Thai Spice — Restaurant in Oakland Park

On January 13th, 2025, around 12:46 p.m., I visited my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Thai Spice, after a two-year hiatus. The parking lot was full, so I had to park my Tesla in the back for the first time. No big deal, though, because I was determined to get my favorite dish, Yum Nua.

Upon entering the restaurant and informing the host that I wanted to sit outside, I wish I’d thought twice. It seems like when you sit outside, they either forget you exist or blame you for their busyness. That’s exactly what happened next. I sat there for about 8 minutes without water or being greeted. My server, Nahuel, finally came outside. I was already hangry and a bit disappointed that it took so long to get greeted or offered water. But I let it go because my mind was still set on my favorite dish. It was also my first time dining there early and seeing Nahuel. I usually sit at the bar and am served by Ray, or his wife. I’m known to be a very generous tipper. I’ve enjoyed every experience being bartended by Ray, and my order and time there have never been anything less than great until yesterday.

So, when Nahuel came outside, I heard him let out a long sigh. Then, he approached my table. Instead of greeting me and apologizing for the delay, he said, “I was dealing with hot food inside.” And then, he took my order. I didn’t look at him because I was extremely hungry, a little upset, and just wanted my food to come out good.

I always get the same thing. My order never changes! I always order the beef salad medium well, medium hot, or Thai hot with a side of Jasmine rice with red wine. I had a rather unpleasant experience at your restaurant. The ordering process felt rushed, and I wasn’t even asked about my preferred temperature for the filet. This is quite surprising, as I’ve noticed that every server, bartender, and door host I’ve encountered has always asked about my preferred cooking temperature. It’s frustrating when they assume I like my meat medium, as I don’t and have never ordered it that way. The texture of the filet was slimy, and there was a noticeable difference in taste. I always order the same dish, so I’m confident that I can detect any changes in quality. The amount of lime juice in the dish was also quite low, and I had specifically asked for limes. Instead, I received the driest limes I’ve ever had. Those didn’t work, so I asked the server to bring out the chili boat with all the Thai spices. As he was showing me each sauce, there was a long piece of light brown hair sticking out of the sauce. He immediately took it back after my disgust. After eating half of my beef salad because I was starving, I asked him why he hadn’t asked me about my preferred temperature. I explained that the texture was slimy and that I never order my steak medium. He then told me quote for quote “My Manager said that’s not a question we ask.” Oh it isn’t? Then how have I been asked by every other excellent server or worker in that building. Someone is lying, and I don’t appreciate that. I asked Nahuel how long he’d been serving there, and he said 6 months. It made sense, but it didn’t quite add up. He seemed extremely rude and flustered while insisting that his manager come outside to talk to me instead of apologizing for forgetting to ask a paying customer what temperature they’d like the steak THE GUEST is paying for. I wasn’t feeling the vibe, so I even held off on ordering the red wine I usually get. I then asked for the check, and he handed me an iPad so quickly and rudely that I felt uncomfortable signing while being stared at to see IF I’m tipping. Even if the service is bad, it’s not in my character to not tip. I gave him 20% instead of what I normally give. I hope you don’t make any other guests feel uncomfortable in this establishment that they’ve been dining in longer than the servers have worked there, and I hope the managers are better at leading their new servers to being the best at resolving problems and not making the guests...

I know this is considered an excellent restaurant in town. I live here full time. I was there with a newer friend who suggested we go. The server was rushed, which may be because they were short staffed, but she was unpleasant while being rushed. I'm vegetarian- she told me there were only two choices under "vegetables"- almost any Thai restaurant in town I have been to, even a to go place near my beach condo, can do most any dish vegetarian, if nothing else, leaving out meat. I didnt want to disagree with her, or in front of my friend. I ordered one of the two (2) dishes- pad Thai, a safe but common choice- I asked for it very low oil when sauteed as she said the noodles could not be steamed- again I find it hard to believe its not possible .

The item came out heavy in oil, and also very heavily salted- That can happen in any restaurant and was not the issue. The issue was she was clearly annoyed that I was willing to ask to have it sent back. I actually did not want to say anything. I just did not eat. My friend was unhappy about that and insisted we tell her. We had a salad brought instead. It consisted of iceberg or romaine lettuce with some peanut dressing. No carrots, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes or any other vegetable . I felt badly but just ate it quietly and said nothing. .

The owner Tom came to ask how things were, not aware the server was just miserable. I was not comfortable telling him about all these issues, from only being given two choices to foods coming out incorrectly and a server being really borderline rude.

Instead I waited until I got home and called the next day to speak with him. He was not available and I told the story to the manager Mika. She was not certain exactly who the server was although I was specific about the day, time and exact location of the restaurant we were eating in - I told her I could tell it was an excellent restaurant and that likely any other server in the restaurant would have been far more accommodating.

I absolutely hate to give bad reviews. I also hate to dine out and have abysmal, dismal service. However everything above is 100% factual. Given only two food choices due to being vegetarian, foods not made to order, server highly unpleasant and very rushed. Perhaps the server had a bad day and is usually very pleasant and helpful. And perhaps the chef did not see the special request I went out of my way to make if the server truly wrote it down or told him/her.

Based on the reviews of foods from others I apparently am in the minority as well, although I truly wish I had experienced the excellent situation that most others seem to. Im truly sorry to have to write this...

READ THIS!!! I was a first time customer who ordered the Shrimp Pad-Thai, never having ordered from this business in the past. I ordered through Uber-Eats. The full order was Shrimp Pad Thai, 1 spring roll, a side of steamed rice, with utensil cutlery. I received the order. The bag was sealed still from the restaurant. No the driver never accessed my food. I opened the bag to find I was missing the steamed rice, the roll, and there were no utensils, then I opened the Pad-Thai, what I observed was a single shrimp on the top of the pad thai noodles and I noticed chicken mixed into the noodles, as I did not order chicken Pad Thai this was unusual and I figured maybe the shrimp were underneath the noodles, the single shrimp laying right in the middle on top of the noodles was all chewed up I did not quite notice it the first second as I got a fork and moved the noodles to see if there were shrimp in it at all and realize there were none only the single chewed up shrimp on top, I took a closer look at the shrimp and realized it had been chewed up most likely in somebody's mouth and then spit on top of the food. You could actually still see saliva on the shrimp that was not characteristic with anything else in the container, no it was not sauce or anything in fact the noodles look to have almost no tamarind sauce if any on them. I immediately tried to reach out to the location but discovered that they closed at 3:00 p.m. and would not open until 5:00 p.m. it is my belief that this was deliberate by a worker, I don't know if my name is similar to somebody they don't like or if there was a past customer that they are upset with or if they are just trying to sabotage the business, but that's not my concern what my concern is about is that I got unsafe food. In the trash the whole thing went. By placing one chewed up shrimp on the top center of the order it was extremely clear that this was somebody sending a message, even though I have never ordered from this place before had any business with this company or any of its workers. This definitely also leads me to believe that this is not owned by a person of Thai heritage. I'm extremely familiar with Thai culture, I've lived in Thailand my wife is Thai my children are Thai, and this is something I would never expect from...