Finn Thai Great Falls — Restaurant in Reston

Unfortunately I'm writing this with a heavy heart, my family has been patrons of this location for over 3 decades. This place has changed restaurants and owners several times over but my family has been generally well taken care of from all the different owners, however the quality and service has diminished significantly of late and apparently for no conceivable reason.

Today we ordered what we normally do, Steak, Curry Chicken, and Thai Basil Shrimp with lots of rice. Because of a prior inadequacies and us trying to give this business our Benefit Of The Doubt we specified what we'd like for, with, and done to each dish we ordered. for the Steak we specified Med-Rare with an extra ramekin of the sauce that comes with the steak. The Steak came well done with only one sauce.

With the Curry Chicken, We asked for minimal amount of basil leafs ( they usually put a lot in the curry sauce and it doesn't taste bad but it has a mouth feel of eating a wet plastic grocery bag and it's DISGUSTING) we asked for extra curry sauce (even included in the notes that we'd be willing to pay extra if need be for the extra sauce) not only did we not receive the extra sauce we asked for, but it seems as though the dish we got has less than the normal amount of curry sauce in a standard order. There is also EXTRA Basil leafs though we asked for less. And besides our 2 completely disregarded request the broccoli that came with the Curry Chicken was BEYOND RAW. We've had it before where the stalks may be a bit crunchy but never before have I had a piece of cooked broccoli where the floret is JUST AS CHRUNCHY as the stalk!!! AND GOLLY THE SHRIMP!!!! What we ordered was the Thai Basil Shrimp with EXTRA EXTRA Basil and mild (not spicy) seasoning. When we first opened the dish the smell of it permeated the entire first floor of our house with the stench of PUNGENT seafood. As stated we've ordered all of these items several times before and not ONCE has the Thai Basil Shrimp ever smelled so strongly. The stench was so pungent me and my family were perplexed! The shrimp doesn't seem to be spoiled or rotten but they're definitely not as fresh as we're used to with this establishment. On top of the issues with the shrimp the dish itself was WAY over-seasoned and to spicy. It was so strong in fact it lead us to question if it was not done intentionally to mask the dulling stench of shrimp that was on the way out.

Our family knows the volatile nature of the food industry and is aware of how much can change because of minor deviations which is why we believe in offering the Benefit Of The Doubt in most situations. But in this case with a business that we've believed in for years and unfortunately witnessed the consistent deterioration of over the past several months. We hope that this serves as a constructive criticism that the restaurant/ chefs/ owners/ WHOEVER! might use to get back on track and towards what we've grown to love over the past...

I’ve visited all 3 Finn Thai locations (yes, even out in Martinsburg!), and this one is on par with the other locations. I arrived for lunch today, and was pleasantly surprised with the decór; same classy feel as the North Point location, but much more spacious, and they chose different elements to spruce it up - beautiful chandeliers if you look up, fun old-school telephones on the wall, dark tile in the bathrooms.

The waitress explained to me that one of the chefs from North Point was promoted to head chef here, so my drunken noodles tasted EXACTLY the same as when I’ve ordered it from North Point. Lunch comes with a nice portion size + side salad (mine had a honey mustard type dressing, but on the menu there’s a peanut one available too), my meal was $12.95 + tip and tax. They’re open now, but they haven’t advertised so they can make sure the kitchen is fully stocked and the staff is ready to handle more diners. As I said, this is a larger location than North Point, so I anticipate it will be busier in the long run.

I love Thai food but I’ve never been to Thailand, so I cannot comment on authenticity. I think they probably modified the spice level for me, but did offer to bring chili oil over if I needed it. Highly recommend their drunken noodles, papaya salad and Penang curry, which my family seems to consistently order from the North Point location!

Great service and a delicious meal....

I like this place. The food is good, with vegan and gluten-free options! (I have had better Thai food. All of Finn Thai's curry has fish sauce in it and can not be made vegan=no 5 star rating.) (Now that I think of it.... when I say I have had better Thai food, maybe it's because I'm comparing it to curry dishes I have had elsewhere, when here I was unable to have curry. Maybe I just like curry better? Lol. I'm just trying to be completely honest!)

The food always comes out super fast!! Like, always surprisingly fast!! On Valentine's Day, for example, we went before the dinner rush (there was only one other table seated in the restaurant when we arrived), and without buying alcohol we were in and out in under 45 minutes! (I mention not having alcohol because if we were also taking time to enjoy drinks, it probably would have taken longer)

Takeaway: In my experience, great for a quick real meal. Early dinner times always seem like a great time to go/not busy.

Will be back. This is the closest restaurant to where I currently live with...