On the outside, it seemed like a corner store tucked away with all the other buildings. But inside, we were met with something truly special. Established in 2020 during the pandemic, Street to Kitchen is located between East Downtown and Second Ward and specializes in traditional Thai street food. The restaurant interior had a nightclub-ish vibe. Overhead skylamps dotted the restaurant as a row of barstools were lined up at the bar, surrounded by a plethora of sit-down tables. We were met with a roar of music from Thai artists ranging from hip-hop and rap to traditional tunes. Sitting in our booth, we decided to test our spice tolerance for the night. Here are our choices and thoughts.
Initial Spice Tolerance Thoughts
Keith: Going into this experience, I thought my spice tolerance was strong. I grew up eating Sichuan and Chongqing dishes, so I’d built up quite a tolerance, especially with my dad’s cooking. The spiciest thing I ate before this restaurant was the 2x Spicy Buldak with all the sauce and no liquid. That was a religious experience. This restaurant pushed my frontiers for sure.
Catherine: At heart, I’m someone who loves salty foods, but I thought I had a decent spice tolerance after getting into Buldak ramen and Mapo tofu. Street to Kitchen was an eye-opening and very humbling experience.
Mason: Spice has never been my thing. My flavor profiles prefer salty and sweet combinations where I’m under no pressure to the heat. But when I put myself to the challenge, I was blown out of the water.
Jessica: I knew that my spice tolerance is low enough to put all my ancestors to shame, but I had some hope for myself entering this restaurant. When I left, any hope I had was extinguished and my current goal is to now work on creating any level of tolerance for myself.
Raya: As an Indian, my low spice tolerance has always been a source of embarrassment. The Khao soi made sure I never forgot it. For four seconds after the first bite, everything was fine. Then my mouth as I knew it simply ceased to exist.
Drunken noodles (Thai mild)
Keith: I never really understood what drunken noodles were. The namesake didn’t immediately click to me, especially since the majority of drunken noodles I’ve had were rather mild. However, after trying this version, I can confidently say I understand the naming convention. With the intense spice from the several Thai chilies added onto a rather small plate of noodles, I started sweating immediately. The oils from the noodles coated my mouth and made any attempt at relief useless. The intense spice was punchy, striking immediately and leaving me in a somewhat feverish state, similar to being inebriated, or so I’ve been told. The taste was extremely enjoyable however, ignoring the spice. The dish had a strong umami flavor, likely stemming from the addition of fish sauce and pulling me in to keep eating, despite the pain. Overall, even though the dish was their rendition of “mild,” the spice and flavor were far beyond what I expected, and the dish became a favorite of the night.
Catherine: Truth be told, I don’t think I’m qualified to be reviewing this. To say I got flamed is an understatement; I was charred and burned by the spice after just one bite. The noodles were bouncy and chewy, but I couldn’t taste anything besides the hard-hitting spice, even though we ordered the Thai mild spice level. Perhaps in the future, when I’m not a spice wimp, I can concoct a more helpful and cohesive review, but, for now, I will return to my mild manner of living and recover.
Mason: Hell on earth. In the other reviews of the dishes Street to Kitchen brought out, I will mention that it isn’t the spiciest dish I had. That fabled place is given to the Drunken Noodles. Out of all the words in the English language I could use to describe this dish, it seems fitting that hell is the only one that meets the standards. I can’t think of anything else to describe this dish. Overwhelming flavors of chili and a certain numbness overcame my taste buds in an instant, and I quickly started collapsing. Breath after breath, I fought for my life with the Thai tea as my savior. Although I couldn’t eat more than three bites, this dish was by far the most memorable. Even though we ordered a medium spice, it was no match to me.
Jessica: I should never have believed the menu when it labeled the drunken noodles as mild. I had high hopes for this dish, and I anticipated it as savory and soothing, with perhaps some rich soup on the side. I was more than mistaken. After the first two bites, I felt a small level of spice start to form in my mouth. In the next two minutes, a tsunami was created, and I could no longer feel my tongue or mouth. My pride forced me to keep on eating, and the sharp pain the spice brought felt like a hot iron in my throat. I could still taste a subtle hint of rich, earthy-like noodles, but this was only after I chugged my thai tea completely and had sweated out the spice.
