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Post by doctorwho on Feb 11, 2010 20:18:15 GMT -6
Okay, using the off topic to do something I normally do not do. However after picking up food tonite, the plight of the small family owned businesses in this economy is frightening. Although those in power in 204 think we live in an area of endless money...we are not.
Thai Lotus opened about the same time we moved to Naperville 20 years ago. It is located in the Aurora Marketplace - across from Grant Appliances - and next to the Teachers Store. I grew to appreciate Thai food while working downtown and north State Street has many Thai restaurants,and I can tell you the food at Thai Lotus ranks with any of them. My favorites are the Red Curry w/ Chicken and of course the Pad Thai.
If you're looking for somewhere new to try, I recommend them highly -- say hi to Paul - the owner /chef, and if you want- strike up a conversation with him re: pro football, he is a huge fan. You can tell him I recommended the place..including the $6.99 lunch buffet.
When you come to converse with someone as long as I have they seem more like friends than business owners...and when I see businesses hurting, those I care about I wish the best for...the economy is going to be a long time turing around.
This would be a category for anyone to do the same for local places they enjoy as well --
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Post by Arch on Feb 11, 2010 20:57:11 GMT -6
Great food, great people. The lunch buffet is a great deal for some good food. You will not leave hungry, that much is certain. For dinner I like the Garlic beef and all the Curries, especially the Panang. My girls go crazy for the chicken satays and egg rolls and their crab rangoon is some of the best, most filled I have ever had anywhere. I could walk down the menu and rattle off everything I like and it's safe to say I've always enjoyed everything I have ever gotten from there.
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Post by friend on Feb 11, 2010 21:46:59 GMT -6
Given the current state of the economy, I agree with trying to support any small bussiness that you can!
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Post by rodman on Jul 8, 2010 21:33:07 GMT -6
I'm sad to say that my wife tried to go to Thai Lotus tonight - for the first time in several months - and found it closed. The furnishings were still there, but the sign was gone and there was a yellow sticker from the health department on the door. It didn't indicate it had been shut down, but simply said that a permit was required for food preparation on this site. Does anyone know what happened? We had been going there for more than 15 years, and feel terrible that it had been so long since we had been there. I can't help but wonder it if was the economy, although Chad looked like he might have been ill last year.
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Post by Arch on Jul 8, 2010 22:11:46 GMT -6
I think there were a combination of things; the economy being one of them and possible family health issues back in Thailand adding to it... Hard for a 3 person operation to keep all the I's dotted and T's crossed and be in 2 countries at once...
Very sad indeed.
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Post by mela on Jul 9, 2010 5:54:31 GMT -6
I noticed that also the other day. A favorite we had frequented it since it opened. Best Chicken Fried Rice [especially the next day... for leftovers].
I also noticed that the Coco Berry had a For Rent sign on it the other day. I had driven past it one time and noticed no cars in the parking lot during their morning hours which I thought was odd. Anyone know about that ?
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Post by doctorwho on Jul 9, 2010 9:12:13 GMT -6
I noticed that also the other day. A favorite we had frequented it since it opened. Best Chicken Fried Rice [especially the next day... for leftovers]. I also noticed that the Coco Berry had a For Rent sign on it the other day. I had driven past it one time and noticed no cars in the parking lot during their morning hours which I thought was odd. Anyone know about that ? unfortunately Thai Lotus had been fighting a losing battle for the past year or more- and as that strip mall became more and more abandoned- the writing was on the wall. Understanding is they returned to Thailand..I will miss them as not only was the food great ( my fave garlic beef)- they were the nicest of people and have known them since we move in- watched their kids grow up the same time as mine. also believe there were some issues back home..as he was gone for more than just his yearly retreat Cocoberry also closed - ( and some great breakfast meetings now have to be moved) - another economy hit unfortunately some in our government seem to like telling peole how we've turned the corner... well after the Bush tax cuts elapse next year- and we all take another 3-5% hit in income as well as whatever happens with State income tax here and not rumors- fact - taxes on benefits we already have from our companies...I think we will see a lot more small business failures. It is very sad |
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Post by Arch on Jul 9, 2010 9:16:16 GMT -6
Coco Berry's business dropped like a rock with the downturn and I was surprised Ted could keep open as long as he did still providing that much good quality food and service with that few a customer base. We chatted a lot about customer trends and when you have a drop off in people AND people start splitting meals (customers felt the economic pinch too), it has a cumulative effect...
As an example, say you had 100 customers in a day (just throwing out a number) who used to average about $10 a head ($1000 net), you lose 30% of them to the economy, you are down to 70... then they start 'sharing plates' you are now down to $5 a head on average (70*5= $350 net)...
Can't survive on that. You just can't.
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Post by asmodeus on Jul 9, 2010 12:32:47 GMT -6
It's strange...you see good places like Fuddruckers or Thai Lotus close--and I guess it's the economy and not the food itself--but then you see places like Chick Fil-A or the massive Nagoya open, and you wonder if they are doomed.
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Post by Arch on Jul 9, 2010 14:25:11 GMT -6
I would say Chick Fil A.. yes.. for several reasons. Not sure about Nagoya.
