Best Pad Thai in St. Paul (2026)

Pad thai here comes made to order, the tamarind sauce built fresh rather than ladled from a batch, and the kitchen backs it with fried tofu and mango sticky rice worth ordering alongside. Ruam Mit covers both Thai and Lao cooking in St. Paul, and the pad thai holds up as a portion generous enough to split between two people with food left over.

A budget-tier Thai room in St. Paul running at the low end of the price scale, Thai Cafe keeps the pad thai in its lane: straightforward, inexpensive, and dependable for a fast weeknight plate. The dish stays the anchor for a menu built around quick turnaround rather than ceremony.

The seafood curry draws the loudest praise on the menu, but the pad thai and green curry hold their own for a St. Paul room built to feed a table with mixed tastes. Service moves fast, the room seats groups easily, and the kitchen handles a family with conflicting orders without anyone leaving unhappy.

Friends Cafe runs a Burmese and Thai kitchen out of a strip mall storefront in St. Paul, and the pra ka pao, stir fried basil with a spicy kick, gets called out as often as the pad thai. Lunchtime turns busy fast, the curry dishes rotate reliably, and the takeout stays fresh past the drive home.

On St. Paul's East Side, this small storefront room pairs Hmong and Thai comfort cooking, and the pad thai and drunken noodles anchor a menu built for large portions at a low price point. The catfish curry draws its own following, and street parking makes it an easy stop for a weeknight dinner.

Hot Grainz moved into a new St. Paul location built around a street food format, pad thai, som tam and Thai basil chicken served fast and casual, with a lounge area near the entrance for groups waiting on a table. The reputation runs ahead of the kitchen some visits, so expectations matter more here than usual.

The duck curry is the dish to order at YaiGu, built with pineapple and rambutan instead of the standard red curry base, sweet where most versions run straight heat. Pad thai and mango rice round out a St. Paul menu that moves fast for groups, with orders arriving quickly even on a busy night.

Karen Thai Food runs a small St. Paul dining room built around Thai style pho and drunken noodles, and the broth draws real praise when the kitchen is on. The room seats few tables and can sit empty on a slow weeknight, and execution has drawn complaints on the green curry, so this one runs uneven.

Set in the St. Anthony Park area of St. Paul, Lanna Thai runs a small room with a full menu beyond the standard pad thai and green curry, som tam included. Service stays attentive in a cramped space, and the kitchen rewards ordering a protein add on to round out a plate.

On's Kitchen has built a following through repeat delivery orders as much as dine-in traffic, and the pad see ew comes back consistently strong across visits. The St. Paul room runs comfortable and spacious for a casual group, with pad thai and green curry holding steady on a menu that rewards regulars.

Basil Cafe draws a steady crowd into its St. Paul dining room, busy enough on weekends that a wait is normal before a table opens. Spring rolls and pad thai lead a menu built for a group meal, and the green curry rounds out a kitchen that keeps tables full well past the dinner rush.

On Grand Avenue in St. Paul, Coconut Thai splits opinion more than most on this list: the pad thai and tom yum draw loyal praise from regulars who rank it above the Edina location, while other visits land flat on flavor. The curry and tom yum stay the safer order when the kitchen is inconsistent.