The Hungry Wolf — Restaurant in Chiang Rai Province

I visited Hungry Wolf after reading many positive reviews, but my experience was very disappointing.

Food & Experience

I ordered the BBQ fries appetizer, which on the menu showed home-cut fries. What I was served were waffle fries — not what was pictured or expected — so I sent them back. Later, my waitress told me she would personally have to pay for that dish.

For my main, I ordered a plain junior cheeseburger. The edges were edible, but the center was undercooked and too raw to eat. For a restaurant calling itself a steak & ale-house, the food quality did not meet expectations.

Staff Treatment (Very Concerning)

What troubled me most was the policy that staff must pay out of pocket for food a customer returns. Having worked as a waitress myself, I know this is not standard in the restaurant industry. Mistakes happen, and responsibility should fall on management — not on already underpaid staff.

This felt especially jarring alongside a note printed right on their menu:

“Restaurants have thin margins and we all put in an honest effort. So we find asking for a discount or saying you ‘know the owner’ disrespectful. We reserve the right to refuse service to customers.”

Pairing this message about “thin margins” with the practice of docking servers’ wages left a very bad impression.

Final Thoughts for Tourists

Tourists coming to Chiang Rai have many excellent dining options, including locally run restaurants where the food is delicious and staff are treated fairly. Hungry Wolf may look appealing from the outside, but between the disappointing food and troubling staff practices, I cannot recommend it.

Reply to response added:

Thank you for your response. I want to clarify that my review reflected exactly what happened during my visit. Both the waitress serving me and the manager on duty told me directly that the cost of the returned appetizer would come out of the waitress’s pay. If this is not your official policy, then it is troubling that your staff would say so — because as a customer, I can only go by what I am told in the moment.

I found it ironic that your menu warns customers not to ask for discounts or claim to “know the owner” because margins are thin, while at the same time I was told that a server personally pays for a returned dish. That contradiction left me with the impression that financial pressures were being shifted onto employees in a way that felt unfair.

Your threat to pursue me “under local law” is deeply disappointing. You do not know me, but I believe in free speech and I respect the laws of Thailand. My review is truthful and factual, based on what I personally saw, ate, and was told during my visit. In any legal context, honest firsthand experience is not defamation.

I also want to note that I looked for any record of ownership under the name “Mr. Liu” and found none. What I did find were published mentions of other individuals associated with Hungry Wolf, such as co-owner Ashley, Khun Jib, and American chef Adam Eller. If Mr. Liu is not formally registered as an owner, then it is misleading for him to be presented as such.

And if threatening customers for sharing honest experiences is how you try to maintain your high rating, that is more troubling than my meal ever was.

My review stands by the facts: disappointing food, and a troubling interaction that I felt important to share honestly.

Respectfully, June

P.S. Feel free to DM me and we can...

Let me start with the positives, by saying the food here is pretty decent for what it is and that the design of the restaurant is quite attractive.

That said, My wife and I (who is Thai) live in Bangkok. On our time off from work, we travel around Thailand eating at many restaurants. Over the six years of myself living here, I have never had an encounter such as this.

While in Chiang Rai, we were looking for a place to eat. On a normal basis we always eat local food because it's cheaper and we prefer it. I thought it would be nice to change it up.

After looking on Google Maps I saw Hungry Wolf and it looked really good as its difficult to find good western food at times. I noticed that they had outdoor seating. This is very important as we are traveling with our very small dog.

We parked our car and went into the restaurant with our dog in my arms. My wife asked the waitress if it was ok to take him in. The waitress then directed us to a table outside.

On the way to the table, outside there were 3-4 chickens (from Poland I found out), 2 large cages with rabbits and a massive pit bull.

The waitress was very nice btw. We sat down, ordered and ate our food with no problems. It was only when we went to go pay that things went south.

As we walked back into the restaurant, we saw the owner who was an Australian guy. He was walking out of the caged area where the pit bull was. He looked at my wife and I with a pretty unhappy face. He followed us into the restaurant and went behind the bar to ring us up. The very first thing he said to me was "Hey mate, we don't allow dogs in here" To which I responded, "no one told us that we could not bring him in" I then asked, "Is there a sign?" He didn't answer my question, but then told me that it's pretty standard.

He said if we allow animals in or around the restaurant then they will get bad Trip Advisor reviews.

I sad "I understand that, but that again, no one in the restaurant including the waitress told us it was not allowed."

He non nonchalantly said "yea sorry boss, but we cant have animals near food for health reasons.

I respect any restaurant that doesn't allow animals, but here are my Main issues:

You HAVE a bunch of animals at your restaurant and are giving me a problem over a toy sized dog.

Not you or any of your staff told us it was not allowed only until we went to go pay.

You blamed the customer and did not take responsibility for not training your staff to not allow pets in your establishment.

I rarely write reviews, but this was quite upsetting. You didn't want any bad reviews but now you are getting one. Did I mention that when we came in, the place was completely empty? I...

TLDR: Surprisingly wide selection of great food (coming from a California foodie) in a fun atmosphere. Reasonable prices. Highly recommend! The story: We came in to try their dinner because we were staying next door, and boy, were we glad we did. The staff found a booth for us immediately, and we took a look at their large menu. A lot of western style foods (think Chili’s or Applebee’s). We started with the cheddar fries that came out freshly made and very tasty. The bacon had an impressive smoke flavor that only happens if they smoke it themselves. Turns out they do. Up to this point, we had been eating only Thai food for the last couple weeks, so the salads looked particularly tempting. My wife had the steak salad, and I went for the beet and quinoa. Stop laughing! Honestly, they were both really tasty. The passion fruit/ mint/ yogurt dressing for the beet salad was delicious and the lettuce was tender and fresh. All together it was very satisfying. My wife thought the steak on her salad was cooked perfectly, and was very happy with the overall flavor. We ordered 2 drinks and 2 glasses of wine – all of which were very good. At the end we didn’t have room for dessert, but the chocolate cake and cheesecake looked spectacular. The British couple seated behind us said that their gluten free pizza was the best they ever had. We were so impressed with their food that we decided to order delivery the next day. We ordered the Veggie Power Pizza (say “yes” to the garlic!) with plant-based meatballs, spaghetti carbonara, onion rings, and the watermelon/ macadamia nut salad. I was dubious of ordering a carbonara in Thailand because that is one of my favorite dishes. Could it live up to the expectations? YES. It may not be the version I love from Rome, but darned if it didn’t grow on me. They used their house-smoked pork belly, and at first I felt the heavy smoked flavor overpowered the carbonara, but the more I ate, the more I wanted. My only suggestion would be to ask them to make it extra crispy. The watermelon salad was fresh and crunchy and had a delicious dressing. I would order that every time. The pizza was actually the best I’ve had in Thailand. Great flavored sauce with just enough oregano. The toppings were fresh and tasty. It was even good cold later that night. Even the onion rings were delicious. The good: The Staff, the owner we met (shout out to Ash), the smoke on the bacon, the salad dressings, the food, the drinks, the quick delivery. The bad: absolutely nothing. The mediocre: nothing. Overall: why are you still reading this?...