Pinto Sushi Thai Kitchen — Restaurant in Johnson City

Simply put, the food here is amazing! I dined here with my uncle, who lived in Thailand for a number of years. He says the food here is the most authentic one can find in these parts. And I, having lived on the West Coast for 20 years and having patronized MANY Thai restaurants from Vancouver BC to San Diego, can say with certainty that the food here is outstanding.

We started off our meal with fried squid (calamari). I dare say it was the best I've ever had -- so very fresh, tender (not tough or chewy at all), and seasoned perfectly with black pepper. It was so tasty, it didn't need the accompanying sweet chili sauce. I couldn't stop raving about it.

We then moved on to a couple of sushi rolls (maki) expertly made by the owner's son. I highly recommend the Mango Roll, a scrumptious mix of soft and crunchy, and sweet and savory. And again, as with the squid, the seafood in the rolls was fresh, and they were served with plenty of ginger and wasabi.

And finally, we shared two entrees: Shrimp Pad Thai and Panang Curry with Tofu, served with jasmine rice. We enjoyed both very much, but the curry was the clear favorite. Bursting with flavor, the sweet, spicy gravy soaked into the tofu and drowned the rice. It was so good we had difficulty knowing when to stop eating.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you give Pinto Sushi Thai Kitchen a try. It's a family-owned and operated business, and the family is incredibly kind and gracious. Wonderful people! The place is spotless and very welcoming. If I lived in the area, I would be a regular customer here.

I'm still thinking about...

Our experience started out with two parched customers watching our server fully bus another table rather than taking our drink orders. He turned out to be warm, friendly and attentive, though very soft-spoken and difficult to hear over the obnoxious music.

In attempting to order cold beverages, we learned there were no sugar-free tea options. This is Tennessee, after all, but c'mon.

When we ordered, they were out of some ingredients but were able to substitute rice noodles for flat ones.

I had Pad Keemow and will say it was very mild though delicious. I would have preferred some spice to it though. Have to admit right now that you have to be a lot smarter than I am to read their menu. There's no indicator to say which dishes are spicy and which aren't. Not knowing a lot about the dishes, I didn't know if I could specify a spice level. Also, many dishes didn't specify whether they contained a protein, or whether you had a choice. The descriptions specified some ingredients while leaving others off completely. And I never did figure out what they were trying to say under the lunch specials.

Hubby had Pad Thai -- literally the worst I've ever tasted! I think it was scorched, but it also tasted like something in it had soured. As he'll eat anything, he smiled and ate it and, too him, it wasn't that bad.

The servings were generous. Lunch for two without beverages was a little over $30 with tax.

The under 30 crowd would probably like the ambiance, as it was geared toward their age group. Overall, we...

Thai and Japanese cuisine shared under one roof. Things you should know: I. LOCATION Parking is very easy and stress free. There's a large open lot outside of the plaza Pinto is in. The only issue I encountered was Google Maps took me behind the building. It's off of Walnut St... If maps takes you off that, then you're headed in the wrong direction. Stay on Walnut Street and the red restaurant sign will steer you right. Hopefully that's something that can be fixed with maps. II. SERVICE Accomodating and excellent! Our waitress handled all our picky dietary needs well and with a positive attitude. She also carried good feedback with the menu and would ask the chef questions if there was a detail she didn't know the answer to. III. QUALITY The reason why I didn't give Pinto 5 stars. It was NOT BAD but it wasn't great either. My spring roll fell apart instantly and was more rice noodles than anything else. IV. CAPACITY For a Tuesday night, there was fair amount of...