Thai Pavilion Restaurant — Restaurant in DeKalb Township

Thai Pavilion: A Love Letter to Flavor

If I could marry a restaurant, Thai Pavilion would already be picking out flatware and registering at Crate & Barrel.

Hands down, this was the most delicious meal I’ve ever had—and I’m not saying that lightly. I’m talking full-on flavor fireworks. The colors! The textures! The presentation! Every dish looked like it was styled by a culinary interior designer with a PhD in edible glamour.

Let’s talk portions: huge. Like, “you’ll need a to-go box but you’ll also eat until you regret nothing” huge. And the food comes out fast, which is impressive considering it tastes like angels hand-prepared it with tiny basil-scented halos.

Let’s get into the highlights (aka every single thing we ordered). The Chicken Pad Thai? I saw heaven. Like, actual light-through-the-clouds, choir-singing moment. Pad See Ew? Rich, savory, noodle perfection. Chicken Delight? Delightful doesn’t even cover it. More like “Chicken Transcendence.” Ginger Chicken (Spicy)? Oh, it delivered. A perfect, nose-tingling balance of zing and heat. Mango Chicken? Are you kidding me? Juicy, sweet, tangy perfection. If sunshine were a sauce, it would be this. Pineapple Fried Rice? This dish came out looking like it was about to walk the runway. Massaman Curry? It tastes like your grandma hugged your taste buds while whispering sweet nutmeg lullabies. Garlic Pepper Chicken? I had to stop mid-bite to shout “Are you freaking kidding me?!” It’s that good. Thai Pepper Steak? Tender meat, rainbow veggies, savory sauce—pure harmony.

And let me not forget the chicken in every dish—juicy, perfectly cooked, and free from those “questionable chewy bits” (if you know, you know).

The service? Impeccable. They were warm, helpful, quick with refills, and even brought us extra plates for family-style sharing so we could try everything. It was like dining with friends who know what you need before you do.

And those Thai iced teas? They were “plain” in name only. Somewhere between a classic iced tea and a cream soda, they were the perfect, sweet-creamy tasting companion to all the spicy, tangy, savory goodness.

I’ve now had Thai Pavilion twice, and I obsess about it like a middle school crush. Thank goodness I don’t live in town, or I’d be eating here every single day and considering applying for a job just to be closer to the kitchen.

Chef—whoever you are—you deserve a raise, a crown, and possibly a national holiday.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would. Like… a constellation’s worth....

I recommend their fresh lime chicken and duck curry. I've only been here twice but both my experiences were good! The flavors are strong but not overpowering. Staff are nice and the atmosphere cozy. The best place for thai in dekalb and probably the whole Sycamore area.

The duck curry was really good. The duck came with some skin and you could really taste the roasted duck flavor in the meat and curry. I also asked them to make it extra spicy, which they did well. Some places also make their curries with too much coconut milk but that was not a problem here.

I also liked their fresh lime chicken a lot too. It's best shared by 2 and used as an appetizer/desert. It's a bit heavy as it's both fried and sweet. It's basically the same as walnut shrimp from other places. The breading and frying is pretty thin and the added lime gives the dish a subtle sour kick.

The staff was very friendly, but somewhat to a fault. Over the course of a meal, I had multiple waiters come over 4 or 5 times asking if the meal was good or if we needed anything. While well intentioned, it can be very disrupting. But it didn't affect me too much.

If you're in the area and like thai, definitely give...

The food is very good, but their prices have gotten out of hand, and the service is terrible.

The last time we ordered takeout from here, we got 2 noodle dishes for almost $40, and one of them wound up not even being the right dish. When I placed my order over the phone, the employee read my order back to me correctly, but when I went to pick it up, it was wrong, and even written down wrong on the slip. I told the lady behind the counter that the order was incorrect, and was told I could either pay for the incorrect order and take it, or wait 20 minutes for them to cook the right dish. I paid for the wrong dish because I didn't have time to wait, then just felt grumpy about it the rest of the day.

The time before that, we ordered out for dinner and showed up at the time they said our food would be ready. The lady behind the counter had me pay for the order and then told me it would be right out...45-50 minutes later, it was finally ready. I would have just walked out, but of course I had already paid for the food before they had apparently even started making it. I did get a "sorry about the wait," but too...