Ratings and reviews

RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere

Details

CUISINES
Asian, Thai
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner
View all details
meals, features
Reviews (126)
Filter reviews
126 results
Traveler rating
50
53
9
8
6
Traveler type
Time of year
LanguageAll languages
More languages
Traveler rating
50
53
9
8
6
Show reviews that mention
All reviews pad see ew brown rice red curry tofu thai restaurant great view the santa cruz boardwalk wharf
Sort and selected filters
Sort Filter
Updating list...
Reviewed May 21, 2022 via mobile

Sawasdee by the Sea offers good Thai food at reasonable prices. The service was attentive and helpful, and the food we ordered was great: red curry with lots of veggies and tofu, a side order of brown rice, and a delicious pad see’ew. Located on...the third floor of the building, the dining room offered a clear view of the Santa Cruz boardwalk and wharf. We enjoyed our dinner there very much.More

Date of visit: April 2022
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed March 13, 2022

I would've given negative starts for this establishment. The food was awful, especially the RUBBER calamari used in the soup and the seafood salad. This was probably my worst dinner experiences ever. The place looked like an average ran down fast food joint, with some...reminders that you might be in a Thai restaurant . The only edible item were the fried rolls appetizer. Pad See Ew pork version contained rubbery, seemingly few years old super chewy pork shreds. The staff and serving was ok, but the FOOD was TERRIBLE.More

Date of visit: March 2022
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed February 19, 2020 via mobile
Google Translation

More

Date of visit: February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed December 30, 2019 via mobile

We were so pleased to find something open on Christmas with vegan options. The tom kha soup was super tangy.

Date of visit: December 2019
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 12, 2019 via mobile

We visited the place on Saturday 10/12/19 at around 5:30 PM. We were taken to our table right away. Waitress and servers were very polite. We ordered 2 Thai Ice Tea, Pineapple fried rice with chicken and prawns, and, Duck curry. pineapple fried rice had...only 3 prawns and it needed a bit more flavor. Duck curry was delicious and with a lot of pieces of duck. However, although tomatoes are part of the recipe, I would strongly recommend not to eat them. The flavor of the cooked tomatoes was very bad. We also ordered dessert: Fried banana with coconut ice cream. Dessert was not that good. Banana was dry and ice cream did not have much flavor. We have visited many Thai restaurants and we know that flavors could be better. Overall, it was a good experience, but there is definetely room for improvement. We are planning to come back in a near future and update our review.More

Date of visit: October 2019
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed September 17, 2019

I’ve never really tried Thai food before but all we’ve eaten so far on this holiday is junk food so we thought we’d try it and hopefully eat some vegetables at the same time. This place is amazing, the food is delicious and the staff...were exceptional. We had the Thai egg rolls, pineapple fried rice (yummy) and fish green curry. All portions were very generous (and full of vegetables) so I had to take some away in a doggy bag!!! The guy that served us was very welcoming and genuinely happy, it was a great experience and I would come back to Santa Cruz just to eat there again!!!More

Date of visit: September 2019
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed August 14, 2019

We were very much looking forward to having something different to eat after travelling from Death Valley, through Yosemite, to Santa Cruz and living off food from our cool box or burgers and pizza. The service was slow. Was told it would be a 20...minute wait for a table and the man added our name to a list. After half an hour there were 4 empty tables and nobody but us waiting to be seated. I inquired again and was taken straight to a table. The menu was good, the food was quick but the flavour was average. I had asked for my dish to be spicy but it barely registered on my taste buds. However, my son's fish was very good. Price was fair for 3 meals.More

Date of visit: July 2019
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed May 9, 2019

Walking distance from my hotel and delicious. I did take out and they were fast, good and reasonably priced. I had the yellow curry. It was plenty for two meals.

Date of visit: April 2019
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed March 27, 2019

Had an awful sweet and sour chicken take away that was like trying to eat bullets. The sauce had an overly sour/vinegary taste to it.

Date of visit: February 2019
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed January 15, 2019 via mobile

Pretty good, it was New Year’s Day and we were all hungover and worn out, so it wasn’t bad. Not the best I’ve ever had but not bad.

