Thai Express Restaurant Waterloo — Restaurant in Waterloo

I got takeout at Thai Express (on King) on a weekday for dinner and thankfully it wasn’t too busy. I’ve been trying to a go a few times but they were always closed, their hours are kind of weird so I hope they can update it on Google.

My favourites from here are the Pad See Ew with beef ($14 after tax), that is what I got this time. As well as their Pad Thai and Basil Fried Rice. This location is the most consistent for me, their noodles are cooked well, their sauce isn’t too salty and their beef is tender. I’ve tried the Pad See Ew from the Fairview location before and it was drenched in sauce and was way too salty. The dish I had today was very good.

Their portion size is pretty big even though it looks small in the container, they really pack it. It usually takes me two meals to finish one container.

The person that served me was very nice and they finished cooking my food in less than 10 minutes. I stood there and waited, it’s always so fascinating how fast they are.

This is just a side note but I think that oftentimes there is a language and cultural barrier/difference that can come across as rude in Western standards, but many traditional Asian restaurants have waiters that just don’t talk too much to you because they don’t know how to. And at times their tone can seem rougher when they are translating from Chinese to English. I understand that Thai Express is a chain so perhaps they should adapt more to Western standards, but I also hope that customers can keep this in mind and be a little gentler before jumping to anger. At the same time I am not dismissing those people that had a negative experience, the owners may not know how to communicate their emotions properly when they are frustrated/ when it gets busy so that is something they need to work on instead of taking it out on the customers.

Overall, the food is good but there are definitely things to work on like their hours and...

Please check the Google review that how many customers have already mentioned the rude attitude of this location's owner (the lady). It will only destroy your brand’s reputation if she is still this rude. Today my friend and I had experienced the rudest and offensive attitude in the Waterloo Thai Express by this lady.

The store manager (lady) used aggressive language and offensive attitude to customer's request. We bought the meal and drinks, and when the lady was making the drinks, I asked whether we could leave the ice. She said nothing and then rolled her eyes to us. Then she turned around using Mandarin said offensive word to our request, but we could understand Mandarin. The meaning was that" Can't you said it earlier? ". （in a very offensive tone) It's really offensive to say bad words about customers by using another language that she thinks the customer could not understand. And after we found out, she argued with us and said that we must just arrive Canada and do not know the rule. We should not give request after she putting the ice. It is reasonable that she could just say to us face to face that the drinks has already been made and she could not make a new one for us. We could understand it, but she used an aggressive tone in another language by saying nothing to our request and rolling her eyes. It is so ridiculous and rude, I cannot believe how she can own this store by using this attitude...

I don't understand how your location can constantly mess up a simple modification for a Vegan consumer. You have a vegan menu but cannot remember to remove the egg, even when we ask in person multiple times. I came to order food for takeout, it was a tofu pad thai, and I specifically asked for no eggs and no sprouts but I received egg. I trusted your cooks to serve me food that I can eat and wasted my hard earned money in your establishment. Thai Express is receiving a bad name in the waterloo student community because of your franchise. Please shut down or learn to understand the necessities of your consumer's demand. Ming, I feel you have disrespected my morals and ethics by serving me a non-vegan dish and would only allow for a refund if I drove 20 mins back to your restaurant with the food. You asked me why I couldn't check before I left, maybe you are unaware of the current Pandemic Restrictions where you shall not be dining within fast food locations and the only other safe alternative would be to eat at home. I found your customer service disrespectful and untrustworthy. If any Waterloo students are reading this, please do yourself a favor and try something more authentic like mimo thai or gol's. This is a washed out excuse of Thai food and you guys should be...