Raya: The texture of the drunken noodles was the first thing that registered, and it was exactly what I was hoping for. As someone who eats at least a box of pad see ew at every family gathering, I have always loved the soft and chewy nature of the noodles. The dish at Street to Kitchen was no different, there was something immediately familiar and comforting about it. Then the spice hit. Knowing that this was only mild Thai did not comfort me; it scared me and had me deeply concerned for anyone who orders higher. Still, I liked the dish enough to brave the heat and go back for more, with the texture making the pain worth it.
Red chicken pumpkin curry
Keith: While I normally opt for the Massaman curry, a traditional yellow curry, we went for the red curry this time. The dish itself was incredibly hearty, boasting a rich and creamy taste with punches of spice through the Thai chilies. The dish was cooked with pumpkin and chicken, the pumpkin acting similarly to potatoes in stews, offering a nice starch to soak up some of the oils and spice while maintaining a good bite. I enjoyed this dish immensely, as the spice felt continuous, burning with a medium heat that was just mellow enough to continue eating and the chicken tender enough to fall apart in the softest of bites. If there was one downside, it was the portion size of the rice bowl. While understandable for the dish itself as it was a one person dish, it proved inadequate for our table.
Catherine: The first bite was delicious — mild, even. Then, after about three seconds, the spice hit me. Perhaps it would have been wise to have tried the curry with rice. Nevertheless, the dish itself was smooth and rich, and I loved how the pumpkin absorbed the spiciness of the curry without becoming too overpowering. I didn’t know that the humble squash could be so versatile, so I’m glad to have expanded my palate with the red curry! Similar to Keith, my only issue was the rice-to-curry ratio. I wish there would have been more rice to balance out the hard hitting spice.
Mason: Middle of the road in terms of spice. Since this was the 3rd dish of the day, I had already tortured my taste buds to the spice Street to Kitchen has. So when I tried it out for the first time, I found a sense of balance between the medium spices from the red chicken and the savory soft squash. But honestly, my taste buds failed to register the flavors after the spices from the initial dishes.
Jessica: This curry was the third dish both on my plate and on my ranking. The curry was a soothing balm compared to the drunken noodles, and the sourness of the tender chicken balanced out the sweetness of the pumpkin. This was my first time eating curry, it was nearly exactly what I imagined. The squash was extremely moist and helped mellow how spicy the dish became after a few minutes. However, this spice was welcomed as it paired with the rice perfectly. My only complaint is how unbalanced the rice-to-curry ratio was. The dish would have better hit the spot if more rice had been offered.
Raya: When I put the curry on my plate, I was already convinced that I was in for another round of spice torture. I was pleasantly surprised when it was more of a slow, insistent reminder that I had willingly signed up for this as opposed to a war crime being committed directly against my palate. The curry was rich and creamy, and the heat came in steady waves rather than all at once, allowing me to taste the flavors instead of just surviving them. The chicken was the perfect level of tenderness, and the pumpkin added a sweetness that balanced out the dish. Mixing each bite with the rice didn’t erase the spice, but it definitely knocked it down a few notches. By the end, I was still sweating, but mostly because of the remnants of the previous dishes that had apparently decided to cling onto my taste buds and never let go.
Crispy pork belly
Keith: The crispy pork belly was a nice complement to the other dishes texturally, offering a crunchy break from the softer feel the rest of our dishes had. The sticky rice it was paired with was served in a unique way, plated in a small bag to avoid drying out and to maintain its texture. The contrast between the crunchy fried breading and the sticky rice was quite enjoyable, albeit the breading was a little thick and a little oily. However, this dish, while nice, was not my favorite of the night as the fish sauce, on its own, had a strange aftertaste for me.
Catherine: The crispy pork belly had me at the first crunch. I love noodles and rice, don’t get me wrong, but the same soft, bouncy texture was getting old. The pork belly had the perfect, airy crunch, but the breading-to-pork ratio was a bit off, so it would have been more enjoyable if there was more pork in each bite. The sauce was tangy and slightly spicy, and it paired nicely with the pork, but I wish it was a smidge saltier. The sticky rice was a mildly sweet treat on its own, but I didn’t like pairing it with the pork belly. Personally, I’m not a fan of mixing crunchy and sticky foods together, especially if one is salty and the other is sweet.
