Thai Noodles in Kansas City: What to Order Around the Metro
You can be in the mood for noodles and still have no idea what kind you want. The Thai noodles Kansas City diners can choose from include sweet-tangy stir-fries, wide noodles with a savory sauce, and bowls of broth that make a chilly day easier to handle.
Start with the dish, then pick the neighborhood. Lulu’s has three metro locations, but it’s far from your only choice. Let’s sort out the noodles first so dinner doesn’t become a 20-minute menu debate.
Key Takeaways
- Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop is a dependable starting point for pad Thai, drunken noodles, and several house noodle dishes. Its locations are in the Crossroads, Westwood, and Overland Park.
- Baramee Thai Bistro and Phikul Thai Bistro give downtown diners two different stops for noodles, one in the Crossroads and one near City Market.
- ThaiThai Sushi Restaurant in the Northland lists several noodle soups, including khao soi and boat noodle soup.
- Menus, hours, delivery areas, and bar schedules can change. Check the restaurant directly before driving across the metro for one dish.
Thai noodles Kansas City diners can choose by craving
Pad Thai is familiar for a reason, but it’s only one corner of the menu. If you always order it because you’re unsure what else sounds good, a little noodle vocabulary helps.
Want a stir-fried plate?
Pad Thai is the easy entry point when you want rice noodles with sweet and tangy flavor. Lulu’s and KC Thai both list it, so you have choices on either side of the state line.
For a darker, more savory sauce, look for pad see ew. Menus spell it a few ways, including pad sea eaw and pad se eu. The dish generally uses wider rice noodles, which give it a different feel than pad Thai. Baramee’s ordering menu describes its chicken version with broccoli and gai lan.
Drunken noodles, also called pad kee mow, are another stir-fried option. Don’t assume the name means they’re cooked with alcohol. If heat matters to you, ask how that particular kitchen prepares them rather than trusting the name to tell you everything.
Want a bowl instead?
A noodle soup changes the whole pace of dinner. ThaiThai Sushi Restaurant lists khao soi, boat noodle soup, Thai noodle soup, and Thai udon noodle soup. That’s a good menu to open when you’re after broth rather than another stir-fried plate.
Khao soi is generally a curry noodle soup, while boat noodles have their own rich, savory style. Preparations vary by restaurant. If one particular bowl is the reason you’re making the drive, confirm it’s on the current menu before you leave.
Lulu’s brings family recipes to three metro stops
Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop is the name many locals know first. It has enough noodle choices to keep a group happy even when everyone walks in with a different idea of dinner.
The family story, and where it started
Owner Malisa Monyakula’s recipes trace back to her grandmother, Khun Ya, her yâa in Thai. Lulu’s began in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1997, according to the Kansas City Current’s Lulu’s announcement. That founding date doesn’t mean its first storefront opened in Kansas City; its Kansas City presence came later.
Today, the three restaurant areas are the Crossroads at 2030 Central St., Westwood at 2701 W. 47th Ave., and Overland Park at 7921 Santa Fe Dr. That’s three metro locations, not three Kansas City neighborhoods. The Westwood location is especially handy if your plans already have you near the state line.
What to order beyond pad Thai
The Lulu’s Thai menu names pad Thai and drunken noodles, plus Spicy Beef Jantaboon, Curried Coconut Shrimp & Chicken, and Rainbow Peanut Noodles. I like a menu that gives the usual pad Thai order some real competition.
If you’ve already settled on Lulu’s, compare those house dishes before hitting the order button. The Crossroads online ordering page is one way to check what’s available for that location. Look at the location attached to your order, since nobody wants to discover their dinner is waiting across town.
Downtown noodles: Crossroads and City Market
Downtown is a good place to start when dinner is part of a bigger outing. You can keep the trip close to the Crossroads or head north toward City Market, depending on which dish sounds right.
Baramee Thai Bistro for wide noodles
Baramee Thai Bistro is at 1810 Baltimore Ave. in the Crossroads. Its restaurant menu names Pad Sea Eaw, Kee Mow, pad woon sen, and noodle soup. The Baramee pickup and delivery menu describes its chicken pad see ew as flat noodles with sweet soy sauce, broccoli, and gai lan.
That makes Baramee a useful pick if you know you want hearty stir-fried noodle dishes but haven’t decided between mild and spicy. Check the current menu for protein choices and heat options. An ordering page is more useful for that than a photo of somebody else’s dinner from two years ago.
Phikul Thai Bistro for noodle soup
Phikul Thai Bistro is at 17 E. 5th St., close to City Market. Its online menu lists Thai Noodle Soup, described as rice noodles and vegetables in a savory broth.
That soup makes sense when you’ve spent time wandering the River Market and want to sit down to something warm. It also gives the person in your group who doesn’t want a stir-fry a clear place to begin. Check the current menu before going, especially if you’re planning around lunch or have your heart set on that bowl.
