Lemon Grove Thai Food — Restaurant in Lemon Grove

I went to Lemon Grove Thai Food last night to get take out. It was our first time to try their food. I had read such great reviews, and my husband and I were excited to try it. It is in a small strip center where the Jack-in-the-Box is, and parking was not an issue. My first impression on walking into the restaurant was that it is attractive and appealing with its bright white tiles with yellow accents and gray walls and well lit. There was a group of 6 enjoying dinner, as well as several people waiting for takeout. The owner greeted me with a smile and asked if he could explain anything. He seemed to be training the employee at the counter, who was also very nice. We do not eat Thai food frequently, so photos of the food on the counter were helpful. I ordered Pineapple Fried Rice (not spicy), Drunken Noodles (I said a little spice was ok), Potstickers and Sticky Mango Rice for dessert. While waiting I asked about their Thai iced tea and coffee. The owner said that the Thai tea is imported from Thailand and they brew it here and he asked if I'd like to try it. I was surprised by its orange color, but I really liked the spices in it. I did not order one, though, due to it having caffeine (I will go back earlier in the day to try it when its safe for me to have caffeine). My husband and I enjoyed the food very much. It was freshly made and the vegetables were al dente, which is a huge plus. (Overcooked vegetables is a big pet peeve of ours when eating Asian food at other local Chinese restaurants.) We liked the spices in each dish. We did think, however, that the Drunken Noodles were too spicy for us, so I am not sure how to order it next time. On a number from 1 to 10, I should have specified a "1", and all I told him was "a little spicy", so I was vague on that, I guess. We loved the big, fat noodles in this dish. And the Pineapple fried rice had big whole shrimp and chicken in it and was just delicious! I did think the potstickers were a bit overcooked and were quite small in size, but we both really liked the flavor and the accompanied sauce. We were too full to try the dessert, so I will save it for later and review it separately. So, overall, this is a GREAT restaurant with friendly and attentive staff, and we will definitely go here again. I am excited to get to try different items on the menu. I will add that we think it is a little pricey (our dinner , especially for not being a sit down and order type of restaurant) cost over $30 for the items I described above, which is more than we like to spend for takeout suppers. But it was so delicious, we will go back. I think that my husband and I could get by with just one entree to share. Having the two entrees and the potstickers was a lot of food! But we do get to have it for dinner...

Absolutely horrible experience trying to get food for pickup here today. My fiance ordered a pad thai chicken, spicy number 4. I ordered pad thai chicken, spicy number 7. When we got home, both orders of pad thai were overcooked, and both tasted the same in terms of spice ⁹level - honestly what I would call an 8 or 9. I can tolerate the noodles being dried out from being overcooked, and we didn't even complain about that - just the fact that my fiance's meal was too spicy for her to eat, that was the problem I called back about. The guy at the counter and on the phone, I feel bad for him because he's nice enough and provided good service in terms of ordering and whatnot. When I told him the food was too spicy for my fiancé to eat, he told me they'd make it right and to come back in 15 minutes. But then a minute later, he called back, saying his boss had a problem with this - I think she was the one cooking the food probably. They tried to gaslight me about the spicy scale... I pushed back, because a 4 and a 7 should not taste identical. I can tell they just cooked it all at once and tried to pass it off as different spice levels. Obviously they just didn't want to replace it and make it right. But they gave in and I came back. The ladies cooking in the kitchen were leering at me from the service window... very uncomfortable. They hadn't asked me to bring the old noodles with me, but I did, and they wanted them back... I guess just to throw away? Honestly it seemed like a possible silver lining that I could have had an extra order that was okay for ME, but not OK for my fiance. But no, they want me to drive twice as much in order to get what my fiancé originally asked for... meanwhile my food is just getting cold. And it's overcooked already so microwaving it or pancooking it to reheat will just dry it out more than it already is.. Plus their peanut sauce cup is ridiculously small for the spring rolls. To put it simply, this place sucks now compared to when I used to eat here years back. I will literally never make the mistake of ordering from here again. Plenty of good Thai places...

Sorry everyone, this is going to be a little long. I have been to this restaurant around 3 times. I believe if I am not mistaken, the first time was with different owners (when I first moved to the area). The next time I came a few months later, I found out that it was taken over by a new owners (a family I believe). The son waited on me at the counter and he was awesome - answering all my questions and being very patient. I stayed and ate the food which was very delicious (a type of Noodle dish which he allowed me to sub out for glass noodles). He checked on me to make sure I was good. I asked him about a photo on the wall of pho' and he said they would be serving that very soon. Sure enough I come back a month or two later and they had the pho' menu and had been serving it for awhile. I ordered the seafood pho' which was absolutely delicious, colorful and full of food (protein, veggies and noodles - not just broth). Once again I ate at the restaurant and was treated so well with condiments and different utensils to make my experience perfect. As usual he checked up on me to make sure I was having a good experience. To top it all off since I had never had a Thai tea he gave me one to try. It was delicious (even though I was absolutely full). When I left there was a couple outside and I asked if they had been there before (I thought I was going to advertise for the restaurant) and it turned out they go all the time! So their good food and customer service obviously precedes their reputation! Can't say enough about my new favorite "neighborhood"...