The Elephant Thai
Authentic Thai on Seneca Street — the Finger Lakes restaurant you'll plan your next visit around before you leave
The Place
The Elephant Thai has been serving Geneva since 2018. Open on Seneca Street — the main drag through downtown — it’s the kind of casual Thai restaurant that builds a loyal following without trying to be anything other than what it is: authentic dishes, generous portions, and warm service that makes you feel like a regular on your first visit. If you’re exploring the Finger Lakes and craving something beyond wine country fare, this is the place.
The Food
The menu covers a wide range of Thai classics, all done right. The pad thai is a crowd favorite — available with your choice of protein, consistently praised, and clearly marked for gluten-free diners (the menu flags GF, vegetarian, and vegan options throughout). Drunken noodles are rich and satisfying. The Panang curry with shrimp is a standout for anyone who wants a little heat with their coconut milk. For something more adventurous, the pineapple curry duck features boneless roasted crispy duck topped with three-flavored sauce, bell peppers, onions, and scallions. The lobster pad thai and duck over rice are house specialties.
Starters are solid across the board: crab rangoon, chicken satay with peanut sauce, crispy calamari with sweet chili sauce. Desserts are worth saving room for — mango sticky rice and fried ice cream flambe both get high marks.
The Soups
The soups deserve their own mention. The Tom Kha arrives in a hot pot with coconut cream, lemongrass, galangal, and lime juice. The Tom Yum brings the heat: lemongrass, chili, mushrooms. The seafood hot pot combines shrimp, mussels, and squid in a country-style spicy broth with basil. Thai iced tea, ginger tea, and bubble tea round out the drinks.
Worth Knowing
The restaurant is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, dine-in, takeout, and delivery all available. Google gives it 4.5 out of 5, and Restaurant Guru has it at 4.4 with 565 reviews and nearly 200 photos. It’s the kind of place where you go once on a Finger Lakes trip and immediately plan your next visit around it.
First featured in e051 - 315NY | Weekly