thaibarbbq — Restaurant in Milwaukee

In a nutshell: Unfortunately we detested every dish we ordered. The food was not fresh- tasted very old.

Want more detail?: We had driven past the place so many times, and as lovers of Thai cuisine finally decided to eat there last Saturday for lunch. The inside of the restaurant is quaint and nicely decorated. It was pretty crowded which is typically a good sign. They only had 2 people taking orders and they were running around like crazy so we patiently waited. The staff were very friendly.

We ordered the Thai BBQ beef appetizer as well as a cup of Tom Ka. The beef skewers came first and set the precedent for the rest of the meal to come. They were chewy and tasted old- definitely had not been freshly grilled. After some time his Tom Ka showed up. We love Tom Ka but this soup was awful. It was extremely sweet, Luke warm and just odd tasting. My boyfriend eventually said ... “this tastes like the juice from a Johnsonville breakfast sausage” and forced me to try the broth with this new comparison in mind. Omg- spot on. The Tom Ka we LOVE was somewhere in there but the flavor dials had been adjusted in a bizarre and disgusting way.

He ordered the Beef Larb and I got a stir fry Kao Kapaow and Kai Dow (stir fried chicken with chili and holy basil and fried egg on the side). My food came first (all of the dishes came out at random times). A bit later he got his beef Larb. My stir fry was not good at all. If the dish were fresh it probably would have been good, but the entire dish had an odd flavor mostly likely due to just being old. It tasted like I was eating day 4 left overs. Even the rice tasted odd and old. My boyfriend’s Larb was definitely the worst dish (the sausage juice soup was pretty close though). The beef Larb had a ton of tripe. My boyfriend actually spit out each mouthful he tried to eat. He’s such a good sport and really tries just about anything. He eats his food even if he doesn’t like it all that much. He couldn’t handle the Larb. He chewed and chewed and the tripe just stayed like rubber bands in his mouth.

The waiter (owner?) must have seen him spit out a mouthful and came by to explain that their dishes were very authentic. So beef=all parts of the beef including liver and tripe etc. We understood this and appreciated a restaurant with authentic recipes but the menu made no mention of tripe and let’s be honest. When we order “beef” we just expect beef strips. Aside from the inedible tripe, his Larb also tasted old and the flavor profile was just very ONION-Y.

We had 4 dishes in front of us that we couldn’t stand to take one more bite of. It actually felt like because of how old everything tasted it might be dangerous for our digestion to eat any more.

The 2 staff working certainly showed curiosity as to how we were enjoying our food (though they were too late checking in). I think they could tell we didn’t like it. My entire sir fry sat there when another waitress asked with a wince if I wanted a box. I said no thank you. Right as we were leaving another staff person (a smaller old woman) came to our table and said thank you, please come again. We could tell she noticed something was wrong, but we just never had the conversation with her or any other staff person except for the man about the Larb. So, while the food was horrid, we appreciated that the staff at least noticed that something was wrong, but unfortunately didn’t really ask enough questions, and we felt a bit embarrassed so we never pushed it. They seemed like nice people and had been running around the entire time because they were so busy. Maybe it was our fault too for not saying anything. Unless we got a gift certificate or something I don’t think we will ever choose to eat there again. Maybe they just had an off day. Maybe the chef was lazy and fed us all really old leftovers? Sorry Thai BBQ, we wanted...

An order was placed on November 16, 2022 at 4:23 PM online for the following:

Thaibarbq Order No. 46089729906 Nov 16, 2022 4:23 PM | ASAP (up to 30 minutes)

Order Details (11 items) 1 x Crispy Fried Chicken $7.99 1 x

Crab Ragoon $7.99 1 x

Mussamun Curry $18.99 Spice Level: Spice Level 3 Choose Your Meat: Chicken 1 x

Tom Yum $18.99 Choose Size: Hotpot $17.99 ($13) Special requests: CHICKEN // MEDIUM HOT🌶️ 1 x

Tom Kha $17.99 Choose Size: Hotpot ($12) Special requests: CHICKEN // MEDIUM HOT🌶️ 1 x

Bangkok Fried Rice $12.99 Choice of Meat: Chicken Spice Level: Spice Level 5 1 x

Drunken Fried Rice $12.99 Spice Level: Spice Level 3 Choose Your Meat: Chicken 2 x

Side of White Rice $5.98 2 x

Siam Spring Rolls $5.98

Online Order for Pickup ONLY 10% Discount -$10.99 Online Order for Pickup ONLY 10% Discount

Subtotal $98.90 Tax $5.89 Tip (thank you!) $12.21

Total $117

Upon arrival, I learned of some difficulty finding the order, and I had shared screenshots of both the email order confirmation along with banking information stating it was paid in full. For my wait I was offered a Corona beer.

The order I was told was completed, 11 items, and I departed from the restaurant.

I had returned later driving back from my residence at 1216 N. 43rd St., and inquired about the missing soups a value of $36.98 unpacking my order and using my printed email, rebuild it in front of them showing that there was nine items. The two soups were provided, and there was not an offer to refire any of the food which is now an hour cold. There was never an offer to returned what I expect, good service providing a tip for $12.21 for pick-up food TWICE. They are courteous about their mistake only to ensure that I take my cold food with me.

We are still missing a rice entrée that should have accompanied the MUSSAMUN Curry. I am not driving back there for a third time.

WARNING ⚠️: Anyone who chooses to get takeout from this location PLEASE unpack their food in front of the staff and ensure order accuracy even though the point-of-sale software they are using provides a item list and count all there.

Photos of cold...

Our server was very nice at first however we ordered a thai tea and beef larb. The thai tea had a very odd smell to it but nothing too off putting so I was already skeptical. But when the beef larb came out we instantly got a very rancid smell that was synonymous to human feces. Im not even exaggerating, ive had this dish over 30+ times in my life and NEVER had I experienced this smell from that in my life. The waiter then seen our reaction and asked if we wanted rice, like that is supposed to dilute the aroma or something. Im very positive they served us rancid decaying food thinking we wouldn’t know the difference. The grocery store on the corner is also notorious for selling expired food and im pretty sure thats who supplies alot of the stock here. But after receiving the dish that we refused to eat, I asked the waiter if it was okay to just pay for the thai tea and the fresh rolls we ate prior to this with no problems but then she pointed to a sign on a piece of paper by the register that was about 1x2 inches big saying “all orders are final” Mind you this sign is only by the the register so you only can see it after you eat when its time to pay. So we basically got stuck paying for a dish we never ate that was served to us rancid/expired. Mind you we had a few orders of the fresh rolls prior with no flies around for a good 10-15 mins then when the rancid beef larb came out instantly flies started when swarming that dish only.. and flies or very attracted to...