We ordered egg rolls, curry chicken puffs, chicken pad Thai, and coconut Tom yum. The pad Thai was amazing! The service was great too! Overall, a great place! I will be a returning customer.
(5)
Sue N.
The food is good every other time I go here. The entrees are not consistently cooked. Sometimes they taste awesome and every other time, it taste like they forgot a major ingredient. It's disappointing when I order over $60 worth of food & it's not on point. The appetizers are right on. It's too bad their cooks aren't consistent otherwise I'd eat here more often.
(3)
Eric H.
Sawatdee was good. We got take out, so I didn't experience some of the bad service that it looks like a lot of other Yelpers have received. I ordered the Supenn's Thai Style Pasta. It was good. Not the greatest assortment of vegetables, but it was still good. The menu also has an asterisk, indicating it is a spicy dish. I wouldn't consider it spicy at all. I also had the brown rice and tried some of the shrimp pad thai. Everyone else ordered either the chicken or shrimp pad thai as well as some salmon sushi. They all seemed to be quite pleased with their meals. Overall I would give it 3 stars. Definitely not the best Thai I have ever eaten, but it was still pretty good.
(3)
Aimee C.
So I always had a really nice young girl make me chicken only fresh spring rolls because My husband is allergic to shrimp and I used to do that a couple times a week and I called in and I'm told they no longer do that, to bad pretty much and I asked if they could just ale the shrimp out and have it with chicken only they said no. Said they have 2 options and everything is premade already! It's spring rolls how hard could it be? I'll pay extra this is crazy and not to mention the guy was rude and a mouth breather... I need to find a new place haha what a joke this place is
(1)
Nicholas P.
Ordered Take Out on a Wednesday night - The food was downright amazing (4-5 star), Pad Thai, Red Curry, and Spring Rolls split between three. Pad Thai was really good, pretty much just how I remember it as I haven't been to Sawatdee in a few years. The Red Curry was absolutely delicious, we got it with Chicken and it appeared to be dark meat chicken and fairly large chunks. The large chunks were kinda weird, but the were amazingly delicious and tender. Note: We didn't add any additional spice to either of them. The Curry was too spicy for my wife, but not for me. The Pad Thai wasn't really spicy at all. Service: (3 star )Not bad, the people were all really nice. The one thing that was weird was that there were three people standing there when I arrived. I paid. A guy brought out some food bagged up togo style and it looked to be mine. I was sitting right there, but he didn't think to stop and look for me and just walked away. So know my food is just sitting there, and there's nobody in the front of the house, just me and what I think is my food. We sat there for a couple of minutes until I was able to flag someone down. Kinda weird experience. Not necessarily a bad experience at all, just weird.
(4)
Emily R.
I've been to Sawatdee in Maple Grove a handful of times. However, I don't come for the food, I come for the band Then and Now that plays on the weekends. (You should really check them out, you won't be disappointed. Their service is not great, but we have come to expect that each visit. The only thing that I really like on the menu is the coconut shrimp and spring rolls. Their sushi is average so I never buy the $15 dollar roll anymore.
(2)
Emily P.
Best food I've had in a while! Im a big fan of both Thai and Sushi, so I was glad I could order both from the same menu. We had a great waitress that was attentive and helpful. I had the pad Thai and I understand why it's so popular there. It was a large portion so I was able to take it home and make a meal of it the next day. I wish I was there before 6pm because their happy hour looked pretty good. I will be back for that!
(5)
V W.
The Thai food here is usually always great. Last week, I ordered the massumen curry and a dynamite roll, which were great, but the reason for this review and the stars is for the pho. The pho was terrible and not authentic. I am Vietnamese so I grew up eating pho and know authentic pho. Obviously, I know better than to come to a Thai and Sushi restaurant to get pho, but my friend was craving pho and insisted on getting it after the server gave rave reviews. The server was a great server, however, she clearly has never had a real bowl of pho. The broth seemed to be a very mild beef broth without all the flavors that you usually have in pho, for example, star anise and clove. They didn't even offer all the different herbs that normally come with pho, nor did they have any hoisin. They did have Sriracha, but we had to ask for it. Perhaps it was an off day for the pho, but doubtful. I've had bad pho at other places, but at least it still tastes like pho. The "pho" they have had Sawatdee is just a noodle soup that shouldn't be called pho. Other than that, I will definitely return for the Thai food!
(3)
James L.
Order: Pad Thai, California roll, cream cheese wontons, Dynamite sushi, and chilled Thai ice tea. The staff was very polite and attentive. The restaurant floor was filthy. Debris, dirt and a sticky coat was spread throughout the store. The kitchen was un-organized and looked like they where in the middle of rush hour, but you can tell no one was here all day. Pad Thai was ok a best, the California roll was dry and lacked flavor. I refuse to eat the dynamite sushi because it was at room temperature and tasted old (I spit it out). On the bright side the Thai ice tea was awesome and the cream cheese wontons were ok. The waiter was very polite and removed the dynamite sushi from my bill. Overall, the place is over priced and does not deserve three stars. I will not be returning to this establishment.
(2)
Brittney T.
Let me start of by saying Thai food is my favorite, so I'm a little biased towards any Thai food restaurant. I've been going to Sawatdees in Maple Grove for a little over two years now. Although I generally enjoy their food, I have noticed inconsistencies at that location. I usually order the sweet green chicken curry (which I highly recommend by the way), but depending on the day of the week it had different ingredients in it. It never really tastes bad, it's just a little off putting that you never know exactly what you're going to get. Also, the cushions on the booths are falling off. With that being said the waiters are always nice, and it is the best Thai place in Maple Grove.
(4)
Melissa M.
Great sushi and great Thai! Wonderful service. Been here twice and will be back again.
(4)
Bob A.
We have always enjoyed the food - good lunch special. Never had a issue with service nor the quality of the meal, either in house or take out. Good Sushi also.
(4)
Johnny H.
Food was mediocre . Very expensive pricing compared to other Sawatdee restaurants in the Twin Cities. The online pricing menu also needs to be updated. I placed a to go order online, was quoted to pay a different price, looked at the receipt and saw it was rang up differently as well. Asked for the papaya salad to be made a specific way and got less than 'traditional'.
(2)
Z J.
Went last night for dinner. I stood at the doorway for a long time and debated grabbing my own table. Finally someone showed up to seat me. I had the thai fried rice, yellow curry style, with crispy tofu. Pretty good, added some more spice from the condiment tray on the table because my level-3 request was pretty mild. The waitress was fine, didn't stop by as often/quickly as I expected considering there were 2 tables in our section (including us). Then 9pm rolled around and the lights went bright. And then brighter. And then brighter, we got the hint and left.
(3)
Stephanie O.
I LOVE sushi (maki sushi). I had their #nine, Spicy Salmon, and Dynamite rolls (shared with a friend). The flavor was great, as well as the structure and overall appeal of the sushi. I found the pieces to be a little large for a single bite. Overall, a great little place fore some good food.
(3)
Sean H.
What restaurant is understaffed on Valentines day ?? We got Napkins and silverware 10 mins after our appetizers were served. The table next to us and one next to them came in after us ... They had a different server. had their main entrees served before us! 20 min wait on a refil... The tofu coconut curry was ok... The whole experience was bad though... I have been here a few times in the last few years being the only Thai in Maple Grove but paid heavily for it! Terrible service....never again.
(2)
Tanya D.
Food is good but service is consistantly HORRIBLE! I understand feeling ignored by the waitress if the place is really busy and they are understaffed, but I have gone at times where it was nearly empty, and yet the staff never seems to be attentive. There are better places to go where you will actually get decent service.
(2)
buddy b.
Found a rubber band in the curry we ordered. Not coming back again.
(1)
Bill H.
I've been coming here since it opened and sawatdee overall for a lot longer. I love the food. I typically order pad see yew, red curry, or the lemongrass curry (that they took off the menu for some reason but will still make on request). The fresh spring rolls are worth coming here for just by them self. Everything is always great. We've taken our kids, we've taken friends, and we've gone on date nights. My only critique would be what some others have said, and that is the seating can be awkward sometimes if you get stuck on the shared bench.