South of the city: Overland Park and Waldo
Kansas City Thai food isn’t confined to downtown. Southbound dinner plans can take you to an Overland Park noodle shop or a Waldo restaurant that’s easy to work into a neighborhood evening.
KC Thai in Overland Park
KC Thai is at 12250 W. 135th St. in Overland Park. Pad Thai and drunken noodles, also called pad kee mow, are among the dishes identified with the restaurant. If you’re choosing between them, think about your mood: pad Thai for the familiar sweet-tangy plate, drunken noodles when you want to ask about a bolder, potentially hotter order.
For south Johnson County diners, the location matters. A good noodle dinner gets less appealing when it requires crossing the whole metro in rush-hour traffic. Check KC Thai’s current menu and hours before heading over, since older coverage isn’t a promise about tonight’s service.
Waldo Thai for a neighborhood dinner
Waldo Thai is at 8431 Wornall Rd. It belongs on your radar when noodles or curry sound good and you’d rather stay in Waldo than turn dinner into a long drive. Menus change, so check its current noodle offerings instead of assuming a particular dish will be there.
Waldo also makes an easy evening out of a meal. Our guide to Waldo Thai and other neighborhood favorites has more nearby food ideas if your group wants dessert or a different dinner option afterward.
Northland bowls at ThaiThai Sushi Restaurant
ThaiThai Sushi Restaurant is at 7106 NW Prairie View Rd. in Kansas City, Missouri. Its menu reaches beyond Thai cuisine to sushi, which can be helpful when half the table wants noodles and the other half doesn’t.
For noodle lovers, the draw is the range of soups. The published menu names khao soi, boat noodle soup, Thai noodle soup, and Thai udon noodle soup, along with pad see ew. That’s quite a few ways to handle a soup craving without making a trip downtown.
If boat noodles are your goal, confirm availability with ThaiThai Sushi Restaurant before leaving. Online menus are useful, but a quick check can save a disappointing drive. Northland residents shouldn’t have to cross the river for every good noodle plan.
Pick the stop that fits your route
A restaurant can sound perfect until you notice it’s 35 minutes in the wrong direction. Here’s a quick way to narrow the choices.
| Area | Restaurant | Good place to start |
|---|---|---|
| Crossroads | Lulu’s, 2030 Central St. | Pad Thai or a house noodle dish |
| Crossroads | Baramee, 1810 Baltimore Ave. | Pad see ew or kee mow |
| Near City Market | Phikul, 17 E. 5th St. | Thai noodle soup |
| Westwood | Lulu’s, 2701 W. 47th Ave. | Drunken noodles or another Lulu’s favorite |
| Overland Park | Lulu’s, 7921 Santa Fe Dr.; KC Thai, 12250 W. 135th St. | Compare menus based on your craving |
| Waldo | Waldo Thai, 8431 Wornall Rd. | Check the current noodle menu |
| Northland | ThaiThai, 7106 NW Prairie View Rd. | Khao soi or boat noodle soup |
Choose by dish first, then by distance. That’s usually easier than declaring one restaurant the winner for every kind of noodle.
A few things to check before you go
A little planning is useful when you’re crossing the state line or building dinner into a night out. It doesn’t have to become a project.
Hours, ordering, and a Westwood drink
Lulu’s lists dine-in, takeout, and delivery options, but availability depends on the location and ordering window. For any restaurant here, check the correct storefront before placing an online order. It’s also smart to confirm delivery range rather than assume a listing covers your address.
The House is the neighborhood bar next to Lulu’s Westwood location. Published schedules for The House don’t agree, so call or check its latest updates before making it your weekend after-dinner plan. Confirm the current drink menu there, too.
Parking and reservations are worth checking directly, particularly for a downtown dinner or a larger group. A five-minute check beats circling a block while your friends text, “Where are you?”
Heat, allergies, and the trip home
Ask about spice when you order. “Drunken noodles” doesn’t tell you the heat level at a particular restaurant, and kitchens may handle requests differently. If you need a vegetarian meal or have an allergy, ask about sauces and broth as well as the protein listed beside the dish.
Getting takeout? Stir-fried noodles are an easy choice to consider when the food has a drive ahead of it. Broth-based noodles can travel well if the restaurant packs the noodles and soup separately; ask how they’ll package your order.
Thai noodles are one more good reason to get out and explore the metro. If dinner is only part of your weekend plan, Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter for local events and other things to do in Kansas City.
Your next noodle dinner
You don’t have to settle the whole metro’s noodle ranking tonight. Pick the dish you’re craving, find a restaurant on your side of town, and check the current menu.
The right bowl depends on the night. Sometimes that’s Lulu’s pad Thai close to home. Sometimes it’s soup in the Northland, or wide noodles after a downtown outing. That’s a pretty good dinner problem to have.
