day I can't recall the name. I'm terrible for it, but it was like pad thai only sweeter. It was great, but so sweet it almost seemed like a dessert to me. I ended up eating my SO's food which was a spicier rice mix that was equally as delicious. Since then, I order from Tuptim when I need a Pad Thai fix. Though my SO found some place out in Howell that trumps that of which I've received from Tuptim.... As of now, this is my Thai place of choice and decent they are. Service is relatively quick and usually cordial. Serving sizes are pretty good for one person to go. Though I feel I get more when I sit in the restaurant, maybe that's just how it works...
(3)Erin G.
I've been to Tuptim several times, and they've got good thai food, but not the best in the area. They're probably the most expensive thai place around this area, compared to Siam and Thai Thai. Tuptim's outer decor is horrible, it clearly used to be a long john silver's and they can't be bothered to change the awful colors. I went today and had a thai iced tea (delicious, but anyone can make that), and the ginger julienne with chicken. My boyfriend and I shared the curry puffs and he had soup and pad thai, which I tried. My ginger julienne was good, and I realize that ginger is a central component to the dish, but the pieces were so large that they were very bitter. I love ginger, which is why I ordered it, but I ended up picking the pieces out. The curry puffs were good, somewhat like samosas in puff pastry. I forget what the soup was called, tom-something, but it wasn't very flavorful and the shiitakes were rubbery like they'd been reheated. The pad thai was just ok. All in all, it's good but not nearly as flavorful as other thai in the area, and it's at least twice the price.
(3)Rachel B.
Thai is my favorite food. I went to tuptim because I had heard that it was the best thai in the area. Unfortunately that was not my experience. The curry was gross, watery, and tasted like it was a can of coconut cream doused with water. It had a background of heat, but it fell flat. I even went twice, but my experience (unfortunately) was the same both times. There was no flavor. the spring rolls were good, with an interesting dipping sauce, but the curry was abhorrent. I would advise anyone to go to bahn na, right down the street. Trust me, your taste buds will thank you. (It's much cheaper too.) When I complained, the manager told me that I "don't know what real thai food tastes like". To him, I say eff you.
(1)Amy W.
Good food, but the prices were a bit high, and the service was TERRIBLE.
(2)Gary H.
We have gotten carryout from Tuptim for quite awhile and, until recently, enjoyed it. In the last six months or so, though, we have noticed that the food, especially the curry dinners, are a lot less spicy than they used to be. I used to order panang curry medium hot, and it was just right, spicy but not overpowering. Now I order it hot, and it is closer to what I would consider mild. I thought it might just be that my taste buds have adapted over time, but my wife and children also noted the change. Next time we are going to try another Thai place.
(2)Nathan A.
First off, you must know that 4 stars in Ann Arbor is the equivalent of 3 stars anywhere else. That being said, the food here beats any other Thai place in the Ann Arbor area. I get the Masaman (I've seen this word spelled 500 different ways - this is merely my approximation) curry nearly every time because I fear change, but I've heard many of the other dishes are tasty as well. Ingredients seem fresh and the food isn't too greasy so I always walk out feeling well nourished (not just heavier.) Beware, though, Tuptim occupies a former Long John Silver's in the middle of a long, ugly stretch of strip-malls, making the overall dining experience something less than impressive. Go here to satisfy the mundane, occasional urge for Thai comfort food, but avoid it for special events and dates.
(4)Bjorn G.
Tuptim Thai looks a bit ridiculous from the outside. It's in what used to be a Long John Silver's, and still has that characteristic style, though the mooring posts have been cut down from the front. On the inside, though, it looks quite different: deep red walls, light elegant wood furniture, and waitstaff all dressed in black. The ambience, from the inside, is quite pleasant. (But don't sit near the front window on cold days, unless you like a chilly draft.) The food here is excellent. They have many different kinds of curries (at least five as I recall), all of which can be ordered spicy to taste. All of the appetizers are very good (and believe me, I have tried *all* of them), but the calamari is my favorite. I rarely go without ordering it. They make a quality pad thai, which I think is best with pork, but is very good with shrimp as well. Their salads are also high-quality; my old boss would often get their steak salad as an entree.
(4)Rebecca W.
I would probably give 2.5 stars if I could. Soup (vegetarian) was good, thai iced tea. Very very nice staff. Medium was too hot although still edible with thai iced tea at the ready. Here's the thing, and why I am writing the review: tofu and eggplant tasted like Chinese food, not Thai. I've never in my life had Thai that tasted like Chinese. I find that quite strange. And given I went to a Thai place and not Chinese...well, I kind of wanted Thai.
(3)Ashley G.
Interesting experience. Went to redeem my 10% off from Yelp... However the server charged us less than she was supposed to for the pad see ewe, the lady at the counter noticed and we actually ended up paying more for our food with the 10% off, than we would have without it. Don't punish the customer for your mistake!! Pad see ewe was alright, but I'd prefer anything from Thai Thai over the food here.
(1)Khom V.
Love this place! Wish it was closer to my house. We always get great service and the food is authentic then most Thai places in the area. A must try if you are craving Thai food.
(4)Logynn H.
It's so adorable in here. The staff are sweet and lovely also. I don't usually like fried rice, but they had a Tuptim fried rice with raisins in it that sounded so unique I had to try it. It was fantastic. I loved it. I do, however, think that the prices are way too high for what you get. I would come here all the time if it were cheaper.
(4)Laura P.
I finally discovered something I love here. The shrimp mushroom dish. I promised to update my review if that ever were to occur. It was very tasty and the portions were nice. Try the side of house made plum sauce with your spring rolls!
(4)André L.
Love the Thai food. Just wish they had crab rangoon. The pad kee mau is awesome. I keep coming back for it.
(5)MItch R.
Great fresh thai food, good atmosphere. Can be pricey, but you get quality for the money. If you like spice get the hot if you dare. The nam prick pow is amazing with shrimp. I enjoy the food and would say it is well worth the upgrade from chinese food around ypsi and ann arbor
(5)Bryanne H.
Favorite Thai place in the area! Absolutely love. Also provide great service. The chicken is also free range, which is always a plus!
(5)Lily S.
Love this place. The food here is authentic or at least the most authentic you'll get around the Ann-Arbor area.
(5)Bob R.
This is our go to place for Thai. My favorite is the Nam Prik Pow, but the Pad Thai is good and the tapioca pudding is to die for. Siam Cuisine still has the best Tom Kha, but Tuptim's is good.
(5)N P.
I used to go here a lot and at that time it was a 4 star place in my opinion. I loved the spring rolls and the vegetarian curries and the basil fried rice. We'd order all kind of items too and even carried out a few times. There was no problem with the taste of the food. At times service in the restaurant was very slow but the staff was always very nice. Recently I've found that the food was way too oily (especially the spring rolls) and that there was too much spice (meaning it was masking a lot of the previously enjoyed flavor). I have always mentioned that we were vegetarians and that we don't eat fish or fish oils but I've had a fish like taste to the spring rolls twice too. I don't know if they have changed the preparation of their dishes or these were just a few isolated incidents. I'll give them another chance but I'm going to wait awhile.
(3)Nancy C.
Tuptim Thai has a deceivingly delicious Pad Thai. Deceiving because the noodles come out browner than I am use to, so I was skeptical initially. But it was delicious! It also came with (yes, I counted) 5 jumbo sized shrimps. What's the deal with restaurants being so stingy with their shrimp nowadays? *Shake my head* But nope, not here. I was very pleased. The basil fried rice, on the other hand, was way too spicy for me. Despite having requested "medium" spiciness (which was what we asked for with our pad thai as well), I couldn't take more than two bites without drinking some water. Fortunately, my trooper boyfriend (likely after observing me in distress from the spice level) let me finish the pad thai while he downed the rest of the fried rice. The waitresses were kind and attentive. Our water glasses were never empty, which was helpful given the above scenario...
(3)Crystal P.
When my friends said we were getting together at Tuptim Thai, I'll be honest I sneered my face not wanting to go. The Thai food I've tried has always been the noodles and wasn't a big fan of the cuisine. But, I went anyway and tried to be adventurous and try something totally different than the usual Thai noodles and let me say did Tuptim Thai sure turn my frown upside down! I ordered the yellow curry with beef and got it hot spicy...my belly and taste buds sang a song of complete harmony and bliss for gratitude to introducing them to such a wonderful treat! In matter fact I went back the next day to order the same exact thing! I'm addicted! Only reason it's not 5 stars is that it is the only dish I tried.
(4)Johnes S.
Horrible food - overpriced, service is horrible. also.I will not go there again. My lunch was more like a soup and not very filling. The waitress was confused .
(1)Manowar M.
This is by far my favorite Thai restaurant in the area. The staff is very friendly and I get my food very quickly. I order the same thing every time, cashew nuts with chicken hot. I can't say for the other dishes on the menu as I've never eaten them but I don't feel the need to change my favorite dish. The building could use a little sprucing up but that doesn't detract from the quality of the food. It's always fresh and tasty.
(5)Barron M.
Hands down, best tasting Thai food around town...I only gave 3 stars because the staff could be better at service, very inflexible and they don't deliver.
(3)Lakshmi R.
I had Pad thai at this place. It's not that good. Nice ambiance and Food is not upto mark. Not willing to return again to this restaurant.
(2)Sarah M.
I was disappointed with this place. I love Thai food because its usually spicy! I ordered the Panang curry with chicken. I ordered it medium just to be safe that I wouldn't burn my lips off. It was the blandest, mildest medium panang curry I've ever had. On the up side the staff was super friendly and attentive (almost to an annoying point). I'd probably give this place another try, but honestly, only if Thai Thai is closed or I'm with someone that wants to come here.
(2)Josh C.
Tuptim is a place you can count on for being consistent as it is. The food is good, the prices reasonable if slightly high, atmosphere classy, and the service excellent - they win awards for Thai in the area for good reason. It's a great place to get Thai if you're passively into ethnic food rather than passionately. Unfortunately, I've never once been taken seriously when I requested my meal "extra spicy" and the vegetarian/vegan selection (at least as it exists on the menu) is somewhat limited. Not awful limited, mind you, but surprisingly so for a Thai restaurant - there's something like 4-6 dishes, maybe? This is the Ann Arbor area, where there is a huge veg population. That an Asian restaurant would offer so few options baffles me. But that's neither here nor there. Anyway, this place is pretty good but - honestly - I generally don't bother visiting here, simply because I prefer Siam Square and Thai Thai. No offense meant for the staff, who do what they do very well. I just consistently have better experiences elsewhere.
(3)Neha A.
Didn't like it at all. We ordered red curry and the curry was so watery and soupy. It totally lacked consistency. Also costly for the quantity they provide. Not coming back.
(1)L C.
I'm surprised by the poor reviews as TipTim is the home to my favorite dish and dessert! Their tofu and eggplant dish is delicious! My mom introduced me to their home style tapioca pudding. The dessert is served warm with coconut milk- amazzzingg!
(5)Megan K.
I wasn't really impressed with this place at all. I ordered a bowl of the Tom Yum soup and the red curry with chicken. My boyfriend ordered the Pad Thai. My "bowl" of soup for $5 was barely larger than a cup and my cup of tea was $2, a little outrageous in my opinion. The Tom Yum soup was a few pieces of chicken, a couple of button mushrooms and a ton of chili oil and chili flakes. Real Tom Yum soup should have lots of cilantro and lemongrass, this soup had neither. My red curry had good flavor but was pathetically sized. I ate the whole thing and I was still hungry. I ordered my food 'hot' and the waitress assured me that 'hot' was super spicy. The spicier, the better, in my opinion. But the food was barely spicy, my lips tingled a little bit, nothing special. My boyfriend was very disappointed with the size of his portion as well. The pad thai was pretty generic but again, not that hot. We won't eat here again. Too expensive for what you get and what you get isn't that great.