(4)
William C.
It was a little later and we were hungry! Neither one of us wanted to cook, so we decided to get some Thai. Parking can be a little tricky in the Arbor Lakes area, especially where Sawatdee is located. You can park on the street, but space is limited; the only other option is to park in back, but you have to walk around the building to get inside. We decided to skip appetizers and get right to the main dishes. We got the Silver Thread Noodle Salad and the Rama Thai Deli. The noodle salad was served warm and medium/hot spice. Mixed with the lemon juice and crushed peanuts, it was a great combination of flavors. Very light and full of flavor. The Rama Thai Deli was also excellent. The peanut current was a great compliment to the spinach it was served over. Deep peanut flavor mixed with coconut flavors; excellent dish. We were both fans of sweet sticky rice and they had Mango and Sweet Sticky Rice. It's served with sliced mango, sticky rice formed into a brick and sweet coconut sauce. The sauce was more coconut than sweet, but the sweetness from the mango balanced everything out. Awesome dessert! The atmosphere was upbeat and they had a live band playing right as we finished dinner. Our server was super nice and extremely polite (I think her name was Judy, I know it started with a J...).
(4)
Karen H.
We stopped at Sawatdee on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. 4 adults and 4 kids and they were very accomodating. My 3 yr old son enjoyed the sushi (from next door at Zushiya, technically) and I had delicious pad thai with chicken. The spice ratings are spot on. Service was quick and responsive and the food was flavorful.
(4)
Jess A.
My family and I decided to take a chance with Sawatdee, despite the poor reviews it received......big mistake. Let's begin with the Toam Kha Gai: It's supposed to taste like coconut; it had no flavor whatsoever. It was a tasteless water-like consistency with dry chicken. The chicken Pad Thai had too much sauce. The kid's meal...let's just say my two year old wouldn't even look at it. My husband will usually devour anything; not this dish. My husband had the Massaman Curry with Chicken. His verdict: Bland, and didn't taste like curry. I was really looking forward to some Thai cuisine. What a disappointment.
(1)
Selvam M.
Not a authentic Thai food.. Don't spoil your valuable time and money. I have been to Thai restaurants many times, but I have tasted The worst Thai food here in Sawatee. Tom yum soup & red curry were not tasting good at all. When complained to the waitress, she was telling that this how they make it. Doesn't make any sense.. Bad... Bad... Very bad experience.
(1)
Roxana S.
I love this restaurant, they have awesome food! :-)
(5)
Christie R.
Good, hot food that is more than enough for lunch the next day. They also have happy hour on Sundays, but I'll have to go back to try that out. Oh and Sue's egg rolls are worth the money.
(4)
Mon P.
Im not so sure if there are any other places that I can have papaya salad and some sushi at the same time. I would give their papaya salad a 4 star but only 2.5 for sushi. The papaya salad had nice flavor and well spiced. However, the Chirashi Sushi that I ordered didnt really do it for me. Some of the fish pieces were really mushy, and there werent that many fish varieties in the bowl. I would totally come here for the papaya salad, but not so sure if I would order sushi again.
(3)
Steve W.
I've made this place a regular on my rotation and I have never been disappointed! The food (especially the apps) is great and the service has always been top notch. My entire family is vegetarian and they have SOOOO many great options for us. The pallet in my family varies widely and they are able to make things as weak or as spicey as you would like. I haven't tried the veggie sushie yet, but the Thai food is all world!
(5)
Ann G.
I ordered vegetable fried rice for take-out. It was ready immediately and it was super tasty. The staff seemed pleasant and the place was fairly deserted at 11:45am. I'll get take-out there again soon.
(4)
Leena Y.
I had high hopes for this place considering that it was voted best ethnic food in maple grove. I was dissapointed. I came in with a group of 6. Host was very polite. We were seated in a booth. Very uncomfortable...especially with a group of 6. It made moving around very complicating. Wish we had a table instead. We looked at the menu and everything seemed decent. Although I don't understand what kind of Thai restaurant does not have drunken noodles or pad see ew. Our waitress was terrible. I understand that she might of been having a bad day, but you should never show that to your customers. NEVER. She brought us drinks and took our orders. She was not smart about taking our orders, considering that we were a group of 6. Instead of taking our orders by our seats, she scattered all over the table, making us confused as well as herself. She also cut me off in the middle of my order and took another persons order. The sushi was terrible. I'm guessing that is why they do their 2 for the 1 on the sushi. It DID not taste like sushi at all. Very sloppy work as well. Our food was served and it wasn't as great. I've had much better food than that. The curry was too sweet but it was the only good thing we had. Beef pad thai was very very rubbery and mushy. VERY saucy. There was barely any beef in it as well. After dining, we were ready to leave. Were forgotten and sat there for about 20 minutes waiting for our check. During our dinner, we weren't checked up on at all either. We asked for take out boxes and did not get any. Once we got our checks, we ended up paying for each others items. Because the waitress took the order in a silly order, she confused herself and mixed up our tabs, which we split into 4 separate tabs. We also got back only 3 tabs and our 4th one never came to the table. It took 10 minutes for our tabs to be returned to our table. Never going again. Will take the extra drive somewhere else.
(2)
Will V.
HORRIBLE!!!! Only if I could give negative stars I would've with no hesitation. Should've turned around as soon as i seen the dirty glasses of water and nasty sticky silverware. Number 1 rule, if a restaurant isn't ashamed of letting you see how filthy their dishes are especially with the first things you see as a customer, you can only imagine what goes on in the kitchen. Which leads to next complaint, i ordered the Thai roast duck and panang curry.... yes i gave them the benefit of the doubt given their reputation which i regret.... the duck was extremely dry, I've had jerky that was juicier (no exaggeration), the curry was extremely oily and all i could taste was the green beans which they should've preboiled to rid of the strong flavor the skin of the beans project. Afterwards the waiter said that if i liked that curry dish try this other one blah blah blah what ever it was didn't pay attention because i knew I'd never return to any of their locations. Just a horrible horrible experience, very disappointed, glad some of you thought it was good, my first and last time definately, and yes i am very familiar with Thai dishes
(1)
Mark W.
This review is for Sawatdee and Zushiya of Maple Grove. We had food both from the Sawatdee menu and the Zushiya menu. Our meals started off very nice. The appetizers were great. I ordered some sashimi, ama ebi or sweet (raw) shrimp, and tako or octopus and a salmon skin sushi roll. The waitress read the order back saying I had ordered a spicy salmon skin roll. I tried to correct her, but she insisted that it was spicy salmon. When the sushi/sashimi arrived I had fully cooked shrimp or ebi, large thick slabs of octopus and the salmon skin roll. When I asked the waitress about the shrimp I was told that what was on my plate was ama ebi and argued with me about whether it was cooked or not. She returned and said that they do not serve raw shrimp so I asked why it was on the menu, but got no answer. The octopus was about 3 inches by 1 inch by 1/4 inch thick. A generous serving, but not what I want as sashimi, not to mention there were ice crystals in the center of the meat. The salmon skin roll was what I expected, except that there was so little of anything but rice in it, that the rice was the only thing I could taste. I had the drunken shrimp entree. The flavors of the shrimp were good, but the veggies were cold and undercooked, perhaps thrown in the bowl just before serving. Now I am a spicy food eater and usually order my Thai food hot at the restaurants I am familiar with, but I ordered this at medium due to it being my first time there. Though it was not too spicy at first after about three shrimp and some veggies my tongue burnt so badly I was unable to eat rice.
(2)
S R.
Panang curry with chicken; spice level "Thai spicey" is my fav. It is not available at every location, but I ate that every Monday for more than a year in Maple Grove. The fresh spring rolls are also outstanding. Could benefit from a better beer selection.
(4)
Irina L.