Mason: At last, the only non-spicy dish on the entire menu. The crispy pork belly was the most unique to me as the crunch from the salty pork was filled with was irresistible. Even though our day was supposed to challenge our spice tolerance, the crispy pork belly was a much appreciated break from our battles.
Jessica: The crispy pork belly lived up to its name. It was savory and airy, and the crisp fat melted in my mouth with a small crackle sound. The first bite tasted quite salty, mixed well with sour and sweet flavoring. This dish was very addicting as well, and I devoured this pork with the perfect ratio of one spoon of rice to two pieces of pork belly. Occasionally, I would mix in sweet and sour sauce with the pork, but I felt that the sauce was overshadowed by the richness of the pork. The best element about this dish, however, was how it contained little to no spice at all. Each mouthful of the crispy pork belly seemed to conceal the spice from the drunken noodles and felt like a warm hug. The relief I felt was so immense, it was comparable to drinking hot cocoa after being out on a cold day in the snow.
Raya: By the time the crispy pork belly had arrived, I had been through the trenches. The Battle of Verdun kind of trenches. So when I bit into something savory, crackling and completely devoid of the heat that had been terrorizing me, it felt like a small miracle. The crispiness was a welcome contrast to the soft and tender textures that had dominated most of the meal. Paired with the sticky rice, the texture stood out even more. This was easily one of my favorites of the night.
Pork Fried rice (no chili)
Keith: Fried rice was a staple of my childhood, taking the spotlight on nights when we had no leftovers, were too lazy to cook and had too many random vegetables but not enough of any singular one. I’ve always associated the dish with convenience and simplicity and never with any sort of fine dining. After ordering the dish to counteract the other spicy dishes, I found myself slightly disappointed. The fried rice was extremely subtle, relying mostly on aromatics and the pork’s seasoning to propel it forward. However, this made the rice itself rather bland and forgettable. As a result, I found myself reaching for the curry and other dishes to pair with the rice. While fantastic in combination with the other dishes, I found that the fried rice lacked the “wow factor” to stand alone as its own dish.
Catherine: As someone whose family frequently makes fried rice, I had expected the pork fried rice to be incredibly savory and strong. To my surprise, it wasn’t as savory as I thought it would be. Instead, the fried rice had a subtle sweetness to it, and, in my opinion, could have used a bit more salt. Aside from a different flavor profile, the texture was not as light as I would have liked due to the oil, though it did make the dish more aromatic. The spicy curry paired well with the rich, slightly sweet rice, so I would highly recommend the combination!
Mason: In a Chinese home, pork fried rice is a staple. However when Street to Kitchen added their own unique twist onto the pork fried rice, it was a flavor I’ve never tried before. The crispy pork wasn’t the only shining component on the menu. Fragrant spices and crunchy vegetables also paired extremely well with each other. Sometimes I would find myself thinking the fried rice was too salty, and I would match it with white rice to lower its strength. All and all, this dish tasted extremely delicious and provided a unique alternative to the bland white rice.
Jessica: I have fried rice at least twice a week, and it used to make up 50% of my meals when I was in elementary school. However, this was, surprisingly, the first time I had tried pork fried rice, and it struck me in the best way possible. I had thought it might be too overwhelming and rich, but it tasted very similar to the crispy pork belly and they paired nicely. I found myself eating a spoon of crispy pork belly and pork fried rice quite often, and its aroma filled our booth the moment the dish hit the table.
Raya: The pork fried rice wasn’t anything special, and honestly that was exactly what I needed. As someone who has always had a soft spot for fried rice, there was something genuinely comforting about having a dish that was not actively out to burn my taste buds off in the midst of a meal that 100% was. It was not the most exciting dish on the table, and it was not going to win any awards for originality, but the pork was flavorful and did its job well. After everything that happened to my taste buds that night, a dish that did not require a survival strategy was a welcome change of pace.
Khao soi
Keith: The Khao soi was by far the most memorable of the dishes we ordered. The intense burning spice hit the back of my throat immediately, with an extremely peppery aspect to it. The beef cheek was incredibly tender, practically disintegrating into the sauce as we mixed the noodles. The fried egg noodles also provided a nice textural contrast to the rest of the dish by adding a crunch to the softer noodles and beef. I also found the spice slightly hotter than the curry, enough to slow my eating but not enough to stop it. The dish was immensely rich, a product of the tender beef and copious amounts of chili oil added on top. It had a deep umami taste to it that lingered as a result of the oil, giving it a very thorough flavor profile which tasted amazing when paired with the fried rice we ordered. However, the very bottom of the bowl was filled with chili sauce when we had finished the noodles, and since the beef had broken apart throughout the dinner, it felt like a waste for the beef to sit at the bottom where no one dared to eat due to the concentration of chili oil and peppers. Still, the dish was a favorite of the night.