(2)Rachel E.
this place was pretty good, but not the best thai I've ever had and not the worst. I went here with my friend because we were told it's where the locals go (off campus). We got the dumplings and we split chicken pad sea eew. I think they must be struggling for business because it was pretty empty and there were yelp and foursquare deals. We used to foursquare deal to get a free soda. The food was alright, nothing to write home about. The food also came out really fast..maybe TOO fast...
(2)Allen L.
I hadn't been to Tuptim in years (at least 5) and I've been reminded why. Went here because Thaithai was closed. It was simply disappointing food. Service was better than I remembered though.
(2)Alex H.
Pros :Good pricing and friendly staff, pretty clean environment from the naked eye Cons: The portion is a bit small and the taste was very bland. I got the pad thai chicken expecting a mouth full of flavors. Boy was I wrong ,to be honest it tasted like nothing. Coming from a background of Thai Foods, this place is on the low end of thai foods in ann arbor/ ypsl area. Will try again but not anytime soon.
(2)Robin Z.
I was made very grumpy when even my pad see ew was done with pathetically skinny noodles.
(2)Jiah C.
I ordered shrimp Pad Thai for pick up. The entire dish tasted of frozen shrimp chemicals, and the actual shrimp disintegrated (not to be confused with melt-in-your-mouth) in my mouth, causing me to be completely disgusted. I've been permanently turned off by this place, need I say more?
(1)David S.
While there is less expensive Thai-Food to be had in the Arbor-Ypsi area, Tuptim takes all when it comes to flavor and portion size. I am always pleased with the taste and atmosphere when I dine here, along with the generous portion size Thai food is known for. Bottom Line: Much better than common fast-food type Thai you'll find in these college towns.
(4)Liz W.
Having been warned thanks to yelp about the portion sizes we did not come here starved. Our appetites are down a lot these days but we are enjoying some good area flavors to help perk them up a bit. I thought since we were in the area anyway why not give this place a shot. I brought my dad while my mom was off having tests yet again. We have really been looking forward to our daily Ypsi-Arbor culinary adventures to distract us from our daily rounds of hospital drear. It does seem to help to have a foodie-ish destination to look forward to. We tried to come in with no prejudgements but did have a little giggle at the distinctive Long John Silver appearance outside. My father is not a giant fan of yellow but he can deal. Neither of us care much about atmosphere if food tastes good though. We decided on the chicken satay appetizer. We agreed that it was quite good. I did especially like the sauce. I think it was the best thing we ate there. My dad is a basics guy, cut him some slack though as he is 66. He got his usual pad thai with chicken and was content. He said he has had better but it made him happy enough. I thought it was fine too but pad thai doesn't wow me or anything for the most part, it and pad see ewe are fairly much what most people get when dining Thai. I am never all that excited about it myself as usually someone I am eating with gets one or the other so I have eaten it quite a bit. I got some green curry chicken for myself as I am a fan of eggplant and basil and I was happy. Good flavor, spiced as asked, which was fairly spicy but not mouth burning. Smallish portion of rice but I was not that hungry at any rate. Staff was friendly and efficient. No complaints at all. It was good. We were happy but nothing really grabbed us at all. I like my usual haunt better to be honest. We would each come back but only if nearby.
(3)Stephen H.
Best thai food in a 20 mile radius-easily. Pad bai kra pow is excellent as was the hot and sour soup, although they have their own American names for these. Prices are very reasonable. Its in an old long john silvers on Washtenaw near Golfside. You cant miss it.
(4)Lena L.
Food is decent to good. One time my pad thai had burnt peanuts on it and i couldn't get the burnt taste out of my mouth. The next time I had pad seeyoon and it was good and saucy. the third time I had tofu pad thai which was made just right. The place is small and there are no booths. The service is pretty good though. They are very nice. I had the Thai Coffee, which is one of my favorite; however, it is so much cheaper in California. If you love coffee, try Thai iced coffee. it is sweet and has a creamy milk in it, like half and half which balances out the sweetness well.
(3)Esther Y.
Pretty solid place for thai basil fried rice and tom khaa. Both were pretty good. The tom khaa was a little sweet (the coconut milk just was too sweet?) and in the basil fried rice they did red pepper flakes as opposed to the little green thai chili peppers, but the flavor was still ok. I haven't tried much more thai food in this area, but this was a pretty decent start.
(3)Kathy L.
Best Thai food I've had thus far in Michigan. Better than Siam or Marnee and WAAAAAY better than No Thai. It doesn't compare to the Thai restaurants on the West coast, but it's pretty decent for Ann Arbor. I like the summer rolls and their curries. Another plus is (if you order a curry for take out) the curries come in a BUCKET. Seriously -- I got four meals out of one order of vegetable panang curry. So the bottom line is it's a good value for a good taste. But, once again, we ARE in Michigan, so don't expect to be mentally transported overseas...
(4)mariah c.
I've had some good meals here in the past, but my last visit was a pretty big disappointment. So much so, that while eating my food I thought "I should have gone to Thai Thai." I've had good curries here -- I know they know how to make an at least decent curry. Unfortunately, the curry that I ordered on a recent lunch visit looked like someone had just stirred oli and water together -- you know, like one of those oil and water desk toys they used to sell at Natural Wonders in the mall? Something was not right -- something was separating. I asked for medium hot, and the spice level was not even mild. I felt like, given some prior experience, it had to be an "off day," but still, when I want some spice around this area of town, I'll probably look elsewhere for a while before I give Tuptim another shot. The server was very nice, but that's about the best I can say. It felt like money down the drain.
(2)John Paul P.
(Originally visited on 2/3/10) February I was assigned to St. Joe's for the month, so I had to check out the local eateries. This was the first place I checked out with my roommate. I had been here once previously and I thought it was fairly average, but one can't go wrong with Thai food right? Well, we were wrong. My friend's pad thai was very average, and my pad see ew was well ... interesting. Firstly we didn't get any chopsticks with our meal which is forgivable but I mean c'mon. We're both asian here. Secondly, there was no egg in the pad see ew, which completely surprised me. Thirdly, despite asking how spicy we wanted our dishes, the red pepper was still separate from the dish, so at first I was thinking "this isn't spicy at all". Finally, something else seemed to be missing ... oh the citrus-y lime! I'm used to having a wedge I can squeeze over the dish initially. It was nowhere to be seen. My friend asked for lime ... and they gave us lime juice. Wait, huh? Service was average, atmosphere wasn't bad. But I wish the food was better. I really wanted to like the place. I'm afraid to say there are better places in Toledo.
(2)Chelsea M.
I just had lunch with co-workers and it was great. A tad pricey for lunch but overwhelmingly an excellent experience. I order the pad thai shrimp and from the feed back I got about my co-workers dishes they really liked it. I will be going back.
(4)Lucy K.
Had lunch here last weekend. The place was empty, so crowding and service wasn't a problem at all and the food came quickly and was hot. My friend and I enjoyed the spring rolls (I loved the mushrooms in them). I ordered the Green Curry with chicken and she got the pad thai with chicken. Both of us were satisfied with the food, but not necessarily wowed. Good enough for lunch with a friend!
(3)Mary F.
Tuptim Thai Restaurant - (Keep driving) Tuptim runs these ads in the monthly Ann Arbor Observer magazine saying it's been voted Best Thai Quisine by readers. Can I meet some of these readers, please? In what incarnation of Tuptim was this prize awarded? Before you think I'm being unduly unfair, I've eaten here both when it opened and afterwards. Even did take-out once or twice. On all occasions, the staff was surly, the food swimming in oil (so much so we had to spoon the stuff out) and on top of that, Tuptim has a terrible layout and flow that would benefit from an authentic Feng Shui practitioner. One can live with the boxy layout. The building WAS the old Long John Silvers after all and still has that fish-shack look from the outside but this is of small moment:: Build-out's cost tons of money and new restaurant owners are understandably chary of spending huge amounts upfront on cosmetic changes. Get the FOOD right, though! This diner is willing to look past the dingiest surroundings if the place is clean and the food is good. The takeout people have no choice but to stand in the way and impede the flow of the interior even more. It takes a while to get seated and longer still to get someone - anyone? - to come to your table. Not that it matters. ...When the food does come, it's ho-hum at best and godawful at worst. Does the chicken for the Green Curry have to be quite so stringy and tough when white meat chicken is so cheap at GFS? Tuptim has a tendency to have the food sitting in a pool of oil that has the consistency of axle grease as if to add an air of Thai verisimilitude to the proceedings. Duh. No it doesn't, guys. ..so it was a happy day for us when Thai Thai opened its doors in the old Charlie's Country Squire Maill about 1/2 a mile away. (By the bye, the massive Asian supermarket opposite the Big Boy on Washtenaw Ave. has a ready-mix Green, Yellow and Massaman Curry that is so much better than the Tuptim offerings) and I would trust their humble container of Thai Curry mix ANY DAY OF THE WEEK over Tuptim's tasteless, third-rate offerings. What is wrong with a restaurant when a container of 'Just-add-Chicken/Beef' MIX is to be preferred over your made-in-house version? What makes me sad is that some people believe Tuptim's version is tasty and it's really not their poor misguided fault!: If you haven't had the real stuff or even a good passing imitation of the actual dish, what choice do you have but to believe the advertisements and trust that it's true? But hope springs eternal and it is to be hoped that Tuptim gets it's head out of its arse pronto and does some much-needed tweaking of the menu. For them, it's an absolute necessity given the increasing number of Thai restaurants in Ann Arbor/Washtenaw County. For right now however, when it comes to dining at Tuptim, I'll have to channel Poe's raven and say, "...Nevermore'.
(1)Hymae W.
This is one of those places you only get carry out from. Their portions are HUGE. My girlfriend say's the tufu pad thai is very good. Personal i enjoy the nah nar.
(3)Kate B.
Tup Tim is pretty darn good for a Thai restaurant in a small town. Their spring rolls are wonderful: perfectly crisp, well-balanced filling that isn't all filler - if you order them via take-out they put them in a vented container so they do not get soggy, but stay warm! I've tried most of their soups, and have been satisfied with the level of heat, amount of ingredients, and overall flavor. Mmmmmm~ I generally stick to medium-spicy curry dishes, and have had great luck with the basil beef green or red curries, chicken curry with eggplant, Pad See-Ewe with tofu or chicken. I imagine their vegetable dishes are tasty as they do not skimp on delicious veggies in their meat dishes. I usually have to order extra rice just to soak up the sauces, but it's so inexpensive it's not an issue. The interior of the restaurant is clean, and nicely decorated - I don't recall any booths, mostly tables and chairs. Service is perfunctory but generally prompt. In response to someone's review that they had to ask for chopsticks -- forks and spoons are commonly used in Thailand except for the rare street food/noodles place - Chopsticks were introduced by the Chinese in the 1930's or so but remain uncommon for everyday use.
(3)lily c.
We tried Tuptim because Thai Thai (my favorite!!!) was closed, and I already had my heart set on Thai food. It was fine. The service was fine. The food was fine (a little too oily). I know "fine" is a lame adjective, but I just can't get excited enough to come up with something better. If I could give it 2 1/2 stars I would, because I feel pretty neutral about it. We ordered medium spicy, and it was very spicy. That would have been ok, but either there wasn't much else going on in terms of flavor, or it was so hot that it was eclipsed by the hotness. Maybe if we hadn't set out for Thai Thai, we wouldn't have been disappointed. There is something charming about the place being a renovated Long John Silvers (or something like that).
(3)Mark S.
