Courtside Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Fairfax

I visited on a Friday evening to finally experience this seemingly well reviewed Thai food after passing by several times before. The interior showcases ample seating in a welcoming and clean open space with brightly colored walls. The exterior allows for a number of tables for those wishing to eat outside. Service reflects that which one would hope from a family-owned establishment. I was greeted by more than one person, including both what I presume to be husband and wife. The former oriented me to the menu assuring me of the fresh and authentic nature of the food, and the latter checked on me as I was eating and even gave me a remote control to watch TV as I ate at the bar. My food order seemed to be paced appropriately if not a little slow at the beginning for which the student serving me apologized with the busyness of the kitchen on a Friday.

I settled on a tomato-based broth soup and sliced beef appetizer to start, the catfish entree for a main, and a pair of favorite desserts — mango and sticky rice and fried banana with ice cream. The thermal heat with both my soup and catfish was reassuring. The soup had a light and refreshing flavor with properly cooked and portioned vegetables and chicken. The sliced beef appetizer tasted bright and fresh, however a sprinkling of some kind of nut prevented me from finishing the dish. I did not see any reference to nuts in the menu nor does the picture online seem to show nuts, so I thought my allergies were safe with this dish. Fortunately no health problems occurred, but I would have to remember to ask the staff in the future to be sure. The catfish was crispy, hot (both thermal and spicy), and moist inside. The curry was nicely mild, and the vegetable garnish was cooked well so some crispness remained. The desserts were both quite satisfying, especially the fresh and ripe mango and the fried banana. The ice cream was portioned generously with just the right amount of honey drizzle that avoided soaking the crisp banana.

The total cost for my meal came to $55 excluding tax and tip. I really enjoyed the family-run atmosphere and service combined with the fresh, bright flavors I come to anticipate when eating Thai cuisine. If not for the nuts in my appetizer, I would have nothing but an overwhelmingly positive recommendation. I would absolutely return if I were in Fairfax City or going/returning from an event at George Mason University, as this place places as a top Thai...

I have literally never had such a horrible restaurant experience as when I went to Courtside Thai Cuisine. I will never go back there again or recommend it to anyone. I'm amazed they are still in business.

First of all, this review is about the service, not the food. I didn't care what the food tasted like by the end.

I found this place on my phone while walking around old town with my girlfriend. I had recently moved to Fairfax and wanted to try out some local places. We went there and there was no wait, seated inside. Didn't seem too busy.

The waiter comes and we order our appetizers, entrees and drinks and everything is fine. The wait is a little long for the appetizers, maybe 10 minutes, but it was bearable. Then things started going downhill. For the next 30 minutes NO ONE came to our table. Not to clear our plates, not to refill our waters, not for anything. I had to go up to the bar and ask for a water refill and the dude at the bar grabbed the glass from me and then shoved it back without saying anything.

I went back to the table and sat down and tried to flag down one of the male waiters (he was an older Asian man) and when I asked him politely if our orders were coming out, HE HELD UP HIS HAND, AND WITHOUT EVEN STOPPING HE SAID "YEAH YEAH, IT'S COMING" as he WALKED RIGHT PAST our table. He did not even LOOK at us.

I should have walked out there. Ah, to be young and naive.

Eventually our orders did come to our table. And that's the second and last time anyone ever did. After we finished no one again came to clear our plates, or refill our waters. I had to GO UP TO THE FRONT DESK to ask for the bill. Again, I should have walked out.

That was literally the only time I did NOT tip at a restaurant.

Worst hour and a half I have ever spent of my life. We were not rude, we were not disruptive, we were normal dinner patrons. I can't be sure of it, but there seemed to be a distinct racial element to all of this. I am white and my girlfriend is Korean. I can't name any specific instances but the vibe seemed like some sort of racism very strongly. Again, this is just the strong feeling that I got. Nothing racist was said to us.

If you like the food and haven't had any problems with the service, this review probably won't stop you from going here. But if anyone asks me, I will tell them to just walk right past this dump, hold up a hand and say "yeah...

This used to be my favorite thai place in fairfax. The food is great, the location is nice, and the service is generally quite good, but today I had an experience that totally ruined it for me, and I don't think I will be coming back. I went in for dinner with two friends who I was taking out in Fairfax for the first time. I had promised them a nice meal in a nice setting and went with what I thought was a sure thing. Unfortunately, I was wrong. We all ordered our food, and waited patiently. Within a reasonable amount of time, maybe 10-15 min, not sure, I wasn't counting. My dining companions received their food. I told them to eat since I assumed mine would be coming out soon, but it took another 10-15 min (maybe more) for my food to arrive. Unfortunately, the dish I ordered, larb gai (ground chicken salad) came out with chunks of pink chicken still showing through. I have ordered this dish many times at many places, and I have never seen it so pink, but who knows, maybe they made a mistake, or maybe the acid would have cooked it enough. I wasn't that fussed and just asked if they wouldn't mind cooking them a bit more for me, and that I was happy to wait. I assumed they would just throw it in the pan for another 1-2 min on high heat, but whatever they did, it took another 10 min. By the time my food came back, my dining companions were almost done eating. I asked to see if the rest of my meal was about to come out too and was told it would be out soon. After starting my meal I decided that I didn't want to make my friends wait around much longer, so I asked if I could have the rest of my meal cancelled. They said no (which again is very understandable) but still it didn't come out for another 15 min, so I have no idea why it took so long.

In the end I had to have the rest of my meal packed up and just took it to go. Again, all of this would have been fine if they had been remotely apologetic, but they just didn't seem to care at all. I left my tip and left, but I don't think I will ever be back, at least not...