Catherine: Like the red curry, the khao soi was hot and fragrant. While I enjoyed the crispy noodles, tender beef and vegetables that made the curry feel lighter, I couldn’t eat more than a couple of bites before chugging water or Thai tea to wash down the heat of the spice. The khao soi was truly unapologetically spicy, and although I’m thankful to have experienced true Thai spice, I wish that they’d cut spice wimps like me some slack.
Mason: Without a doubt, this was the least hellish dish on the menu. It might just be the fact that this was the dish immediately after the Drunken Noodles, but the bouncy texture of the noodles matched the almost sauce-like soup, with additional beef chunks within the sauce providing a meaty flavor. The sauce wasn’t only limited to the noodles, though. The sauce also paired extremely well with the complementary rice offered, leading me to eat bowl after bowl.
Jessica: To be truthful, the Khao soi was extremely memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. With the spice from the drunken noodles still lingering in my mouth, I thought the worst was over until I took my first bit of Khao soi. This spice was overwhelming, and I was originally excited to eat something that had such a large amount of beef and chili oil. In the first few bites, it tasted like a stale chili dog and had strong hints of pepper. This changed in a few minutes though, when the beef and soup lost all its flavor and the only thing I could taste was chili. I put up a valiant effort to finish as much as I could, but my tongue was numb once more and my Thai tea had been gulped down completely.
Raya: I have never been personally attacked by a bowl of soup before, but the Khao soi changed that for me. The spice was immediate, all consuming and deeply committed to ruining me. Within one bite, I was sweating through my clothes. Within two, I had lost all sense of the room. By the third I had mentally written a will. The tragic part is that underneath all of that, there was genuinely so much to love. Two types of noodles that somehow registered even through the tears. Beef so tender it had no business being in a dish that was actively destroying me. A dish that in another life, one where I had a functioning spice tolerance, I think I would have loved. But that is not the life I was living that night, and the Khao soi made that perfectly clear.
Thai tea
Keith: When someone says “Thai tea,” I’m immediately brought back to my childhood. Sitting in the middle of a family-owned Chinese restaurant in Dunhuang plaza, I would ask my parents to buy me Thai tea. Normally, what was brought out was Taste Nirvana’s Tisanes Tea Drink, a drink that became synonymous with Thai tea.
So, when I ordered the Thai tea at Street to Kitchen, I expected the familiar sweet, creamy, but ultimately one-dimensional, drink. Instead, I was met with a drink that revolutionized the way I look at Thai tea. The glass they brought out was noticeably deeper in hue, taking on a more caramel-esque look compared to the bottled alternative. The drink was also far more aromatic, with strong notes of star anise and brown sugar. The taste was also far more concentrated than the more watery restaurant staple, a change I readily welcomed.
Catherine: As someone who buys Thai tea occasionally at chains like Gong Cha or Teahouse, I didn’t have high hopes. I was expecting the usual mellow, sweet drink, but, to my surprise, I was hit with something eye-opening. The spice profile was perfect — the star anise and cardamom gave the drink its signature kick while the sweet condensed milk balanced out that intensity. At a table full of spicy foods, this drink was the sweet oasis. Every sip was pure bliss, and I couldn’t get enough of the rich, creamy texture. My only qualm? The drink took around ten sips to finish.
Mason: An oasis within the fiery hells of Thai spice. That’s how the Thai tea felt to me. The tea on its own was tasty — a hint of sweetness behind the thai tea paired well with the sweet milk. But when the drink is seen in the whole context of the meal, it tasted like heaven. Sip after sip, I watched my lifeline to survive the spice wither away. If I drank the tea right now I would probably like it, but during that meal, I was LOVING it.