Good food. Portions are small by American standards, but just right. Had the calamari app and it was different from normal fried calamari. The dipping sauce went with it well. The caramel people an ice cream was a great dessert. We will be coming here again.
(4)Anya P.
Some good some bad. Nothing was spiced as much as I would have liked, but the curry. Unfortunately I didn't order the curry. The noodles I got were pretty average and really could have used some fish sauce. Feel like I could have made them better at home and the spring rolls were bland. However all of this was take out, so keep that in mind. Still, no lime. Would have liked a lime. Good for a thai fix, but that's about it.
(3)Sean M.
I don't have a lot to say about Tuptim. The staff are friendly and helpful. The food is perfectly adequate. I've never had anything here that was less than average; it's generally pretty decent except sometimes it is much too oily. The food, however, is completely outclassed by Thai Thai just a bit down Washtenaw, meaning that the only reason to go to Tuptim, ever, is if you've set out for Thai Thai, only to realize it is closed, and are still looking to get your Thai fix.
(2)Michelle B.
I am excited to find a local Thai place that has excellent Tom Kha soup. I was expecting portions that were much smaller than I received, but had more than enough for two meals. Excellent spice, excellent service, and an excellent space. I'm very much looking forward to returning.
(4)Jay A.
I had lunch here. Pad Prik Pao Chicken was good but not spectacular. Staff was very nice and friendly. However, in my opinion Marnee Thai in downtown A2 has better Thai food. I'll need to try Thai-Thai and edit this review later!
(3)Jenny S.
I am not very adventurous in my food choices and shy away from spicy, my hubby likes super spicy. We both can have amazing food here!!
(4)Theresa F.
This place has a good Pad Thai dish, which is a must for me when it comes to Thai. It's amazing how drastically polarized the reviews are for this place -- I found it to be pretty down-the-middle. Pretty tasty, but not perfect, generic atmosphere, friendly staff. A good place to go for a relatively inexpensive dinner and a craving for Thai food. I do agree with other reviewers that their portions are a little on the small side...including their dessert dishes! I usually have quite a bit to take home for another dinner the next night, but not so much with this place. The mango with sweet rice dish just left me wanting more...if I had known the portion size I wouldn't have shared! The Thai spring rolls were pretty tasty too.
(3)Peter W.
Went for dinner with my girlfriend; Started with the Spring Rolls- they were hot, perfectly crispy / fresh, and the plum dipping sauce was delicious. Entree: I got the Tofu Pad Thai- came out really quickly. The tofu was well prepared, and it was a pretty good sized portion. Atmosphere: Overall kind of an expensive dinner. Also, the table was set with forks and knives. I didn't see a pair of chopsticks in the place. Seems strange for a Thai place. As a beverage I ordered the Thai Ice Tea- it was so drowned in sugar I couldn't get through the second sip. If it were a little more affordable, it may have netted a 4 star.
(3)Karl H.
I've spend some time in Thailand and I do enjoy this place. They have some good salads, curries, and main dishes. I particularly enjoy their cashew, basil, and shrimp dishes. They also will actually make it hot, which is the only way I enjoy some thai dishes. However, their Tom Yum is nothing the original soup I've experienced in Thailand. The real reason I don't give this place a better review has to do with their stinginess with rice. They typically give you one serving of rice for two dishes AND charge for extra rice. This is the ONLY asian place I've been to that charges for extra rice. Wtf?
(3)Evonne C.
This is just a pet peeve of mine and not meant at any specific reviewer (ok maybe a few), but unless you've had an authentic Thai food your really shouldn't judge whether a Thai restaurant is good or not, heck any ethnic restaurants for that matter unless you've had real (fill in the blank country) food. Here's my experience: I started going to Tuptim when I was studying at UM and have always tried to go back there on my return visits to Ann Arbor. I've been to Thailand on a few occasions and once was there for over a month. I live in Los Angeles, and there's just about every type of cuisine out here. I frequent Thai-town enough that my friends always ask me for the best Thai spots, so I'd like to think that I've had my share of "authentic" Thai food. With that said, I believe Tuptim is the most authentic Thai food you'll get here in Ann Arbor. My must-have dish is their Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodle) either with chicken and shrimp. They don't use tons of soy sauce, which is great because I feel like soy sauce is the cheap way to go to enhance the flavor of the dish. That doesn't by any means make it bland, as I can taste the Thai spices which always seem to be the right mix. Another one of my favorite is the Pad Thai because their sauce isn't too sweet, which I think most "Americanized" Thai restaurants tend to do. Mango sticky rice, when available, is so pretty good. I am usually not a big coconut person, but I make an exception when it comes to this dessert. During the cold, cold, cold winter season, I would always order their tom yum soup, it warms up my whole body. I never had problems with any of the dishes, but one of my friends thought her dish was spicier than she had anticipated and brought it to the attention to our waitress, they actually remade the dish to be milder, no questions asked. I thought that was pretty accommodating when it comes to customer satisfaction. I admit, Tuptim is a little bit out of the way, but I love to eat and I think this is one of the few authentic restaurants in Ann Arbor.
(5)Jackie B.
I have generally really liked eating at Tuptim Thai, but today, I had a negative experience. I went for lunch, and the lunch specials include only ONE shrimp dish, pad thai noodles with shrimp. It's a dollar more than pad thai noodles with chicken or beef or pork. They have a Thai fried rice lunch special with chicke or beef or pork, but they REFUSE to allow you to order it with shrimp, even if you will pay more. This kind of lack of care for customers is not charming. Also, once before, I went for lunch with a friend, and we really like to take a long time for lunch and chat. Tuptim's lunch hours are 11am to 2pm, and they kick you out at 2! Be warned. I think I'll just never eat there for lunch again. I am not a happy camper today, obviously.
(2)Daniel F.
This place blows and here are three reasons why: 1. The Tom Yum soup was brown and doesn't come with shrimp (okay its $2 extra). Almost by definition, Tom yum soup has shrimp (prawns) in it! 2. The server asked my girlfriend if she was Thai (she's italian/german) 3. When I asked for the thai condiments to try and save a hopeless rendition of spicy noodles, they looked at me like I was crazy. When I said I'd settle for just some fresh chiles and some fish sauce, the server reported that they didn't have any of those in the kitchen. Bleah.
(1)Monica M.
I'm really not sure why this place was under fire by reviews in the last few months, I was here for dinner about a month ago and it was impecable. The service is great, right on top of things, and the food, as I remember from 4 years ago during my undergrad time at Michigan, was delicious. Both of us practically licked our plates. We'd gotten the pad thai and the massamun curry, and a thai iced tea which was perfect. It is still the best Thai in ann arbor in my opinion.
(5)Scott P.
Just keep driving! Food is mediocre in flavor. However, I did like the amount of vegetables in the Pad see ew. However, the prices and quantities are awful. Bad food & experience and will not return.
(1)n. g.
I'd heard a lot about Tuptim being some of the best Thai in Ann Arbor, and being a Thai food lover, I was excited to eat here. Everything about this place makes me want to love it. Convenient location, decent prices, friendly staff, warm decor (admit it, you love the Long John Silver's turned Thai aesthetic). All that made it even more disappointing when my food was terrible. Appetizers were fine but the pad see ew (my go-to dish, because it's tough to mess up) was horrible--tasted like it had a cup of sugar in it. Three stars because everything BUT my entree was great. I'm hoping the bad pad see ew was a fluke, and I'l definitely be back again to give Tuptim another try. For now, though, I'm sadly underwhelmed.
(3)Marie H.
Wow...just...wow. For awhile I thought I was being too hard on the restaurants here and comparing things unfairly to San Francisco...But, it is pretty safe to say that this is the Sushi.come of Thai restaurants! Safe yourself the time and effort, buy a can of coconut milk, add 2 parts dirty dish water and a dash of tabasco sauce...you will already have a dish that is about 5 times as good as the curry at this place. Even the Thai place in the little town I grew up in is better than here! Curry: asked for Green curry "Thai hot", received watery coconut milk slightly less spicy than porridge Soup: asked for Tom Kaa, "Thai hot" with chicken, received water with a dash of coconut milk, a mushroom, and a cube of tofu I am going to go throw out my leftovers right now for fear that they might make the rest of the food in my refrigerator taste bad through some kind of refrigerator osmosis or something... However, because I believe in second and third chances, I'll go back someday because I've heard the calamari is good.
(1)Toro T.
This place always comes up as a favorite with the locals and I just don't see it. Maybe I just haven't ordered the right thing yet - although I've made it through about 1/3 of the menu. First of all the service is consistently cold and aloof. Big turn off right away. Every time I've had a meat dish it tastes like leather (beef, pork and chicken). The tofu is not much to talk about. A stark contrast to their grilled garlic shrimp which I must admit was quite tasty. And more on the positive side, the curries are flavorful and the lunch specials pretty ok. Periodically I end up here with a group or b/c my other options are closed, and I've made peace by steering clear of their meat and getting just veggie entrees. Thankfully Thai Thai has opened up just down the road providing an all around better option for Thai in the area. Strangely enough last time I was there was for a late lunch. The kitchen was frying up a huge bunch of chilis and the entire dining room had a layer of smoke causing my party, the other two tables, and the waitress to all be hacking and crying. It was bizarre and miserable. I've been there many times and this is the only time that has happened.
(2)Peter V.
The mango and sticky rice is amazing! Everything else is great too :)
(5)Jenn V.
Horrible. I will start off by saying that my review is in no way based on the location, exterior or interior of the restaurant. I noticed that my usual Thai place was out of business (Bahn Na), so I went across the street to Tuptim. I had always heard good things about it so I figured "why not"? Boy was I wrong!! I grabbed take out, and the person behind the counter was very friendly in answering questions about what was in the dishes, etc. I decided to order 2 lunch specials (the food was for 2), and was surprised how expensive it was. I was even more surprised when I realized how little we got. A VERY teeny spring roll (think pinky size), a small scoop of rice and less than a cup of actual food. I was ticked. But I figured, it's lunch, we don't need much food and it might be worth it if it's really good. But that's where I went wrong... it was horrible!! The quality of the meat was very poor.. I had to spit out many pieces into my napkin. And the sauce was very bland and watery. I honestly don't remember what we got, but it doesn't matter, because they were both bad. The worst part? We were both in the bathroom less than 20 mins after eating. And we didn't come out for awhile... Yes, it was BAD. I will never go back. The only good part? The Thai tea, and let's be honest, it's the same everywhere.
(2)Jerrett E.
I had a hankering for Thai and gave them a shot. The prices were a bit high for the portion size compared to other Thai restaurants in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area. I ordered a pretty simple dish; Pad Thai and asked for medium spice with tofu. What I received was something much hotter than hot (lips were numb for an hour) and chicken. I've given reviews off of a few trips but don't see myself going back here. Hope this helps. FYI....probably would have rated this one star if I'd given my review immediately following as I threw the dish away.
(2)Rk K.
Food was mediocre and prices were outrageous! A small bowl of Tom Ka soup was a whopping $5. The spring rolls were tasty but a bit greasy. Rest of the dishes were small portions for the outrageous prices they charge. The most irritating thing was that they serve rice in really small bowls unlike other Thai places that serve generous portion of rice. My friend's dish was supposed to have Tofu but we saw none. So she took a piece of Tofu from my dish to eat and when the waiter was told about the tofu, she said "you have tofu in your plate"! We had to convince her that it was from my dish and not my friend's. She said she would check with the chef but she came out saying "he doesn't remember if he put tofu in your dish or not"! This is a waste of time, I wish our friend hadn't dragged us there especially considering we were paying for every one's meal and we got ripped off!
(2)Lu T.
Went there with Yuxing. It;s just so-so. The noodle there tastes pretty much like No-Thai~~....
(3)Steve S.
