New Thai restaurant in Avondale?

[Sheik_Yerbouti]

Ruan Thai sucks, don't bother. For $19, they attempted to serve me tough, MICROWAVED duck (the "Crispy" Duck, more like "CRUSTY Duck" in this instance). It probably tasted ok before it sat out and then was over re-heated in the microwave, leaving the telltale uneven juicy to leather inconsistency in the meat. The ginger/garlic sauce that came with it tasted very weird, too. The Tom Kha Gai appetizer was actually pretty tasty, if not exactly a traditional TKG. It's a shame, because it's actually a nice looking place, aside from the weird kitchen arrangement.

On the west side of the river, Tuptim Thai on 17 south of Timuquana is easily the best, and the second best Thai restaurant in Jacksonville, IMO, just behind Pattaya Thai, and as a fanatical Thai food junkie, I've tried every place in town more than once, except for Lime Leaf, which I might finally get around to checking out this weekend. Ruan or as I now to refer to it, "RUIN Thai", won't get a second shot with me.

[ChriswUfGator]

Ruan Thai sucks, don't bother. For $19, they attempted to serve me tough, MICROWAVED duck (the "Crispy" Duck, more like "CRUSTY Duck" in this instance). It probably tasted ok before it sat out and then was over re-heated in the microwave, leaving the telltale uneven juicy to leather inconsistency in the meat. The ginger/garlic sauce that came with it tasted very weird, too. The Tom Kha Gai appetizer was actually pretty tasty, if not exactly a traditional TKG. It's a shame, because it's actually a nice looking place, aside from the weird kitchen arrangement.

On the west side of the river, Tuptim Thai on 17 south of Timuquana is easily the best, and the second best Thai restaurant in Jacksonville, IMO, just behind Pattaya Thai, and as a fanatical Thai food junkie, I've tried every place in town more than once, except for Lime Leaf, which I might finally get around to checking out this weekend. Ruan or as I now to refer to it, "RUIN Thai", won't get a second shot with me.

Agreed on Tuptim and Pattaya. Two best Thai restaurants in JAX.

[jacksonvilleconfidential]

I second or third or whatever that Pattaya Thai is THE best in Jax. I went to Ruan a week or so after it opened and had a pretty good time, the service was pretty spot on. I had the lemon grass chicken, which was yummy. My sister in law had the sweet and sour pork, everything was good with that except the pork was really tough.

[blizz01]

Sad - Ruan Thai is set to close at the end of the month.  I actually came to enjoy both places that were in this location......

Avondale restaurant Ruan Thai Cuisine plans to close by month's end.

The restaurant, located at 3951 St. Johns Avenue, made the announcement in an advertisement of this month's edition of Resident Community News, a neighborhood newspaper.

In the ad addressed to the its fans and friends, the restaurant cited "factors beyond the scope of our control" for the pending closure. It also invited those fans to visit one more time before the closing. (For reservations, call (904) 384-6665.)

The restaurant opened in April 2010 in the building that formerly housed the short-lived Preservation Tap & Chophouse, which opened and closed in a 6-month span in 2007.

Despite an unflattering review by a Times-Union reviewer a year ago, the restaurant had its fans, based on comments left on the original review and others posted on Urbanspoon and Yelp.

The restaurant is one of four Ruan Thai restaurants in the Southeast, including Hilton Head Island, S.C., Bluffton, S.C. and Savannah, Ga.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/423471/gary-mills/2011-07-12/avondale-restaurant-plans-close-months-end

[north miami]

A 'chain' reaction-

Hmmmmmm....one of .....four.

Perhaps they needed them a Whiskey Bar!

give me a Whiskey- shot of Jim Daniels,Moss Fire ash and something off that wait tray next to me,next to them stairs where all them waiters are streaming

WE be outa there after the third try.Live within a few hunert feet of the place.

           Espito is the answer

And we love Thai.  not there

All of the owners have been too quick to brag on political connections/shoe horn zone efforts.

[ben says]

Sad - Ruan Thai is set to close at the end of the month.  I actually came to enjoy both places that were in this location......

Avondale restaurant Ruan Thai Cuisine plans to close by month's end.

The restaurant, located at 3951 St. Johns Avenue, made the announcement in an advertisement of this month's edition of Resident Community News, a neighborhood newspaper.

In the ad addressed to the its fans and friends, the restaurant cited "factors beyond the scope of our control" for the pending closure. It also invited those fans to visit one more time before the closing. (For reservations, call (904) 384-6665.)

The restaurant opened in April 2010 in the building that formerly housed the short-lived Preservation Tap & Chophouse, which opened and closed in a 6-month span in 2007.

Despite an unflattering review by a Times-Union reviewer a year ago, the restaurant had its fans, based on comments left on the original review and others posted on Urbanspoon and Yelp.

The restaurant is one of four Ruan Thai restaurants in the Southeast, including Hilton Head Island, S.C., Bluffton, S.C. and Savannah, Ga.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/423471/gary-mills/2011-07-12/avondale-restaurant-plans-close-months-end

To each his own, but personally, I thought the place was terrible. Not authentic, spotty service, bad food. OY!

[fsujax]

can we say cursed location?

[Captain Zissou]

can we say cursed location?

I agree. 

Ruan Thai was a solid restaurant.  There were times when it was absolutely amazing.  Other times, not so much, but it was always a decent meal and the staff was always very accommodating. 