Business dinner for a total of 13 colleagues from US, China & Europe - needed something lighter than a late-night gorging on steaks or Italian. Perfect choice - Sawatdee. The menu offers bar faves of hot chicken wings, a twist on the jalapeño poppers, as well as Asian faves of vegan summer rolls, chicken satay, etc. For the main course choice, we had a wide variety of selections: a sushi boat for 4 (very good fresh sushi and rolls), pad Thai with shrimp, fried rice, stir fries, and selections of Nigiri. The food was enjoyed by all; the service was good; the live music was pleasantly playing in the background, without interfering with numerous conversations at the dinner table, the beer and wine complimented everyone's dishes. No room for dessert. Have been here about 4 times, when in the area for business.This is a reliable place for dinner.
(4)
Lauren F.
The food wasn't that great. The chicken pad thai was quite mushy and quickly put together and their stir fry's are very mediocre as well. Not to mention the horrible waitress and service that we experienced. Definitely better places to eat around the Arbor Lakes area.
(2)
Chelsea K.
Now this review might be a little bias seeing as I already love the Sawatdee in Bloomington, but me and my boyfriend visited this Sawatdee/Zushiya place about a week ago because we had a $30 Groupon. Right off the bat I noticed the atmosphere was a lot nicer than the Sawatdee in Bloomington. Nothing fancy by any means; but still pretty nice. I ordered the Holy Basil Supreme with beef (which is what I usually get at the Bloomington location; I wanted to compare). It cost $3 more at this location, which is a real downer. The only difference is that this location adds jalapeno peppers to it (they don't really add much to the dish for me). I would say the portion size here was slightly larger, so I guess that can make up for some of the price difference. Overall the quality of the food was the same. Very tasty as usual. Although, this location didn't make it nearly as spicy as the Bloomington location does. I told the waitress "Thai hot" and ensured her that I could handle it, but I guess either they didn't believe me, or they're just not capable of such spiciness. I also ordered a spicy tuna roll from the sushi menu. I would say it was pretty fair in price, perhaps a dollar cheaper would have been nice. The roll seemed sloppily made. None of my pieces were the same size. The texture was good though and it tasted great, so that's all I really care about. I will say the service wasn't perfect, but certainly not horrible the way lots of people on here have described it as being. The first problem was that we asked for fried spring rolls and we received fried egg rolls. Now I don't know if that was a problem on the waitress's behalf for writing it down wrong, or maybe it was the kitchen's fault. Either way, we weren't too upset. They were still delicious. The waitress forgot to bring me chopsticks and soy sauce at first with my sushi, but she brought me some quickly after without me having to ask her for it. She was very attentive to our water, and she came by often to ask us how the food was and if we needed anything. Overall I liked my dining experience here. I'm interested in trying more of their sushi to see how their other rolls taste, and to see if they're made a little neater.
(4)
Pui A.
Horrible experience. My husband and I walked into the restaurant and put down our name at around 7.25pm. We waited for 15 min and finally got a seat. The hostess bought us drink 5 minutes after we sat down and said there would be a server for us. More than 5 minutes later the hostess came back and said she would take our order. It was almost 8pm. We then placed the order and waited... and waited... and it was about 20 minutes later that we felt something was wrong. There were empty tables and the servers seem pretty slack that time so we thought it shouldn't take that long for our order. My husband then asked the hostess about our food, she simply told him that she would check with the kitchen. We then waited for another 15 min, then came our food. It was 8.35pm, more than an hour after we got into the restaurant. The tom yum soup wasn't hot at all when it got onto our table. Also for the $13 that we paid, there were countless straw mushrooms but barely any chicken. We were very disappointed. The Pad See Yew that we ordered had only chicken and broccoli, did not worth the $9 they charged. No water added for the whole meal. We also had to walk to front desk to ask for bill. We felt like we were being neglected for the whole night. We did not even know who our server was. In conclusion, Sawatdee/Zushiya restaurant is officially being put into our blacklist. A place we will never go back.
(1)
Christy N.
I have been going to Sawatdee in MN for years because I love it. In the past few years I've been going to the Maple Grove location since it's so close to me. Sadly, the last 4 times have been horrific. The food is fine but the service might be the worst I've ever had. Stunningly bad. The issues that I have are repeated each time: We are always seated on top of other people. There may be only 4 groups of customers but we are all seated elbow to elbow, which is awkward. We receive our drinks after our food arrives. Even my 4 year old would look around and ask if we were forgotten. Food comes out sporadically - I get my dish, the server appears to forget my children until I flag her down and point out that they have no food, she looks surprised but says nothing, then I share my food with them (otherwise it would get cold if I waited), then they get their food a dish at a time (repeat above scenario of telling the server we're short a dish, then all of us sharing food until everyone gets served). If we need refills of our drinks or possibly silverware and napkins we need to flag down a server. They are always nice but seem to have no understanding of the things that are going wrong. From the other reviews here, it appears it's not just my family and I having these issues. I've noticed that there are fewer and fewer customers in the restaurant lately and I don't notice any take out orders waiting at the host stand anymore. I think I'll add this one to my 2011 'Restaurant Death List."
(1)
Emily P.
Well, my server was excellent, attentive without being overbearing. The atmosphere and decor were what you expect of a chain in the Arbor Lakes area. Very dark for lunch on a weekday, I guess they want more of an evening dinner vibe. I work weird hours so I had lunch at about 3:30 pm. I had the panang curry with chicken, with a spicy rating of 3 out of 5. I think if I were to go back I would up to a 4. The flavors over all were underwhelming compared to thai curries I have had at family run restaurants. And I know it is ideal to have your coconut fat separate in the curry so you get those nice fat droplets floating on top, but this dish had easily a full centimeter of grease scumming the surface. Blegh. Maybe if it had adequate spice & flavor this would've been forgivable. At least the dark meat chicken was moist and tender, in large chunky portions.
(2)
Carol M.
First, if you are promoting your sushi bar...pay attention to it...Michael was spectacular ...your other staff SUCKED...there
(1)
Cindy M.
Had a groupon coupon so I thought I would give this place a try. We went on a Tuesday afternoon and the first thing they asked us (before we were even seated) was if we had a groupon coupon. LOL Not sure if that means they serve substandard food to us couponers or what. Service was slow. The waitress only waited on one table at a time, going back into the kitchen after each conversation. I ordered the cashew chicken stir fry...spice level 3. It was not spicy in the least. It did have a fair amount of veggies but not much chicken and the flavor was okay. My dining companion ordered the Pad Thai -no spice. They had a picture of it in their menu and what she received looked nothing like it. The flavor was good but all she had was noodles; only a couple of pieces of chicken and absolutely no other veggies. We also ordered the chicken satay which was completely overcooked and looked like those dry chicken strip treats you give to your dog. Overall, I wasn't impressed and because it is so expensive, I wouldn't consider returning unless I had another coupon.
(2)
Emily S.
The up-and-down spice levels of this place are comparable to the moods of Amy Winehouse. Honestly, I really wanted to give this place five stars. I'm in love with a memory I have of Sawatdee downtown, a Thai restaurant that once swept me off my feet and made me drunk with love over cashew chicken, coconut milk soup, and a few other dishes. But it's just not the same anymore. I always choose medium for spice level, but this last time medium was apparently all jacked up on steroids -- my soup was so full of pepper flakes it burned the edges of my mouth. I'll keep going back because I'm a sucker, I suppose. It's like wanting an old flame to call me back so we can relive past times. PS, by the way. The sauce with the fresh spring rolls is mad crazy wonderful.
(3)
Nadine Y.