Date of visit: January 2019
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed November 17, 2018 via mobile
Google Translation

More

Date of visit: November 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed November 15, 2018

Sawasdee is above average, but not up to my Thai gold standard except for their Tam Kha soup, which is very close. The other dishes we had were done well... vegetarian Massaman Curry and Red Curry were both very tasty, although the tofu in the...Massaman was tough. The view of Monterrey Bay is spectacular.More

Date of visit: November 2018
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 15, 2018 via mobile

We stayed at the inn here and had to try Sawasdee. It was super good. The service was fast and super friendly. In addition to great food I had a delicious blue Hawaiian and my guy tried their Mai Tai. It was a very welcoming...environment and I will be back next time I’m in town!More

Date of visit: October 2018
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 7, 2018 via mobile

Finally, a proper place to eat in Santa Cruz, one that's actually GOOD, and not just for the awesome ocean view or touristy location. Price is reasonably mid-range too. I don't usually eat salad, but when I do it's definitely Thai squid salad! With zesty...lime and chili "dressing" a.k.a. 'kerabu sotong Thai'! (This one was Americanized a bit.) I guess you could say the food was so good, we totally missed the SpaceX launch today, over these clear Californian skies. Ah well. At least we ate well. Oh how I've missed my sweet and lovely Thai/Malaysian-style 3-layered ice tea! ❤️ The entrees: crab fried rice, tom yum soup, sweet and sour fish --- everything was very flavourful, and delightfully, authentically Thai. None of that pretentious hipsterified "fusion" nonsense (the Silicon Valley type). Our only complaint could've been that they weren't spicy enough, but fret not, they have hot sauce and dried chili flake condiments. I believe you can also request them to make it "extra" spicy, which is what we'll do the next time. Otherwise, It's a full 5* from me. Definitely coming back to this place soon.More

Date of visit: October 2018
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed September 24, 2018

We spent the whole day at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and wanted to have a nice sit down dinner. Sawasdee By the Sea was recommended by TripAdviser, so we walked over to the restaurant. We promptly ordered a Thai Ice Tea, Pad Thai, Yellow Curry...and Duck Fried Rice. About 15 minutes later, I received my Thai Ice Tea. The server later told us that the food will come out later. But we noticed the two tables who arrived after us, already received all their food. We gave them 15 more minutes and there's still no food. We gave up hope and just paid for the ice tea. I honestly think he forgot to put in the order. The Thai Ice Tea was watery, but it acceptable. It tasted like Thai Ice Tea from food courts. I will not go there again. I am quite disappointed in their service.More

Date of visit: August 2018
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
View more reviews
Best nearby
Best nearby hotelsSee all
Casablanca Inn on the Beach
633 reviews
.01 miles away
Beach Street Inn and Suites
954 reviews
.05 miles away
Coastview Inn
309 reviews
.09 miles away
Edgewater Beach Motel
200 reviews
.09 miles away
Best nearby restaurantsSee all
Jack O'Neill Restaurant & Lounge
191 reviews
.12 miles away
The Picnic Basket
436 reviews
.05 miles away
Riva Fish House
506 reviews
.29 miles away
Firefish Grill
663 reviews
.29 miles away
Best nearby attractionsSee all
West Cliff Drive
1,339 reviews
.22 miles away
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
3,652 reviews
.21 miles away
Santa Cruz Wharf
1,337 reviews
.23 miles away
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center
115 reviews
.12 miles away
Questions & Answers
Ask a question
loribethlobell
March 17, 2016|
Answer
Response from Tres W | Reviewed this property |
Too many stairs, sorry!
0
Votes
Is This Your Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim Your Free Listing

SAWASDEE BY THE SEA, Santa Cruz - Restaurant Reviews, Photos & Phone Number - Tripadvisor

Frequently Asked Questions about Sawasdee By The Sea

Yes, Sawasdee By The Sea offers takeout services.

Sawasdee By The Sea is rated accordingly in the following categories by Tripadvisor travelers:
  • Food: 4
  • Service: 4
  • Value: 4
  • Atmosphere: 4.5