Banana Bay

Best Thai food for the price. Location and atmosphere are great. Only problem.. the service. Service is horrible. Never get your drink refilled, takes forever to order, and sometimes theyll have a bad attitude. But i always still goes for the food. I have been going for six years now and I used to go to the Boat as well.

My family of 8 ate at this restaurant last Sunday. All the write-ups on this site are quite old since the experience we had at this restaurant is no way close to what was written about them. I don't know what this place looked like before we came to eat here (we came back after having a mini-college reunion - 10 of us - the week before). The restaurant's ambiance is wonderful, the prices are VERY, VERY reasonable, and the service is great. The variety of food to choose from was just unbelievable. Lots to choose from. Our waitress tried her best to serve all of the tables assigned to her as best as she could. The restaurant's rating is a BIG A, can't believe it was C before. The only complain I have is the woman's bathroom. Need to upgrade it. Overall, great service, great food, great ambiance, great prices.

The food is really good the portions are huge :-) The atmosphere is awesome.

I JUST HAD A DELICIOUS DISH, CRISPY PORK WITH CHINESE BROCCOLI, I BELEIVE IS CALLED GAYLAN PORK,, ABSOLUTLY DELICIOUS.. BANANA BAY IS ONE OF FEW PLACES IN THE WORLD THAT WILL EAT MORNING, AFTERNOON AND EVENING,, GREAT SERVICE,, BUT FOOD, OH BOY... OUT OF THIS WORLD :) AND VERY VERY VERY INEXPENSIVE..

Has anyone tried Coconut Bay down the street? I heard the old owner of Banana Bay opened it a few months back and the service is much better. They used handheld pdas to take orders. So I heard.

Hello everybody, I would like to give you guys a recent update to the changes we have made! One of the main things we are working on is cleanliness. Before taking ownership, the kitchen was a complete mess. It seemed as if the previous owner was just concerned about selling food, whether it was safe or not. Since then, we have spent over $5k on Refridgerator repair. Next week we will be replacing the flooring in our walk-in Fridges with Stainless steel floor panels. I am also very proud to announce that, as of July 13, 2007 we have SEVEN CERTIFIED FOOD HANDLERS (INCLUDING MYSELF)! We have changed the way our food is stored. (Veggies on top, cooked second, raw at the bottom) We have added steam tables and stainless steel splash guards in multiple areas. Our refridgerators are now holding proper temperature, which is VERY CRUCIAL! WE ARE EAGERLY WAITING OUR NEXT HEALTH INSPECTION! Also, I appreciate the advice that some of you have given me! We have added more waiters (actually I have added myself in and my brother as well) to help out during the busy times. Chances are, you will see us walking around with the water pitchers! We are definitely working on it, however, as we realized it takes a bit of time to change habit. Thank you guys! I look foward to seeing you all at Banana Bay! Look out for new menu items and improved receipes!

I've been coming to Banana Bay ever since it opened...in the beginning it was very chill and i think it still is. I've gotten to know most of the staff there and i do get VIP treatment most of the times. However recently since the new owner took over it has become a bit impersonal with me. The friendly atmosphere just disappeared. Their rating is now a C. I brought alot of business to Banana Bay i go there at least 3 or 4 times a week and bring in many non-asian clientele, however now i dont do that anymore. Due to the poor sanitation and service. The food has not changed much and i still enjoy it however things are not the same anymore. Bring Phil back and put more people in front of the house dont "tip share", your service will improve cause the servers has an incentive to do their best service so they can get higher tips. Instead of giving a server 10 tables give 5 tables and hire more servers...trust me i know what im talking about im a restauranteur myself.

Hello, My name is Jim and I am the son of the new owner of the restaraunt.  I am writing this e-mail in regard to the recent change in ownership of the restaraunt.  As of May 1, 2007 Banana Bay has changed ownership. Unfortunately, the reviews on this website no longer apply to our restaraunt.  We are definitely trying to improve on all our weaknesses and I can assure you, there are plenty of weaknesses. Since May, we have added 3 more kitchen staff and an extra WOK to increase food speed.  Also, we have added 2 more positions to the front staff.  I understand Service is just plain horrible, so that is the area that I am very focused on.  Additionally, cleanliness is another main priority that we are trying to take care of. I am not sure if it is possible, but is there a way that we can make customers aware of the new ownership?  Especially since the old owner is going to be opening up a new restaraunt, we kinda feel that the current reviews for Banana Bay belongs to him and not us. Thank you very much for you help, I really appreciate it. You can reach me at the restaraunt (626)839-5511 or feel free to e-mail me back. Thanks again, Jim

I like this place because it has really good Thai food and is open late BUT, admittedly, their service kind of sucks... not so much to the point that it's unbearable, however, but if you're in a hurry, this is not the place to go. The earlier review about asking for less ice in the Thai tea is a bit outlandish--every restaurant is going to put a lot of ice in their drinks. I don't know if that person is trying to get the most drink out of their order, but if I were a restaurant server, I wouldn't waste my time picking the ice out of the drink. To hold the restaurant negatively for something like that is pretty petty. On another note, the cleanliness of this place is good--they have saran wrap over their sauces (I've come in before closing time and have seen them refill stuff). They have a problem with bringing out entrees at the SAME time as the rest of the people at your table, with about a 10 minute lapse between your order and another person at your table--so my suggestion is to share so you can start eating at the same time. The waiter asked for my drivers license on one occasion when I paid by credit card. Then he gave the card back to me and said he didn't actually need to see it. I guess I should've been flattered, but at the time, I was peeved for the slow service and the fact he wasn't very appealing to the eye, either.