I was on another first date. This one was rough. The place was pretty big and not busy at all, but for some reason, they decided to sit everyone (four of us in the restaurant) in an earshot of one another. So I'm pretty sure everyone else (the other two) knew it was a first date. The place is pretty standard in decor and has nothing spectacular or special to it. The sushi was alright. Nothing to yelp about. And I like to use the excuse of chewing my food in order to avoid conversation if the date sucks. But the sushi wasn't that great so I couldn't chew as much as I needed to. We ordered the Tuna Platter ($25). Oh, and the rice was dry. Yuck. The service also sucked. I attempted to slurp my drink loudly in order for the waitress to hear me. She could have helped with the awkward silences, but nope. She showed her face three times. Once to get the order. Once to refill my water. And once to hand us... err.. him the bill. Then at the end of the date, I thought, "wow, I yelp a lot about how awkward my dates are. Is it just me?" But then I realized that nope, it's not me. It's the restaurant, service, and food that makes or breaks the date. So, in that case, I do not recommend this place... especially for a first date!
(1)
Jess L.
I read the reviews of this location on Google maps, but forgot to check Yelp. Mom and I decided to give it a go anyhow. The staff was friendly, but didn't speak very loudly, and had very thick accents. It was hard to hear and understand them, even though it wasn't very busy. I was unimpressed off the bat. They sat my Mom at a table behind a half wall, so I had a hard time finding her when I arrived. The place was pretty empty, so that seemed like an odd choice. The waitress came to take our order, and Mom ordered appetizers, but I said I needed a minute to decide. I set my menu down to take my coat off, and she immediately swooped in and took it. I had to ask for it back! It seemed as though we were being tag-teamed for service, since one lady took our appetizer order, and another lady took the meal order. This continued our entire meal, which I thought was strange. The food wasn't 100% what we were expecting. They didn't ask what spice level I wanted my Pad Thai at, so I had to chase the waitress down before she put in the order to specify. It came out absolutely devoid of spice, so I had to add my own when they brought me the spice tray. The tofu was not fresh like I asked for, and it was way over fried. Mom ordered coconut shrimp, and they were ok, but prepared very differently than what we were expecting. While we were finishing up and paying the bill, one of our waitress team ladies tried to take the water glass I was drinking out of! I basically had to ask her permission to keep it until we left! Long story short, next time, we're going to Chipotle.
(1)
Laura P.
I like how Sawatdee looks, it's spacious and well decorated. The staff are very friendly and also attentive. My food wasn't too bad, I ordered the chicken cashew dish. There were water chestnuts in my dish which were fresh and had a nice snap to them. I'm always a sucker for water chestnuts :) Me and my dining partner shared some egg rolls as an appetizer and I thought those were also pretty good. I tried some of my friend's beef dish that he ordered and I didn't really like it as much. It was spicy, which was yummy, but the pieces of beef were bland and I didn't care for the way they were cooked. The rice was good. My experience here was good, but apparently I'm one of the lucky ones, judging by the reviews that precede mine.
(3)
David S.
The atmosphere is good the help is nice. I loved the Holy Basil that I had last time but I did not care much for the Pad Thai this time. This is about the forth time we've been there. The fact that it is close along with Groupons and coupons will help bring us back sooner.
(4)
Carla S.
It was my first time at Sawatdee. The Maple Grove location is nice, with the exception of bratty rich teens cruising down the "mainstreet". We sat out on the patio. I ordered Sushi, Pad Thai & a diet coke. 1. The sushi was an app for my friend and I. I can't remember the exact name of the sushi, but it was "eel" & it tasted okay. I would say average sushi. 2/5 for sushi. 2.Mild Chicken Pad Thai was really good. It was nice because they put the peanuts on the side. I definitely cleaned my plate! Would have liked the portion to be a little bigger (I love leftovers)! Pad Thai=4/5. 3.The diet coke was huge & the waitress/hostess did refil it onc. She even gave me a sample of Thai tea, which I am glad I sampled because I didn't like it! I would have liked the waitress to check up on us a little more, just because we were outside doesnt mean that we are not part of the restaurant vistors! 4. I guess my last piece of input would be the total cost of the bill: We ordered: 2 Pas Thai's 2 soda's 1 order sushi (six small pieces) = the order total was $39.
(3)
Evan J.
Worst dining experience in a long time! Took an hour to get food because "we just had 20+ takeout orders come in". When it did finally show up, the pad Thai was very bland. With a heat level of 2, we could not tell there was any spice in it at all. The Phuket sling tasted like a melted freezee, and the mojito tasted like sugar and lime juice. No alcohol could be found in either drink. Total dining time, 2 hours 33 minutes.
(1)
Raedean F.
Tasty Thai available in Maple Grove. It is generally cold in the restaurant so I'd recommend bringing a light jacket or sweater.
(3)
S O.
What a disaster (awful service, forgotten orders, long wait, and way below average quality of food). I was warned looking at Google's review of this location (but not chain, for example the Washington ave downtown location is great) but I met a friend here anyway. After my experience here I'm convinced one or a few of the servers are likely *consistently* providing the awful service users are ranting about. We spent a total of 3 hours here total due to forgotten orders and long waits. Imagine staying at any restaurant for three hours! Yea!
(1)
Stephanie S.
I've had good service at this establishment before. However, after the way we were treated last night I will NEVER go here again. To start, that hostess was extremely rude. I came into the restaurant to put our name on the waiting list. I heard a person playing the guitar beautifully so I peek my head around the corner and I was excited to hear some more music while we ate. The hostess walked up and I told her I had 5 in my party. He response was "There is a wait yanno?" I told her that was fine. She said it would be 15 mins. My husband (it was his birthday) and our friends waited... and waited... and waited... 30 mins later (with out seeing the hostess again and seeing multiple tables free) I finally stopped a waitress to ask if we could be seated? I was baffled by her response. "We are really backed up here. You could either sit at a table and wait or wait where you are, either way you're going to be waiting." Long story short. WE WALKED OUT! Went to Redstone, our second choice. I will be writing a fabulous review for them after this one.
(1)
Meghan P.
My coworkers and I stopped by for some sushi. It was a big mistake. All the rolls were all very loose- we could not pick them up at all. I had to scoop the pieces onto my plate, and then eat them bit by bit. One coworker wanted their spiciest roll, and the one that was recommended was not spicy at all- I tried it. Mine had jalepeno in it, and wasn't even one the waitress recommended for spice. The worst part, by far, happened to my other coworker. The eel in her roll had bones and skin in it! She complained to the waitress- who didn't apologize, but just said she'd talk to the sushi chef. She came back a minute later, and reported that he said they buy their eel precooked from some company, and he just cuts it up. And anyway, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT. No apology, no discount, no new roll, nothing. We all have had unagi numerous times and never encountered bones or tough skin.
(1)
Kayle Jo D.
honestly there is only one redeeming quality to this joint... their deep fried chicken balls... they are delicious but also probably will give you a heartattack... if you want more than one glass of water you NEED to ask for it when you take the order or you will not get it probably ever... i have been there a few times because my bf loved that chicken ball appetizer but the service there highly ruins any chance of leaving there in a good mood. sushi is ok...expensive and could be better. pad thai is good but honestly i think that is one thing you almost cant mess up when your a thai resturant. overall i woudnt ever bring anyone there and if it were up to me i wouldnt probably ever go back...but he just cant get over that app....
(1)
Emily F.
They have a great happy hour, but stick w/ the spring rolls. Sushi was so bad and even w/ buy one get one free, yuck. The satay was fried! I try to go for the healthy options and they fried the chicken satay. Go for drinks, but stick with the spring rolls and maybe a Thai dish. You would think they would step up there game since it's a local chain!
(2)
Suzi R.
Always have great sushi here. Service is a little slow sometimes, but when I go I'm usually not in a hurry and am there to socialize and have a good time.
(4)
Greg W.
We have eaten at other Sawatdee locations and have enjoyed them. This was the first time we tried the Maple Grove location. The atmosphere was nice, the place was very busy, and the service was good. We liked the variety of choices you got with the Sawatdee/Zushiya combination. The Pad thai, chicken fried rice , and catfish in a sweet ginger sauce was awesome!(just wished for more catfish). The 2 types of sushi we ordered were good to average. The only dish that was a dissapointment was the calamari which was overcooked and rubbery. But overall we had an enjoyable experience at Sawatdee Maple Grove location.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Street, Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : Free Has TV : Yes Dogs Allowed : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
Vi L.
