• Alex Springer

Not too long ago, I wrote a Back Burner blurb about Thai Better, a new Thai place that opened up in South Jordan. I usually like to give a place a bit of time to find its sea legs before giving it the full restaurant review treatment, but I've eaten there about six times since it opened, which got me thinking. It's a fast casual concept that has consistently delivered exactly what I want when Thai takeout is on my mind, and they've already got plans to open a second location in Saratoga Springs—so I'd say they hit the ground running. On the nights we don't feel like cooking dinner—which are maybe more frequent than I'd like to admit—Thai Better has shimmied its way up our top five list for a few different reasons.

First of all, there is something about Thai Better's aesthetic that I find very endearing. Inside the restaurant itself, you have a gallery of paintings that feature their chubby mascot at various landmarks; he's even posing in front of Delicate Arch in one pic. He shows up on all their takeout boxes, and is featured prominently in the restaurant's logo. This little fatty is all of us, just living our lives, broadening our cultural horizons and seeking out nice things to eat. Through the esoteric powers of marketing magic, he has also become Thai Better, condensed into a rotund avatar that is easy to fall in love with.

I suppose a big reason this little guy is so likable comes from the quality of food that he's associated with. Thai Better's menu sticks pretty close to the local Thai restaurant playbook—you've got the rainbow of traditional curry, stir fry and noodle dishes that most Thai places feature. As the restaurant's concept leans heavily into the entrée-in-a-cup approach that has made CupBop so popular, delivering your items with fast-food level speed is one of Thai Better's strengths. This can be tricky to pull off while also ensuring the menu's quality doesn't suffer, but it happens to be where Thai Better shines.

Let's look at their curry ($11.95), for example. They've got fiery red, herbaceous green, subtle yellow, peanutty massaman and its spicier cousin panang—all of which are up to the challenge of crushing a curry craving. I wouldn't go as far as saying these are reinventions of classic Thai dishes, but the fact that they taste as good as they do, and are ready as fast as they are, is an impressive feat.

I have been bouncing back and forth between their panang curry—for when I want something on the spicier side—and their yellow curry, but each one stands out on its own for fans of traditional Thai curry. I do sometimes wish the spicier curries had more bite to them, but the small cups of dried chili flakes that accompany them add a nice punch to each dish. I haven't quite worked up the nerve to ask them to make me something really spicy, but I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige.

The dish that comes closest to setting your mouth on fire is one of their special single entrees, the Thai spicy chicken ($11.95), which is a riff on their milder but tasty nonetheless orange chicken ($11.95). This takes the sweet-and-sour sauce of the orange chicken and zests it up with a good dose of Thai chili. It's served on some steamed broccoli and white rice, and makes for a decent detour from Thai Better's regular menu.

Other standouts on the menu include their drunken noodles ($11.95), flat rice noodles tossed with plenty of veggies and enrobed in a thick, saucy glaze. These can hang with some of the best drunken noodles in town and not lose any swagger. The Thai fried rice ($11.95) was another pleasant surprise. Its fluffy rice gets tossed around with eggs, carrots and peas along with whatever protein you request—choose between tofu and chicken—and the whole affair is salty, savory and satisfying.

I've come to appreciate the inclusion of curry dumplings ($5.95) on a Thai place's appetizer menu, and those offered at Thai Better are always a good way to start things off. They use their spicier green curry to highlight the herby notes of the dumpling filling, and they're just lovely little pops of flavor. Of course, you can't be a Thai restaurant in America without offering mango sticky rice ($3.95), which comes in a cute little plastic cup for easy travel. Mango sticky rice is mango sticky rice—it's good here at Thai Better, but not really reinventing anything.

It's fair to say that I'm excited by the presence and ambition of Thai Better. I'm always responsive to curry joints that offer a seamless takeout ordering process, but I've also become fond of dining in so I can further reflect on the chubby mascot. If fast, tasty eats with an emphasis on cuteness interest you at all, you'll want to keep an eye on Thai Better.