This is my 2nd year in Ann Arbor, having translpanted myself from San Francisco, land of all this is great and amazing ethnic foods; inluding THAI. Being a food snob, i'm not moved by many restaurants in the area, but this place was amazing!!!!!! My meal for 2 included the fried tofu.....light and crunchy with a nice peanut dipping sauce. Also the coconut ginger soup. Nothing was overpowering and they used just the right amount of ginger and lemongrass so as not to overshadow the coconut. beautifully melded!!! The entree included the traditional chicken pad thai noodles, spicy basil chicken and an order of jasmine rice. Everything was exquisite. We ordered the entrees medium spicy, but i think it still had quite a kick to them. I order that thai hot tea and my date ordered the traditional thai iced tea. both were great. high recommendation for this place!!!! If you think it's gonna be a busy night, make reservations. We went on valentine's day and it was packed but we were seated right away.
(5)Todd G.
Food is ok, there are better places honestly and then there is the recurring theme in many reviews - small portions / high prices. BUT what really killed it for me is the service. Servers are often rude, lazy, and have greeted me at the door with "sorry takeout only" as much as 45 minutes before closing time! Oh, you don't wan't my business, ok NO PROBLEM!
(2)Bjorn G.
Tuptim Thai looks a bit ridiculous from the outside. It's in what used to be a Long John Silver's, and still has that characteristic style, though the mooring posts have been cut down from the front. On the inside, though, it looks quite different: deep red walls, light elegant wood furniture, and waitstaff all dressed in black. The ambience, from the inside, is quite pleasant. (But don't sit near the front window on cold days, unless you like a chilly draft.) The food here is excellent. They have many different kinds of curries (at least five as I recall), all of which can be ordered spicy to taste. All of the appetizers are very good (and believe me, I have tried *all* of them), but the calamari is my favorite. I rarely go without ordering it. They make a quality pad thai, which I think is best with pork, but is very good with shrimp as well. Their salads are also high-quality; my old boss would often get their steak salad as an entree.
(4)Grace O.
This place is amazing! We came to Ann Arbor to visit some family, and this is the place they always take visitors, because the food is so darn good! We live in Northern California where you can get a ton of Thai food, but it is mostly mediocre. I never would've expected to get some awesome food in Michigan! The larb and beef salad were really good, but the chicken wings were perfection! Crispy and golden, and the sauce was amazing! I was spooning it up because it was so good. The stand out dish was definitely the catfish though. The sauce was perfect, it was sweet, tangy, but also had just the right amount of kick to it. The catfish was perfectly cooked--tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. My son also LOVED the pad see eu. It's usually hit or miss with him with meals, but he couldn't get enough! Definitely end your meal with the mango sticky rice. It was absolutely delicious. Service was wonderful. They were really attentive and polite. They even had a changing table in the bathroom, which as a mom, I always look for as a sign that a place is kid friendly. We will definitely be back again before our trip is over!
(5)Jen Y.
My husband and I were visiting the area over Labor Day weekend and found this gem. The food was flavorful, the portions were huge, and the staff was extremely attentive and nice. A couple of things that particularly stuck out to me: i) they don't use any MSG like other local Thai restaurants but are still able to create a lot of flavor, ii) they use good ingredients like all natural chicken, and iii) the food is very authentic (having just vacationed in Thailand earlier in the summer I can attest to the authenticity). Some of my favorites were Tom Yum soup with shrimp, Pad Kee Mau, Chicken Larb (off menu item), and Hot Drums. The Thai ice tea was delicious as well. Would definitely come back again when in the area.
(5)Jenny K.
Nothing stellar on the menu except I would highly recommend the mango sticky rice dessert. Ooh, the warm coconut cream on rice with sliced mango here is wonderful. Their coconut Tom Kha soup is good as well. Everything else is just okay, in my opinion. Note, I say opinion. This place elicits quite a range of responses. Like a Rashomon story, everyone seems to have a different takeaway of Tuptim. From "the portions here are HUGE" to "where's the rest of the food?," or "this place is meh" to "Voted #1 in Ann Arbor x number of years straight," it seems that there is a lack of consensus. They're ok. A solid 3 of 5 stars, decent, enjoyable; they're not bad, but not spectacular. I for one think the portions could be substantially larger for the amount they are charging. Lunch specials begin at $9 and include a tiny scoop of rice and a half portion of meat/veggie medley and a miniature egg roll. Dinner prices jump to $13 and you don't get much more portion wise. I get sad when I'm still hungry after I eat, it makes it seem like the meal failed me. I'm not even a big girl, but I know a good deal when I see it and I see that they could at least give an extra scoop of rice, come on. As for ambience, this former LJS is pretty cozy. Service is nice as well.
(3)Naz M.
It's probably wrong to judge a place by how good their Thai restaurants are, BUT this is my life and I'm sharing my feelings with you all. Deal with it. I love Thai restaurant food and all my life I was spoiled and lived in a space that had a multitude of places to choose from. I decided long ago that Drunken Noodle (Pad Kee Mao) or Pad See Ewe are normally my defaults and if you can do those right, you're alright by me. I did not dine-in, instead my posse and I decided to order in for New Year's and it turned out to be a great idea. The food was ready in time for pick-up, and it went without a hitch. Everything was well prepared. Luckily we got to taste a little bit of everything, a bit of a smorgasbord if you will and I think I will be venturing into new options as I thought the Crispy Cod was just delicious. The sweet garlic chili sauce was delectable. If you know anything about me (I'm about to share), I love sweet things. Sweet things include people LOL, meats, sauces just yum yum yum. My Pad See Ewe was simply okay, I'm not going to call my mom about it. Same thing goes for the Pad Thai and the additional curries. Not great, but more than edible which is more than I can say for other places I have been to in the area. This is an adequate place to have a Thai meal. The staff is courteous, the food is decent and they can accommodate groups for their sit-in or take-out meals. I'm not mad at them.
(3)Mia M.
Ehh, okay. So after coming here a few more times after my first review, I've decided to amend my initial review. I must have been so excited to find a place with excellent Thai Iced Tea that I didn't even realize I was spending $3 for a cup of ice and 6 fluid ounces of beverage. I can't be the only person who thinks that's a bit much. I've since tried a few more of their dishes, and while I haven't been totally disgusted by any of them, I haven't been impressed either. Most of the food is just okay. My partner likes the Drunken Noodles, I believe, but because we're vegetarian, they get them without any oyster of fish sauce. I've tried their Pad Thai, Pad See Ewe, something with eggplant and one or two other dishes and it's all okay. The spring rolls are good, but I can't just go to a restaurant for spring rolls and tea! Overall, I'd still say this place is worth a try. The service is still phenomenal and they're usually fairly busy, so there must be something that my vegetarian pallet is missing.
(3)Katie J.
I've never had Thai food before, but I was incredibly impressed with the food at Tuptim. From the iced coffee and tea to the curries to the mango sweet rice dessert, everything was flavorful, unique, and delicious. Our server was really nice, too. We were the only people in the place so I wanted to give a good review so more people will eat there and keep it in business. Give Tuptim a try, you definitely won't regret it!
(5)Joe G.
Super good Pad Thai. Simple and quick. If you order medium spice they give you some spicy Thai chillies in the mix.
(4)Albert T.
I was very disappointed by the food here. I ordered the red Thai curry and it was very watery with little flavor. It seemed to lack much coconut milk or curry paste. We also ordered summer rolls and fish cakes. The summer rolls were made with what seemed to be store bought spring mix and the fish cake were simply very average fish cake with plum sauce.
(1)Ray A.
This is a very average mid-grade Thai restaurant. It's substantially better than others in A2, but not as good as average Thai places in bigger cities. That being said, takeout was quick. Dishes were packed neatly in foil-lined cardboard containers, easy to recycle. The food was okay. Pad see ew with tofu was much better than green curry. Skip the green curry.
(3)Aaron L.
We got take-out tonight from Tuptim: pad see ew, basil fried rice and green curry (all w/ tofu). The take out service was friendly and convenient. I appreciate that the two non-curry dishes came in biodegradable packages. The pad see ew was OK -- the sauce lacked the sweet/salty/smoky flavor that makes pad see ew such a crave-able dish and it included a red pepper flavor that is not my favorite. The basil fried rice was pretty tasty and nicely infused with fresh basil flavor throughout. The green curry was not worth ordering -- very soupy (mostly oil) without much flavor (Trader Joe's green curry is vastly superior). Overall, the ingredients were fresh but the cooking was mediocre. Tuptim does not fill the gaping need for good thai in the A2 area.
(2)Gregg G.
I have eaten here almost weekly for years. Love the basil beef, the ginger stir fry, and the chicken fried rice. The staff is always friendly and efficient. By FAR the best Thai food in the area - and trust me, I've tried them all plenty.
(5)Patrick T.
The only reason to come here is if you tried to go to Thai Thai and it was closed. The food is quite expensive, and flavor-wise, not that memorable. The presentation is nice, but that's about it. I think it's maybe worth trying once and seeing for yourself (i.e. the first time you tried to go to Thai Thai and it was closed), because some people do enjoy this restaurant.
(2)Rebecca W.
I would probably give 2.5 stars if I could. Soup (vegetarian) was good, thai iced tea. Very very nice staff. Medium was too hot although still edible with thai iced tea at the ready. Here's the thing, and why I am writing the review: tofu and eggplant tasted like Chinese food, not Thai. I've never in my life had Thai that tasted like Chinese. I find that quite strange. And given I went to a Thai place and not Chinese...well, I kind of wanted Thai.
(3)Khom V.
Love this place! Wish it was closer to my house. We always get great service and the food is authentic then most Thai places in the area. A must try if you are craving Thai food.
(4)Logynn H.
It's so adorable in here. The staff are sweet and lovely also. I don't usually like fried rice, but they had a Tuptim fried rice with raisins in it that sounded so unique I had to try it. It was fantastic. I loved it. I do, however, think that the prices are way too high for what you get. I would come here all the time if it were cheaper.
(4)Laura P.
I finally discovered something I love here. The shrimp mushroom dish. I promised to update my review if that ever were to occur. It was very tasty and the portions were nice. Try the side of house made plum sauce with your spring rolls!
(4)Kip W.
I so wish I could write a glowing review for this place; however, I can't. I am writing this while I'm totally irritated. This place is just down the street from where I live and I used to go here twice a week, but they raised their prices and so started going much less frequently. Well, they raised them again and I may have to stop completely. I do understand the need to raise price, but doing that while portions get smaller and the quality is going down just doesn't work for me. I am on a budget and want to either get what I am paying for, or at least have the meal knock my socks off so that I don't care what I pay. Neither is happening anymore. Tuptim is located in an old Long John Silver's restaurant. The outside does have a bit of new paint, but inside is still almost the same. There is no ambiance here whatsoever. The tables are very close together and I was frequently getting jostled about by other customers. Again, ambiance is not that important if the food is worth it. So, I just started ordering my food to go. It was always a very generous portion and home was way more comfortable. I love the Panang Curry, or should say I "loved" it and I was also a pretty big fan of the Massaman Panang Curry with chicken or shrimp. I am now writing this review while looking over my half empty container (never was full) of Panang Curry, with almost no chicken. I will sign off now, so I can make some additional chicken to supplement my pathetically meager $14 dinner . Oh, I will also make some brown rice since they wanted to charge me an additional dollar for that! Again, that used to be free! I wish you better luck and DON"T bring a first date here if you want to impress her!
(2)Shirley H.
My hubs would probably say this is his favorite thai restaurant but I can't agree. I do agree with a yelper who said they don't offer as much on the menu. Not to mention, they don't offer my favorite...minched chicken basil dish. I've ordered it a few times and was surprised when they told me they would charge me for them to dice up the chicken. So instead of asking them to dice up the chicken last night, I decided to go with a safe dish-the pad thai. I was so surprised at the amount of food that was on my plate and was really happy with the amount of spice in the dish. T is probably one of the better restaurants that nails the level of spiciness.