We ordered egg rolls, curry chicken puffs, chicken pad Thai, and coconut Tom yum. The pad Thai was amazing! The service was great too! Overall, a great place! I will be a returning customer.
(5)Sue N.
The food is good every other time I go here. The entrees are not consistently cooked. Sometimes they taste awesome and every other time, it taste like they forgot a major ingredient. It's disappointing when I order over $60 worth of food & it's not on point. The appetizers are right on. It's too bad their cooks aren't consistent otherwise I'd eat here more often.
(3)Eric H.
Sawatdee was good. We got take out, so I didn't experience some of the bad service that it looks like a lot of other Yelpers have received. I ordered the Supenn's Thai Style Pasta. It was good. Not the greatest assortment of vegetables, but it was still good. The menu also has an asterisk, indicating it is a spicy dish. I wouldn't consider it spicy at all. I also had the brown rice and tried some of the shrimp pad thai. Everyone else ordered either the chicken or shrimp pad thai as well as some salmon sushi. They all seemed to be quite pleased with their meals. Overall I would give it 3 stars. Definitely not the best Thai I have ever eaten, but it was still pretty good.
(3)Aimee C.
So I always had a really nice young girl make me chicken only fresh spring rolls because My husband is allergic to shrimp and I used to do that a couple times a week and I called in and I'm told they no longer do that, to bad pretty much and I asked if they could just ale the shrimp out and have it with chicken only they said no. Said they have 2 options and everything is premade already! It's spring rolls how hard could it be? I'll pay extra this is crazy and not to mention the guy was rude and a mouth breather... I need to find a new place haha what a joke this place is
(1)Nicholas P.
Ordered Take Out on a Wednesday night - The food was downright amazing (4-5 star), Pad Thai, Red Curry, and Spring Rolls split between three. Pad Thai was really good, pretty much just how I remember it as I haven't been to Sawatdee in a few years. The Red Curry was absolutely delicious, we got it with Chicken and it appeared to be dark meat chicken and fairly large chunks. The large chunks were kinda weird, but the were amazingly delicious and tender. Note: We didn't add any additional spice to either of them. The Curry was too spicy for my wife, but not for me. The Pad Thai wasn't really spicy at all. Service: (3 star )Not bad, the people were all really nice. The one thing that was weird was that there were three people standing there when I arrived. I paid. A guy brought out some food bagged up togo style and it looked to be mine. I was sitting right there, but he didn't think to stop and look for me and just walked away. So know my food is just sitting there, and there's nobody in the front of the house, just me and what I think is my food. We sat there for a couple of minutes until I was able to flag someone down. Kinda weird experience. Not necessarily a bad experience at all, just weird.
(4)Emily R.
I've been to Sawatdee in Maple Grove a handful of times. However, I don't come for the food, I come for the band Then and Now that plays on the weekends. (You should really check them out, you won't be disappointed. Their service is not great, but we have come to expect that each visit. The only thing that I really like on the menu is the coconut shrimp and spring rolls. Their sushi is average so I never buy the $15 dollar roll anymore.
(2)Emily P.
Best food I've had in a while! Im a big fan of both Thai and Sushi, so I was glad I could order both from the same menu. We had a great waitress that was attentive and helpful. I had the pad Thai and I understand why it's so popular there. It was a large portion so I was able to take it home and make a meal of it the next day. I wish I was there before 6pm because their happy hour looked pretty good. I will be back for that!
(5)V W.
The Thai food here is usually always great. Last week, I ordered the massumen curry and a dynamite roll, which were great, but the reason for this review and the stars is for the pho. The pho was terrible and not authentic. I am Vietnamese so I grew up eating pho and know authentic pho. Obviously, I know better than to come to a Thai and Sushi restaurant to get pho, but my friend was craving pho and insisted on getting it after the server gave rave reviews. The server was a great server, however, she clearly has never had a real bowl of pho. The broth seemed to be a very mild beef broth without all the flavors that you usually have in pho, for example, star anise and clove. They didn't even offer all the different herbs that normally come with pho, nor did they have any hoisin. They did have Sriracha, but we had to ask for it. Perhaps it was an off day for the pho, but doubtful. I've had bad pho at other places, but at least it still tastes like pho. The "pho" they have had Sawatdee is just a noodle soup that shouldn't be called pho. Other than that, I will definitely return for the Thai food!
(3)James L.
Order: Pad Thai, California roll, cream cheese wontons, Dynamite sushi, and chilled Thai ice tea. The staff was very polite and attentive. The restaurant floor was filthy. Debris, dirt and a sticky coat was spread throughout the store. The kitchen was un-organized and looked like they where in the middle of rush hour, but you can tell no one was here all day. Pad Thai was ok a best, the California roll was dry and lacked flavor. I refuse to eat the dynamite sushi because it was at room temperature and tasted old (I spit it out). On the bright side the Thai ice tea was awesome and the cream cheese wontons were ok. The waiter was very polite and removed the dynamite sushi from my bill. Overall, the place is over priced and does not deserve three stars. I will not be returning to this establishment.
(2)Brittney T.
Let me start of by saying Thai food is my favorite, so I'm a little biased towards any Thai food restaurant. I've been going to Sawatdees in Maple Grove for a little over two years now. Although I generally enjoy their food, I have noticed inconsistencies at that location. I usually order the sweet green chicken curry (which I highly recommend by the way), but depending on the day of the week it had different ingredients in it. It never really tastes bad, it's just a little off putting that you never know exactly what you're going to get. Also, the cushions on the booths are falling off. With that being said the waiters are always nice, and it is the best Thai place in Maple Grove.
(4)Melissa M.
Great sushi and great Thai! Wonderful service. Been here twice and will be back again.
(4)Bob A.
We have always enjoyed the food - good lunch special. Never had a issue with service nor the quality of the meal, either in house or take out. Good Sushi also.
(4)Johnny H.
Food was mediocre . Very expensive pricing compared to other Sawatdee restaurants in the Twin Cities. The online pricing menu also needs to be updated. I placed a to go order online, was quoted to pay a different price, looked at the receipt and saw it was rang up differently as well. Asked for the papaya salad to be made a specific way and got less than 'traditional'.
(2)Z J.
Went last night for dinner. I stood at the doorway for a long time and debated grabbing my own table. Finally someone showed up to seat me. I had the thai fried rice, yellow curry style, with crispy tofu. Pretty good, added some more spice from the condiment tray on the table because my level-3 request was pretty mild. The waitress was fine, didn't stop by as often/quickly as I expected considering there were 2 tables in our section (including us). Then 9pm rolled around and the lights went bright. And then brighter. And then brighter, we got the hint and left.
(3)Stephanie O.
I LOVE sushi (maki sushi). I had their #nine, Spicy Salmon, and Dynamite rolls (shared with a friend). The flavor was great, as well as the structure and overall appeal of the sushi. I found the pieces to be a little large for a single bite. Overall, a great little place fore some good food.
(3)Sean H.
What restaurant is understaffed on Valentines day ?? We got Napkins and silverware 10 mins after our appetizers were served. The table next to us and one next to them came in after us ... They had a different server. had their main entrees served before us! 20 min wait on a refil... The tofu coconut curry was ok... The whole experience was bad though... I have been here a few times in the last few years being the only Thai in Maple Grove but paid heavily for it! Terrible service....never again.
(2)Tanya D.
Food is good but service is consistantly HORRIBLE! I understand feeling ignored by the waitress if the place is really busy and they are understaffed, but I have gone at times where it was nearly empty, and yet the staff never seems to be attentive. There are better places to go where you will actually get decent service.
(2)buddy b.
Found a rubber band in the curry we ordered. Not coming back again.
(1)Bill H.
