Elephant Thai Restaurant

My cousin in came in at the ""recommendation of high reviews."" It all started when I ordered a Mango Smoothie. Maybe I was wrong for ordering a smoothie at a Thai restaurant,but hey- it was on the menu! So the waiter says, ""I don't know how to make those, BUT let me see if there's someone here who does."" THAT, I can appreciate. He was honest, but found a solution. Smoothie is made and delivered. It doesn't look like I expected a mango smoothie to look. In fact, it looked like a milkshake. So I tasted it. It tasted like a milkshake. I assumed it would look and taste like, you know, a Tropical Smoothie/Smoothie King/Smoothie Planet kind of Smoothie... MY BAD. A different waiter comes to the table to take our order and I ask him if I can change my drink because that Smoothie is more of a milkshake. He replies, ""It's not a milkshake."" Me, ""...well it's very much milk based and.."" (Wouldn't have been as big of a deal if I wasn't lactose intolerant. I can handle SOME dairy, but that MILKSHAKE was a bit much.) And before I can even finish, he let's out a huge sigh, rolls his eyes and throws his head back. He sighed so long I almost called for help. Was that his last breath? Is he blacking out? Then he grumbles I have to go ask my manager... So we left. My cousin being extremely dissatisfied with his attitude walks back in to let him know that as a person in customer service he should fix his attitude. He proceeds to tell her that she has an attitude. She then reminds him that she is not employed there. Then we asked for the manager- the manager ""wasn't there and wouldn't be returning until tomorrow."" So we ask him HIS name... he refused to tell us. WHAT?! Meanwhile, his co workers had already mouthed us his name. So thank you ALEX for introducing us to Ginger Restaurant in Richmond. Because of your unsolicited bad attitude we walked out and discovered a great gem in Richmond with FABULOUS customer serivce. Oh, did I mention I had to walk around a baby in a carseat in the middle of the floor to use the dirty bathroom? UNSATISFACTORY. Never got a chance to even taste the food... maybe that was for the better. more

Me and my coworker ordered here for lunch for delivery. We both ordered the shrimp pad thai and the crisy rolls. The rolls are absolutely incredible. Our shrimp pad thai was excellent. Very flavorful. My coworkers only complaint was that she felt she didn't get enough shrimp. Mine was fine. The delivery driver was kind and so was the lady who took the order. They told us delivery would take 35-45 min but they were here in 20 min! Pros: Fast delivery, delicious more

Other than the fact that the restaurant's name closely resembles that of a disease called Elephantiasis, it a great place. They have some foods that many other Thai restaurants don't have and some items that aren't even Thai at all. But that's what happen when everything has to be Americanized. Pros: Great food Cons: Not exactly what I would consider Thai food more

In response to CHMD's post, I actually know someone that works at Elephant Thai and this customer (CHMD) has continued to frequently order from them despite the supposed ""awful service"" and one-star rating more

Elephant thai has very authentic thai cuisine. The staff is friendly and very knowlegable. The food is very good and I was even allowed to order off the menu for some regional thai dishes that are not usually served. I have had delivery from here and it was fine. They will prepare most dishes thai style if requested and thai spicy if requested. This is by far the best Thai food in the Richmond area and surpasses any other game in town. As for the negative comments written above...not that I would side with a restaurant but in my glory days I worked at one and remember how certain people would complain just to get their meal free...maybe thats the case...anyway if the person knew thai food this place would have a good rating.........as for the customer service and staff...they couldnt have been nicer and as long as Im in Richmond I will continue eating here.... more

This restaurant does not deserve to stay open. The food is greasy and when ordering take out, you have to BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK. I was told that my food would be delivered in 45 minutes, and it showes up after 90 minutes and was cold and the oil had coagulated on top, not to mention how steamed dumplings faired. I called and was told that the they would give me 10% off on the NEXT order, and that if I wanted a refund, they would send the driver BACK to my house to pick up the food. more

From the time we were greeted warmly to the time we were sincerely thanked, Elephant Thai provided us with wonderful food and friendly, efficient service. This was our first time at Elephant Thai and my first time eating Thai food at all. Every plate of food was camera-ready, not to mention piping hot. We started with kamon jeeb (lovely little dumplings) and crying tiger, with its adventurously spicy sauce. I had the pineapple fried rice as my entree - it must be fried in cashew oil because there was one alluring flavor that tied the dish together perfectly. My girlfriend had the crispy duck and her boyfriend had a green curry, both of which they enjoyed thoroughly. For dessert, we plate-shared the sticky rice with Thai custard (mangos are out of season in December) and the banana fried ice cream, which was something of a misnomer since it was a scoop of pedestrian vanilla ice cream with two essentially banana spring rolls. The servers couldn't have been nicer and the decor is very warm-feeling. We get out to eat very rarely and I'm glad we've found such a quality restaurant. more

I love this place. The food is great and the service is good. I am new to Thai cuisine and so far I have had their shrimp pad thai (excellent sauce not too spicy), chicken drunken noodles (more spicy) and the shrimp stirfry (made my nose drip a lil but not too spicy where I couldn't enjoy it) and the crispy rolls (can't get enough of them). The decor is nice..but I wouldn't go as far to say I would be impressed if I went there on a first date (but wouldn't be overly disappointed either). I have had their take out and the food tastes better if you just take a few extra minutes and actually dine in rather than reheat. I do agree with an earlier comment about the parking. It is hard to find a spot when the semester starts at VCU (best time to park is in the summer). Also if you are on a lunch budget (mine is usually around $9 or less) , you will go over if you get your entree and crispy rolls. more

I have been to several Thai restaurants in the Richmond area and none of them could impress me the way Elephant Thai did. For a Thai food lover like me, I gave it a 5 stars for its delicious food, great hospitality of the wait staffs, and the beautiful Thai styel decoration. The food is relatively inexpensive for the big portion serve. I highly recommend anyone who never has Thai food before to try here. Their lovely waitresses would spend as much as you need to explain each dish to you. A quiet yet elegant spot for taking your first date out to try some real Thai food. They also have a mini-bar and their Mai Tai is superb!!! more

This place is so close to VCU. There is absolutely no parking available. There is one spot reserved for takeout customers that is in the alley behind the restaurant and it is usually taken. The service toook forever. I waited for my food for a very long time. The food was very mediocre. It seemed like it was old and prepared earlier that day. There are much better thai restaurants in Richmond. I would not go here agian. Pros: romantic place Cons: parking, wait for food, quality of food more

The restaurant is cute and comfortable. The service is very friendly and helpful. I love all the food I've tried there. The food is a bit overpriced, but comparable to other thai restaurants. I've tried 3 other restaurants and it is by far the best. Pros: food, service Cons: parking more