Jessica: I hate to admit that I thought Thai tea worked like boba. I believed it came with multiple flavors and was absolutely floored when we all had the same drink. I was even more surprised when I took the first sip. The turmeric-like coloring of the tea did not prepare me for its ube matcha flavoring, and its sweetness hit in a way that was refreshing enough to not have an overwhelming aftertaste. The tea also fulfilled all my chugging desires. As someone who never sips on drinks but must always demolish them as fast as possible, each gulp felt more addicting, as if I had never tried the drink before.
My only complaint for this drink was how little liquid there was. After just two chugs half the drink was gone, and the introvert in myself was too nervous to ask for a refill or another tea. However, nothing about this drink will deter me from getting it again.
Raya: In a meal that was hell bent on setting my mouth on fire, this was nothing short of a saving grace. I had never tried Thai tea before, and that first sip hit me immediately with a sweetness that gave me a completely false sense of security. Cool, creamy and almost dessert-like, I genuinely thought the whole meal was going to feel this forgiving. The food had other plans. Aggressive, merciless, tongue-dissolving, question-every-life-decision, spicy plans. That tea was the only thing keeping me functional, with each sip buying me barely enough time to take another bite. I was so focused on surviving that I didn’t notice it disappearing until it was gone. My one and only gripe regarding an otherwise perfect drink was the amount of real estate that the ice took up, which frankly should have been criminal given the circumstances. The actual drink barely lasted through the first half of the meal, with the second half being spent chewing on the ice cubes, desperately searching for the last traces of sweetness to keep me going.
Mango sticky rice
Keith: Mango has always been a top three fruit for me. So, when the opportunity to try an authentic mango sticky rice presented itself, I jumped at the chance. Prior to this, the only experience I’d had with the dish came from the freezer section at Costco. After my first bite, I felt conflicted. The dish was complex, almost too complex. It was filled with opposites, being sweet yet salty due to the coconut milk and refreshing while rich. However, one aspect I couldn’t get over was the rice itself. When we ordered the dish, I expected the mango to be the star of the show, but with how sticky and rich the rice was, it lingered on my tongue for far longer than I expected, as if to fight for the spotlight against the mango. That sensation, paired with the saltiness of the coconut milk created a sort of aversion towards the dish, placing its ranking quite low on my list.
Catherine: Mango sticky rice has been on my radar for the longest time, and it’s safe to say that this was my most anticipated dish. I wasn’t disappointed by the dish, but I was a bit overwhelmed. The dessert had a mild and smooth texture, but the salty coconut flavor drowned out the sweet mango. To an extent, it seemed as if the coconut was the star of the show, but that could be due to the fact that it wasn’t mango season. Overall, I wasn’t a fan of the sweet and salty flavor profile nor the smaller than expected portion size.
Mason: When I heard the dish come out, I thought: “mango sticky rice?” And my initial surprise ceased to exist pretty quickly. The rice was incredibly thick as I struggled to get it onto my plate, and it was even harder to eat. Gnawing it in my mouth, the rice took forever to completely chew and swallow, and when I did finish chewing, tiny hints of sweetness were present in the sea of nothingness. In my opinion, this dish was okay, but I would honestly take the spicy thai hell over this again.
Jessica: Perhaps it was my ignorance on how sticky rice would taste, but I was thoroughly disappointed. I had imagined a sweet, dripping mango flavored sauce on top of the rice, but instead I felt like I was mindlessly chewing on a bar of flavorless rice with one strip of mango and an annoyingly overpowering flavor of coconut. The texture of the rice made it difficult to swallow, though I have to admit the silky texture of the mango shined. There was minimal sweetness and more hints of salt than I would have liked.
Raya: My only prior experience with mango sticky rice had been at a Mexican restaurant, so the bar was not exactly towering. Street to Kitchen, suffice it to say, cleared it with ease. The coconut dominated much more than I expected, with the mango taking a bit of a backseat, but it was rich and fragrant enough that I did not mind. Sticky rice had never been something I had given much thought to prior to this meal, so I surprised myself when it turned out to be my favorite part of the dish. I will admit it was pretty chewy, but to me, that only added to the texture and made it more satisfying. One thing working against it was the portion size, though that might have had more to do with the fact that we split it five ways than anything else.
Beyond great food, Street to Kitchen is working with World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that provides food for communities impacted by natural disasters and during humanitarian crises. The restaurant is also doubling down and feeding Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers as they work without pay. Between June 14 and July 4, 2026, Street to Kitchen will be cooking meals for the FIFA World Cup as well.