I've been coming here since it opened and sawatdee overall for a lot longer. I love the food. I typically order pad see yew, red curry, or the lemongrass curry (that they took off the menu for some reason but will still make on request). The fresh spring rolls are worth coming here for just by them self. Everything is always great. We've taken our kids, we've taken friends, and we've gone on date nights. My only critique would be what some others have said, and that is the seating can be awkward sometimes if you get stuck on the shared bench.
(4)William C.
It was a little later and we were hungry! Neither one of us wanted to cook, so we decided to get some Thai. Parking can be a little tricky in the Arbor Lakes area, especially where Sawatdee is located. You can park on the street, but space is limited; the only other option is to park in back, but you have to walk around the building to get inside. We decided to skip appetizers and get right to the main dishes. We got the Silver Thread Noodle Salad and the Rama Thai Deli. The noodle salad was served warm and medium/hot spice. Mixed with the lemon juice and crushed peanuts, it was a great combination of flavors. Very light and full of flavor. The Rama Thai Deli was also excellent. The peanut current was a great compliment to the spinach it was served over. Deep peanut flavor mixed with coconut flavors; excellent dish. We were both fans of sweet sticky rice and they had Mango and Sweet Sticky Rice. It's served with sliced mango, sticky rice formed into a brick and sweet coconut sauce. The sauce was more coconut than sweet, but the sweetness from the mango balanced everything out. Awesome dessert! The atmosphere was upbeat and they had a live band playing right as we finished dinner. Our server was super nice and extremely polite (I think her name was Judy, I know it started with a J...).
(4)Karen H.
We stopped at Sawatdee on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. 4 adults and 4 kids and they were very accomodating. My 3 yr old son enjoyed the sushi (from next door at Zushiya, technically) and I had delicious pad thai with chicken. The spice ratings are spot on. Service was quick and responsive and the food was flavorful.
(4)Jess A.
My family and I decided to take a chance with Sawatdee, despite the poor reviews it received......big mistake. Let's begin with the Toam Kha Gai: It's supposed to taste like coconut; it had no flavor whatsoever. It was a tasteless water-like consistency with dry chicken. The chicken Pad Thai had too much sauce. The kid's meal...let's just say my two year old wouldn't even look at it. My husband will usually devour anything; not this dish. My husband had the Massaman Curry with Chicken. His verdict: Bland, and didn't taste like curry. I was really looking forward to some Thai cuisine. What a disappointment.
(1)Selvam M.
Not a authentic Thai food.. Don't spoil your valuable time and money. I have been to Thai restaurants many times, but I have tasted The worst Thai food here in Sawatee. Tom yum soup & red curry were not tasting good at all. When complained to the waitress, she was telling that this how they make it. Doesn't make any sense.. Bad... Bad... Very bad experience.
(1)Roxana S.
I love this restaurant, they have awesome food! :-)
(5)Christie R.
Good, hot food that is more than enough for lunch the next day. They also have happy hour on Sundays, but I'll have to go back to try that out. Oh and Sue's egg rolls are worth the money.
(4)Mon P.
Im not so sure if there are any other places that I can have papaya salad and some sushi at the same time. I would give their papaya salad a 4 star but only 2.5 for sushi. The papaya salad had nice flavor and well spiced. However, the Chirashi Sushi that I ordered didnt really do it for me. Some of the fish pieces were really mushy, and there werent that many fish varieties in the bowl. I would totally come here for the papaya salad, but not so sure if I would order sushi again.
(3)Steve W.
I've made this place a regular on my rotation and I have never been disappointed! The food (especially the apps) is great and the service has always been top notch. My entire family is vegetarian and they have SOOOO many great options for us. The pallet in my family varies widely and they are able to make things as weak or as spicey as you would like. I haven't tried the veggie sushie yet, but the Thai food is all world!
(5)Ann G.
I ordered vegetable fried rice for take-out. It was ready immediately and it was super tasty. The staff seemed pleasant and the place was fairly deserted at 11:45am. I'll get take-out there again soon.
(4)Leena Y.
I had high hopes for this place considering that it was voted best ethnic food in maple grove. I was dissapointed. I came in with a group of 6. Host was very polite. We were seated in a booth. Very uncomfortable...especially with a group of 6. It made moving around very complicating. Wish we had a table instead. We looked at the menu and everything seemed decent. Although I don't understand what kind of Thai restaurant does not have drunken noodles or pad see ew. Our waitress was terrible. I understand that she might of been having a bad day, but you should never show that to your customers. NEVER. She brought us drinks and took our orders. She was not smart about taking our orders, considering that we were a group of 6. Instead of taking our orders by our seats, she scattered all over the table, making us confused as well as herself. She also cut me off in the middle of my order and took another persons order. The sushi was terrible. I'm guessing that is why they do their 2 for the 1 on the sushi. It DID not taste like sushi at all. Very sloppy work as well. Our food was served and it wasn't as great. I've had much better food than that. The curry was too sweet but it was the only good thing we had. Beef pad thai was very very rubbery and mushy. VERY saucy. There was barely any beef in it as well. After dining, we were ready to leave. Were forgotten and sat there for about 20 minutes waiting for our check. During our dinner, we weren't checked up on at all either. We asked for take out boxes and did not get any. Once we got our checks, we ended up paying for each others items. Because the waitress took the order in a silly order, she confused herself and mixed up our tabs, which we split into 4 separate tabs. We also got back only 3 tabs and our 4th one never came to the table. It took 10 minutes for our tabs to be returned to our table. Never going again. Will take the extra drive somewhere else.
(2)Will V.
HORRIBLE!!!! Only if I could give negative stars I would've with no hesitation. Should've turned around as soon as i seen the dirty glasses of water and nasty sticky silverware. Number 1 rule, if a restaurant isn't ashamed of letting you see how filthy their dishes are especially with the first things you see as a customer, you can only imagine what goes on in the kitchen. Which leads to next complaint, i ordered the Thai roast duck and panang curry.... yes i gave them the benefit of the doubt given their reputation which i regret.... the duck was extremely dry, I've had jerky that was juicier (no exaggeration), the curry was extremely oily and all i could taste was the green beans which they should've preboiled to rid of the strong flavor the skin of the beans project. Afterwards the waiter said that if i liked that curry dish try this other one blah blah blah what ever it was didn't pay attention because i knew I'd never return to any of their locations. Just a horrible horrible experience, very disappointed, glad some of you thought it was good, my first and last time definately, and yes i am very familiar with Thai dishes
(1)Mark W.
This review is for Sawatdee and Zushiya of Maple Grove. We had food both from the Sawatdee menu and the Zushiya menu. Our meals started off very nice. The appetizers were great. I ordered some sashimi, ama ebi or sweet (raw) shrimp, and tako or octopus and a salmon skin sushi roll. The waitress read the order back saying I had ordered a spicy salmon skin roll. I tried to correct her, but she insisted that it was spicy salmon. When the sushi/sashimi arrived I had fully cooked shrimp or ebi, large thick slabs of octopus and the salmon skin roll. When I asked the waitress about the shrimp I was told that what was on my plate was ama ebi and argued with me about whether it was cooked or not. She returned and said that they do not serve raw shrimp so I asked why it was on the menu, but got no answer. The octopus was about 3 inches by 1 inch by 1/4 inch thick. A generous serving, but not what I want as sashimi, not to mention there were ice crystals in the center of the meat. The salmon skin roll was what I expected, except that there was so little of anything but rice in it, that the rice was the only thing I could taste. I had the drunken shrimp entree. The flavors of the shrimp were good, but the veggies were cold and undercooked, perhaps thrown in the bowl just before serving. Now I am a spicy food eater and usually order my Thai food hot at the restaurants I am familiar with, but I ordered this at medium due to it being my first time there. Though it was not too spicy at first after about three shrimp and some veggies my tongue burnt so badly I was unable to eat rice.
(2)S R.
Panang curry with chicken; spice level "Thai spicey" is my fav. It is not available at every location, but I ate that every Monday for more than a year in Maple Grove. The fresh spring rolls are also outstanding. Could benefit from a better beer selection.
(4)Irina L.
