Bangkok 54 Restaurant — Restaurant in Arlington

Please do yourself a favor and read this review, especially before bringing a group or large party to this restaurant.

For the second year in a row, my husband organized a dinner here to celebrate a friend's birthday. We had 13 guests total and two children. My husband called the restaurant multiple times to confirm that they could accommodate our group. He also called the day of the party to ask if we could light candles and bring a cake to sing for our friend - the restaurant told him this was no problem at all.

We arrived at the restaurant and ordered our food. When we pulled out the cake, a waitress informed us that there would be a $1.50 plating fee per person. We told her that my husband had called and the person on the phone let us know that we could bring a cake, and she did not mention a fee. The waitress insisted on the charge. Not wanting to make a scene in front of our friend, we agreed to pay the fee.

After lighting the candles, the waitress came to cut the cake. She spent a very long time cutting the cake, and couldn't even transfer the cake to the plates. Ultimately, I had to cut the cake and serve it to our friends. And yes, ultimately, we were still charged the $1.50 plating fee for this service.

When the waitress came by to separate checks, she confirmed who ordered what, and when she stopped by me and my husband, we confirmed that we were together and would pay the plating fee for the group. Despite this, when the waitress delivered the checks, there was a fee on every ticket. Our friends were surprised and we were very embarrassed. Why should they pay for a cake or fee that they didn't even order? The waitress then took everyone's checks from them and reprinted checks. It was incredibly unprofessional on her part and embarrassing for us.

At this point, I sought out a manager. Up to here we had agreed to go along with the restaurant's policies--despite the inconsistent ways they were communicated to us. But embarrassing us in front of our friends at a special occasion was a whole other ordeal. The manager offered us an appetizer next time we came to the restaurant for our troubles but refused to back down on the plating fee.

Oh, and 18% gratuity was automatically added to every bill. Meaning my husband and I paid $60 for six small dumplings, one curry (that we shared), one happy hour beer, and the ridiculous plating fee for our group of friends, which was ultimately added back to our bill.

We completely regret this experience. It wasn't just ok - it was awful. If you want to eat mediocre Thai food, come here. But expect to be ripped off, nickled and dimed, and embarrassed in front of your friends.

Side note- good luck finding a parking spot in their lot with 12 spaces.

Having worked in restaurants for years of my life, I rarely write bad reviews and often tip 25%--even when service is sub-par. But what we went through last night was incredibly bad. No cultural or communication differences merit the service we received. Even a nice restaurant in DC would never charge a plating fee for a dessert - let alone insist on charging this fee after miscommunicating this to a customer.

I completely regret the hundreds of dollars of business we've given to this establishment over the years.

We would have been better off at any of the Sala Thai chain locations. For much better Thai food, and much better service, drive to Kin Da in...

First time trying out this restaurant, my husband and I found the place packed and super busy, not enough staff to go around. I ordered the pad thai. After about 30 min of waiting for our food, our waitress brings a giant tray filled with our food, and the food for the table behind us. Not paying attention, she switched my meal and the next table’s meal. Both I and that other person took a bite off our plates, realizing we were given the wrong food. I told the waitress my food was incorrect, she has a look of realization that she mixed up the tables and grabs up the plate without saying anything to me. I watched as she went over to the next table, who also told her they got the wrong meal, and she then tried to give my eaten off meal to this person. They asked for a fresh plate of food, and not one that had a bite taken from it ( I don’t blame them.) After another 20 min of not getting any kind of notification from our waitress of what was going on with my food, we flagged down another waitress. At this point, I just wanted to order something else that would be quick to cook, as we had already been there for an hour already and I was starving. The waitress was very rude and condescending, not caring about our situation and saying she had to run off to get approval from her manager before she put my new order in. I ordered the pineapple fried rice. Our original waitress came back out, with a new looking plate of pad Thai, at that point I didn’t even want it anymore and was not convinced she would give me fresh food. She didn’t care or apologize, she took the plate away to give it to some other sorry customer. The pineapple fried rice came out quickly enough. It was actually very delicious. But at that point my evening was ruined and I was just saddened by the piss poor attitude and customer service of the staff. We never got an apology nor never did the manager come over to make sure everything turned out fine. ALSO during this whole time our waitress never filled our waters EVER. I literally saw her filling up cups at every table around us but intentionally ignored our empty cups. My husband had to flag her down and practically beg for more water. In the end, we received no apology, paid full for the meal (luckily they took the pad Thai off), and left feeling saddened that what could have been a potentially favorite restaurant was ruined and we will never return to that place. If you’re in the mood for asian food, try Boru Ramen directly next to this place!! THEY ARE...

I have tried nearly every Thai restaurant in Arlington. Bangkok 54 is my go-to. The food is excellent and quality is consistent. I've been eating their food for 20 years. Used to work nextdoor at the Drafthouse and back then we pretty much only served nachos, chili dogs, and popcorn. One tires of this after a few years. When my baby sister moved here from AZ, her international cuisine knowledge was understandably limited. (Phoenix is not known for its Thai food or sushi). I was delighted to introduce her to my favorite dishes and expand her appetite beyond pad Thai. If I want to get someone into Thai cuisine, I take them to Bangkok 54. Good way to impress a date too! Duck rolls, fresh rolls, fried tofu, and steamed dumplings are my favorite appetizers. (I miss their Num Tok though...) Entree favorites include panang & massaman currys, crabmeat fried rice, salmon and pad see ew. Their pad Thai is excellent, though it's been awhile. I LOVE their dessert selection too. I'm a baker/amateur pastry chef and they serve the best mango sticky rice around (would love to see a delivery option for extra coconut cream sauce please). The mango cheesecake is excellent, as well as the custard sticky rice and taro balls. All beverages are killer, though I don't drink so can't speak to cocktails and whatnot. Thai Iced Tea is great, trying Matcha latte this evening. Non-alcoholic drink menu has expanded so I'm still working my way through. Next I'll try coconut milkshake. Also, they deliver directly, so no excess fees from third party nonsense and this prevents the classic third party delivery problems-forgetting the drinks and screwing up your order. Do yourself a favor and try Bangkok 54 next time you want Thai. Thank you, Bangkok for 20+ years of...