(3)Maura W.
Been looking for decent Thai in Ann Arbor and finally decided to try this place! My friend and I had the Tom Ka and Tom Yum soups- both were PHENOMENAL. Split a Pad Thai which was good as well, but wish it had a little more egg.
(4)Ashley G.
Interesting experience. Went to redeem my 10% off from Yelp... However the server charged us less than she was supposed to for the pad see ewe, the lady at the counter noticed and we actually ended up paying more for our food with the 10% off, than we would have without it. Don't punish the customer for your mistake!! Pad see ewe was alright, but I'd prefer anything from Thai Thai over the food here.
(1)André L.
Love the Thai food. Just wish they had crab rangoon. The pad kee mau is awesome. I keep coming back for it.
(5)MItch R.
Great fresh thai food, good atmosphere. Can be pricey, but you get quality for the money. If you like spice get the hot if you dare. The nam prick pow is amazing with shrimp. I enjoy the food and would say it is well worth the upgrade from chinese food around ypsi and ann arbor
(5)Bryanne H.
Favorite Thai place in the area! Absolutely love. Also provide great service. The chicken is also free range, which is always a plus!
(5)Lily S.
Love this place. The food here is authentic or at least the most authentic you'll get around the Ann-Arbor area.
(5)Bob R.
This is our go to place for Thai. My favorite is the Nam Prik Pow, but the Pad Thai is good and the tapioca pudding is to die for. Siam Cuisine still has the best Tom Kha, but Tuptim's is good.
(5)Nancy C.
Tuptim Thai has a deceivingly delicious Pad Thai. Deceiving because the noodles come out browner than I am use to, so I was skeptical initially. But it was delicious! It also came with (yes, I counted) 5 jumbo sized shrimps. What's the deal with restaurants being so stingy with their shrimp nowadays? *Shake my head* But nope, not here. I was very pleased. The basil fried rice, on the other hand, was way too spicy for me. Despite having requested "medium" spiciness (which was what we asked for with our pad thai as well), I couldn't take more than two bites without drinking some water. Fortunately, my trooper boyfriend (likely after observing me in distress from the spice level) let me finish the pad thai while he downed the rest of the fried rice. The waitresses were kind and attentive. Our water glasses were never empty, which was helpful given the above scenario...
(3)N P.
I used to go here a lot and at that time it was a 4 star place in my opinion. I loved the spring rolls and the vegetarian curries and the basil fried rice. We'd order all kind of items too and even carried out a few times. There was no problem with the taste of the food. At times service in the restaurant was very slow but the staff was always very nice. Recently I've found that the food was way too oily (especially the spring rolls) and that there was too much spice (meaning it was masking a lot of the previously enjoyed flavor). I have always mentioned that we were vegetarians and that we don't eat fish or fish oils but I've had a fish like taste to the spring rolls twice too. I don't know if they have changed the preparation of their dishes or these were just a few isolated incidents. I'll give them another chance but I'm going to wait awhile.
(3)Crystal P.
When my friends said we were getting together at Tuptim Thai, I'll be honest I sneered my face not wanting to go. The Thai food I've tried has always been the noodles and wasn't a big fan of the cuisine. But, I went anyway and tried to be adventurous and try something totally different than the usual Thai noodles and let me say did Tuptim Thai sure turn my frown upside down! I ordered the yellow curry with beef and got it hot spicy...my belly and taste buds sang a song of complete harmony and bliss for gratitude to introducing them to such a wonderful treat! In matter fact I went back the next day to order the same exact thing! I'm addicted! Only reason it's not 5 stars is that it is the only dish I tried.
(4)Johnes S.
Horrible food - overpriced, service is horrible. also.I will not go there again. My lunch was more like a soup and not very filling. The waitress was confused .
(1)Manowar M.
This is by far my favorite Thai restaurant in the area. The staff is very friendly and I get my food very quickly. I order the same thing every time, cashew nuts with chicken hot. I can't say for the other dishes on the menu as I've never eaten them but I don't feel the need to change my favorite dish. The building could use a little sprucing up but that doesn't detract from the quality of the food. It's always fresh and tasty.
(5)Barron M.
Hands down, best tasting Thai food around town...I only gave 3 stars because the staff could be better at service, very inflexible and they don't deliver.
(3)Lakshmi R.
I had Pad thai at this place. It's not that good. Nice ambiance and Food is not upto mark. Not willing to return again to this restaurant.
(2)Sarah M.
I was disappointed with this place. I love Thai food because its usually spicy! I ordered the Panang curry with chicken. I ordered it medium just to be safe that I wouldn't burn my lips off. It was the blandest, mildest medium panang curry I've ever had. On the up side the staff was super friendly and attentive (almost to an annoying point). I'd probably give this place another try, but honestly, only if Thai Thai is closed or I'm with someone that wants to come here.
(2)Josh C.
Tuptim is a place you can count on for being consistent as it is. The food is good, the prices reasonable if slightly high, atmosphere classy, and the service excellent - they win awards for Thai in the area for good reason. It's a great place to get Thai if you're passively into ethnic food rather than passionately. Unfortunately, I've never once been taken seriously when I requested my meal "extra spicy" and the vegetarian/vegan selection (at least as it exists on the menu) is somewhat limited. Not awful limited, mind you, but surprisingly so for a Thai restaurant - there's something like 4-6 dishes, maybe? This is the Ann Arbor area, where there is a huge veg population. That an Asian restaurant would offer so few options baffles me. But that's neither here nor there. Anyway, this place is pretty good but - honestly - I generally don't bother visiting here, simply because I prefer Siam Square and Thai Thai. No offense meant for the staff, who do what they do very well. I just consistently have better experiences elsewhere.
(3)Neha A.
Didn't like it at all. We ordered red curry and the curry was so watery and soupy. It totally lacked consistency. Also costly for the quantity they provide. Not coming back.
(1)Megan K.
I wasn't really impressed with this place at all. I ordered a bowl of the Tom Yum soup and the red curry with chicken. My boyfriend ordered the Pad Thai. My "bowl" of soup for $5 was barely larger than a cup and my cup of tea was $2, a little outrageous in my opinion. The Tom Yum soup was a few pieces of chicken, a couple of button mushrooms and a ton of chili oil and chili flakes. Real Tom Yum soup should have lots of cilantro and lemongrass, this soup had neither. My red curry had good flavor but was pathetically sized. I ate the whole thing and I was still hungry. I ordered my food 'hot' and the waitress assured me that 'hot' was super spicy. The spicier, the better, in my opinion. But the food was barely spicy, my lips tingled a little bit, nothing special. My boyfriend was very disappointed with the size of his portion as well. The pad thai was pretty generic but again, not that hot. We won't eat here again. Too expensive for what you get and what you get isn't that great.
(2)Rachel E.
this place was pretty good, but not the best thai I've ever had and not the worst. I went here with my friend because we were told it's where the locals go (off campus). We got the dumplings and we split chicken pad sea eew. I think they must be struggling for business because it was pretty empty and there were yelp and foursquare deals. We used to foursquare deal to get a free soda. The food was alright, nothing to write home about. The food also came out really fast..maybe TOO fast...
(2)Allen L.
I hadn't been to Tuptim in years (at least 5) and I've been reminded why. Went here because Thaithai was closed. It was simply disappointing food. Service was better than I remembered though.
(2)Jiah C.
I ordered shrimp Pad Thai for pick up. The entire dish tasted of frozen shrimp chemicals, and the actual shrimp disintegrated (not to be confused with melt-in-your-mouth) in my mouth, causing me to be completely disgusted. I've been permanently turned off by this place, need I say more?
(1)Alex H.
Pros :Good pricing and friendly staff, pretty clean environment from the naked eye Cons: The portion is a bit small and the taste was very bland. I got the pad thai chicken expecting a mouth full of flavors. Boy was I wrong ,to be honest it tasted like nothing. Coming from a background of Thai Foods, this place is on the low end of thai foods in ann arbor/ ypsl area. Will try again but not anytime soon.
(2)Robin Z.
I was made very grumpy when even my pad see ew was done with pathetically skinny noodles.
(2)David S.
While there is less expensive Thai-Food to be had in the Arbor-Ypsi area, Tuptim takes all when it comes to flavor and portion size. I am always pleased with the taste and atmosphere when I dine here, along with the generous portion size Thai food is known for. Bottom Line: Much better than common fast-food type Thai you'll find in these college towns.
(4)Liz W.
Having been warned thanks to yelp about the portion sizes we did not come here starved. Our appetites are down a lot these days but we are enjoying some good area flavors to help perk them up a bit. I thought since we were in the area anyway why not give this place a shot. I brought my dad while my mom was off having tests yet again. We have really been looking forward to our daily Ypsi-Arbor culinary adventures to distract us from our daily rounds of hospital drear. It does seem to help to have a foodie-ish destination to look forward to. We tried to come in with no prejudgements but did have a little giggle at the distinctive Long John Silver appearance outside. My father is not a giant fan of yellow but he can deal. Neither of us care much about atmosphere if food tastes good though. We decided on the chicken satay appetizer. We agreed that it was quite good. I did especially like the sauce. I think it was the best thing we ate there. My dad is a basics guy, cut him some slack though as he is 66. He got his usual pad thai with chicken and was content. He said he has had better but it made him happy enough. I thought it was fine too but pad thai doesn't wow me or anything for the most part, it and pad see ewe are fairly much what most people get when dining Thai. I am never all that excited about it myself as usually someone I am eating with gets one or the other so I have eaten it quite a bit. I got some green curry chicken for myself as I am a fan of eggplant and basil and I was happy. Good flavor, spiced as asked, which was fairly spicy but not mouth burning. Smallish portion of rice but I was not that hungry at any rate. Staff was friendly and efficient. No complaints at all. It was good. We were happy but nothing really grabbed us at all. I like my usual haunt better to be honest. We would each come back but only if nearby.
(3)L C.
I'm surprised by the poor reviews as TipTim is the home to my favorite dish and dessert! Their tofu and eggplant dish is delicious! My mom introduced me to their home style tapioca pudding. The dessert is served warm with coconut milk- amazzzingg!
(5)Stephen H.
Best thai food in a 20 mile radius-easily. Pad bai kra pow is excellent as was the hot and sour soup, although they have their own American names for these. Prices are very reasonable. Its in an old long john silvers on Washtenaw near Golfside. You cant miss it.
(4)Lena L.
Food is decent to good. One time my pad thai had burnt peanuts on it and i couldn't get the burnt taste out of my mouth. The next time I had pad seeyoon and it was good and saucy. the third time I had tofu pad thai which was made just right. The place is small and there are no booths. The service is pretty good though. They are very nice. I had the Thai Coffee, which is one of my favorite; however, it is so much cheaper in California. If you love coffee, try Thai iced coffee. it is sweet and has a creamy milk in it, like half and half which balances out the sweetness well.
(3)Esther Y.
Pretty solid place for thai basil fried rice and tom khaa. Both were pretty good. The tom khaa was a little sweet (the coconut milk just was too sweet?) and in the basil fried rice they did red pepper flakes as opposed to the little green thai chili peppers, but the flavor was still ok. I haven't tried much more thai food in this area, but this was a pretty decent start.
(3)Kathy L.
Best Thai food I've had thus far in Michigan. Better than Siam or Marnee and WAAAAAY better than No Thai. It doesn't compare to the Thai restaurants on the West coast, but it's pretty decent for Ann Arbor. I like the summer rolls and their curries. Another plus is (if you order a curry for take out) the curries come in a BUCKET. Seriously -- I got four meals out of one order of vegetable panang curry. So the bottom line is it's a good value for a good taste. But, once again, we ARE in Michigan, so don't expect to be mentally transported overseas...
