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GuideUpdated July 16, 2026

7 Best Places for Pad Thai in Chicago

Where to find the best pad thai in Chicago — each restaurant rated 4.0★ or higher. Top-rated at 9.6★. Spanning thai and vegetarian kitchens. Curated by TastyPals.

The best places for pad thai in Chicago are Oliang, Vegan Plate, Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food, and more. Start with Oliang if you want the strongest overall first pick.

By Linh Tran•7 ranked picks•Published July 16, 2026•Updated July 16, 2026
Methodology•Editorial team
OliangVegan PlateTuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food
7 Best Places for Pad Thai in Chicago
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Top picks at a glance

#1OliangThai • Chicago • $$#2Vegan PlateVegetarian • Chicago • value#3Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street FoodThai • Chicago • value

Who this guide is for

This guide covers the highest-rated spots for pad thai in Chicago. Whether you're a local hunting your next regular or visiting and want to eat well, these picks are sorted by quality and review depth.

Quick picks

Oliang
Thai • Chicago
Oliang sits on Ashland Avenue in Lincoln Park with a premise that's quietly ambitious: build a Thai comfort-food spot around the kind of trust that only comes from genuine partnership.
Vegan Plate
Vegetarian • Chicago
Vegan Plate has spent over a decade making the case that Thai cooking doesn't need animal products to be the real thing.
Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food
Thai • Chicago
Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food is an easy thai option in Chicago to suggest without needing a long explanation.
Browse all Chicago restaurantsBack to Chicago hub
Editorial details
Author: Linh Tran
Published: July 16, 2026
Last updated: July 16, 2026

On this page

  1. 1. OliangView →
  2. 2. Vegan PlateView →
  3. 3. Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street FoodView →
  4. 4. Aroy Thai ChicagoView →
  5. 5. Opart Thai House - West TownView →
  6. 6. Noble ThaiView →
  7. 7. Star of SiamView →

How the restaurants compare

Oliang
Chicago • Thai
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
$$
Best for
date night
Mood
Easygoing
Vegan Plate
Chicago • Vegetarian
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
value
Best for
Plant-based
Mood
Casual
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food
Google
Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food
Chicago • Thai
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
value
Best for
dinner
Mood
Casual
Aroy Thai Chicago
Chicago • Thai
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
$$
Best for
Thai
Mood
Easygoing

How we chose

We looked for restaurants that feel like a strong fit for the guide topic, not just the most obvious names in the city. The shortlist favors rooms with clear mood, dependable pacing, and enough distinction to help someone decide faster. Read our full methodology →

Room tone

Lighting, pace, and general energy all need to support the reason someone clicked this guide.

Food fit

We favored restaurants that feel best suited for the moment, not just restaurants with broad reputation.

Useful range

The final list tries to give readers enough variation in neighborhood, price, and style to compare real options.

7 ranked picks

Oliang — Oliang sits on Ashland Avenue in Lincoln Park with a premise that's quietly ambitious: build a Thai comfort-food spot around the kind of trust that only comes from genuine partnership. Owners Tan, Kwan, and Joy have put their names on a place that doesn't pretend to be a grand dining destination — it's a neighborhood restaurant rooted in affection for the food they cook, and that specificity of intent tends to read clearly in the room. The space itself is deceptive: a narrow storefront that opens into a long, greenery-draped interior hung with artwork, the kind of layout that makes you forget you're a few blocks from the Armitage retail corridor. For the price level, that environment is a genuine value proposition, not a given. The menu centers on Thai comfort cooking done with evident care. The Pad Thai is billed as a classic — stir-fried noodles, fresh ingredients, the kind of execution that lives or dies by technique and sourcing. Diners consistently call out the Panang curry as a high-water mark, with reviewers describing it as among the best they've encountered. Khao Soi, the Northern Thai coconut-curry noodle soup, is listed as a signature and represents exactly the kind of regional specificity that separates a thoughtful Thai kitchen from a generic one. The Crab Rangoon has drawn attention for being made in-house, leaning into crispy texture over the frozen-appetizer shortcut. And the Oliang — the Thai iced coffee the restaurant takes its name from — is the right drink to order first, both as a nod to the concept and because cold-brewed Thai coffee this well-sourced is genuinely hard to find in this neighborhood. Practically speaking: the room is small and fills up, so booking ahead is the move, especially on weekends. Given the Khao Soi's status as a named signature and the Panang curry's outsize reputation among reviewers, those are the two dishes to anchor your order around. One note of honesty: some reviewers flag inconsistent handling of dietary restriction questions, so if that matters to your table, communicate it clearly when you book and again with your server. View restaurant →
Vegan Plate — Vegan Plate has spent over a decade making the case that Thai cooking doesn't need animal products to be the real thing. Opened in 2012 as Urban Vegan and rebranded in 2015, this Chicago kitchen runs a 100% vegan Thai menu at price-point-one accessibility — meaning the barrier to entry is low but the commitment to the cuisine is not. This is not a wellness café that happens to do a curry. It's a dedicated Thai kitchen where the plant-based framing is foundational, not a footnote, and where regulars treat it as a legitimate destination for the cuisine rather than a compromise. The menu centers on Thai staples executed through a fully vegan lens. The Pad Kee Mao — drunken noodles built around wide rice noodles — has accumulated consistent praise for its saucy, boldly seasoned preparation, with diners describing it as among their favorite Thai in the city. The Tofu Satay draws particular attention for its green Thai curry sauce, which reviewers single out as a genuine highlight rather than an afterthought. Katsu curry and soy chicken satay round out a lineup that rewards anyone willing to explore beyond Pad Thai, though that dish, too, has developed a loyal following. The dining room is cozy and simply appointed — real flowers and candles keep the atmosphere warm without pretension — and the space is noted as workable for group meals, which matters when you're trying to bring a mixed crowd to a plant-forward kitchen. Vegan Plate is closed Mondays, so plan accordingly — Tuesday through Saturday are your windows. For groups, the room's casual scale and accessible price point make it a lower-stakes proposition than most plant-forward dining rooms at this level. The move is to anchor your order around the Pad Kee Mao and build outward with the Tofu Satay's curry sauce as a table share. Book ahead for weekend evenings; the room is cozy enough that walk-in timing matters. View restaurant →

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Save these spots to your Chicago list

Save these spots to your Chicago list in the TastyPals app, then explore similar restaurants when you want a tighter shortlist for the night.

Personalized city picksCleaner shortlistsBuilt for iPhone and Android
TastyPalsTonight
Your taste. Our picks.
Smarter follow-through after the guide: better restaurant context, quicker narrowing, less second-guessing.
For tonight
Date night spots with warm rooms and polished service
Next step
Keep exploring in the app when you want a tighter shortlist