Spice Thai – Closed

For the better part of two decades, non-Thais looking for Thai food in the southern part of Orange County debated whether to visit one of two similarly named businesses: Thai Spice or Spice Thai. There was one Spice Thai, and for a time, multiple Thai Spice locations, the latter a fast-casual chain that somehow managed to serve a small menu of really excellent Thai dishes at affordable prices. Lunch specials and multi-location convenience made Thai Spice easy to visit.

But foodies insisted that Spice Thai was a much better option if you were in or near Lake Forest – and they were correct. Over time, all but one of Thai Spice’s locations folded, and its once strong reputation for quick, high-quality fast food crumbled. Until 2026, Spice Thai was still going strong, having shifted to a second generation of management.

Its Lake Forest location occupied the corner spot in a plaza, and between dine-in customers and people picking up take-out orders, the small dining room could get cramped. At lunch, it offered an abbreviated menu of Thai basics on par with the old Thai Spice collection, but also had a much larger collection of classics that covered all the traditional Thai bases from 25 years ago: yellow, green, panang red, and mussamun curries, spicy beef or papaya salads, tom yum and coconut soups, plus pad thai, crying tiger beef and satays, plus stir-fried entrees. Everything we tasted was prepared to relatively high standards.