Panita Thai Kitchen - Atlanta

Beware! I went to Panita while visiting a friend in town. As a fan of Thai, I didn 't complain. I later found out my local friend had never been there. Ugh. Worst dining experience I 've had in a long long time. I 'll start by saying there is no air conditioning in the main dining area. It 's a screened in porch type area. On a summer day, this alone is reason to choose another location but not enough for a one star review. The self identified a owner IS the reason. I can look past that he skipped the pleasantries or even that he wasn 't particularly warm. Some people are just like that ya know? I draw the line when he berated me for accidentally spilling a small amount of water on the ground. Water that I spilled because I had to fill my own cup, mind you. I apologized and when he first began to yell at me, laughed it off because I thought he was kidding. No, he actually told me to go to the bathroom and get a napkin to clean up the mess I made. He then continued on to berate me like I was a child. I bought this home for one million dollars and this is how you treat it? This wood is from 1918! Go to the bathroom and clean this up! I kid you not! I 'm sorry that this man felt the need to yell at a patron for such a small accident as spilling some water. To top it all off , the food was mediocre at best. After reading the other reviews, I 'm certain that my experience wasn 't a one off. If you really want Thai, there is another place on the same block (though I 've never been so I can 't say anything about it 's quality.

Verdict first: good food, awful service and attitude. I'd give it one star if not for the food. Doubt I'd come back. The woman who runs the front of the house decided to hate me on the spot and it was very obvious throughout the dinner, evil eye all the way and probably a spit in my dinner. We came here on a Monday so there were only a few of patrons in the place. Very interesting decor, almost like walking into a restaurant in another country. Stuff to look at all over the place. I really enjoyed this part. We started with basil rolls. Very basic in composition, did not stand out at all.. Different presentation than usual, more veggies but lacking the shrimp. For my entree I ordered mixed seafood and veggies dish in a spicy coconut milk sauce. For it being the most expensive dish on the menu, it definitely lacked the seafood. Only two scallops, maybe 5 shrimp, 3 mussels and some squid for $29. Tasted good though. Came in a huge foil pocket. Looking around, there were some interesting food presentations server in carved out vegetables and fruits. Overall impression: very eclectic and fun atmosphere, huge menu but the service was terrible and the waitress was offensively rude. For being one of the owners, it's amazing how unprofessional she was. As fun as the place is, service takes it all away. I would not recommend it as I wasn't sure she didn't spit into my food. Parking is also a challenge but that is to be expected for the area

Panita Thai Kitchen is one of Atlanta's more unique Thai restaurants. Here are a few reasons why: 1. All seating is outdoor. 2. The restaurant is owned and primarily operated by two people, a husband wife duo. 3. They put their own twist on Thai cuisine, both in taste and presentation. 4. The seemingly overdecorated enclosed patio makes for a very interesting dining atmosphere. The restaurant is named after Panita Thammaset, the wife owner. Her husband, Panjakarn, does most of the cooking. The couple are from Chiang Rai, Thailand, which is a large, mountainous city in Northern Thailand. Panjakarn is very passionate about his cooking and it shows in the dishes he creates. You can find just about every typical Thai dish on the menu here from curries to noodles to soups and seafood. They also serve many vegetarian friendly entrees. Starters such as skewers, soups, and salads are anywhere from $7 10 each. Entrees are anywhere from $13 to $20+. A few of the dishes I've tried include: Thai Fish Cake $7.95) five deep fried fish cakes mixed with spices, red curry paste, and a sweet sour sauce Ped Nam Pheung Honey Duck, $18.95) boneless roast duck served with fruits and vegetables Chicken Curry $12.95) chicken served with red curry sauce Thai Fish Cake is one of my favorite appetizers to order at Thai restaurants. They are succulent deep fried fish patties and are normally served with a refreshing cucumber vinegar sauce. Panita has very interesting twist on this dish. They serve the fish cake inside of a coconut and mix it with different spices, pickles, shredded carrots, basil, and other ingredients. To be honest, I'm not sure if I like Thai fish cake served in this way. The fish cakes, while delicious, are drenched in sauce and I'm not a big fan of the sour pickles in this instance. I'd rather have the fish cakes served traditionally, by themselves. The presentation is nice, however. The Honey Duck is OK. The duck is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The meat is salty, though. This dish is served with fruits such as apples and pineapples. An entire lime is squeezed and used in the sauce. Vegetables include broccoli. This entree is served on top of a large sheet of foil which is shaped and crafted to look like a duck itself. Sweet. The Chicken Curry is good. This is standard red curry with chicken. The chicken is fresh, tender, and flavorful enough. The curry sauce is rich and thick, almost too thick. Vegetables served with include green beans. The Chicken Curry is served in a metal bowl with handles and a scoop. All of this is placed within a hollowed out watermelon cut with jagged edges. The owners Panita and Panjakarn are very friendly. Note that since this is usually a two person operation, service can be slow during peak times. The restaurant's business cards are made out of rolled and pressed flowers, so they have an aromatic scent, with gold type. Since seating is outdoor, you'll naturally want to go on a day when the weather is nice. In the summertime, they have fans blowing. In the wintertime, they have heat lamps overhead. Panita Thai Kitchen is located behind Surin of Thailand. There are free parking lots directly next to and across from the restaurant. You can also park on the neighborhood side streets.

The food is phenomenal! We got the drunken noodles, chicken satay, and Thai tea. The noodles came in a watermelon bowl, it was perfect for the summer. The owner is very friendly and great service. The only thing is the plates on the table feel like they've been sitting out for a bit and seemed a little dusty. Otherwise this place is great and feels like a journey to Thailand!

On entering I noticed that the only lights that were turned on were the ones above 2/3 tables. Rest of the restaurant was dark. We asked for medium spicy for 2 dishes on being asked the level of spicy by one man. The food that came was inedible due to the spice levels. 3 of us, almost had tears coming out of our eyes! As Indians who love spicy food, you can imagine when we couldnt eat much...haha! When we asked the lady waitress/owner to temper the spice level, she said very rudely that it cant be done. That it cannot be made medium spicy as it is premade to be very spicy and refused to do anything about it. We wasted a lot of food as a result. Will not go again.