Chiriya's Thai Cuisine

We were just here tonight. A nice restaurant where I had been before with my wife so we decided to return. This time my parents were in town so we went back and together with my children we made a table of 6 people. The food was good and the service was okay, the lady seemed to come every two minutes to ask if we wanted more iced tea so a little obstrusive. When the bill came it was written with big letters that 20% gratuity was added. When we asked why it was because we were a table of 6. Mind you that my sons are 2 and 4 years old and the 4 year old had bowl of white rice and the 2 year old ate from my plate. When I reminded her of this then she changed her story and said that the gratuity was because they had to move the tables around and combine two tables. I don't know but to me that seems like little effort for your valued guests, it seemed that they indeed did not care about our satisfaction because the manager stopped by too (a young punk who was also our bus boy) and argued with us and got me even more fired up, not very knowledgable of how to handle guests. Anyway, if no tip had been added I would have gladly left more than 20% as that is what I usually do but this time the greedy waitress lost out and the 'manager' lost us as guests. Thanks. more

The restaurant is beautifully decorated and the corner booths are extremely comfortable, with decorate cushions and white candles adding a bit of a personal touch to each booth. My husband and I ordered the crispy noodles (mee krob) to begin our last visit to Chiriya's and the mountain of crisp noodles that came out of the kitchen was almost a foot tall. It was dabbed with different spice pastes and sauces. While just two of us couldn't come close to finishing the pile, we certainly tried. \r

\r My husband has consistently ordered the special noodles (with beef) and it looks as though he licks his plate clean each time. I've been a bit more adventurous and ordered some of the curries, noodles and my favorite- the Thai basil stir-fry. \r

\r My only complaint is that the waitresses, while very attentive, have a tendency to sit at the bar when the restaurant has only a few tables (to do side work which is understandable), but then we get to hear all about the details of their lives as they gossip and talk about weekend plans. It really ruined the tranquil setting the last 2 times we dined there. \r \r Also, make sure you indicate the level of heat you want on your dish. I made the mistake of not including it in my order and had a rather bland stir-fry one night (the server did not ask either). Pros: Ambience, Food, Parking Cons: Service, Wine menu is pricey more