Longer nights. Longer sleeves. Longer showers. With each drop in temperature this fall in Orcutt, the possibility of resisting Thai Hut’s tom kha selections plummets as well.
While the approaching sweater weather may inspire locals to seek out favorite fall flavors, Thai coconut soup is a year-round customer favorite at Thai Hut, where it’s been a menu fixture since the restaurant first opened its doors in 1996.
That was also the year the local eatery’s owner Tu Vongsaroj gave birth to her daughter, Sandra Vongsaroj. Ipso facto, Sandra doesn’t know what it’s like to live in a world without Thai Hut.
“I pretty much grew up at the restaurant. It’s practically my second house,” said Sandra, who worked part time at Thai Hut during her teens and continues to help out her family’s business whenever timing allows, while currently in the thick of finishing nursing school.
If there’s one opinion the 27-year-old hasn’t wavered from for as long as she can remember, it’s that pad thai is the yummiest thing on Thai Hut’s menu. Hard tofu is among the ingredients of the treasured rice noodle dish Sandra often finds hard to turn down.
One of her favorite things about middle school was walking straight to Thai Hut from Lakeview Junior High, about a half-mile away, after school for a late afternoon dish of pad thai.
Sandra’s mother, Tu, said that students from Lakeview and Righetti are a big part of Thai Hut’s customer base on weekdays, thanks to the restaurant’s proximity to both schools.
Now in his 40s, one of Thai Hut’s most frequent customers first ate there as a Righetti student in the ’90s and has been a regular ever since, Tu said.
“The customer support here touches my heart,” said Tu, who co-founded Thai Hut with her husband shortly after they left Southern California to live on the Central Coast. “We’re thankful for everything we have here, and the customers who come back and feel like family.”
Chances are that some members of Thai Hut’s loyal fan base are regular Sun readers too, based on the outcome of the paper’s 2023 Best of Northern Santa Barbara County poll. Votes collected earlier this year secured the restaurant’s win in the Best Thai Food category.
New Times Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal, from the Sun’s sister paper, summed up the Orcutt eatery’s broad appeal in a writeup that distinguished Thai Hut not only as a region-wide poll winner, but a staff pick as well.
“I’m a recent convert to Thai food, and I have Thai Hut to thank for it,” Rajagopal wrote. “It’s a cozy, friendly, family-run spot, and it’s easy to see why it’s a fan favorite.”
Rajagopal listed Thai Hut’s pra tod—a steamed whole pomfret fish with different topping options to choose from—among her personal recommendations.
“Dig in with a side of fluffy white rice, and you’ll believe you’re in Thailand,” Rajagopal wrote.
Thai Hut accepted the Sun’s Best Thai Food award in August, about five months after the restaurant received some news coverage of a different caliber.
On the evening of March 25, one of the stray bullets fired during a fatal shooting at Orcutt’s Melody Market, directly adjacent to Thai Hut, tore through a wall of the restaurant and almost injured a patron, Sandra said.
“The bullet passed right by a customer’s shoulder,” Sandra said. “That night really traumatized us. You wouldn’t expect a quiet area like Orcutt to have a shooting.”
Over the restaurant’s nearly three-decade history, there has never been an incident as shocking as that night in March, Sandra added, but the family’s enduring dedication to upholding the business remains steadfast.
It’s no surprise to Sandra that the restaurant is open on Thanksgiving day, for example. Gauging from past holiday seasons, Tu said it’s inevitable there’ll be more than a few familiar faces—old patrons who grew up in the area but have since moved away, returning to their hometown for family visits—stopping by over the remainder of the year.
“She’s a very hardworking woman. It’s like she never wants to take a break. She’s very driven,” Sandra said about her mother. “She’s a people person, and she wants to serve people. I really think it brings her happiness to see people, families come together at the restaurant.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood has been going to Thai Hut ever since his booster-seat days. Send comments to [email protected].