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Post by rodman on Jul 10, 2010 9:01:07 GMT -6
I think there were a combination of things; the economy being one of them and possible family health issues back in Thailand adding to it... Hard for a 3 person operation to keep all the I's dotted and T's crossed and be in 2 countries at once... Very sad indeed. Thanks for the information. It sounds like this was relatively recent - I wish we would have made one last visit before they closed. |
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Post by Arch on Apr 21, 2011 20:03:43 GMT -6
This is now called Chopsticks Noodle Cafe... Yes, a THAI Place and Chad is helping his friend out who took over the place and gave it her own flare. We just had dinner there tonight and will be back for the lunch tomorrow!!! The Roast Duck fried rice had the most delicious duck I've ever had. Soft, not greasy and very very flavorful. Pad Thai w/ Chicken, Crab Rangoon, and Chicken Satays and some warm Mango Sticky rice rounded out the evening. I'm eyeballing the pineapple fried rice for tomorrow  |
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Post by doctorwho on Apr 22, 2011 18:23:12 GMT -6
This is now called Chopsticks Noodle Company... Yes, a THAI Place and Chad is helping his friend out who took over the place and gave it her own flare. We just had dinner there tonight and will be back for the lunch tomorrow!!! The Roast Duck fried rice had the most delicious duck I've ever had. Soft, not greasy and very very flavorful. Pad Thai w/ Chicken, Crab Rangoon, and Chicken Satays and some warm Mango Sticky rice rounded out the evening. I'm eyeballing the pineapple fried rice for tomorrow This is great news- and the Duck fried rice sounds very interesting. I am hoping a few of my staples make it back on the menu..as I have tried other Thai places and they just don't hold a candle... Chad is a great guy, with mad cooking skills -- I hope this new place gets support in these tough times... |
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Post by lurker on Apr 23, 2011 19:18:39 GMT -6
Stopped in to check out the new place. Been a frequent customer of Thai Lotus since 1991. Chad had a huge smile on his face when we went in.
The tofu soup was OK (not as good as Chad's), the Pad Kee Mao was OK, the Pad Thai was OK. We told Chad to share his recipes with the new owner. That made him smile.
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Post by Arch on Apr 24, 2011 1:36:46 GMT -6
We told Chad to share his recipes with the new owner. That made him smile. My constructive criticism of the new dishes is: Don't be afraid to use more seasoning. I can see the dilemma though - Copying exact is copying a model that did fail last year (Sad fact). Also, the bulk of the palettes out there are for more geared towards the milder approach to things. I'll thumbs up the new sauces for the crab rangoon and egg rolls. Using a pineapple base for the rangoon sauce (instead of honey) was a nice twist. The egg rolls had, what I thought, to be an apricot based sauce served with them. That too, was a nice compliment. The chicken Satays, according to my resident 11 yr old expert, said they needed to be more 'oomphy'. That would be the curry powder marinade. She liked that they were larger and moister, but needed more 'oomph' (seasoning needing more ballz; pointed out earlier). It's not what it was (expected) but some promise. Also, the fact that they want feedback and the menu is in flux dependent on that feedback is a good sign. *cross fingers* On our return trip for lunch, we had as entrees, Thai mango chicken - deep fried chicken strips with a mango sauce and fresh mangos - the sauce was the gem of this dish. The chicken pieces were breaded and deep fried (typical chick you would expect), were moist and good, but seemed out of place like the mango and sauce was just thrown on there to make a new dish... Honestly, I had more fun with the sauce and mango after the chicken was out of the way... adding it to the chicken pad thai dish  Pad See Ew (wide rice noodles) w/ chicken met with everyone's approval, but tamer than before. I did try the Massaman curry with beef (seasoned beef, with potatoes, onions and roasted peanuts) and loved it. Emerald could have kicked it up a notch and I would have loved it more (like a remembrance to the panang curry) but this was nice and mellow, reminding me of Chad and Paul's yellow curry recipe (flavor wise) with a boost. Again, the warm sticky rice with Mango for dessert was yummy. In all, room for improvement (IMO), but that's unfairly comparing it to Chad's place... Still, don't be stingy on the seasoning. The China buffet place a few doors down that went under may help with being the only other game in town in that area besides Applebee's and Culvers. Sad too, is noted that our need to go to chalk board next door (which we had to always run to with the curriculum that USED to be present in 204) now has us not needing to be in that store for over two years.... so the draw of other places there to pick up potential customers is going to be a liability... there just isn't a draw to bring people to that area like there once was... I wish them luck, I will frequent them, but the rest if up to the forces of nature and the economy. I still am eyeballing that pineapple fried rice. |
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Pad See Ew (wide rice noodles) w/ chicken met with everyone's approval, but tamer than before. I did try the Massaman curry with beef (seasoned beef, with potatoes, onions and roasted peanuts) and loved it. Emerald could have kicked it up a notch and I would have loved it more (like a remembrance to the panang curry) but this was nice and mellow, reminding me of Chad and Paul's yellow curry recipe (flavor wise) with a boost. Again, the warm sticky rice with Mango for dessert was yummy.