Sab Lai Thai Kitchen — Restaurant in San Diego

I had out of town visitors and decided to give Sab Lai, a Thai restaurant in the gas lamp district, a try. This was on Sunday 12/29/24 on a day that per hours posted on Google, the restaurant was closing at 9:30pm. We arrived at 8:48pm and there was a sign posted outside the door indicating "TAKE OUT ONLY" despite the fact that there were at least 3 tables inside where customers were clearly still eating.

Upon entering the establishment, a young female server rushed to inform me that there was no dining option besides take out. I spoke with my guests and very quickly decided to place a take out order.

The young female server was nowhere to be found and soon a young male server approached from the kitchen area and informed me that the only option was take out. I reiterated that we were interested in take out and just needed the menus so we can place the order without delay.

The young male server went back to the kitchen and instead of coming back with menus, as it was clearly still well before 9pm (much earlier than the 9:30pm closing time as per Google) and despite the sign outside the door still being posted indicating take out was still available, he announced that there was no take available either. This is despite both his own earlier statement and that of the young female server that take out was still available.

I informed him that per Google, the business was presumed to be open until 9:30pm, the sign for take out was still outside and that both the young female server earlier and himself only a a minute earlier had confirmed the availability of take out.

He was adamant that the restaurant wasn't going to serve any more food at that point and we departed. I mentioned to the young server that for a restaurant in a tourist area relying on tourism and operating in this manner was very disappointing.

We walked across the street and one block up from Sab Lai and came across AKA, a new Asian restaurant that had just opened about a month ago as I found out from AKA's hosts. I inquired with the hosts about the menu, and they informed me that they offered Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes. I looked at the menu, was offered seating right away in this very clean and beautifully designed restaurant. My out of town guests and I had an amazing dining experience with mostly Thai dishes and they were all delectable, in fact so good that among 4 of us, we had 6 deserts in addition to some appetizers and entrees. Sab Lai won't get any future business from me. No reason to support a business that doesn't want my business especially when superior options like AKA are available just a short walk...

The service was strange and really lacking at this place. It started by waiting for two minutes for someone to show up at the hostess stand. Finally, I was seated, and I was left with a regular menu and a lunch special menu, then she walked off.

5 minutes later she stopped by to ask if I was ready. I asked what beers they had and she brought me a beer list, and she hovered over me while I tried to decide (I felt pressured). I already knew what I wanted to eat, so I ordered Singha Thai bottled beer and my entree (the Vegan Pad Ka Pow - $14).

My beer was brought out a couple of minutes later, and shortly after that, my entree was dropped off with a spoon. No napkins or fork or knife. They literally dropped it off and just walked away - didn’t ask if I needed anything else. I had to flag a waitress down to get it napkins, a fork, and a knife.

As I am reviewing my photo of the menu, I realized this is what the dish was supposed to consist of: “Thai chili, basil, onions, bell peppers, green beans, and carrots, stir fried with garlic and spicy sauce.”

Now, after reviewing my photo of my entree, I realized that it consisted of: basil, broccoli, mushrooms, carrot slices, red bell pepper, a few slices of zucchini, baby corn, green beans a couple of pieces of onion and cabbage, and a sprinkling of bean sprouts. I definitely tasted the sweet taste of basil, and garlic sauce, but the rest of the dish didn’t really match the menu description. It was good, mind you, just not exactly how it was described. I ordered spicy level number 6 (on a scale of 1-10) and it wasn’t spicy at all.

The serving size was very large and could be split between two people.

In summary - the service is really lacking. Food comes out quick, and in large portions, but you have to ask for everything and hunt people down at times.

The venue: It’s an open airy place. The windows and front doors are literally left open like many places in this town with the best climate in the world! They also have outdoor patio seating if you so choose.

Bottled beer is $6 but no prices shown...

I don’t usually write negative reviews, but this was a singularly frustrating, dining experience.

I’ll start with the positives, the interior ambience is lovely, and the food is decent. The wait time was long, the communication was poor, and the service was atrocious.

There were two individual people in front of me to be seated, several open tables inside and 6 open outside, and I waited 15 minutes to sit. It was at the end of their dinner rush (7:15pm), and people were leaving, so I can see if they were understaffed, this would be a tricky point in the evening.

I immediately gave my order, a large soup, side of rice, and Thai iced tea. When they brought me my tea, I double checked that I was receiving the large soup. She said I was not, but that she would correct it.

When my soup came out, my order was wrong. I let the busser know, and went inside to doublecheck w/ my server.

When it came out again correctly, they brought no bowl or utensils, etc. I waited to see if they would bring it, but nothing. I went back inside to to ask, so I could eat my dinner. This whole time no one checked on me, other than to deliver my soup/tea.

After I started eating, the server came out to ask if it was good. It was. I had to come back inside to ask for my check. She did come back out to gather my bill and offer a to-go box.

My total was $34.48 including tax+service fee. $19 for the soup, $6 tea, all reasonable. $7 for a side of rice is silly.

All in all, it was an unpleasant dining experience, and I left frustrated. I was looking for a Thai restaurant close to home. But in the future, I’ll spend the extra 10 minutes and drive to Convoy Street. Will not...