Stadium Thai — Restaurant in Tacoma

Stadium Thai, Stadium District, Tacoma WA

Located in an old burger joint just off Division and I, and across the street from Wright Park is the new Stadium Thai. It took a while after the previous occupant of this space closed (ie: Covid hit), but this new addition to the local selection of eateries is definitely welcome!  The space is small, but the flavours and offerings are big and the heat is whatever you prefer from one to five stars.

Since it was a beautiful day, and Stadium Thai is just across the street from Wright Park, we opted for take out. We started with the Prawn Salad Rolls which were nicely chilled and refreshing with crisp greens, noodles and plump prawns wrapped tightly in translucent deliciousness and accompanied with rich peanut dipping sauce. In addition we ordered a traditional Chicken Phad Thai (2 star) which was abundant in flavour with a fair amount of moist tender chicken breast and noodles prepared to the right density including egg, green onion and bean sprouts. Two star seasoning is actually on the mild side where three would probably bring out more of the Thai seasonings used. Only thing missing, which was probably more of an oversight, would have been a slice of lime. Lime is nice as it cuts some of the oils used in frying and any slight congeling when having sat during the take out journey.  In addition we ordered the Phad See Ew which is a fat rice noodle, broccoli, stir fry sauce, egg and in our case more chicken. This too was ordered as two stars, but unlike the Phad Thai, whis dish also incorporates white pepper so even as two stars it had a bit of a kick! Needless to say it was still cooked to perfection with the noodles having reached that perfect density and coated in a tasty and flavourful sauce.

These three items barely scratched the surface of the array of authentic Thai offerings this small establishment offers (counting 55 plus), in addition to a Thai breakfast selection which is available until 11am most days noting they open at 8am. Thai breakfast is definitely a unique offering and a sure rarity outside of Thailand and expat communities outside of Thailand. Items sounded delicious with  breakfast sandwiches with a choice of chicken curry or marinated pork, with fresh veggies and herbs tucked onto a crunchy french style roll. Other items are egg based along with congee or rice style soups that when made with fresh Thai ingredients seem awfully inviting.  The business is family owned and operated and being greeted by a smiling and gregarious owner who is so proud of their food heritage definitely makes this spot worth...

I've eaten here 2x so far and will continue to come back as long as they are operational :) great customer service. Both times I've been here, I've ordered the same thing. Chicken Yellow Curry level 3 heat and shrimp pad thai level heat and spring rolls with a BIG box of rice. I came one day towards the end of them closing for the day and they continued to take orders. They were so busy that they didn't want to turn anyone away and say "sorry we are closed". This is all happened on a day they were down an employee due to the employee having a medical emergency inside the store. Most places would have closed for the day but these owners and employees love what they do and love the surrounding community so much that they continued to work. That says a lot!

This place has my business forever. Please don't ever leave or change owners. The food here is amazing. I've only been able to find ONE place that has amazing Thai food and it was in Kent East Hill but it closed due to Covid lack of business(?). This little hole in the wall is a Gem! The best Authentic Thai food you're gonna find in Tacoma! HANDS DOWN!

They have amazing portions and greatly priced. I think level 3 heat is perfect for ppl who want some spicy heat but not toooo hot. Level 3 has a good kick to it. I love spicy foods but I think anything higher than Level 3 use caution LOL

ONLY complaint I've had is the 1st time I went here my spring rolls were cold in the middle. Not ice rock cold but definitely cold and needing to be cooked longer. I would have said something but I was wearing my emergency uniform and I don't like "complaining" (for a lack of better word) while I'm in uniform, I feel it makes us look very unprofessional and the perception is that "we're" entitled. So I just ate the spring rolls. I will say the second time I came around and had the spring rolls again they were cooked perfectly hot and delicious!

Don't pass on this place! It's busy and well...

This was my first visit to Stadium Thai. Ordering was a bit disorganized. I ordered the Phad Thai, because it was my first visit and I feel the best way to gauge the quality of the cuisine is ordering a well-known and popular dish. I can tell right away that it was not authentic. The sauce was a ketchup based sauce and it honestly tasted more like ketchup on rice noodles than tamarind or any other flavor profiles that are typically in this dish. It was missing key flavors that makes the dish famous and delicious for what it is. When I asked if there was ketchup in the sauce, the owner confirmed that there was “some”. Visually, it was very red and tasted entirely like ketchup. It also had a single green bell pepper slice…Which I’m guessing that was a mistake lol. When I was asked how spicy I wanted my dish, I asked if they used thai chilis (Birds Eye Chili) to spice the dish and the owner said “yes”. I told her my spice level. When I tasted it, there was no spice. She instead gave me dried red pepper flakes. Which isn’t the same as Thai Chili’s. I’ve honestly been to all of the thai restaurants in thai area and can say that this area isn’t the best with authentic thai food, however, Stadium Thai has got to be the worst based on how lackluster and underwhelming the phad thai was. It was just ketchup and noodles. Super basic and a juvenile way of making phad thai. Sorry to say,...