(4)mariah c.
I've had some good meals here in the past, but my last visit was a pretty big disappointment. So much so, that while eating my food I thought "I should have gone to Thai Thai." I've had good curries here -- I know they know how to make an at least decent curry. Unfortunately, the curry that I ordered on a recent lunch visit looked like someone had just stirred oli and water together -- you know, like one of those oil and water desk toys they used to sell at Natural Wonders in the mall? Something was not right -- something was separating. I asked for medium hot, and the spice level was not even mild. I felt like, given some prior experience, it had to be an "off day," but still, when I want some spice around this area of town, I'll probably look elsewhere for a while before I give Tuptim another shot. The server was very nice, but that's about the best I can say. It felt like money down the drain.
(2)John Paul P.
(Originally visited on 2/3/10) February I was assigned to St. Joe's for the month, so I had to check out the local eateries. This was the first place I checked out with my roommate. I had been here once previously and I thought it was fairly average, but one can't go wrong with Thai food right? Well, we were wrong. My friend's pad thai was very average, and my pad see ew was well ... interesting. Firstly we didn't get any chopsticks with our meal which is forgivable but I mean c'mon. We're both asian here. Secondly, there was no egg in the pad see ew, which completely surprised me. Thirdly, despite asking how spicy we wanted our dishes, the red pepper was still separate from the dish, so at first I was thinking "this isn't spicy at all". Finally, something else seemed to be missing ... oh the citrus-y lime! I'm used to having a wedge I can squeeze over the dish initially. It was nowhere to be seen. My friend asked for lime ... and they gave us lime juice. Wait, huh? Service was average, atmosphere wasn't bad. But I wish the food was better. I really wanted to like the place. I'm afraid to say there are better places in Toledo.
(2)Chelsea M.
I just had lunch with co-workers and it was great. A tad pricey for lunch but overwhelmingly an excellent experience. I order the pad thai shrimp and from the feed back I got about my co-workers dishes they really liked it. I will be going back.
(4)Lucy K.
Had lunch here last weekend. The place was empty, so crowding and service wasn't a problem at all and the food came quickly and was hot. My friend and I enjoyed the spring rolls (I loved the mushrooms in them). I ordered the Green Curry with chicken and she got the pad thai with chicken. Both of us were satisfied with the food, but not necessarily wowed. Good enough for lunch with a friend!
(3)Mary F.
Tuptim Thai Restaurant - (Keep driving) Tuptim runs these ads in the monthly Ann Arbor Observer magazine saying it's been voted Best Thai Quisine by readers. Can I meet some of these readers, please? In what incarnation of Tuptim was this prize awarded? Before you think I'm being unduly unfair, I've eaten here both when it opened and afterwards. Even did take-out once or twice. On all occasions, the staff was surly, the food swimming in oil (so much so we had to spoon the stuff out) and on top of that, Tuptim has a terrible layout and flow that would benefit from an authentic Feng Shui practitioner. One can live with the boxy layout. The building WAS the old Long John Silvers after all and still has that fish-shack look from the outside but this is of small moment:: Build-out's cost tons of money and new restaurant owners are understandably chary of spending huge amounts upfront on cosmetic changes. Get the FOOD right, though! This diner is willing to look past the dingiest surroundings if the place is clean and the food is good. The takeout people have no choice but to stand in the way and impede the flow of the interior even more. It takes a while to get seated and longer still to get someone - anyone? - to come to your table. Not that it matters. ...When the food does come, it's ho-hum at best and godawful at worst. Does the chicken for the Green Curry have to be quite so stringy and tough when white meat chicken is so cheap at GFS? Tuptim has a tendency to have the food sitting in a pool of oil that has the consistency of axle grease as if to add an air of Thai verisimilitude to the proceedings. Duh. No it doesn't, guys. ..so it was a happy day for us when Thai Thai opened its doors in the old Charlie's Country Squire Maill about 1/2 a mile away. (By the bye, the massive Asian supermarket opposite the Big Boy on Washtenaw Ave. has a ready-mix Green, Yellow and Massaman Curry that is so much better than the Tuptim offerings) and I would trust their humble container of Thai Curry mix ANY DAY OF THE WEEK over Tuptim's tasteless, third-rate offerings. What is wrong with a restaurant when a container of 'Just-add-Chicken/Beef' MIX is to be preferred over your made-in-house version? What makes me sad is that some people believe Tuptim's version is tasty and it's really not their poor misguided fault!: If you haven't had the real stuff or even a good passing imitation of the actual dish, what choice do you have but to believe the advertisements and trust that it's true? But hope springs eternal and it is to be hoped that Tuptim gets it's head out of its arse pronto and does some much-needed tweaking of the menu. For them, it's an absolute necessity given the increasing number of Thai restaurants in Ann Arbor/Washtenaw County. For right now however, when it comes to dining at Tuptim, I'll have to channel Poe's raven and say, "...Nevermore'.
(1)Hymae W.
This is one of those places you only get carry out from. Their portions are HUGE. My girlfriend say's the tufu pad thai is very good. Personal i enjoy the nah nar.
(3)Kate B.
Tup Tim is pretty darn good for a Thai restaurant in a small town. Their spring rolls are wonderful: perfectly crisp, well-balanced filling that isn't all filler - if you order them via take-out they put them in a vented container so they do not get soggy, but stay warm! I've tried most of their soups, and have been satisfied with the level of heat, amount of ingredients, and overall flavor. Mmmmmm~ I generally stick to medium-spicy curry dishes, and have had great luck with the basil beef green or red curries, chicken curry with eggplant, Pad See-Ewe with tofu or chicken. I imagine their vegetable dishes are tasty as they do not skimp on delicious veggies in their meat dishes. I usually have to order extra rice just to soak up the sauces, but it's so inexpensive it's not an issue. The interior of the restaurant is clean, and nicely decorated - I don't recall any booths, mostly tables and chairs. Service is perfunctory but generally prompt. In response to someone's review that they had to ask for chopsticks -- forks and spoons are commonly used in Thailand except for the rare street food/noodles place - Chopsticks were introduced by the Chinese in the 1930's or so but remain uncommon for everyday use.
(3)lily c.
We tried Tuptim because Thai Thai (my favorite!!!) was closed, and I already had my heart set on Thai food. It was fine. The service was fine. The food was fine (a little too oily). I know "fine" is a lame adjective, but I just can't get excited enough to come up with something better. If I could give it 2 1/2 stars I would, because I feel pretty neutral about it. We ordered medium spicy, and it was very spicy. That would have been ok, but either there wasn't much else going on in terms of flavor, or it was so hot that it was eclipsed by the hotness. Maybe if we hadn't set out for Thai Thai, we wouldn't have been disappointed. There is something charming about the place being a renovated Long John Silvers (or something like that).
(3)Mark S.
Good food. Portions are small by American standards, but just right. Had the calamari app and it was different from normal fried calamari. The dipping sauce went with it well. The caramel people an ice cream was a great dessert. We will be coming here again.
(4)Anya P.
Some good some bad. Nothing was spiced as much as I would have liked, but the curry. Unfortunately I didn't order the curry. The noodles I got were pretty average and really could have used some fish sauce. Feel like I could have made them better at home and the spring rolls were bland. However all of this was take out, so keep that in mind. Still, no lime. Would have liked a lime. Good for a thai fix, but that's about it.
(3)Sean M.
I don't have a lot to say about Tuptim. The staff are friendly and helpful. The food is perfectly adequate. I've never had anything here that was less than average; it's generally pretty decent except sometimes it is much too oily. The food, however, is completely outclassed by Thai Thai just a bit down Washtenaw, meaning that the only reason to go to Tuptim, ever, is if you've set out for Thai Thai, only to realize it is closed, and are still looking to get your Thai fix.
(2)Michelle B.
I am excited to find a local Thai place that has excellent Tom Kha soup. I was expecting portions that were much smaller than I received, but had more than enough for two meals. Excellent spice, excellent service, and an excellent space. I'm very much looking forward to returning.
(4)Jay A.
I had lunch here. Pad Prik Pao Chicken was good but not spectacular. Staff was very nice and friendly. However, in my opinion Marnee Thai in downtown A2 has better Thai food. I'll need to try Thai-Thai and edit this review later!
(3)Jenny S.
I am not very adventurous in my food choices and shy away from spicy, my hubby likes super spicy. We both can have amazing food here!!
(4)Theresa F.
This place has a good Pad Thai dish, which is a must for me when it comes to Thai. It's amazing how drastically polarized the reviews are for this place -- I found it to be pretty down-the-middle. Pretty tasty, but not perfect, generic atmosphere, friendly staff. A good place to go for a relatively inexpensive dinner and a craving for Thai food. I do agree with other reviewers that their portions are a little on the small side...including their dessert dishes! I usually have quite a bit to take home for another dinner the next night, but not so much with this place. The mango with sweet rice dish just left me wanting more...if I had known the portion size I wouldn't have shared! The Thai spring rolls were pretty tasty too.
(3)Peter W.
Went for dinner with my girlfriend; Started with the Spring Rolls- they were hot, perfectly crispy / fresh, and the plum dipping sauce was delicious. Entree: I got the Tofu Pad Thai- came out really quickly. The tofu was well prepared, and it was a pretty good sized portion. Atmosphere: Overall kind of an expensive dinner. Also, the table was set with forks and knives. I didn't see a pair of chopsticks in the place. Seems strange for a Thai place. As a beverage I ordered the Thai Ice Tea- it was so drowned in sugar I couldn't get through the second sip. If it were a little more affordable, it may have netted a 4 star.
(3)Karl H.
I've spend some time in Thailand and I do enjoy this place. They have some good salads, curries, and main dishes. I particularly enjoy their cashew, basil, and shrimp dishes. They also will actually make it hot, which is the only way I enjoy some thai dishes. However, their Tom Yum is nothing the original soup I've experienced in Thailand. The real reason I don't give this place a better review has to do with their stinginess with rice. They typically give you one serving of rice for two dishes AND charge for extra rice. This is the ONLY asian place I've been to that charges for extra rice. Wtf?
(3)Evonne C.
This is just a pet peeve of mine and not meant at any specific reviewer (ok maybe a few), but unless you've had an authentic Thai food your really shouldn't judge whether a Thai restaurant is good or not, heck any ethnic restaurants for that matter unless you've had real (fill in the blank country) food. Here's my experience: I started going to Tuptim when I was studying at UM and have always tried to go back there on my return visits to Ann Arbor. I've been to Thailand on a few occasions and once was there for over a month. I live in Los Angeles, and there's just about every type of cuisine out here. I frequent Thai-town enough that my friends always ask me for the best Thai spots, so I'd like to think that I've had my share of "authentic" Thai food. With that said, I believe Tuptim is the most authentic Thai food you'll get here in Ann Arbor. My must-have dish is their Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodle) either with chicken and shrimp. They don't use tons of soy sauce, which is great because I feel like soy sauce is the cheap way to go to enhance the flavor of the dish. That doesn't by any means make it bland, as I can taste the Thai spices which always seem to be the right mix. Another one of my favorite is the Pad Thai because their sauce isn't too sweet, which I think most "Americanized" Thai restaurants tend to do. Mango sticky rice, when available, is so pretty good. I am usually not a big coconut person, but I make an exception when it comes to this dessert. During the cold, cold, cold winter season, I would always order their tom yum soup, it warms up my whole body. I never had problems with any of the dishes, but one of my friends thought her dish was spicier than she had anticipated and brought it to the attention to our waitress, they actually remade the dish to be milder, no questions asked. I thought that was pretty accommodating when it comes to customer satisfaction. I admit, Tuptim is a little bit out of the way, but I love to eat and I think this is one of the few authentic restaurants in Ann Arbor.
