Thai Chili — Restaurant in Salem

I've read a lot of mixed reviews of this place, mostly on Yelp. Not sure why people here feel the service is bad. Every time I come here, the service is great. Staff is so friendly and since I live close by, I eat here or order out from here semi-often. My only complaint is the food, as far as most Thai places I have been to, isn't quite as tasty. It's not totally bland, but more bland than other places I've eaten at. When I order out, I usually end up adding soy sauce to my Drunken Noodles just because they tend to be a little more dry and bland than most other places make them. The serving sizes aren't particularly large either, but they also aren't particularly expensive, so that kind of balances itself out I suppose. I feel a little bad saying this, just because they're service is great, but most of the Thai places I've tried in the area are quite a bit better, but since Thai Chili is the only real Thai restaurant in the Salem area, it remains my default go-to.

EDIT: I gave this place a long break and have been exploring other Thai restaurants in the area. After a couple years, me and my wife decided to try Thai Chili again, and it was just a big let-down. Prices have gone way up, but food quality is minimal. Me and my wife each ordered two basic entree dishes (one noodle dish and one curry dish) and a size of fresh rolls. Total came to almost $60. Both dishes were lacking flavor. My noodles just seemed very soggy and waterlogged and gave the whole dish a watered down experience. I basically took my take-out dinner and added extra fish sauce and brown sugar at home to boost the flavors. Fresh rolls appetizer was also a huge disappointment. Thai fresh rolls should include a good balance of different ingredients like a protein like shrimp in them with bean sprouts, rice noodles, lettuce, carrot, cucumber and basil. These were about 95% iceberg lettuce with a tiny bit of carrot, cucumber and basil. Very bland and just no inspiration to make this appetizer taste good. $10 for basically shredded lettuce and rice paper. I wouldn't say the food is outright disgusting and I've never had any Thai food I would describe this way, but it's definitely the least impressive Thai food I've had around. You can basically choose any Thai restaurant in the area and get better quality flavors and pay less...

Had such an amazing dinner tonight! My fiance and I started out with the Golden bags and the fried gyoza. O...m...g absolutely delicious! Although the appetizers are fried, they were so light and not greasy at all. Just bursts of flavor with each bite! After the apps we ended up sharing an order Chicken Pad Thai. Wow.... Just couldn't stop eating it! We didn't stop their though. I ended up getting a large bowl of soup where I got to choose my broth, noodle type and meat. I went with the chicken broth with regular rice noodles and chicken slices( I know I am basic lol). My fiance ended up getting the Eggplant stirfry with basil sauce and chicken slices. So first the soup... Never in my life have I had such a great soup. The broth was to DIE FOR!!! I cannot explain how amazing flavors that came through. Honestly you just have to try it. I tried a bit of the stir fry and it was fantastic! The vegetables were cooked to perfection and that basil sauce. Wooooo I would put that on all my meats and rice. Speaking of rice, my fiance ended up ordering the coconut sticky rice and after one bite his eyes lit up it was that good. In the end the best part of that experience was our waiter Adam. Truly an amazing guy who treated us like family. He even gave us a Thai fried icecream dessert. Heaven on a plate! We cannot do with to...

I lived in Boston for years where there were lots of delicious Thai options but now that I'm living in Western Massachusetts it's a lot more difficult to find. I thought the food here was really delicious. We had the curry puffs as an appetizer. I thought the price of the appetizer ($10) was a little high for the amount of food but it was really tasty. I also loved the Basil Fried Rice! My husband had the drunken noodles which were also really good. Very flavorful. Just the right amount of spiciness for me (I usually ask for medium spice). A little more expensive than similar restauraunts ($17 per entrée). We also had cocktails which were yummy too. I'll be back because I liked the food, but since it's a little expensive I don't think I would come here more than once a month. I know this might be picky, but I usually pay $12-14 per entree at other Thai restaurants. The ambiance is very basic. It's a cute, family owned vibe but at this price point I think you would expect a slightly more refined environment. Still going to give 5 stars for the good food and friendly service. I was just a little surprised by the pricing for a small Thai spot in...