Gig Harbor Thai Cuisine (By Chili Thai) — Restaurant in Gig Harbor

I don't often give poor reviews but I thought about this one overnight and decided maybe it will be seen by management and they can decide what to do with my experience and if they want to give their staff feedback. Let me set the scene, my friend and I get together for dinner and frequent local spots in the harbor but also discuss places to try next. Last month it was damn fine pizza. This month we tried Thai chili as we had noticed all the "grand opening" type signage and social media mention of it. It's been there a while now so this isn't the first week or even month open. We are both women in our 40-50s. We walk in and see someone waiting for a to go, the girl from across the hall handed them food, leaving me to think about that they are popular for take out but still have a dining room open. The hostess/waitress then acknowledged us and I'm not sure what she said in her greeting that led my friend to respond "well, we want to eat" this caught my attention because my friend is always very friendly with servers and tips well. Then the norm here or to go talk. As we approach the beautiful view we can see 3 window view tables and the rest on the wall giving only 1 side a view. The center table is occupied by a m/f couple. We get a wall I get a great view of my friend. Sucked to be downtown with no view, that's one of the reasons why I frequent these establishments. I did not ask to move because I figured, maybe a reservation was coming in. There is zero sound, other than us and the other couple speaking, no kitchen noise is nice but soft music or some white noise would be great if any of the 4 of us within 20 sq feet wanted to say anything special. I order a hot tea, I get a cup of hot water and a single loose tea bag. This may have been the sign I missed. It tasted like a bad filtration system, I asked her to take it and let her know. The response was "I just brewed it" not can I get you something else or thank you for letting me know (even if she could care less) I don't think it was on the bill which is great since I didn't drink it. On to the first part of our order, the appetizer platter. Had 3 items, and a sauce, and did not look like the picture. I can not argue that the real crab in the rangoon was awesome but it shouldn't have been fishy. The contents of the rolls is still a mystery and the waitress just agreed when we asked if it was veggies. No clue what kind since I thought one was potato and the other was carrot and sprouts maybe. The tofu was overcooked and tasted like old grease. The sauce was good but very thin. The peanut sauce I later asked for was very good. We decided after the sampler to only order 1 plate to split, the cashew chicken. The chicken was dry, I dipped each bite in the peanut sauce. I was so sad that it took me until I finished the ¼ plate portion I'd served myself to realize I had not gotten any mushrooms or corn and only a couple cashews. My friend said her serving was the same. I picked a few of the ones I saw on what remained on the main plate. We did not have dessert. The couple that had been there left, we asked for our tab, and as we settled up another m/f couple walked in and was seated at the farthest window table. I did ask if reservations were required for window seats and she said no but maybe I should have asked how to get a window seat. The prices aren't bad but I'd rather pay more and have better quality so it's not likely...

I have eaten their food 5 times. We ate “in” four times and had carry out a fifth time.

We have had the pad Thai, almost all the curries, two appetizers and a couple of items off the “specials” page of the menu.

My wife and family are discerning when it comes to restaurants. We have tried most of the other Thai restaurants in the area. (One other in Gig Harbor, one at the Purdy bridge and a couple of well known Tacoma Thai spots..) We were not compelled to return to any of those restaurants.

The food at Gig Harbor Thai is fresh, tasty, attractive and very well priced. Pad Thai, Penang Curry are delicious stalwarts, and the peanut based curries are standouts. The only dish I won’t revisit is the tropical fried rice, it just didn’t work for me.

Early on the service (we went twice the first couple of weeks after they opened) was “spotty” and a bit disorganized, but the last two visits and the take out experience were efficient and flawlessly executed.

The restaurant is space challenged in that most of the tables are in one building and the kitchen is in another building adjacent. Not far but inconvenient for the staff. They have figured out how to make it work.

We met the owners ( and their children) on one visit, they seem like nice people working hard to make their customers happy.

I often see restaurants rated with 5 stars that don’t deserve three stars for the dining experience in my opinion. (Maybe I just am spoiled by 50 years of enjoying some fantastic Chicago restaurants. ) But 5 stars should be a top and difficult score to achieve, especially with regard to the food portion of the experience.

Gig Harbor Thai has earned 5 stars from this reluctant reviewer. It’s nice to not have to travel out of Gig Harbor to get a great meal.

Give them a try, maybe leave a review here and share...

-This is NOT authentic Thai. The food was was really over sweetened but not spicy at all. Tasted very generic. The rice dish was over cooked steamed rice that was very soggy. It was not traditionally prepared. -Large square plates on the smallest two person table was impossible. We couldnt help but laugh at how small the table was. -the kitchen is across and outdoor easement and they carry the food from kitchen outside then into the restaurant. The person serving/cooking touches two door knobs while handling your plate of food from the building the kitchen is in to the building the tables are in. Insane. -The two young people hosting/serving were both focused on solving an online food order and prioritized this over greeting customers or cashing people out. So strange. They seemed so stressed out. The server spoke so softly we could not hear her at all and kept asking her to repeat herself. She seemed terrified to work in public or intact with humans. She also did not give us menus or plates. we had to get them off the shelf ourself. She didn’t offer us to wait for a table she just said “we are full” and we asked if we can wait for a table and she just looked confused. Then she asked if we want appetizers before we even sat down. So weird. -Then a manager came out to assist with a customer on the phone and all three were very tense and the vibe was so uncomfortable. The manager was very loud and unkind to the two front on house staff. Such a bad vibe. Everyone talks about the view but the lay out has one large table in the window blocking all the small tables. Weird. All and all very unimpressed with food...