(5)Jackie B.
I have generally really liked eating at Tuptim Thai, but today, I had a negative experience. I went for lunch, and the lunch specials include only ONE shrimp dish, pad thai noodles with shrimp. It's a dollar more than pad thai noodles with chicken or beef or pork. They have a Thai fried rice lunch special with chicke or beef or pork, but they REFUSE to allow you to order it with shrimp, even if you will pay more. This kind of lack of care for customers is not charming. Also, once before, I went for lunch with a friend, and we really like to take a long time for lunch and chat. Tuptim's lunch hours are 11am to 2pm, and they kick you out at 2! Be warned. I think I'll just never eat there for lunch again. I am not a happy camper today, obviously.
(2)Daniel F.
This place blows and here are three reasons why: 1. The Tom Yum soup was brown and doesn't come with shrimp (okay its $2 extra). Almost by definition, Tom yum soup has shrimp (prawns) in it! 2. The server asked my girlfriend if she was Thai (she's italian/german) 3. When I asked for the thai condiments to try and save a hopeless rendition of spicy noodles, they looked at me like I was crazy. When I said I'd settle for just some fresh chiles and some fish sauce, the server reported that they didn't have any of those in the kitchen. Bleah.
(1)Monica M.
I'm really not sure why this place was under fire by reviews in the last few months, I was here for dinner about a month ago and it was impecable. The service is great, right on top of things, and the food, as I remember from 4 years ago during my undergrad time at Michigan, was delicious. Both of us practically licked our plates. We'd gotten the pad thai and the massamun curry, and a thai iced tea which was perfect. It is still the best Thai in ann arbor in my opinion.
(5)n. g.
I'd heard a lot about Tuptim being some of the best Thai in Ann Arbor, and being a Thai food lover, I was excited to eat here. Everything about this place makes me want to love it. Convenient location, decent prices, friendly staff, warm decor (admit it, you love the Long John Silver's turned Thai aesthetic). All that made it even more disappointing when my food was terrible. Appetizers were fine but the pad see ew (my go-to dish, because it's tough to mess up) was horrible--tasted like it had a cup of sugar in it. Three stars because everything BUT my entree was great. I'm hoping the bad pad see ew was a fluke, and I'l definitely be back again to give Tuptim another try. For now, though, I'm sadly underwhelmed.
(3)Scott P.
Just keep driving! Food is mediocre in flavor. However, I did like the amount of vegetables in the Pad see ew. However, the prices and quantities are awful. Bad food & experience and will not return.
(1)Marie H.
Wow...just...wow. For awhile I thought I was being too hard on the restaurants here and comparing things unfairly to San Francisco...But, it is pretty safe to say that this is the Sushi.come of Thai restaurants! Safe yourself the time and effort, buy a can of coconut milk, add 2 parts dirty dish water and a dash of tabasco sauce...you will already have a dish that is about 5 times as good as the curry at this place. Even the Thai place in the little town I grew up in is better than here! Curry: asked for Green curry "Thai hot", received watery coconut milk slightly less spicy than porridge Soup: asked for Tom Kaa, "Thai hot" with chicken, received water with a dash of coconut milk, a mushroom, and a cube of tofu I am going to go throw out my leftovers right now for fear that they might make the rest of the food in my refrigerator taste bad through some kind of refrigerator osmosis or something... However, because I believe in second and third chances, I'll go back someday because I've heard the calamari is good.
(1)Mike O.
I love this place! I live far away for school and I make time to come here EVERY BREAK. The food is fantastic, the service is great, and THE FOOD IS FANTASTIC (yes, I said it twice). It's the best Thai food I've ever had, and my whole family loves it too. Definitely recommend this to anyone who wants great food at a reasonable price with a nice chill atmosphere.
(5)Coco C.
Best Thai food around, and frankly, the best Thai food I've had in ages...totally non-greasy or oil-slicked. They have various types of curries, all super tasty (One has eggplant, which I abhor, but was so tasty that I didn't notice it was actually eggplant until halfway through the meal). The pad Thai is also fantastic, and the spiciness comes in various levels for your wussy Amercianized mouth... They refill sodas faster than you can drink them, so watch your drink.
(4)Toro T.
This place always comes up as a favorite with the locals and I just don't see it. Maybe I just haven't ordered the right thing yet - although I've made it through about 1/3 of the menu. First of all the service is consistently cold and aloof. Big turn off right away. Every time I've had a meat dish it tastes like leather (beef, pork and chicken). The tofu is not much to talk about. A stark contrast to their grilled garlic shrimp which I must admit was quite tasty. And more on the positive side, the curries are flavorful and the lunch specials pretty ok. Periodically I end up here with a group or b/c my other options are closed, and I've made peace by steering clear of their meat and getting just veggie entrees. Thankfully Thai Thai has opened up just down the road providing an all around better option for Thai in the area. Strangely enough last time I was there was for a late lunch. The kitchen was frying up a huge bunch of chilis and the entire dining room had a layer of smoke causing my party, the other two tables, and the waitress to all be hacking and crying. It was bizarre and miserable. I've been there many times and this is the only time that has happened.
(2)Peter V.
The mango and sticky rice is amazing! Everything else is great too :)
(5)Jenn V.
Horrible. I will start off by saying that my review is in no way based on the location, exterior or interior of the restaurant. I noticed that my usual Thai place was out of business (Bahn Na), so I went across the street to Tuptim. I had always heard good things about it so I figured "why not"? Boy was I wrong!! I grabbed take out, and the person behind the counter was very friendly in answering questions about what was in the dishes, etc. I decided to order 2 lunch specials (the food was for 2), and was surprised how expensive it was. I was even more surprised when I realized how little we got. A VERY teeny spring roll (think pinky size), a small scoop of rice and less than a cup of actual food. I was ticked. But I figured, it's lunch, we don't need much food and it might be worth it if it's really good. But that's where I went wrong... it was horrible!! The quality of the meat was very poor.. I had to spit out many pieces into my napkin. And the sauce was very bland and watery. I honestly don't remember what we got, but it doesn't matter, because they were both bad. The worst part? We were both in the bathroom less than 20 mins after eating. And we didn't come out for awhile... Yes, it was BAD. I will never go back. The only good part? The Thai tea, and let's be honest, it's the same everywhere.
(2)Jerrett E.
I had a hankering for Thai and gave them a shot. The prices were a bit high for the portion size compared to other Thai restaurants in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area. I ordered a pretty simple dish; Pad Thai and asked for medium spice with tofu. What I received was something much hotter than hot (lips were numb for an hour) and chicken. I've given reviews off of a few trips but don't see myself going back here. Hope this helps. FYI....probably would have rated this one star if I'd given my review immediately following as I threw the dish away.
(2)Rk K.
Food was mediocre and prices were outrageous! A small bowl of Tom Ka soup was a whopping $5. The spring rolls were tasty but a bit greasy. Rest of the dishes were small portions for the outrageous prices they charge. The most irritating thing was that they serve rice in really small bowls unlike other Thai places that serve generous portion of rice. My friend's dish was supposed to have Tofu but we saw none. So she took a piece of Tofu from my dish to eat and when the waiter was told about the tofu, she said "you have tofu in your plate"! We had to convince her that it was from my dish and not my friend's. She said she would check with the chef but she came out saying "he doesn't remember if he put tofu in your dish or not"! This is a waste of time, I wish our friend hadn't dragged us there especially considering we were paying for every one's meal and we got ripped off!
(2)Lu T.
Went there with Yuxing. It;s just so-so. The noodle there tastes pretty much like No-Thai~~....
(3)Steve S.
This is my 2nd year in Ann Arbor, having translpanted myself from San Francisco, land of all this is great and amazing ethnic foods; inluding THAI. Being a food snob, i'm not moved by many restaurants in the area, but this place was amazing!!!!!! My meal for 2 included the fried tofu.....light and crunchy with a nice peanut dipping sauce. Also the coconut ginger soup. Nothing was overpowering and they used just the right amount of ginger and lemongrass so as not to overshadow the coconut. beautifully melded!!! The entree included the traditional chicken pad thai noodles, spicy basil chicken and an order of jasmine rice. Everything was exquisite. We ordered the entrees medium spicy, but i think it still had quite a kick to them. I order that thai hot tea and my date ordered the traditional thai iced tea. both were great. high recommendation for this place!!!! If you think it's gonna be a busy night, make reservations. We went on valentine's day and it was packed but we were seated right away.
(5)Todd G.
Food is ok, there are better places honestly and then there is the recurring theme in many reviews - small portions / high prices. BUT what really killed it for me is the service. Servers are often rude, lazy, and have greeted me at the door with "sorry takeout only" as much as 45 minutes before closing time! Oh, you don't wan't my business, ok NO PROBLEM!
(2)Jason L.
Great food with some co-workers. A little on the pricey side but worth it.
(4)Vera Y.
Really excellent Thai food, however it is super expensive so I've only gone twice. The scallops I had were delicious, but a touch over-salty. My husband had a curry dish that was quite good as well. My favorite was the soup, which was infused with lemongrass. Yum! The ambiance is strange. It still retains the look of the old Long John Silver's, the management has decided the yellow works for them. I think it really distracts from the experience, and you start to resent paying $75 for a meal inside a cheap looking restaurant.
(4)Erin H.
Wow, I'm continually fascinated by the harshness of some of the reviews I read on here! When someone describes a complete aberration of an experience at a restaurant others rave about - either they were on peyote the night they ate here (or the entire staff), but it's hard to explain! I have lived in San Francisco and traveled the world and this is decent Thai food- the best ever? No, but tasty. Everyone needs to get over the exterior - how clever and resourceful that they re-used their surroundings! Sketchy? Um, you need to get out more - it's a funky and run down area, but it's not scary! It's a perfectly comfortable and cute restaurant on the inside. A view of the bay? No, but what were you expecting?
(3)Steve A.
New to Ann Arbor and had a craving for Thai food last week. I stopped in for dinner based on the reviews given here, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. I had the Basil Sauce entree w/ beef which is what I normally order at a new Thai restaurant...my barometer of sorts. It came with a soup which was ok. As for the main dish itself, I'd have to say this dish wasn't too flavorful, it was average - nothing spectacular but not horrible either...just in between. Given the price of the entree (~$20 including soda & tip), I excepted a bit more. The food came out promptly and the staff was friendly and attentive. Nevertheless, I can't get over the mediocre entree, especially for the price. I don't think I'll be going back.
(3)Dave Y.
i dunno why the rating here isn't higher. just went there last night and had one of the best thai meals ever, and i'm from LA and am used to good authentic thai food. i had pad kee mau and my gf had the pad thai, and they were both pretty damn good. i ordered mine extra spicy and boy it was really extra spicy, not your typical fake spicy. it is a bit pricey, but until i find a better place, this one just became my go-to place for thai around these parts
(5)Nadi T.
Tuptim Thai is an average restaurant. The menu has an array of food items to order. Each options sounds delicious and exquisite. Sadly though when you recieve your food you realize that for a price of 15 dollars the portion is small. Its extremely over priced and the amount of you food you recieve is a joke. My friend and I shared two meals. Overall they were fine, and nothing blew my mind. Sure the flavors worked well, but when you dont have much to try its a dissapointment. Service was decent. If i had to explain my experience in one simple sentence i would say that it would take a lot of convincing for me to go back.
(2)Kate S.
