Panita Thai Kitchen - Atlanta

Location: a little hard to locate. There is not a clear sign, but worth it once you get in. I visited in the winter so the place appeared to be closed. It's not. The location is set up to be an outdoor restaurant, but once you make it inside there's a small seating area that is indoors and filled with space heaters. Parking: paid street parking and a tiny lot next door Decor: extremely cute. I know the space heaters comment may throw you off but this place is worth the visit. I can only imagine how amazing it is in the summer. Extremely creative decor. Food: AMAZING the chef is the wife of the owner. She is an amazing cook. I can't say it's authentic because I've never been to Thailand, but it's what I imagine it to be. The food tastes like home cooking with a restaurant chef's presentation. Exactly what I was looking for. Service: I was served by the owner and he is the most pleasant server I've experienced in months. He was extremely friendly, super helpful, answered all our questions and even told us some stories about home. That brought the experience all together. I would percent recommend this place.

A hidden, secret, authentic spot of the Highlands. Eclectic and unique ambience and presentation. The decor was dark and bizarre, which I liked. I guess this place had the best Thai food I tried in Atlanta. Not for groups, but a nice date spot. Herbs are grown on the property. Owned by a Thai couple, and the food is prepared by them. The indoor setting is quite small, so I guess spring time is the best time to visit here. That said, four stars because there is no AC. Okay for winter time, but Hotlanta is hot in the summer.

Panita Thai is one of my favorite Thai restaurants ever. It's basically a house tucked away in Virginia Highlands, which gives the odd experience like you're invading someone else's property. The decor and knick knacks scattered about the place reinforces the homey feel, like you've been invited over for a home cooked meal. My dish of choice is the Makua Pad Phed, or the stir fried basil eggplant. It's the best take on the dish I've ever had; bursting with salty, spicy flavor, yet earthy with fresh cut peppers, minced tomato, and aromatic thai basil. If you ask them for spicy, brace yourself this husband and wife team don't mess around. They do hot as Thailand does hot with unforgiving Thai chili peppers that will turn your face red and sweaty. Panita Thai has also made presentation of their food an art form, something that sadly has been neglected in many restaurants. Presenting food in hollowed out melons, or wrapping the dish with swan shaped aluminum foil makes the meal memorable and beautiful. People have commented that the husband and wife team are rude. I have not had this experience with them for the few times I've been there. They are very straightforward, but this is not off putting to me in the slightest. I find them quite friendly. Any special requests I've made when I ordered no tofu, vegetarian, extra spicy they're happy to accommodate. Plus, even though I swing by every several months, they seem to remember me and always engage in polite conversation. If there's a reason why I'm docking a star, it's because of two things: 1. Hours are inconsistent. I've shown up a few times for lunch just past noon and the door is locked.Other times I've shown up at the same time, same day of the week, and voila! They're there. (Also, the drapes blocking the door are very uninviting; like you're walking into a dangerous construction site. 2. Prices are expensive. Many meat and fish dishes cross into the $25+ range. That's a lot of money if I just want a quick takeout dish when similar restaurants offer the same dishes between 8 to 15 dollars. I understand that Panita only has two people running it but even so, price is a huge factor. In short, while an unusual experience, Panita Thai does have truly delicious food and very talented cooks. Taste conquers all, and if good, high quality food is what you're looking for, you can't go wrong here.

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