Business dinner for a total of 13 colleagues from US, China & Europe - needed something lighter than a late-night gorging on steaks or Italian. Perfect choice - Sawatdee. The menu offers bar faves of hot chicken wings, a twist on the jalapeño poppers, as well as Asian faves of vegan summer rolls, chicken satay, etc. For the main course choice, we had a wide variety of selections: a sushi boat for 4 (very good fresh sushi and rolls), pad Thai with shrimp, fried rice, stir fries, and selections of Nigiri. The food was enjoyed by all; the service was good; the live music was pleasantly playing in the background, without interfering with numerous conversations at the dinner table, the beer and wine complimented everyone's dishes. No room for dessert. Have been here about 4 times, when in the area for business.This is a reliable place for dinner.
(4)Lauren F.
The food wasn't that great. The chicken pad thai was quite mushy and quickly put together and their stir fry's are very mediocre as well. Not to mention the horrible waitress and service that we experienced. Definitely better places to eat around the Arbor Lakes area.
(2)Chelsea K.
Now this review might be a little bias seeing as I already love the Sawatdee in Bloomington, but me and my boyfriend visited this Sawatdee/Zushiya place about a week ago because we had a $30 Groupon. Right off the bat I noticed the atmosphere was a lot nicer than the Sawatdee in Bloomington. Nothing fancy by any means; but still pretty nice. I ordered the Holy Basil Supreme with beef (which is what I usually get at the Bloomington location; I wanted to compare). It cost $3 more at this location, which is a real downer. The only difference is that this location adds jalapeno peppers to it (they don't really add much to the dish for me). I would say the portion size here was slightly larger, so I guess that can make up for some of the price difference. Overall the quality of the food was the same. Very tasty as usual. Although, this location didn't make it nearly as spicy as the Bloomington location does. I told the waitress "Thai hot" and ensured her that I could handle it, but I guess either they didn't believe me, or they're just not capable of such spiciness. I also ordered a spicy tuna roll from the sushi menu. I would say it was pretty fair in price, perhaps a dollar cheaper would have been nice. The roll seemed sloppily made. None of my pieces were the same size. The texture was good though and it tasted great, so that's all I really care about. I will say the service wasn't perfect, but certainly not horrible the way lots of people on here have described it as being. The first problem was that we asked for fried spring rolls and we received fried egg rolls. Now I don't know if that was a problem on the waitress's behalf for writing it down wrong, or maybe it was the kitchen's fault. Either way, we weren't too upset. They were still delicious. The waitress forgot to bring me chopsticks and soy sauce at first with my sushi, but she brought me some quickly after without me having to ask her for it. She was very attentive to our water, and she came by often to ask us how the food was and if we needed anything. Overall I liked my dining experience here. I'm interested in trying more of their sushi to see how their other rolls taste, and to see if they're made a little neater.
(4)Pui A.
Horrible experience. My husband and I walked into the restaurant and put down our name at around 7.25pm. We waited for 15 min and finally got a seat. The hostess bought us drink 5 minutes after we sat down and said there would be a server for us. More than 5 minutes later the hostess came back and said she would take our order. It was almost 8pm. We then placed the order and waited... and waited... and it was about 20 minutes later that we felt something was wrong. There were empty tables and the servers seem pretty slack that time so we thought it shouldn't take that long for our order. My husband then asked the hostess about our food, she simply told him that she would check with the kitchen. We then waited for another 15 min, then came our food. It was 8.35pm, more than an hour after we got into the restaurant. The tom yum soup wasn't hot at all when it got onto our table. Also for the $13 that we paid, there were countless straw mushrooms but barely any chicken. We were very disappointed. The Pad See Yew that we ordered had only chicken and broccoli, did not worth the $9 they charged. No water added for the whole meal. We also had to walk to front desk to ask for bill. We felt like we were being neglected for the whole night. We did not even know who our server was. In conclusion, Sawatdee/Zushiya restaurant is officially being put into our blacklist. A place we will never go back.
(1)Christy N.
I have been going to Sawatdee in MN for years because I love it. In the past few years I've been going to the Maple Grove location since it's so close to me. Sadly, the last 4 times have been horrific. The food is fine but the service might be the worst I've ever had. Stunningly bad. The issues that I have are repeated each time: We are always seated on top of other people. There may be only 4 groups of customers but we are all seated elbow to elbow, which is awkward. We receive our drinks after our food arrives. Even my 4 year old would look around and ask if we were forgotten. Food comes out sporadically - I get my dish, the server appears to forget my children until I flag her down and point out that they have no food, she looks surprised but says nothing, then I share my food with them (otherwise it would get cold if I waited), then they get their food a dish at a time (repeat above scenario of telling the server we're short a dish, then all of us sharing food until everyone gets served). If we need refills of our drinks or possibly silverware and napkins we need to flag down a server. They are always nice but seem to have no understanding of the things that are going wrong. From the other reviews here, it appears it's not just my family and I having these issues. I've noticed that there are fewer and fewer customers in the restaurant lately and I don't notice any take out orders waiting at the host stand anymore. I think I'll add this one to my 2011 'Restaurant Death List."
(1)Emily P.
Well, my server was excellent, attentive without being overbearing. The atmosphere and decor were what you expect of a chain in the Arbor Lakes area. Very dark for lunch on a weekday, I guess they want more of an evening dinner vibe. I work weird hours so I had lunch at about 3:30 pm. I had the panang curry with chicken, with a spicy rating of 3 out of 5. I think if I were to go back I would up to a 4. The flavors over all were underwhelming compared to thai curries I have had at family run restaurants. And I know it is ideal to have your coconut fat separate in the curry so you get those nice fat droplets floating on top, but this dish had easily a full centimeter of grease scumming the surface. Blegh. Maybe if it had adequate spice & flavor this would've been forgivable. At least the dark meat chicken was moist and tender, in large chunky portions.
(2)Carol M.
First, if you are promoting your sushi bar...pay attention to it...Michael was spectacular ...your other staff SUCKED...there
(1)Cindy M.
Had a groupon coupon so I thought I would give this place a try. We went on a Tuesday afternoon and the first thing they asked us (before we were even seated) was if we had a groupon coupon. LOL Not sure if that means they serve substandard food to us couponers or what. Service was slow. The waitress only waited on one table at a time, going back into the kitchen after each conversation. I ordered the cashew chicken stir fry...spice level 3. It was not spicy in the least. It did have a fair amount of veggies but not much chicken and the flavor was okay. My dining companion ordered the Pad Thai -no spice. They had a picture of it in their menu and what she received looked nothing like it. The flavor was good but all she had was noodles; only a couple of pieces of chicken and absolutely no other veggies. We also ordered the chicken satay which was completely overcooked and looked like those dry chicken strip treats you give to your dog. Overall, I wasn't impressed and because it is so expensive, I wouldn't consider returning unless I had another coupon.
(2)Emily S.
The up-and-down spice levels of this place are comparable to the moods of Amy Winehouse. Honestly, I really wanted to give this place five stars. I'm in love with a memory I have of Sawatdee downtown, a Thai restaurant that once swept me off my feet and made me drunk with love over cashew chicken, coconut milk soup, and a few other dishes. But it's just not the same anymore. I always choose medium for spice level, but this last time medium was apparently all jacked up on steroids -- my soup was so full of pepper flakes it burned the edges of my mouth. I'll keep going back because I'm a sucker, I suppose. It's like wanting an old flame to call me back so we can relive past times. PS, by the way. The sauce with the fresh spring rolls is mad crazy wonderful.
(3)Nadine Y.