Tuptim is my favorite Thai place in Ann Arbor. It's a little pricier than I would like, but the food is really tasty. Their pad thai is the best I've had in the area. Service is good, and the inside of the restaurant is pretty (despite looking still like Long John Silver's on the outside). It's no big deal to go there in scruffy clothes, but it's a nice enough atmosphere for dates, too. Tuptim won't be everyone's favorite, but if you're looking for thai food, it's definitely worth a try.
(4)ChianWen T.
Best Thai ever. Don't let the Long John Silver exterior deceive you; it's much cuter inside. If you are a novice, start with the beef pad see ewe and a chicken curry dish, finish with the mango rice dessert. They don't do every perfectly. Stay clear of the fried tofu and soup appetizers. You won't be disappointed by anything else. They are a bit inconsistent with the spice. If you can't really handle spicy, don't order it 'medium'. The 'medium' can be fire-spitting hot from time to time.
(5)Mei O.
A little more expensive than I think people would like for the portions, but I have yet to find a "cheap" Thai restaurant in the US. I'm in the Midwest coming from Northern California, so this place definitely exceeded my expectations. Yay for universities! Don't expect your socks to be knocked off, and you won't be disappointed. And I'm not sure how authentic this is, because the servers were conversing in Mandarin, but the pad thai and curries were decent.
(4)Laura K.
I first went there a few years ago, and it was decent. The last time I went there, my date ordered some type of salmon curry. It was disgusting. It was overcooked on the outside and cold on the inside indicating it was previously frozen. I would rather trek up to Sawasdee in Walled Lake, where the food is MUCH better!
(2)Margot L.
I was tipped off on Tuptim Thai by a friend and am dying to go back. Yes, it was formerly a Long John Silvers (hail the fried fish!) but it just adds to the charm of the place, in my opinion. In the winter, when spicy Thai food is best (ironic, because it never really gets cold there) the place is a bit drafty, so just bring a fleece or sweater and you'll be just fine. We went on a blustery freezing day and weren't uncomfortable. The food, oh, the food! This is the reason why you come. The coconut milk soup was light, fragrant, and perfectly tangy. The curries were well-balanced and delicate and robust. The mango and sticky rice or tapioca desserts hit the sweet spot. Recommended to all Thai food lovers everywhere. Enjoy.
(4)Anna S.
This used to be my favorite Thai restaurant, but lately I feel like there has been a some sort of change. Don't get me wrong, the food is still good and sometimes stellar, but I have had a few experiences lately that make me think I might be able to find better Thai in the area.
(4)Jen S.
Coming from NY and Chicago, lands of cheap Thai, I thought this place was pretty darn good. I thought it was a bit overpriced but everything, down to the thai iced latte, was tasty. The portions are big too so you really have two meals (unless you go there really hungry). I was impressed by Tiptum considering its location and will definitely come back here again.
(4)Chetan P.
I went to this place a very long time ago and had a pretty decent meal. I remember ordering the usual sorts of dishes - pad thai, panaang. The prices are pretty high and it is less greasy than most other thai places in Ann Arbor. With that said, I have to remind you that the thai food in Ann Arbor is not cool. I recently went here with my buddy and we decided to get their specials. Normally, the specials are the strong part of the restaurant. That's the dish that says ' look, this is what we are famous for and that is why you will remember us." The dish was a hawaiian snapper with an assortment of vegetables. The best part of the dish was the vegetables. The fish was overcooked. I mean rubbery-overcooked. FYI, the dish was much smaller than most of the other dishes I saw on other tables. So if you do order with a healthy apetite, get ready to order something else. The other dish was Madras Shrimp. It had hearty shrimp and was very tasty. Unfortunately, it tasted like my mom's egg curry - a fantastic dish. I felt kind of ripped-off only because I paid for a dish that I have very often for free. Oh well. The service was good, but I was unclear who our server was. In fact, I generally called random servers to the table when I needed something. Overall, so-so dinner with relatively good service. I've had better thai food and worse. For the most part, worse in Ann Arbor.
(2)Cathy H.
The best Thai restaurant teetering on the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti border. This Thai family-owned restaurant serves up every classic Thai dish you can think of: pad thai, pad see ew, green/red/orange curry. The congenial wait staff are very attentive to customers, and the parking is plentiful. This restaurant never disappoints!
(5)Nick P.
Not bad. The exterior is pretty funny. It even has a featured page at notfoolinganybody.com/19… , though now it's been painted red. We got the Pad See-Ewe with chicken, which was fine, but it might have had beef in it too? We also got Panang Beef, which was very good. The sticky rice was nice too, maybe worth the $1.50, not sure. The fact is that Ann Arbor doesn't have all that many good sit-down Thai places, so while I've had better in other cities, I'll probably be back. One bummer is that they don't have a liquor license, so I couldn't have my token Sing-ha.
(3)Alissa L.
Goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover. Tuptim looks ridiculously sketchy from the outside, but once you go in, its actually pretty adorable. This place has great lunch specials, and the pad thai is in an amazing sauce and is excellent. Everything else I've had from here has been great too. Also, there's an asian food store just a little bit further down washtenaw from Tuptim, just in case you're inspired to cook after going here.
(4)Adam H.
Who would've though the best Thai in ann arbor would come out of a former long john silvers! Highly recommend the spring rolls, panang curry, pad thai, pad see ew, and the yummy tapioca dessert!
(5)Chris G.
I and five other Thai food lovers had a great meal last night at Tuptim. The menu has gotten shorter, which is a good thing. And for a while this spring they apparently had an inexperienced cook, which thank goodness is over and done with. Our six dishes were all over the place in principle flavors and none of them missed the mark. One of the reasons we like Thai is because there are so many flavors in each individual dish. Bear in mind that this group of people tends to order "mild-medium" because we want to get all the flavors (some might disagree), especially for the aromatic dishes like the wonderful yellow curry. Enjoy. There's another restaurant down the street, Thai-thai, that's about as good, but different.
(4)Andy D.
Great food, service was really slow.
(4)Sly F.
I'd say I'm almost a year old when it comes to being a Tai food fan. My SO introduced it to me one day by stopping at a small Tai restaurant in Canton and introduced me to the wonder that is Pad Thai. Actually, an old roomy cooked that dish up for me, which was good, but even better from the restaurants supposedly specializing in that sort of dish! However, Tuptin was the place recommended to me by someone and then I noticed the array of awards on the wall as I immediately walked in so was reassured. What I ordered that day I can't recall the name. I'm terrible for it, but it was like pad thai only sweeter. It was great, but so sweet it almost seemed like a dessert to me. I ended up eating my SO's food which was a spicier rice mix that was equally as delicious. Since then, I order from Tuptim when I need a Pad Thai fix. Though my SO found some place out in Howell that trumps that of which I've received from Tuptim.... As of now, this is my Thai place of choice and decent they are. Service is relatively quick and usually cordial. Serving sizes are pretty good for one person to go. Though I feel I get more when I sit in the restaurant, maybe that's just how it works...
(3)Erin G.
I've been to Tuptim several times, and they've got good thai food, but not the best in the area. They're probably the most expensive thai place around this area, compared to Siam and Thai Thai. Tuptim's outer decor is horrible, it clearly used to be a long john silver's and they can't be bothered to change the awful colors. I went today and had a thai iced tea (delicious, but anyone can make that), and the ginger julienne with chicken. My boyfriend and I shared the curry puffs and he had soup and pad thai, which I tried. My ginger julienne was good, and I realize that ginger is a central component to the dish, but the pieces were so large that they were very bitter. I love ginger, which is why I ordered it, but I ended up picking the pieces out. The curry puffs were good, somewhat like samosas in puff pastry. I forget what the soup was called, tom-something, but it wasn't very flavorful and the shiitakes were rubbery like they'd been reheated. The pad thai was just ok. All in all, it's good but not nearly as flavorful as other thai in the area, and it's at least twice the price.
(3)Rachel B.
Thai is my favorite food. I went to tuptim because I had heard that it was the best thai in the area. Unfortunately that was not my experience. The curry was gross, watery, and tasted like it was a can of coconut cream doused with water. It had a background of heat, but it fell flat. I even went twice, but my experience (unfortunately) was the same both times. There was no flavor. the spring rolls were good, with an interesting dipping sauce, but the curry was abhorrent. I would advise anyone to go to bahn na, right down the street. Trust me, your taste buds will thank you. (It's much cheaper too.) When I complained, the manager told me that I "don't know what real thai food tastes like". To him, I say eff you.
(1)Amy W.
Good food, but the prices were a bit high, and the service was TERRIBLE.
(2)Gary H.
We have gotten carryout from Tuptim for quite awhile and, until recently, enjoyed it. In the last six months or so, though, we have noticed that the food, especially the curry dinners, are a lot less spicy than they used to be. I used to order panang curry medium hot, and it was just right, spicy but not overpowering. Now I order it hot, and it is closer to what I would consider mild. I thought it might just be that my taste buds have adapted over time, but my wife and children also noted the change. Next time we are going to try another Thai place.
(2)Nathan A.
First off, you must know that 4 stars in Ann Arbor is the equivalent of 3 stars anywhere else. That being said, the food here beats any other Thai place in the Ann Arbor area. I get the Masaman (I've seen this word spelled 500 different ways - this is merely my approximation) curry nearly every time because I fear change, but I've heard many of the other dishes are tasty as well. Ingredients seem fresh and the food isn't too greasy so I always walk out feeling well nourished (not just heavier.) Beware, though, Tuptim occupies a former Long John Silver's in the middle of a long, ugly stretch of strip-malls, making the overall dining experience something less than impressive. Go here to satisfy the mundane, occasional urge for Thai comfort food, but avoid it for special events and dates.
(4)ChianWen T.
Best Thai ever. Don't let the Long John Silver exterior deceive you; it's much cuter inside. If you are a novice, start with the beef pad see ewe and a chicken curry dish, finish with the mango rice dessert. They don't do every perfectly. Stay clear of the fried tofu and soup appetizers. You won't be disappointed by anything else. They are a bit inconsistent with the spice. If you can't really handle spicy, don't order it 'medium'. The 'medium' can be fire-spitting hot from time to time.
(5)Mei O.
A little more expensive than I think people would like for the portions, but I have yet to find a "cheap" Thai restaurant in the US. I'm in the Midwest coming from Northern California, so this place definitely exceeded my expectations. Yay for universities! Don't expect your socks to be knocked off, and you won't be disappointed. And I'm not sure how authentic this is, because the servers were conversing in Mandarin, but the pad thai and curries were decent.
(4)Laura K.
I first went there a few years ago, and it was decent. The last time I went there, my date ordered some type of salmon curry. It was disgusting. It was overcooked on the outside and cold on the inside indicating it was previously frozen. I would rather trek up to Sawasdee in Walled Lake, where the food is MUCH better!
(2)Patrick T.
The only reason to come here is if you tried to go to Thai Thai and it was closed. The food is quite expensive, and flavor-wise, not that memorable. The presentation is nice, but that's about it. I think it's maybe worth trying once and seeing for yourself (i.e. the first time you tried to go to Thai Thai and it was closed), because some people do enjoy this restaurant.
(2)Mike O.
I love this place! I live far away for school and I make time to come here EVERY BREAK. The food is fantastic, the service is great, and THE FOOD IS FANTASTIC (yes, I said it twice). It's the best Thai food I've ever had, and my whole family loves it too. Definitely recommend this to anyone who wants great food at a reasonable price with a nice chill atmosphere.
(5)Coco C.
Best Thai food around, and frankly, the best Thai food I've had in ages...totally non-greasy or oil-slicked. They have various types of curries, all super tasty (One has eggplant, which I abhor, but was so tasty that I didn't notice it was actually eggplant until halfway through the meal). The pad Thai is also fantastic, and the spiciness comes in various levels for your wussy Amercianized mouth... They refill sodas faster than you can drink them, so watch your drink.
(4)