Pink Lotus Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Atlanta

I came here for a Sunday night dinner with a couple friends. I was nervous about the parking situation reading some of the reviews but when we arrived there was no valet and the deck is right next door which was super convenient.

We had made a reservation for 7p and were seated right away when we arrived. I was blown away by the decor and how pretty the restaurant was! When sat down, our server brought over lemongrass pandan palate cleanser drinks and a cooling towel for our hands which was a nice touch. Our server went into great detail about the menu and gave a lot of recommendations which was nice but also a little overwhelming.

The prices for the food were a little absurd, especially considering the portion sizes. For 3 of us, we ordered the massaman bombs (we were intrigued by the panipuri shells), charcoal chicken skewers, stewed beef curry (which we were told was like a green curry), and khao soi. When the food arrived we realized we would need a few more servings of rice which were $5 each! The massaman bombs were tasty but we got 3 tiny balls for $13 and they were cold which was very unexpected for curry. The main dishes were good (although none were really that spicy and the chicken didn't come out as skewers, just filets, so just interesting presentation for what seemed marketed as upscale Thai food). But overall the food was decent.

Where the night took a turn for the worse was after we had paid our bill, we were finishing up when our server and another server returned to the table. They then proceeded to essentially shame us for not leaving a big enough tip. When paying the bill, the handheld POS recommended a MINIMUM tip of $35. We did not spend enough for that minimum tip amount to make sense and manually adjusted the tip. (We spent $140 which would mean standard 20% tip of $28). We felt so uncomfortable by their badgering, I had never had that happen before and we left immediately after.

Overall, what would have been a decent but pricey dinner spot turned into one I will never return to. There's better upscale Thai restaurants in Atlanta like 26Thai. I'd recommend those over...

The atmosphere was amazing & our server Mya was delightful. She was very attentive and was able to talk about the menu in great depth. She was very sweet, anyone would be lucky to have her as their server.

Simply put, the restaurant is overpriced for the quality of food. I got the 5 HOUR DUCK BREAST and my partner got the braised Rib(?) I believe it was. We also got the FRIED CALAMARI and the GOLDEN CRAB ROLLS. Everything was honestly just okay..Thats literally it. Nothing too exciting, but just good enough to have plausible deniability. This is a new restaurant in Atl and of course all the Instagram food pages are promoting it, but their foundation of flavour is shaky at best. The calamari tasted as though it had been fried 20+ mins before we got there and they just scooped it from an already prepped pile. I was also tasting more batter than actual calamari. The GOLDEN CRAB ROLLS were flat in flavour, and the sauce couldn't even make up for it. They barely had any taste. I won't be back as their are so many other wonderful Thai restaurants in ATL. To be honest I think once the hype wears down and people get past the decor, I'm not sure how long the good reviews will stay.

Some smaller nitpicked things. The Hot Tea they serve is Tazo and as and avid tea drinker this did not impress me. I would have loved to see a variety of higher quality teas or maybe something new and different to keep with the restaurant theme. It would've been nice to get some honey as well in the little tea box.

This is really just a pet peeve, but the presentation for their THAI ICED TEA could've been better. My partner got this tea in an unflattering glass with a random green plastic straw. The colors clashed making the drink look unappetizing. 😅

All in all a very 5/10 experience. I wish I had pictures but I only think to take some when food...

AVOID! We felt scammed too! Read the YELP reviews.

Predatory salesman server ruined our night 8/10/2025. In a sketchy part of town too. Predatory on the inside and out!

As a server myself for 10 years, I appreciate suggestive selling, but this was unethical and sneaky!

Way too much upsell contact from our waiter (Asian guy with tattoos and red lips). After pushing 10 times for us to buy the apps and $19 cocktails on a Sunday night, he was disappointed and VERY quietly asked ONE person if we wanted water. Of course we did. He asked "sparkling or still?". Only one person at our table could hear him, and she said "still", I guess thinking it was the free tap water option not offered or mentioned, or maybe she thought this over priced restaurant didn't offer free water. It was our first visit there. He returned with multiple bottles of water and filled the entire table's glasses before we noticed that other tables had iced tap water, which we were not offered. We didn't know the other people at our table well, so it was uncomfortable sorting out the sketchy upsell with the server, and I upset my wife and ruined our weekend.

But at least it was expensive. Entrees are $35 or $55, and many come with only meat and a dipping sauce - no veg, no noodles, no rice - just an expensive piece of meat. So strange! My wife was charged $5 for a small cup of white rice to go with her a la carte $35 piece of chicken.

I'm still pissed and can make same quality curry at home with Bright brand curry paste ($1.39) and a can of coconut milk from DeKalb County...