Rama

02/15/09

A MISERABLE EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!!!

by sandiego2009 at Citysearch

Stay a minimum of 100 yards from this godforsaken establishment. It is hard to tell whether the staff is stupid or just plain evil, but they do everything in their power to destroy your evening and succeed in their unspoken mission to do so. We were in the best of moods when we arrived and pumped with adrenaline when we left. The arrogance of the owner and staff is beyond your wildest nightmare....

• Pros: Busboy fills in as waiter since the waiters will not provide service
• Cons: Service is the worst that I have ever experienced in my many years of dining

08/17/08

A Thai rater

by ktoon at Citysearch

First time there and will not return, the food was not great, and had to wait over an hour. Do not recommend this place..

• Pros: downtown
• Cons: slow, not that great food

08/10/08

Slow, cold and pricey

by sd1306 at Citysearch

Had high hopes as my family loves Thai. The service was friendly, even funny, but this did not make up for the slow kitchen. Too many apologies by the serving staff and not enough timely service. The food served was just on the edge of being acceptable temperture-wise. No kids menu, so dinner with two kids is expensive and certainly not worth the dining experience. The food was tasty but skip the spinich with peanut sause, it was so sweet, it could have been a desert!

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: Slow, cold, expensive

05/28/08

Don't Go!!

by foody2211 at Citysearch

What a disappointment! The evening started out great and went down hill quickly. We ordered a cosmo and a beer. The waiter was very friendly and informed us that they only carry one type of beer. Fortunately, the one beer called Chang was very good. We ordered a grilled shrimp appetizer and a noodle wrapped shrimp appetizer plus a cup of wonton soup. The waiter came back to say they were out of wonton soup. We thought this was strange but okay. Next the grilled shrimp arrived and it was delicious. The waiter came out with the 2nd shrimp appetizer and told us he had a partial order as they were out of the crispy noodle wrapped shrimp. We were dining on the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend and surprised they were out of two things. Next we asked for the wine list and were told they were totally out of White Wine.

We go out to dinner to nice restaurants frequently and have never been told by a restaurant they are entirely out of White wine. The waiter told us they were busy during the long weekend and ran out of wine. It appears something strange is going on at Rama. We had two entrees that were good but not great.

The restaurant took off the crispy shrimp appetizer from our bill. At the end of the evening we felt cheated and taken by the restaurant. Our bill was $70 which seemed unfair when our dining experience fell way short of our expectations. I wonder if Rama uses premade items from restaurant supply companies since they were out wonton soup and crispy shrimp. Find another Thai restaurant.

05/16/08

Worst Thai food I've eaten and the owner Alex doesn't pay his bills

by imhandy at Citysearch

A good friend invited me to dinner at Rama's as he knows I like to try new places. I've been in the food industry / restaurant business for over 30 years. I was introduced to Alex Thao the owner and wasn't impressed by his smug uppity attitude. Our server was very nice but slow, real slow. So slow the food was cold when it arrived. This WAS NOT Thai food at it's best. When I asked to speak with Alex he said he would take care of it but never did.

Once Alex found out what I did for a living he asked if I would help him out. I'm a very trusting person but in this case I should have listened to that little voice in my head when I met him.

Alex has yet to pay a substancial bill for work done or even make good on the bad dinner experience. I suggest you hold on to your wallet and keep walking.

• Pros: Nice interior
• Cons: Service, cardboard tastes better and the drinks are watered down

03/06/08

Great Thai Food

by Jiujitsu at Citysearch

Prior reviews probably helped to change service. Service was excellent, but more important the Curries were great! I had curries all over the place, and this was great. Atmosphere is also relaxing, waterfall on the wall is very original. This is a great place to dine.

• Pros: Food, Service, Ambiance

Zen-like peace sets apart the Thai food experience at Alex Thao's downtown hot spot.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
A dramatic 14-foot wall waterfall, cascading drapes of fabric, and a long, narrow hallway leading far off the street entrance make this Thai restaurant seem like a hidden Buddha palace. Sheer, floor-to-ceiling tapestries separate half-circle booths from the center dining room, where a dramatic waterfall takes center stage. The reasonably priced menu serves a wide array of palates, with offerings from sweet mango with sticky rice to "mock duck" drunken noodles.

08/04/07

No Love at Rama

by brettrichards at Citysearch

I have to agree with the review written by druna0974.

Worst Service I've had in SD in 5 years 09/12/2006 Posted by druna0974

My friend was in town from the East Coast and I'm sorry I even brought him to this place. The location was a quick walk from his hotel and that was about it.. The service, the food and the drinks were horrible.

The appetizers were overcooked, the main dish for the both of us was spicy (we asked for nothing spicy) and the drinks were watered down. With an Asian Restaurant we know the service is going to be relaxed and not prompt, but we could have gotten service out of a snail then our waiter.

We asked to speak with the owner or manager. We finally spoke with Alex Thao who apologized and told use he would take care of everything. Alex never returned.

We refused to pay for our meal and walked out. The owner caught up with us down the block and started yelling at us to pay our bill. We told him to call the cops.

Alex is a rude and arrogant and my friend and I can't understand how he has three restaurants (Chow Noodle House and Celadon).

• Pros: The ambience was okay
• Cons: Everything, plus the owner

07/06/07

can recommend lunch specials

by newguysfo at Citysearch

During a recent business trip, I ate here twice for lunch. I was passing on the street, acually looking for Rama, and found the host outside so he escorted me through a narrow hallway past the bar and into the restaurant. First impression is of quite nice white table cloths, interesting touch with see through fabric curtains between tables and a water sculpture in back. I ordered the lunch special for ten dollars and found it well worth it as it included soup and a whole plate load of main entree, salad and fried spring roll. I also ordered the thai ice tea. l liked the Pad Thai which can come with chicken or beef included in special price. Next day I had the Panang curry. All around good value and good food.

It was quite sparsely populated during lunch, but at night the crowds come out and when I passed at 11pm found the bar crowded to overflowing with a young hip crowd.

• Pros: good location in gaslamp, nice ambience
• Cons: downtown hard to park, what's with the electronica music?

01/29/07

Beautiful location, too bad the service is Horrible!

by smontesdeoca at Citysearch

This is the 3rd time that I dine at Rama for different occasions. It is a beautiful venue and the food, though relatively overpriced, is pretty good. However, after making a reservation and arriving 10 minutes before, we were made to wait 1 whole hour in their 30-two lounge. When ordering drinks, they were out of a certain vodka, and they apparently didn't have any limes or lemons in the entire restaurant. By the time we were seated, we had to wait another 15 minutes before we were approached by our extremely rude and distracted waiter. We had a group of 10 so a friend and I decided to order for the entire table, to make it easier on him. Not only did he not know how to describe some of the dishes, he seemed frustrated with his evening, and he rudely turned his back and walked away from our table when we tried to add more items to our order. This happened on two different occassions so I do not feel that it was an accident. After complaining, we received a not-so apologetic apology from the man working the front check-in. It is a shame that this is the best level of service that such a unique venue is able to offer. It is pointless to have a unique location with good food if you don't know how to treat your customers. I will not return and I advise those who want to try it out to be fair-warned that the service may just ruin your experience. You would be better off going to a more authentic, hole-in-the-wayll Thai restaurant.

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: Service