SLO has a new Thai restaurant, in the former home of Jaffa Café
A new Thai restaurant has opened in San Luis Obispo, and the cuisine is made by natives of northern Thailand.
Papa’s Thai Café opened in late January in the space at 1308 Monterey St. where Jaffa Café had been operating until its closure in December.
The new restaurant features stir-fried main dishes of spicy basil, eggplant, garlic pepper, ginger meat and pra ram (chicken with spinach and other vegetables topped with peanut sauce and cashew nuts), among other offerings.
The eatery is a family-owned business started by a couple from Santa Barbara — David Goodfriend and his girlfriend Pawanrat “Pin” Yanasarn, of Thailand; and her mother Paweena Wongsaipanya, a prep cook, and Worapol Wongsaipanya, the head chef, also of Thailand.
They moved to SLO County to operate the business, their first restaurant, though Yanasarn and her parents had worked in a restaurant in Santa Barbara to gain experience.
“We were looking for a spot to open along the Central Coast, and we visited locations from Paso Robles to Ventura,” said Goodfriend. “Santa Barbara was far too expensive. We’ve come to SLO many times and think this will be a great spot to have it.”
Popular dishes so far have been the drunken noodle and pad Thai dishes, as well as the tom yum gai, a spicy and sour soup with coconut milk, shrimp, mushroom, lemongrass and galangal.
Goodfriend said the restaurant will cater to working professionals from nearby downtown businesses, residents and students, with Cal Poly located roughly a mile away and easy access to Highway 1 for Cuesta students.
Meals at Thai eatery priced for affordability
Prices range from $6-$9 for appetizers; $8-$9 for soups; $11-$13.50 for rice dishes and $12-$13 for main dishes.
“We priced our meals with students in mind,” Goodfriend said. “We’re affordable, and we do half-service orders, where people come up and place their order and we bring the food out to them.”
Goodfriend said some of the restaurant’s more exotic foods are papaya salad (shredded green papaya mixed with tomatoes, green bean peanuts, carrots and sweet lime dressing) for $9 and khao soi (a curry noodle dish serve with a flat noodle in coconut milk, chicken and chili paste topped with crispy egg noddle, green onion, red onion and cilantro) for $13.
The restaurant serves pink milk for $3.50. Thai iced tea is $3.50. Boba (bubble tea) may be added for an additional $1.
Yanasarn said her family comes from the Chiang Mai area, a city in mountainous northern Thailand, and many of the foods are familiar dishes she grew up with.
“There, it’s just more spicy,” Yanasarn said. “We don’t make it as spicy here, but we can if the customer asks for it.”
The owners say they are planning to apply for an alcohol license, but they are likely about six months away from getting one.
The establishment seats about 30 inside and 30 outside in its commercial space, adjacent to Taqueria Santa Cruz Express and Raku Ramen, serving Japanese food.
The business is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
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