I was on another first date. This one was rough. The place was pretty big and not busy at all, but for some reason, they decided to sit everyone (four of us in the restaurant) in an earshot of one another. So I'm pretty sure everyone else (the other two) knew it was a first date. The place is pretty standard in decor and has nothing spectacular or special to it. The sushi was alright. Nothing to yelp about. And I like to use the excuse of chewing my food in order to avoid conversation if the date sucks. But the sushi wasn't that great so I couldn't chew as much as I needed to. We ordered the Tuna Platter ($25). Oh, and the rice was dry. Yuck. The service also sucked. I attempted to slurp my drink loudly in order for the waitress to hear me. She could have helped with the awkward silences, but nope. She showed her face three times. Once to get the order. Once to refill my water. And once to hand us... err.. him the bill. Then at the end of the date, I thought, "wow, I yelp a lot about how awkward my dates are. Is it just me?" But then I realized that nope, it's not me. It's the restaurant, service, and food that makes or breaks the date. So, in that case, I do not recommend this place... especially for a first date!
(1)Jess L.
I read the reviews of this location on Google maps, but forgot to check Yelp. Mom and I decided to give it a go anyhow. The staff was friendly, but didn't speak very loudly, and had very thick accents. It was hard to hear and understand them, even though it wasn't very busy. I was unimpressed off the bat. They sat my Mom at a table behind a half wall, so I had a hard time finding her when I arrived. The place was pretty empty, so that seemed like an odd choice. The waitress came to take our order, and Mom ordered appetizers, but I said I needed a minute to decide. I set my menu down to take my coat off, and she immediately swooped in and took it. I had to ask for it back! It seemed as though we were being tag-teamed for service, since one lady took our appetizer order, and another lady took the meal order. This continued our entire meal, which I thought was strange. The food wasn't 100% what we were expecting. They didn't ask what spice level I wanted my Pad Thai at, so I had to chase the waitress down before she put in the order to specify. It came out absolutely devoid of spice, so I had to add my own when they brought me the spice tray. The tofu was not fresh like I asked for, and it was way over fried. Mom ordered coconut shrimp, and they were ok, but prepared very differently than what we were expecting. While we were finishing up and paying the bill, one of our waitress team ladies tried to take the water glass I was drinking out of! I basically had to ask her permission to keep it until we left! Long story short, next time, we're going to Chipotle.
(1)Laura P.
I like how Sawatdee looks, it's spacious and well decorated. The staff are very friendly and also attentive. My food wasn't too bad, I ordered the chicken cashew dish. There were water chestnuts in my dish which were fresh and had a nice snap to them. I'm always a sucker for water chestnuts :) Me and my dining partner shared some egg rolls as an appetizer and I thought those were also pretty good. I tried some of my friend's beef dish that he ordered and I didn't really like it as much. It was spicy, which was yummy, but the pieces of beef were bland and I didn't care for the way they were cooked. The rice was good. My experience here was good, but apparently I'm one of the lucky ones, judging by the reviews that precede mine.
(3)David S.
The atmosphere is good the help is nice. I loved the Holy Basil that I had last time but I did not care much for the Pad Thai this time. This is about the forth time we've been there. The fact that it is close along with Groupons and coupons will help bring us back sooner.
(4)Carla S.
It was my first time at Sawatdee. The Maple Grove location is nice, with the exception of bratty rich teens cruising down the "mainstreet". We sat out on the patio. I ordered Sushi, Pad Thai & a diet coke. 1. The sushi was an app for my friend and I. I can't remember the exact name of the sushi, but it was "eel" & it tasted okay. I would say average sushi. 2/5 for sushi. 2.Mild Chicken Pad Thai was really good. It was nice because they put the peanuts on the side. I definitely cleaned my plate! Would have liked the portion to be a little bigger (I love leftovers)! Pad Thai=4/5. 3.The diet coke was huge & the waitress/hostess did refil it onc. She even gave me a sample of Thai tea, which I am glad I sampled because I didn't like it! I would have liked the waitress to check up on us a little more, just because we were outside doesnt mean that we are not part of the restaurant vistors! 4. I guess my last piece of input would be the total cost of the bill: We ordered: 2 Pas Thai's 2 soda's 1 order sushi (six small pieces) = the order total was $39.
(3)Evan J.
Worst dining experience in a long time! Took an hour to get food because "we just had 20+ takeout orders come in". When it did finally show up, the pad Thai was very bland. With a heat level of 2, we could not tell there was any spice in it at all. The Phuket sling tasted like a melted freezee, and the mojito tasted like sugar and lime juice. No alcohol could be found in either drink. Total dining time, 2 hours 33 minutes.
(1)Raedean F.
Tasty Thai available in Maple Grove. It is generally cold in the restaurant so I'd recommend bringing a light jacket or sweater.
(3)S O.
What a disaster (awful service, forgotten orders, long wait, and way below average quality of food). I was warned looking at Google's review of this location (but not chain, for example the Washington ave downtown location is great) but I met a friend here anyway. After my experience here I'm convinced one or a few of the servers are likely *consistently* providing the awful service users are ranting about. We spent a total of 3 hours here total due to forgotten orders and long waits. Imagine staying at any restaurant for three hours! Yea!
(1)Stephanie S.
I've had good service at this establishment before. However, after the way we were treated last night I will NEVER go here again. To start, that hostess was extremely rude. I came into the restaurant to put our name on the waiting list. I heard a person playing the guitar beautifully so I peek my head around the corner and I was excited to hear some more music while we ate. The hostess walked up and I told her I had 5 in my party. He response was "There is a wait yanno?" I told her that was fine. She said it would be 15 mins. My husband (it was his birthday) and our friends waited... and waited... and waited... 30 mins later (with out seeing the hostess again and seeing multiple tables free) I finally stopped a waitress to ask if we could be seated? I was baffled by her response. "We are really backed up here. You could either sit at a table and wait or wait where you are, either way you're going to be waiting." Long story short. WE WALKED OUT! Went to Redstone, our second choice. I will be writing a fabulous review for them after this one.
(1)Meghan P.
My coworkers and I stopped by for some sushi. It was a big mistake. All the rolls were all very loose- we could not pick them up at all. I had to scoop the pieces onto my plate, and then eat them bit by bit. One coworker wanted their spiciest roll, and the one that was recommended was not spicy at all- I tried it. Mine had jalepeno in it, and wasn't even one the waitress recommended for spice. The worst part, by far, happened to my other coworker. The eel in her roll had bones and skin in it! She complained to the waitress- who didn't apologize, but just said she'd talk to the sushi chef. She came back a minute later, and reported that he said they buy their eel precooked from some company, and he just cuts it up. And anyway, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT. No apology, no discount, no new roll, nothing. We all have had unagi numerous times and never encountered bones or tough skin.
(1)Kayle Jo D.
honestly there is only one redeeming quality to this joint... their deep fried chicken balls... they are delicious but also probably will give you a heartattack... if you want more than one glass of water you NEED to ask for it when you take the order or you will not get it probably ever... i have been there a few times because my bf loved that chicken ball appetizer but the service there highly ruins any chance of leaving there in a good mood. sushi is ok...expensive and could be better. pad thai is good but honestly i think that is one thing you almost cant mess up when your a thai resturant. overall i woudnt ever bring anyone there and if it were up to me i wouldnt probably ever go back...but he just cant get over that app....
(1)Emily F.
They have a great happy hour, but stick w/ the spring rolls. Sushi was so bad and even w/ buy one get one free, yuck. The satay was fried! I try to go for the healthy options and they fried the chicken satay. Go for drinks, but stick with the spring rolls and maybe a Thai dish. You would think they would step up there game since it's a local chain!
(2)Suzi R.
Always have great sushi here. Service is a little slow sometimes, but when I go I'm usually not in a hurry and am there to socialize and have a good time.
(4)Greg W.
We have eaten at other Sawatdee locations and have enjoyed them. This was the first time we tried the Maple Grove location. The atmosphere was nice, the place was very busy, and the service was good. We liked the variety of choices you got with the Sawatdee/Zushiya combination. The Pad thai, chicken fried rice , and catfish in a sweet ginger sauce was awesome!(just wished for more catfish). The 2 types of sushi we ordered were good to average. The only dish that was a dissapointment was the calamari which was overcooked and rubbery. But overall we had an enjoyable experience at Sawatdee Maple Grove location.
(4)