Sticky Rice - Downtown — Restaurant in Champaign

My wife and I came here back in 2018 shortly after they first opened, and I was very disappointed with the food (very bland, overcooked, nothing really tasted like anything), and assumed this place wouldn't last long. Here we are, just over 6 years later, and Sticky Rice is still here, and with a pretty solid Google rating of 4.6. Surely my first visit must have been a fluke, or how has this place continued to exist all this time?

We recently returned to give them a shot at redemption, but sadly, the food was just how I remember it: bland, overcooked, and lacking any discernable flavor other than just a general spicy heat. During this most recent visit, I ordered the chicken satay, which was overcooked to the point of being dry, leathery, and very difficult to chew (or even cut into bite-sized pieces, as we were not given a knife, and cutting these with only a fork requires so much force that you'll hurt your hand trying). The peanut sauce I've had at other Thai places was sweet, with a deep complex flavor profile. Here, it tastes more like slightly thinned Skippy.

I also ordered the panang curry, which was honestly the thinnest and most flavorless "curry" I've ever had. Even the beef was tough and didn't really have any flavor to speak of. Thai curries typically have rich, delicious flavor; not here. Even the steamed rice it was served with was mushy due to being overcooked.

Our server was friendly, welcoming, and accommodating, but sadly good service can't make up for flavorless food. She did take the satay off the bill, and we were offered something else instead of the curry, but I thought what was the point of ordering something else, waiting for it to be cooked, only for it to likely be just as bland and overcooked as everything else, so we declined.

On two separate visits, over 6 years apart, I've been extraordinarily disappointed with the food here. If you like actual flavor in your Thai food, try Sushi Siam in Champaign or Siam Terrace in Urbana. For the prices that restaurants are charging for food these days, nothing should be less than extraordinary, but I've found everything I've tried here to be woefully lacking. I won't be giving them a...

When driving by Champaign, my wife and I love to stop at local places in the area. We saw that this place had great reviews so we drove out of the way to check it out.

The inside set up of the restaurant was not my favorite, probably was a converted bar. I’d recommend removing the bar to make it feel more restaurant like.

For food… We ordered the starter called: Chicken Satay - it was extremely dry, chewy and nothing like it is in Thailand. In Thailand you will find charred spots from a grill - this was clear deep fried. It was not good at all.

For entrees, my wife got the Pod See Ew it was pretty good or “decent” as she described. Which was nice as we were worried it would be like the Chicken Satay.

I ordered the Pod Thai with double beef. Just like the Chicken Satay, the whole dish tasted dry and I could hardly eat the meat. The noodle weren’t terrible, you could definitely taste some similarities to the native dish… but for the cost, it was far (very far) from being worth what we paid for it. One redeeming factor was the portion, however, due to the taste, I could hardly eat a normal portioning. It was really disappointing.

I am not sure if it was the kitchen staff on Sunday or what, but we were thoroughly disappointed. Especially since we drive out of the way to come to places like this. This was not a good experience at all and for paying over $60, we hoped for at least average Thailand food but what we got was mostly dry and terrible food.

I apologize if this seems overly harsh, but I feel it is accurate. We don’t review a lot but we really want others to be warned - or at least steer clear of the Sunday...

We went to Sticky Rice last weekend. Me and the Husband were just checking out Champaign downtown. We saw an Axe Throwing place while we roamed around. That looked promising. Saved it for next trip to Champaign. Anyways , so we got hungry due to walking aimlessly and were looking for a place to eat. We saw Sticky Rice and went in. The place was already on our list of 'restaurants to try'. The place has a very homely feel. We were instantly greeted and given a place to sit. We went for Spring Rolls and Shrimp in a Blanket for Appetizers. I loved both the items. The Husband isn't a fan of rice paper spring rolls , but he still ate his piece. So , that's a win , I guess! We then ordered Pork Noodle Soup for me and a Duck Noodle Soup for the Husband and I went for a Thai Iced Tea as well. The Noodle Soups were fabulous. The give you chilli oil and sauces on the side to add to the Soup. I added all of the chilli oil and oh boy , it was so good. The Thai Iced Tea was great, too. It was perfect to soothe the taste buds after the fiery Noodle Soup. Everything was tasty and we will surely come back to try more ! A word of appreciation for our server and the staff. They were very helpful and asked us if the food was ok and if we would like to try anything else. And they also were very particular about sanitising the tables immediately after...