I think that if the restaurant was in a different location it would have survived.  I know people who live within a half mile of the restaurant that don't know it exists.  That shouldn't be.  Whoever takes over that space, they need to somehow get the word out and generate buzz.

[Dog Walker]

They need to generate better food at better prices than they did.  Harpoon Louies just a stones throw away stays jammed all the time.

[north miami]

can we say cursed location?

Yes.Location made "viable" via jumping through zoning and community interest hoops.Compounded by building design limitations.Tremendous debt incurred through the previous "owner" in making this flower shop into .....




Hint to investors- going this direction,shoe horning,is a predictable notch in the failure/no go post.

There should be a plate named in Michael Corrigan's honor.

[ChriswUfGator]

can we say cursed location?

I agree. 

Ruan Thai was a solid restaurant.  There were times when it was absolutely amazing.  Other times, not so much, but it was always a decent meal and the staff was always very accommodating. 

I think that if the restaurant was in a different location it would have survived.  I know people who live within a half mile of the restaurant that don't know it exists.  That shouldn't be.  Whoever takes over that space, they need to somehow get the word out and generate buzz.

I really thought the food was average vs. tuptim or pattaya, but I still would have gone often since it was so close if it weren't for the $20 entrees and $10 appetizers. Restaurants make this mistake of saying well an average entree price is $XX at nice restaurants everywhere else so I'm going to set mine there, but customers also take into account the type of food it is and what goes into it, or at least I do. I get why the chataeubriand at ruth's chris is $48, it's at least a $20 cut of meat. But Thai food is another story, it's exceptionally cheap to make. Most people aren't going to pay $19 for something that costs $0.80 to make, and that all the other Thai places sell for half the price. It was OK, but everybody I know who went there including myself thought the price point was way too high.

[ChriswUfGator]

can we say cursed location?

Yes.Location made "viable" via jumping through zoning and community interest hoops.Compounded by building design limitations.Tremendous debt incurred through the previous "owner" in making this flower shop into .....




Hint to investors- going this direction,shoe horning,is a predictable notch in the failure/no go post.

There should be a plate named in Michael Corrigan's honor.

I do think their overhead cost was likely outrageous. My understanding is that the building is owned by FGB after that Preservation place (which closed for the exact same reasons; overpriced mediocre food) went under, and they were the lender. Not sure what the rent was, but knowing FGB management's general attitude I can't imagine that foreigners from out of town got a particularly good deal.

The other issue in that location is parking. That huge restaurant only had like 8 parking spots. Unlike the rest of Riverside, there is no street parking in that area, and the Commander apartments wouldn't let them use their lot across the street and put up towing signs. I think that building is really a poor candidate for a restaurant space, it seems more suited to offices or something. There isn't any street parking, it only has a handful of spots available, and there is no place to add parking.

[iluvolives]

can we say cursed location?

I agree. 

Ruan Thai was a solid restaurant.  There were times when it was absolutely amazing.  Other times, not so much, but it was always a decent meal and the staff was always very accommodating. 

I think that if the restaurant was in a different location it would have survived.  I know people who live within a half mile of the restaurant that don't know it exists.  That shouldn't be.  Whoever takes over that space, they need to somehow get the word out and generate buzz.

I really thought the food was average vs. tuptim or pattaya, but I still would have gone often since it was so close if it weren't for the $20 entrees and $10 appetizers. Restaurants make this mistake of saying well an average entree price is $XX at nice restaurants everywhere else so I'm going to set mine there, but customers also take into account the type of food it is and what goes into it, or at least I do. I get why the chataeubriand at ruth's chris is $48, it's at least a $20 cut of meat. But Thai food is another story, it's exceptionally cheap to make. Most people aren't going to pay $19 for something that costs $0.80 to make, and that all the other Thai places sell for half the price. It was OK, but everybody I know who went there including myself thought the price point was way too high.

I agree that this was the main problem. I don't mind paying $20+ for an entree, but not when I feel like it's marginal and I know I can get better down the street for less. I went to Ruan once or twice, but I when I was craving thai I tend to drive down to tuptim.

[Captain Zissou]

Chris,  I'm never taking you out to dinner. 

If memory serves, the Chicken Pad Thai was $13.75.  A number of other dishes were below $15.  Unless you got the sampler platter, appetizers were from $4-$8.  So you getting the Crispy Duck and the Combination plate puts you at $35 for the night, while i'd get take out for $16 and have enough for 2 meals.....

[ChriswUfGator]

Believe it or not I'm really a cheap date, I don't order the really expensive stuff. Well, unless my family is taking me to out dinner for some reason, then it's game-on. Lol. I always get that yellow curry chicken and some rice whenever I go for Thai food, and that's what I had there. I forget what they called it on the menu, they had some name for it like Ruan-something. I think somebody else ordered some spring rolls and a beef padt thai, but it was all real pricey compared to Tuptim, mine was like $17 or $18 and the same thing at Tuptim is around $11.

But I went during opening week, they probably dropped the prices between then and when you were going there. That happens a lot, the same thing happened to me with O'Brothers. I went during opening week and was pretty amused at $14 hamburgers, $6 beers, and $9 for 6 tiny buffalo wings. I bitched about it later and everybody said they had dropped the prices and it's reasonable now, so I have to remember to go give it another shot. But once you go somewhere and it's way overpriced, then I tend to write it off in my head unless somebody says something. So I guess it's an exercise in marketing, if I ever open a restaurant I'm going to start off real cheap and then ease the prices up if it gets popular. If I ever have enough money I wouldn't mind opening a red robin franchise here.