Champa Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

This is an Asian fusion restaurant that serves solid Thai and Laotian cuisine at decent prices.

The Food: I was thrilled to see Kaow Soi on the menu. This is often my go-to dish when I go to a Thai restaurant, as I love its thick egg noodles, creamy yellow broth, and unique flavors. Unfortunately, that's not what I got when I ordered "Lue's Noodle Soup - Kaow Soy" from the menu. It had pretty much the same ingredients of the Kaow Soi I'm used to, but this had white rice noodles while the broth was more watery than creamy and more brown than yellow -- think beef noodle style rather than creamy coconut broth. Taste-wise, it was fine, but I was just disappointed it wasn't what I was expecting. Maybe this is the Laotian version?

Fortunately, the other dishes my group got was more or less solid. The Pad Se-ew was standard fare, but the fried tilapia was delicious, with a perfectly crispy exterior and moist interior. The Champa Sampler (Lao sausages, fried spring rolls, and fried rice ball salad) was good and a good dish to get for sharing. But perhaps the best order was the Mango Sticky Rice. Simply delicious.

The Service: The entire staff was friendly, prompt, and competent. Unlike at most Asian restaurants, the servers checked in with us from time to time and refilled our waters.

The Setting: It's a medium sized establishment that was clean and well organized. The restrooms were clean, though some parks vandalized the mirror and paper towel dispenser with graffiti.

Also, like many places in The greater San Francisco area, finding parking can be difficult. We lucked out with free street parking in front, but don't expect such lucky during peak weekend hours.

The Conclusion: If you're looking for traditional Thai food, you might be a little disappointed. But if you enjoy trying a different take on Thai food or want the option of also having Laotian cuisine, Champa Garden can deliver the goods. It's really all about expectations. My true rating is 3.5 out of 5, but since Google doesn't allow for half stars, I'll round up to 4 because the staff...

My girlfriend, friends, and I have been frequenting the original Oakland location for nearly half a decade, so we were excited to learn that they had a new location in SF, where we live. For the record, I have rated the Oakland location with 5 stars and have recommended it to many people. Unfortunately, this location does not satisfy and live up to the Champa Garden name.

The original location has the best Pad Thai, hands down. I brought a group of friends who have never had Champa Garden to this location and enthusiastically recommended the Pad Thai; unfortunately, all of them stated it was the absolute worst Pad Thai they have ever had. The overpowering taste of ketchup was the only flavor in this dish. (By the way, authentic Pad Thai does not contain ketchup, but I am generally fine with ketchup in this dish because most American Thai restaurants cook it that way).

The basil fried rice was lacking, as well, which was disappointing because the Oakland location's version is one of my favorite fried rice dishes. Other dishes we tried were uninspired and did not warrant another order. The only saving grace is the rice ball salad, which my friends stated they would probably place pick-up orders for in the future. At least this popular appetizer is as good at this restaurant.

Additionally, the service was very poor. We had to ask for water refills a few times, and it took at least 10 minutes just to get each refill. Our appetizers came promptly, but there was at least a 15-minute wait between finishing our appetizers and the entrees' arrival.

I initially planned to rate this restaurant with 2 stars because it was disheartening to have this location be that much worse than the original. However, I took a step back and thought a 3-star rating would make more sense: it may not be anywhere close to the original restaurant, but it is still better than some Thai restaurants in SF and does not fully deserve a 2-star rating. I hope to return to this restaurant in the future; perhaps by then, they will have worked out all...

Very disappointing experience from the food to the cleanliness of the restaurant. We have been going to this Champa Garden location for over 10 years and it once was a hot spot for excellent Thai/Laotian food and was always busy. We decided to take our friends after checking out the new Korean market at Serramonte Mall.

The restaurant has become tired looking over the years and it’s really showing now. The men’s bathroom was disgusting. The floors were slimy with a black residue and there was a segment of the floor that was duck taped in front of the toilet with a puddle of urine. It looked like a gas station bathroom!

The food was edible, but not the same like before and lacking spice and freshness. Entrees were served on a mix of plastic and ceramic plates and water was brought to us served in plastic disposable cups. We ordered the tom yum soup with seafood and it tasted rotten, very fishy/foul, with a strong taste of mussel. The taste was so gross that no one ate it. Try the tom yum soup from Farm House Thai and you can experience what it should taste like.

Service was poor and we had to ask to have our waters refilled and dirty plates were not cleared from the table.

I don’t know what happened to this place, but we left feeling disappointed and disgusted. There are far too many great restaurants in San Francisco and the Bay Area that can do it much better from the food, service, experience, cleanliness, and location. We will not be back ever again. Another one...