Dear Anna!

As part of my Thai New Year’s resolution to blog more often, I’d like to encourage True Thai customers to e-mail me their questions about our menu.

As a Public Health nurse I realize that eating out can be a problem for people with diabetes or food allergies. It’s tricky to figure out what’s in restaurant food if you’re on a special diet for any reason.

One very common concern is monosodium glutamate, or M.S.G. In True Thai’s kitchen M.S.G. is just one of the three sisters of Asian cooking (salt, sugar, M.S.G.). So yes there is M.S.G. in Thai food, but all you have to do is ask and we’ll be glad to prepare your meal without M.S.G.

In fact, you should always feel free to ask your server questions. Each entree at True Thai is prepared after you order it, so making changes is no problem. And while we have lots of vegetarian items on our menu, we understand that not all vegetarians play by the same rules!

Thai food is healthy food because we do our best to make healthy food taste good.

Lose weight the Thai way!

Everyone knows about Jared Fogel, the guy who lost 245 lbs. by eating Subway sandwiches. Not so many people seem to know that Jared also did a lot of walking!

As a nurse I know that exercise is the most important part of any diet plan. Even though I eat mostly Thai food (which is much much healthier than Subway sandwiches) and was physically active, I was still overweight.

Then last November I started working out with Carla at Los Campeones Gym just a block east of True Thai. I have lost 33 lbs. since then even though I’m eating as much food as before.

Here is your True Thai diet:

Eat whatever you like on our menu except the Sebastian Joe’s ice cream! No pop unless it’s diet pop. That’s it!

That and after you’re done eating you have to walk east to the Mississippi River, cross the bridge and then walk back. It’s a very nice walk and the Mississippi River is lovely no matter what time of year it is.

P.S. And a special thanks to the True Thai chefs for helping me to watch my portions! Are True Thai entrees too big? Not if you ask for a takeout box!

Party Room

Now that I'm finally blogging again I'm trying to remember all the questions I've been asked about the new addition. So far there is no charge to reserve the party room.

So if you have a large group and you'd like to reserve the party room, just call the restaurant and let us know when you want the room.

THANK YOU TRUE THAI FANS!

It's that time of year again. Local publications are handing out their "Best Of" awards and thanks to True Thai's loyal fans we've received Reader's Choice Awards from both Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine and City Pages, as well as some other awards we'll tell you about later (after they're official).

But for now, thank you all for taking the time to vote and let everyone know how much you love True Thai!

Free Singha glass!

To help our friends celebrate Songkran, the Thai New Year, if you buy a Singha beer you get to keep the glass! This is a special promotion from Singha and is good through Wednesday, April 15th, or until we run out of glasses.

Happy Songkran!

Happy Thai New Year's! Everybody will be celebrating Songkran, not just in Thailand but in Laos and Cambodia as well.

My Songkran resolution is to try to post to this blog at least once four times a week!

BIGGER & BETTER THAN EVER!!!

True Thai has finally finished our remodeling/expansion project. We’re still in the same location, but we now can seat up to 200 customers. Expect the lines to move much more quickly!

We also have a party room available for private parties and groups. Call us at 612 375-9942 to make a reservation for your special gathering of friends or family. We are available for club meetings, business groups, and gatherings of all kinds.

New restaurant hours are 11 am to 10 pm, Monday through Thursday, 11 am to 11 pm Friday and Saturday (closed on Sundays and major holidays). Eventually we plan to be open on Sundays, but not yet!

Closed Monday August 25th!

Please note that True Thai Restaurant will be closed on Monday, August 25, as we complete our year-long remodeling project. We are exanding into the space next door, and our table count will increase from 18 to 39! We will also have a room for private parties/banquets.

Key to this expansion will be our new, larger kitchen, allowing us to serve more customers in a timely manner.

We are very excited by the completion of this expansion, and look forward to reopening on Tuesday, August 26, bigger and better than ever.

Be sure to check this blog for further updates and maybe even some pictures!

New extended hours

For years now True Thai customers have been asking us to extend our hours of business. Well, we're still not open on Sundays, but from now on we'll be open until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Monday – Thursday: 11 am – 9 pm

Friday – Saturday: 11 am – 11 pm

Sundays: CLOSED

And that gives you more time to enjoy our new menu sensation, Thai Potatoes, Country Style!

Hand-cut potatoes fried twice for a delightfully crispy treat, then served in a sweet & sassy sauce that will light up your tastebuds. A real palate pleaser for the meat and potatoes crowd!

Another award for Dara

Minnesota Monthly's Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl has just won a prestigious national journalism award for her food writing!

The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies announced its 2007 award winners yesterday....

Three stories selected from the canon of former staff writer Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl ("Then There Were None," "Port Is The Answer?," and "Colonel Mustard") were selected for top honors. Moskowitz Grumdahl took first place in the food writing category.

City Pages

Congratulations to Dara for another well deserved award, this one from her peers.

City Pages' Best Thai Restaurant

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Wow! Two years in a row? Thank you so much to City Pages for awarding us Best Thai Restaurant again, and thank you to their readers for voting us Best Takeout!

I'm not sure which of their new food critics to thank, but we certainly enjoyed reading this:

[C]ombining a warm but unpretentious dining environment with unapologetically engaging presentations of old favorites like pad thai ($9.95 with chicken, beef, or pork) and more offbeat selections such as the jerky-like Bangkok crispy sweet beef ($6.95), served with impeccably made sticky rice. A dish like pineapple curry ($9.95 with chicken, beef, or pork) sounds straightforward enough on the menu. But it seems to defy physics on the palate; despite its deep blend of spices and coconut milk base, it's refreshingly light, a soulfully elegant trip to Thailand in a bowl. True Thai? Most definitely, and damn good, to boot.

We have worked hard to improve every aspect of True Thai since last year, focusing on new, more authentic dishes, higher quality buffet items, more attentive service, a deeper appreciation for our regular customers, and a big, welcoming smile for newcomers.

The lines have been a little longer since City Pages' annual Best of issue came out on Wednesday, but the expansion work is continuing and we should be moving into our new, larger space by summer.

Thank you again to all of our customers who voted for us, and thank you to all of our new customers for giving us a try.

Pioneer Press mention

Thanks to Nancy Ngo for mentioning our in progress expansion in her Pioneer Press column today (third item). The quote from me is accurate, and yes, we do hope to be moved into the new space this summer and that should eliminate all the long lines on weekends.

Thanks again to all of our customers for making True Thai Restaurant a success!