Vida's Thai Food — Restaurant in Homer

Vida’s Thai Food: Moose, Mismatched Spice, and Modest Vibes

We stopped by Vida’s Thai Food while exploring Homer, and it’s in a great, easy-to-find location just off one of the main streets. Bonus: while we were sitting up front, a moose ran by. I mean—what better Alaskan dinner entertainment could you ask for?

Vibe: The interior has some lovely traditional Thai decor, but overall the atmosphere felt a little sparse. Some background music or more intentional ambiance would really help bring the space to life. It’s got potential but could use a bit more flavor in the vibe department.

Food: I ordered the bamboo soup and my wife ordered a different soup. Here’s the kicker: I’m not a spice fan. She is. So we were both confused (and a little amused) when they added heat to my dish and not hers. A spicy surprise when you didn’t ask for it? Not ideal. The broth itself had a decent flavor once I got past the heat, but it took me by surprise.

Our son had rice and chicken, which sounded like a safe bet, but the flavors were underwhelming—more “meh” than memorable. Maybe just a miss on this visit, but it didn’t win any tiny tastebuds over this time.

Service & Overall: Service was mellow, but everything came out at a reasonable pace. Everyone was friendly, and the space was clean. That counts for a lot.

Overall, Vida’s Thai has a nice foundation and the potential to be a local favorite with a few small tweaks: clearer spice control, a bit more atmosphere, and some refinement in flavor. We’ll probably give it another shot down the road; after all, any place where you can eat soup and watch a moose sprint by has its charm.

3.5 stars rounded up for the moose, the decor, and...

DOUBLE CHECK IF YOU HAVE ALLERGIES. The food is very good and service is great the reason I don’t give them five stars is because the menu has a selection of gluten free food marked on the menu that isn’t accurate. The food I ordered I was stoked about because it said GF right on it, and said it was made with ramen noodles which I assumed meant rice ramen, and when it came out it was clearly breaded noodle and I asked if it was gluten free and she said it wasn’t. Luckily it was something obvious to me that showed that it wasn’t gluten free otherwise I would be having a very different/terrible experience for the rest of the night and following days as I am severely celiac. They really need to update the menus, we were also charged extra(only a dollar, no biggie) on one of the items. That wasn’t a big deal to us, but it was another thing we noticed was probably not updated on the menu. If you don’t have any dietary issues, it’s great Thai food. If you do, double check with the staff...

Great food at a very reasonable price compared to most of the other restaurants we ate at while in Homer, Alaska. Most prices we found to be 'tourist inflated' similar to other tourist destinations. If you want to eat, you pay the price. Many will say it's because the goods required to run a restaurant in Alaska cost more because of its remote location on the globe -- but when the price of the seafood that is coming right out of the waters where many of these establishments are located is the most expensive item on the menu... Really appreciated the staff and owners at Vida's for providing great food at a price point that made the enjoyment of the meal all that...