Vientiane, Madison, Wisconsin, Laotian Restaurant Details

Food:

I like this place. Best pad thai in town. Love the plants. They make me happy.

Food:

Best curry squash or noodle dishes in Madison. Although certainly not all their dishes are good. But I've come here once a month on average for the last 15 years because the flavors of certain dishes are just unbeatable.

The negative side: (1) Non-American service. This is a family-run restaurant and the Aunties don't make small talk and they don't smile if they don't feel like smiling. (2) Only about half of the dishes are good. (3) The dining room is not well-kept. The carpet should have been replaced decades ago. The whole place needs a makeover.

In conclusion, if you want a sterile experience go to Chili's, Denny's, TGIF, or any number of the chemical wastebaskets currently suffocating the nation. If you want authentic food at a decent price, this is your spot.

Food:

I have never ordered food there that I did not like.

Also their Thai iced coffee is delish.

Food:

I was really excited about trying this place, until I actually did. And I feel bad about bashing a seemingly family run business but I just need to express our disatisfaction with our meal.

I had the tofu fried rice, my sister had the "curry dishes" option, and my boyfriend had the pad thai I believe. None of the ingredients tasted fresh and I could tell very much that the carrots in my dish were from a frozen package (they were perfectly cut squares). The overall color that overcame our meal was brown.

The scenery was fine, nothing special.
Overall we all left the restaurant feeling dirty. Which sucks because I was really looking forward to trying this place!

Food:

pad thai with tofu: wonderful
curry dish tofu: wonderful
hilariously grumpy hostess*: wonderful

i've been going for many years and will be going many more.

*apparently the owners' child/ren is/are old enough to work at the restaurant now, which means the same lady isn't working every single day open-close. as a result she is noticeably more chipper these days. better for her, but still... the end of an era.