Pookie's Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Burlington

Small Thai restaurant with delicious food and good service. The Crab Rangoon had a light flaky wonton wrapper and mild flavored filling. The filling had green onion slices that was fresh and flavor full, and the sweet and sour sauce was delicious. I liked them and ordered some to go. From the main course I ordered Pad Kee Mao with beef Thai hot. The Pad Kee Mao sauce was delicious with the perfect amount of spiciness. The vegetables were fresh and crisp, the beef was tender and tasted beefy. I was pleasantly surprised with Enoki mushrooms rather than cheaper button mushrooms. My only disappointment was the noodles being overcooked. The noodles were very soft, but I prefer my noodles to be al dente, slightly chewy. I did ask if they had Prik Nam Pla, but unfortunately they don't have the sauce regularly made. Pookie did say she would make some if I wanted her to, excellent service. A good alternative would be bottles of fish sauce at table and food served with lime slices, although you miss out on the extra chiles, but they did have chile sauce at the table. I didn't try the chilies as food was perfectly seasoned and didn't need more. If you like Thai food I recommend trying the food, and if you haven't eaten Thai food before go try some. Burlington is lucky to have such a nice Thai restaurant which aren't always easy to find in rural areas. One more thing, the menu I uploaded is the Dinner menu. My understanding is they have a limited lunch menu with daily specials posted on Facebook every day they are open.

Update: Tried ordering to go well before closing and was told they took too many orders. I was anticipating taking home Pad Kee Mao all week. I very rarely get to come to Burlington. I was heartbroken and very disappointed. Not good customer service in my opinion. I could understand if someone called between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm...

I have eaten here several times for mainly lunch and an occasional dinner, I have held off writing a review because I want to love pookies but it’s only okay.

Pro: It is a unique small business that brings a different option in a town of extremely limited food choices.

Cons: Food - if you have never had Thai food, this will be a welcome change. If you have ever had authentic Thai food, this will be mediocre. Everything generally has little flavor besides spicy heat, no veggies, and sometimes too much oil. Also, their name is Thai but many dishes are Vietnamese - but same problems.

Service - both dinner visits were vaguely friendly but unhelpful. Lunch I have ALWAYS been greeted with confusion, every time! I’ll ask for specials, they never have a written or posted list of lunch specials on site. The clerk will typically guess or ask the cook staff. No additional details besides dish names can be given.

Additionally, the reason they never know lunch is because it is only listed on Facebook by the owner, so if you don’t have Facebook, good luck as they have no website and do not post it inside or on any another social media. As an added bonus, their Google lunch hours list until 2pm but they actually close at 1:30. So lucky me - I drove all the way downtown and got there at about 1:35 only to be told they closed at 1:30. When I asked about the 2pm listing and pointed out the MANY people at the tables, I was told they were okay to finish their food but they won’t serve anything new?!

Overall, I keep trying Pookies in hopes they get better but so far have only been...

New to Burlington, I swiftly needed to find the local Thai restaurant, as it is one of my favored cuisine. Since trying it once, my wife and I have made this our "once a week" outing, as the food is simply brilliant. My favorite food of all time is Pho, which they "have". I used quotes, as it's not the style of Pho I am used to, as their is an obvious Thai take on it, but it's still really darn good, so it will be my normal order come winter! What really shines, food wise, is the Pad Thai and Drunken Noodle. They have a solid spice to them, but more important, especially with the Drunken Noodle, TONS of veggies! This place gives you the food your body needs, aka broccoli, mushroom, bean sprout, carrot, etc. Asian foods excel with Veg, and they do not skimp! We have also tried their Rice Ball appetizer and it's wonderful.

At the time of this writing, I have tried a total of 9 items on their menu, with the goal of trying everything once. Their food is so good that I know I can trust basically anything they cook up!

Now for Service: We have had the pleasure of being served by Morgan all but 1 time we have come here. She is kind and efficient, easy to talk to, makes great recommendations, and even makes an effort to remember bits and bobs about us due to our attendance frequency.

Pookies is quickly becoming our "Cheers", where we simply feel welcome to be there and know that we will enjoy our stay.

Thank you for being wonderful, as a staff, and making...