Chiang Rai

Named after one of Thailand’s major cities, the new Tustin restaurant Chiang Rai may be more familiar to Orange County residents from social media inflencers touting “3X Michelin Guide Thai food” – a claim that requires more explanation. Yes, Chiang Rai’s original Long Beach location was included multiple times in Michelin’s Los Angeles guide, but just as part of its short list of LA restaurants; it hasn’t received standard Stars, an eco-concious Green Star, or a Bib Gourmand (good value) citation. Given that there are over 15,000 restaurants in LA and only 170 in the Michelin Guide, simply appearing in the Guide means you’re in a somewhat exclusive 1%, but putting Instagram and TikTok hype aside, that doesn’t equal acclaim.

That having been said, Orange County certainly benefits from Chiang Rai’s arrival. Opened in February 2025, it replaced Rice & Noodle Asian Cuisine, a somewhat lackluster strip mall restaurant that looked like a 1980’s taco shop and served forgettable dishes from an Indonesian, Thai, and Chinese-American menu. Having been completely redecorated inside and out, Chiang Rai now has the wood, dark paneling, gold lamps, and brightly colored accents one would find in an actual restaurant in Thailand, combined with an energetic, inescapable soundtrack that some guests will like and others will find overbearing. The promise here is “Thai street food,” and the Tustin location delivers on that experience – minus Thai humidity and/or smog.

Chiang Rai’s menu fits on two sides of a placemat-sized page, but is packed with options. You’ll find mostly typical Thai dishes on the front side, which includes eight appetizers ($11 to $17), 10 salads ($17 to $36), eight soups and noodle soups ($16 to $38), eight curries ($18 to $29), six fried rices ($19 to $29), five stir-fried noodles ($19-$27), and nine standard entrees ($18 to $26). Northern-style Thai dishes, skewers, desserts, and beverages are on the flip side, with entrees running $17 to $30, and most skewers going for $4 to $5 each: Ping Yang skewers (shown above) include beef tongue, pork, octopus, chicken thigh, shrimp, vegetables, and organ meat, with chicken or tofu satay as additional choices. Despite the nice decor, the prices tend to be at least a little high by local Thai standards.

From a quality standpoint, Chiang Rai’s hit-to-miss ratio was around 2:1 in our experience, though the hits were generally strong and the misses only mildly off course. For example, a Thai Tea Slushy ($9) and fresh coconut ($7) were both compelling drinks – the former rare at Thai restaurants – but a Thai Lemon Tea was the tartest version we’ve ever tasted, and not great. Similarly, both of our noodle entrees were excellent, starting with flat Pad See Ew noodles ($22) that packed all the umami and wok hei smokiness we could have hoped for, plus quality, tasty pieces of pork and just the right balance of vegetables.