Best Thai Food in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia — updated August 22, 2026
Richmond's Thai kitchens are scattered from East Franklin Street to the Fan, and the ratings gap between them is wide. Here's how the city's Thai restaurants stack up on the evidence.
Listings verified
Richmond's Thai restaurants cluster in three areas: the eastern edge of downtown near Franklin Street, the Grace Street and Main Street corridor around VCU, and the stretch of West Cary in the Fan. Several close in the mid-afternoon between lunch and dinner service, and at least two are dark one weekday a week, so hours matter more here than in most categories. The list below is ordered by rating weighted against how many reviews stand behind it.
1. Yak Yai Thai Restaurant
The highest-rated Thai kitchen in the city on this list, at 4.9 across 235 reviews, which is a strong figure for a count that size. It sits at 1703 E Franklin St, east of downtown, and the restaurant points people toward the Had Yai chicken. The menu also runs through red and green curry, basil fried rice and crispy spring rolls. Closed Mondays; Tuesday service runs 11:00 am to 9:00 pm. There is a happy hour listed Tuesday through Friday, 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm, which is a quiet window in that part of Franklin Street. Phone is (804) 269-0159.
2. Thai Top Ten
A 4.5 across 268 reviews, the largest sample of any of the higher-rated places here, which makes it the most settled bet on the list. It's at 911 1/2 W Grace St, walking distance from VCU's Monroe Park campus. The kitchen splits its day: 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm Monday through Friday, with weekends starting at noon. That 3-to-5 gap catches people out. The menu lists chicken satay in a four-piece order, fried fish cakes and a Thai chef house salad, with pad thai priced from the low teens.
3. Thai Studio Restaurant
Also a 4.5, from 219 reviews, and the most central option at 516 N 2nd St C, a short walk from the Convention Center. The schedule is the thing to check: closed Wednesdays, with Monday and Tuesday running 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and then 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm, Thursday through Saturday straight through from noon to 10:00 pm, and Sunday until 9:30 pm. Pickup and delivery windows close slightly earlier than the dining room, around 9:15 pm on weeknights. Reach the restaurant at (804) 918-0505.
4. Thai Boat
The 4.8 rating is the second-highest here, but it rests on 86 reviews, so treat it as promising rather than proven. What sets it apart is the hours: the Main Street location at 2301 W Main St runs a lunch service from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm and then reopens at 4:30 pm and stays open late, past 11:00 pm on listed nights. That makes it one of the few Thai options in the Fan for a late dinner. The menu is long, with special noodle soups, curries and fried rice; delivery listings single out the crispy spring beans and khao pad khiew.
5. The Patio Thai Restaurant
The most-reviewed Thai restaurant on this list by a wide margin, with more than 750 reviews behind a 4.3. That combination means a lower average but far more certainty about it: this is a known quantity downtown at 103 E Cary St. The menu covers panang curry, yellow curry, chicken satay, Thai salad and a grilled salmon curry. Listed hours are 11:00 am to 9:30 pm Monday through Thursday, until 10:00 pm Friday, noon to 10:00 pm Saturday and noon to 9:30 pm Sunday, though some listings show an afternoon break, so call ahead for a 3:00 pm arrival.
6. Mayu Sushi & Thai
A sushi-and-Thai menu in one room at 3028 W Cary St, rated 4.4 from 174 reviews. The Thai side covers pad thai, tom yum soup and green curry, so it works if half the table wants rolls. The catch is the schedule: no lunch Monday through Thursday, when doors open at 4:00 pm and close at 9:00 pm. Friday through Sunday it runs noon to 9:00 pm. Because the kitchen splits its attention between two cuisines, it ranks below the dedicated Thai kitchens above, but the rating holds up across a reasonable number of reviews.