Lanxang Lao Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Salem

I came across this place on Maps and immediately saw Pho and Samosas on their menu. My S/O agreed that we needed to give this a shot! For 5pm on a Friday, there was only one other couple in the place when we got there; the spot is right beside the Dollar Tree plaza off Commercial and is actually deceptively large inside.

Service was exceptional; the girl that helped us was polite, attentive and checked in the appropriate amount without making us feel smothered. We ordered the Pho, Thai Samosas, Peanut Lover Sauce Chicken and a Thai Ice Tea. The Pho came out the fastest at around 5 minutes, while the rest came out about 4 minutes later. Less than 10 minute wait for an entire meal is exceptional in our eyes!

The Thai Samosas went exceptionally well with the clear "sour" sauce they provided and was a really unique touch in something you'd otherwise consider Indian - definitely recommend them!

The Pho was solid - not the best we've had by far - but definitely solid. Hands down the sleeper of the Pho was the rice noodles. We both agree that Lanxang have the best rice noodles we've EVER had, period. My S/O couldn't stop devouring the noodles!

The Peanut Sauce Lover was REALLY good though - exceptional sauce that tasted what it should be and didn't have an awkward sour aftertaste like most attempts at peanut sauce have. The cabbage was fresh and crunchy, the broccoli and carrots were good - all around this was damn good for peanut sauce.

Price to portion ratio too was really good - our entire meal cost $42. All in all we would definitely recommend Lanxang as it's currently our best Thai restaurant in the area, and we plan to return to try some more of their...

First of all, very gracious customer-oriented service.

We both had the lemongrass chicken, added crunchy spring rolls and marinated chicken on a skewer. Food was served while it was hot and it was very delicious with spice according to how we asked for it between 1 and 5 scale of spiciness/heat.

Appetizers were served fast and eficiently. The dining room filled up fairly rapidly after we arrived and we were still taken care of, plus we ordered three dinners and two appetizers to go, which we got fast. Our daughter and family also said how delicious the food was.

This is a family business and hats off to their service and their knowledge of what they serve. They have pride in what they do.

I've eaten food from just about every ethnicity, and this was some of the tastiest that my husband and I have ever had.

This family invested a lot of time and effort to please their customers. Is clean sanitary in its service, and the decor is just fine unless one wants to pay increased food prices for new decorating.

I look at the heart of the service, and it was excellent.

Give it a try! Thank you

PS We went back tonight for the second time in a week, last week being our first time. Our Capitol Toyota salesperson recommended this...

Update June 2024: This place changed hands amidst COVID and I think may have changed hands again. A couple years ago I was still agreeing with my old review from six years ago, but upon my most recent visit things had noticeably been subpar. Food wasn't as tasty as I recall, was not asked how spicy I wanted it (they used to ask on a scale of 1-5, I'd always get 5), the water tasted soapy, and the inside is boring now. The menu has had more items added, and they now have desserts which they used to not have any. They have also added peanut sauce which was decent but I don't foresee myself returning unfortunately. Sad because this was one of the best restaurants in Salem.

Original 5-star review: Amazing. I love to go here. The servers are always friendly, and the service is always quick, even when it's busy. The food is great, especially the curries. If you've never been before, I recommend the Pho Beef Noodle (a noodle entree, not a curry entree). The water is always VERY cold and refreshing. The color of the walls and the decor make it a rather soothing atmosphere. There is a large TV inside that shows sports and music videos, which is quite...