Royal Thai — Restaurant in Gurnee

I went into this restaurant on a whim. I love Thai food and eat a lot of it when I got out. I liked some things I ordered, but others were in need of improvement.

I started my meal with Tom Yum soup. It was delicious and flavorful. I ordered spice level medium and it was exactly right. The meat to veggie ratio in the soup was on point.

For my entree, I ordered the Royal Thai Sampler. For $14, this was an excellent value. It came with a cucumber salad (crisp, flavorful, and well-dressed), two spicy Thai chicken wings (saucy, flavorful, and definitely had a kick to them), and equal servings of chicken pad Thai, chicken fried rice, and chicken yellow curry. Although the yellow curry met expectations as far as flavor, variety of ingredients, and tenderness of meat and vegetables, the fried rice and pad Thai were both dry and lacking in flavor. The pad Thai was especially disappointing. The amount of chicken in it was minimal, and what was there was dry to the point of being like jerky. The dish overall also needed more sauce, peanut, and egg. As for the fried rice, I would have liked it to have more vegetables and meat added to it because the rice alone was too dry. To give it and the pad Thai more flavor and moisture, I had to add many spoonfuls of chili sauce to it.

As for service, it was friendly enough. My chief complaint was that they did not bring my and my husband's entrees out at the same time. I did not want to eat in front of him when he had no food to eat himself, so I sat until my food was almost room temperature before his food finally arrived. Wait staff also said nothing about the status of his dish when they brought out mine. Other than this issue, I enjoyed the service.

Overall, I wish I could like this place more, but I think it needs some improvement before I...

Caution: This is not your Pre-Covid Royal Thai.

My family, friends, and I have dined in and arranged for take out for 13 years at Royal Thai. The variety of dishes we tried over the years never disappointed us.

I empathize Covid was especially devastating for restaurants and changes were necessary to remain in business. This is why I can accept Royal Thai limited their menu, changed to a fast food business model, and pared down traditional ambiance to reflect a stark utilitarian vibe. Even the moderate price hike in food and drink was tolerable.

What is more difficult for my friends and me to accept is the lack of effective communication and customer service this place now offers. One of my friends asked for Ramen and received Rama instead. Both dishes had noodles, but very different mediums for sauce/broth. The employee receiving her order refused to correct the order error free of charge, or even offer a discount.

When I pointed out to the employee another friend and I clearly heard our friend say she wanted Ramen, he denied our claim. He insisted our friend knew what she was receiving and was at fault for the miscommunication. We did not witness the employee pointing to the limited menu to make sure he had the right item, a simple gesture that could have saved a lot of misunderstanding.

I’ve been in patient/customer service in some capacity the majority of my life, It’s customary to at least try to find a way to compromise with your clientele, even if you don’t see eye to eye. That compromise was not reached at Royal Thai tonight. Despite the continued experience of decent Thai food, this costly miscommunication left a bad taste in our mouth. My family, friends, and I will turn to other local area Thai places for celebratory gatherings and...

If I could rate the Royal Thai a zero, that would have been a preferred choice. Overall, some of the food at this place taste good, no doubt. Hey I don't expect anything expect anything less of a restaurant with many competitors. The food portion is overly priced. I think one good reason is the desire to get their tips ahead of service. Never been to a restaurant where servers are overly cautious of tips. I expect to tip when I eat in but certainly not when I pick up or pay doordash for my delivery. I write this because the expression on their faces when I pick up is telling, despite being a regular that dines in and tip well. There are many professions/jobs where people work so hard to help others and only get thank you or perhaps none. So, I don't quite get it that the expectation should always be tipping when NOT dine alone or with family/friends. I thought I was overthinking or perhaps overacting, but when other friends express similar concerns based on their recent experience, I really think you need to know what others are saying about your services. I don't only expect to be treated royally when I or my family/friends dine in because of course you expect to be tipped, I expect the same treatment when we pick-up or...