Chimm - Thai & Southeast Asian Restaurant — Restaurant in Charlottesville

I definitely can not recomend this place.

Ill start with the food... which is not as bad as the service. The first time I came we got takeout. The appetizers were small, average tasting, and a little overpriced. My green curry tasted good. My husband's red curry tasted bad. I decided to give it a second try because I love Thai food and it's so conveniently located. A friend and I went back a week after the first try. We skipped appetizers this time and tried tom kha soup - it was good and priced well. Then we got pad Thai and green curry. The green curry was good again...but the noodles of the pad Thai were not cooked enough. My friend ate only one bite. I also got my favorite dessert - sticky rice and mango, and the rice was green. The waitress didn't know why it was green, I assume that was on purpose. It didn't taste great. I ate the mangos but not the rice.

Ok lets talk service. I'll just give a small overview of our service. (TLDR: It was terrible.)

I started out asking for a cup of hot water. Allergies make my throat hurt so a bit of hot water feels good. The waitress brought me a mason jar full of boiling water! I told her I would burn my hand if I picked it up, so then she brought me a plastic cup full of warm tap water. She was baffled as to what i wanted. I said "however you bring tea - do that, but without the tea bag." 10 minutes later someome from the back of the kitchen brought me a mug (that had no handle) with hot water. I used my napkin like a pot holder and went with it. there were 3 servers and a person in a t shirt (cook or manager, im not sure). The servers spent the entire time chatting in the bar area. They completely ignored the customers. I had to get up and walk to the bar and interrupt them to ask for a spoon. When we left they were sitting around a table eating...there were still 3 tables with customers that they were completely ignoring when we tried to pay the check, the server couldnt figure out the iPad thing so a manager (I think? Im not sure...she was wearing a t shirt) helped her. They hovered over us for more than 5 minutes trying to figure it out. Like literally standing half an inch from our table. It was very awkward, they should have stepped away to do that. they didn't offer a receipt. when my friend told them her noodles were not cooked they said "oh" and then charged her for the dish...which she didn't eat. they have a pretty snotty sign on all their tables saying not to ask for heat customizations, to use a spoon, and not to use napkins. I'll see if I can post a pic of it. My favorite part of this patronizing sign is it wasnt lamintaed so it had food stains of previous...

My hubby and I arrived on a Monday in August about 6:00 PM. First alarm bell was a sign at the entrance that they were short staffed - hmmm. Except for the colorful umbrellas hanging from the ceiling, the atmosphere inside the restaurant is plain with maybe a dozen tables. Only one table was occupied so it wasn’t busy. A few people came in to pick up to go orders. Our waiter was new – which we knew because he told us immediately. He wasn’t familiar with the menu so any questions we had were answered after he went into the kitchen to ask someone. I get it that COVID put a fly in the ointment, but did someone say minimal training? And speaking of flies, yes, there were plenty of those annoying buggers vying for attention. Moving on. Smack dab in the middle of wine country, and they only serve wine in those little airplane type bottles from who knows what origin (the waiter shrugged his shoulders). So, we opted for water. Wine snobs, I know. For dinner, we ordered Chicken Panang Curry and Chicken and Cashews. It took about 15 minutes for my meal to arrive and another few minutes for hubby’s dinner to be delivered. Both meals were decent sized servings, and both were also chock full of slices of chicken, which was a tad tough. The Panang came with 3 florets of broccoli, and a few strips of red pepper. The sauce was flavorful and a bit spicy as a good Panang should be. The Chicken and Cashews had a variety of vegetables (onion, scallions, and carrots), and the Chimm sauce which was tasty. We didn’t enjoy the rice as it was dry and crunchy. An hour later, there were 3 occupied tables – again, not busy. But we had to flag down the waiter to get the check, and he left the dirty dishes on the table which is a pet peeve of mine. Overall, the food was pretty good so we’d order takeout but we wouldn’t eat at the...

My husband and I decided to try this restaurant on a whim and I'm so glad we did! Their main motto seems to be that every guest who comes to dine in the restaurant is part of their family. I certainly felt like this was true! The service was prompt and friendly, and the servers all seemed comfortable in their environment. We got some fantastic suggestions for what to order as soon as we were sat and the server seemed so enthused about the menu, it was hard for us not to be, too.

(As a side note, while we were sat promptly, this is a small restaurant that seems to get busy quick, so just plan ahead, as there might be some wait.)

They brought us glasses of water to start, with a carafe so we could refill whenever we pleased (which was a big plus for me, because I hate a dry cup). I also ordered the thai tea with coconut milk, which was an absolute treat.

Dinner was delicious - we ordered a chicken skewer small plate, the pork belly stir fry with garlic, and chicken pad see ew (with thin noodles instead of thick) to share, and each dish had us nearly licking the plates when we were done. We were checked on regularly by all members of the serving team, and everyone continued to have a smile for us throughout the whole meal (which, sad to say, is rare for restaurants these days).

I tend to get anxious in small restaurants due to the noise and rushed staff, but the layout of this restaurant gives everyone plenty of space to be comfortable, and the control of noise was fabulous, all with some really chill music to top off the atmosphere. I don't often feel like my money is well spent when we go out to eat, but that was not the case here.

All in all, Chimm has a comfortable and cozy atmosphere with the staff and food to match. We'll be back, and I hope our next experience is just...