Ayara Thai Street Food - St. Augustine, FL — Restaurant in Saint Augustine

Ayara Thai &Sushi Cuisine

This restaurant is the home of amazing Sushi and Thai food. How good is it? We (six people) drove 400 miles round trip through the middle of a Coronavirus pandemic to eat there. Among the dishes we had were Massaman Lamb (meat falling off the bone), Ayara For II (Sashimi, sushi and rolls for three or four people), Phad Thai, Unagi Don (BBQ Eel was very tasty), Sushi Mori, Fried Banana with ice cream, etc. We eat until we couldn’t take another bite and had a container with lots of leftovers. Very reasonable prices.

Ton (Chief) and his wife Noodle are very personable and go out of their way to make you feel at home. They have worked in 5-star hotels in Thailand and have decades of experience preparing Thai and Japanese dishes. On vacations they return to Thailand for new inspirations and ways of preparing and presenting the food. They are constantly trying to raise the bar for Sushi and Thai food. We have known them for more than five years and have never been disappointed. If you and your family eat there, you will not be disappointed either. We highly recommend Ayara Thai & Sushi Cuisine.

Update Nov 2020

Absolute Best Thai and Sushi Restaurant in Florida.

Absolutely phenomenal! Ayara Thai & Sushi Cuisine is a family owned/operated restaurant. It is a great place with beautiful people. The owners Ton Chanbana and his wife Noodle treat you like family and give you service with a smile. The sushi and sashimi is always amazing and the Thai food is just as good. We have been enjoying their Thai & Sushi Cuisine since 2015. First in Port St Lucie where we live and when they moved to St. Augustine we try and go there when ever we can. We have never been disappointed. To give you an idea how much we like their food we visited them in May 2020 and when my wife's nephew wife had a birthday in November we drove 400 miles round trip in the middle COVID-19 pandemic to celebrate. You should give them a try! Speaking of COVID-19 besides amazing food their number one priority is their customer's health & safety. Mask required, tables at least 6 feet apart, after each customer leaves the area is sanitized and on each table next to the bottle of Soy sauce is a bottle of hand sensitizer.

There were six of us and what did we order? Crispy Duck, Tom Yum Noodle Soup, Ayara For II (15 Sashimi, 8 sushi, sushi bomb roll, spicy tuna roll), Phad Thai, Ayara Carpaccio, Fried Banana (Fried ripe banana wrapped with coconut flake and top with honey served with vanilla Ice-cream), Mango Sticky Rice and Thai Donut. As you can tell by the smiles and stretched waste bands in the picturers a good time was had by all. Before you ask there were lots of doggie bags to take home. We highly recommend Ayara Thai & Sushi...

Disappointing Experience here

As locals revisiting after three years, we were hopeful for a better experience, our return left much to be desired.

The ambiance, unfortunately, remains stagnant since our last visit in 2021. Despite hoping for improvements, we found the atmosphere to still lack the charm and warmth we seek in a dining establishment.

The Duck Pad Thai was great, delivering a delightful blend of flavors and textures, it was the Mayport Shrimp with Papaya Salad that failed to meet expectations.

The Papaya Salad was very good, delivering a refreshing and palate-pleasing experience. However, the same cannot be said for the "Mayport Shrimp", which left much to be desired. The shrimp were disappointingly mealy, detracting from the dish's overall enjoyment. Furthermore, encountering poorly cleaned shrimp with visible "poops" was a disconcerting and unappetizing surprise. The locals know this was not Mayport shrimp.

Despite our disappointment, it's worth noting that our server exhibited exemplary professionalism and politeness throughout our dining experience. However, any positive impressions were marred by a regrettable incident involving our complaint about the shrimp. Overhearing kitchen staff questioning "Did they eat all the shrimp before complaining?" My wife would be sick if she ate that whole plate of shrimp, not even one was eaten in full.

While we appreciate the efforts of our server and acknowledge the redeeming qualities of some dishes, the overall experience fell short of expectations. The lack of acknowledgment or resolution regarding the subpar shrimp further compounds our disappointment. As locals, we find it regrettable that we cannot recommend this place. In the future, we will gladly make the extra journey to establishments such as Libby's or Andaman for a more satisfying Thai dining experience. ** NONE OF WHAT THE OWNER SAID IS TRUE

I visited Ayara on my neverending search for Chicken Pad Thai and a visit to St Augustine, FL. Dining here was fantastic from the very tasty spring rolls I had to the Thai tea I ordered to drink. They brought me the water very chilled and in a container to which fill my cup on demand.

Restrooms were available santizited and very clean. The over restaurant and the exterior was in decent repair and the curb appeal was nice. It was easy to find with Waze or Google Maps.

My main entree was phenomenal. They have a nice sized menu but I really enjoyed the sauce used for the Pad Thai. It's definitely made in-house and you can tell the difference. Very genuine food in that regard. I loved every moment I was there. I can't wait to try more next time.

Everyone here was so corteous and nice. It's really meaningful when a business really takes time to build empathy and rapport with the customer. For this to be a Tuesday night on Janaury 5th @ 9:06pm. My experience was lovely. I hope that I get to return to you all soon and bring a few family members and friends. I have many so talk to you soon. Happy New Year and...