IB Thai — Restaurant in Imperial Beach

This is a small and affordable Thai place in IB with some respectable lunch offerings. I’ve been craving Thai food after trying it in Pacific Beach and I wanted some despite being down here near home, so I tried this place out for lunch on like a Thursday at 2:50 PM. I got myself the Chicken Pad Thai Lunch at spicy level 5, which comes accompanied with a salad covered in a type of peanut sauce, and 2 pork gyoza. Paired it up with some veggie rolls and my friend wanted her side of rice and we had a pretty hefty meal for only around 24 dollars with our drinks included. I have to say though, that I didn’t love the Pad Thai this time and the chicken seemed a bit dry to me. The noodles were also not my favorite and I’m not really sure how to describe why they weren’t but the flavor, texture, and vibe was just really not there for me. I also just didn’t love the veggie rolls because they had a very mild but still underlying wrong flavor that you get like when you buy those make at home spring rolls and they just don’t hit like they’re supposed to. The lunch deals are cheap and the food isn’t disgusting, but it’s not the best Thai i’ve had here in San Diego (55 Thai is still king) and I can’t say I recommend this spot. I’m gonna change the noodle types and I’ll be back for a second calling, but I really made me sad because I wanted this Thai food to be bomb soooo bad. It’s ok thought, they were still very nice and acocomodating, and they have boba so maybe i’ll try that too and see what else they have to offer. To sum everything up tho, DO GET the lunches if you can make it before 3 PM because the price makes it worth getting the food every time i mean mann just look at the leftovers I had. DO NOT get the veggie rolls I’m sorry I hate that they were bad but they were not good. And outside of that try this place out once especially if you can catch the deals but do come in with some lower expectations. And I would drop my spice down to like a 3 it’s not that I don’t like spicy but I’m big on you can always add, never take out and 5 was just a tad bit too spicy for me. Outside from all that, it’s DAYGOEATS approved but not...

Original Post:

Great new Thai restaurant that is hands down better than the other two in the area! The staff is great and willing to help make the order how you would like it. They actually make a 10 out of 1-10 for spicy food so ask for that 10! The restaurant is kept very clean. The only down side is parking is tight, but is not the end of the world. I haven't had anything that I didn't like yet , which is a great sign. Great job guys!

Update June 26, 2022:

This restaurant has gone downhill quickly when it comes to quality! You could in the past get the food spicy as all hell, but you are now luck to get it as a 2. We have actually stopped coming entirely for the past year. It is sad that a great 5 star restaurant fall apart. There is little to no consistency now in all dishes.

I am going back through all my reviews of restaurants to be more stringent and to compete my due diligence of each. I have set forth three rules that all restaurant will need to follow to get a three star rating.

The three rules for restaurants is the keep it fresh, keep it clean, and keep it simple!

Getting a four or five star will become harder, but not impossible! Why? Well, people rating poor restaurants as five stars when they are barely a two or three is commonplace in Google Maps and I would like to fix this problem. On the plus side it is more accurate then yelp. The rule on yelp is never go to a restaurant with a 4.7-4.9 rating  Since the numbers are arbitrary and the owners of the restaurants can modify them. A 4.3-4.5 tends to be a...

I happened to be stopped at the light on that corner, and realized I've eaten food from IB Thai, as delivered to my hotel by Door Dash, many times. So without hesitation, I parked and went inside to order dinner for my companion and I.

I'm guessing that the friendly greeting I received was from the owner. I was surprised that there was no printed menu, and the electronic menus on the wall were dark. I did notice a prominent QR code, which probably would have directed me to order online.

Instead, I already knew that I wanted green curry chicken, rice, pad Thai chicken, and mango sticky rice. After ordering, I stepped outside and enjoyed the late afternoon breeze while I sat at one of two tables with chairs.

I didn't have long to wait for my order, and I've enjoyed each of the items I brought back to the hotel. IB Thai is a local...