Agreed. Don't go here unless you have 2 hours or so to kill. Great food, but the worst service I've come across in my travels to 46 of our 50 states. It'll take you 1/2 hour just to place your order. 20 minutes to get a drink, and you might have to trip a waiter just to get his attention to get your check.

i live really close to banana bay, and its funny to read all these reviews. because a couple days ago i was driving by with my younger brother and i pointed banana bay and said "that restaurant has the worst god awful piss-poor service, and i cant stop dining there." i cant help it, i love the food, i love the Thai tea, and it has a young atmosphere. of course, we always go when we literally have all the time in the world (because we know thats how long service will take) but frankly, sometimes its a nice switch to restaurants where everything is so high paced. maybe its just because i'm engaged and i find that after a busy day at work, my fiancee and i are able to sit down, relax, and able to talk for a while. overall, i would reccomend banana bay when you want good food, but have extra time to kill for the night. just expect great food, NOT great service.

This place has the worst customer service ever. When I ask for a drink with less ice, the waiter says "no problem." He comes back later with 4 drinks because my friend and I ordered 2 and the couple next to us ordered 2. All 4 cups have the same exact level of ice, which is over half the glass. I told the waiter that we wanted less ice and he said he took out a "few pieces." I said it looked exactly the same as the other two drinks then he proceeded to explain that if he took out any more ice, he would have to charge us. WTF...charge us for LESS ice? Then the food we ordered took about 40 minutes to arrive and was not even hot anymore. This place stinks...if I was the manager I would immediately fire all the waiters there. I think McDonalds provides better service than they do.

The worst experience ever. I enter the restaurant & it's relatively less customers as most of the customers already have their food. I order a simple apetitizer and two dishes with some friends that doesn't take long to make for sure. We get our drinks and I assume we'll get our meals soon. But then 30 minutes pass and still nothing. I'm getting a bit impatient but I decide to hold my tongue as it looks like service is slow today. But then another 15 minutes go by & I'm irritated now so I ask if my food is ready. The waiter responds that he will go check. He comes back about 10 minutes later and explains to me that the particular meat I asked for the apetitizer is all gone & can I take a substitute. That was the last straw as this already tells me that they barely are starting on my order now since they are still asking such a ridiculous and dumb question. Totally didn't apologize for the long wait and tries to play it off by asking me about the apetitzer meat. You guessed it, I demanded the check for the drinks and even that took at least 10 minutes to get to me, which by the way, during the wait, the apetitizer and one of the dishes finally arrived, proving that the meal didn't take long to make, but it was just dumb service, that dumb waiter who probably didn't give them our order until 45 minutes after the fact, and finally all the dumb waiters who just looked at us and passed us by 1) checking up on us and 2) bothering to see if our food was ready even after those who came way after us already got their food. Overall, this restaurant sucks and the service is horrible. Wouldn't recommend this restaurant even if I was starving and no other restaurants within the area.

Hahaha.. yeah I agree, 'And be ready to fight for their attention just to order.' I love the food there but the service stinks! I've had to wait forever to be seated even when I take a number and I've seen them seat everyone else who came after me. And I thought maybe it was just me or something since all their other asian customers wrote such good reviews about them.

The food is good, atmosphere is lively. However, the service is very poor to the point to being rude, even compared to most other asian restaurants. They are severely understaffed everytime we were there. They have about 3 waitresses for the entire restaurants with about 4-6 more servers who have no idea not only who order what but also what you've ordered. Don't recommend bringing large group there as they charge a extra 20% above everything else for large party. Go here if you just want a quick bite and have no expectations for service. Also the parking situation is not the most pleasing.

This is my one favorite restaurant. Of course don't expect a '5-stars-hotel' treatment there coz that's not what you pay for either. But they are pretty good for me. Their food has been consistently delicous ... can't go wrong with any food on the list.

First of all, I've been going to this restaurant ever since they opened and since then, their food has improved greatly! I consider them to be the next best thing to Thai Town in Hollywood. They may not remember who ordered what, but I feel that that's pretty typical of asian restaurants in the area. Trust me, if you want good food at a decent price, Banana Bay is a good choice!

I've been to this place ever since they've first opened, and recently I must say that their food is tasting really great! It's true that the servers may not remember who ordered what, but I find that typical of a lot of Asian restaurants in the area. However, if you're looking for good Thai Thai food at a decent price, this place has it.

I love this place! If you want fast service, cheap and good food, this is the best place!

This place has the reputation for the poorest service in L.A. They literally drop everything on your table (food, utensils, etc.) for you to sort out. And be ready to fight for their attention just to order. But they're consistent: Everyone has the same experience.