13 Best Local Places to Eat in Chiang Mai

Did you roll your eyes when searching for the best breakfast in Chiang Mai, and the search returned photos of scrambled eggs and toast? Me, too.

I mean, when cultural foodies search for restaurants somewhere, are they looking for local dishes or did they fly halfway across the world to eat the same American breakfast? Come on, Google!

Granted, I needed to search for “food back home,” since I’m the Thai person looking for the best places to eat in Chiang Mai during my trip there.

But since Google didn’t really give me what I was looking for, I set off to find the local restaurants by talking to other Thai people instead. I love Egg Benedicts, but not in Chiang Mai, thank you.

Out of all the places I tried, Tai Toon Baan became my all-time favorite breakfast spot. For lunch? Give me Kao Soy Nimman and Zinmè Tea House anyday.

Keep scrolling for more foodie spots around Chiang Mai, specifically ones locals love!

The Diversity of Chiang Mai’s Food Scene

The ancient Lanna Kingdom (1296-1775), which has influenced most of Northern Thailand’s culture today, encompassed the area that became Northern Thailand, Northern Laos, Northern Myanmar, and parts of southern China.

For nearly 500 years, Chiang Mai was the capital city of that kingdom.

This means that if you eat like a local around Chiang Mai, you’ll start to notice influences from the Lao, Chinese, and Burmese cuisines as well as Thai.

Even the famous Khao Soi was invented by a Chinese Muslim immigrant a few centuries ago!

Best Local Breakfast Places in Chiang Mai

If this is your first time coming to Thailand, here’s a potential culture shock: Our breakfast looks different than your eggs, salad, and fruit bowls.

We mostly eat congee, pan-fried eggs with ham, and bread with custard.

Sometimes, we love a hearty serving of Eggs Benedict or pancakes, too. But for the purposes of keeping this guide “pretty local,” I’ll focus on the local breakfast.

Note: The price range is listed per person for my fellow solo travelers! 😉

1. Tai Toon Baan

• Price Range: $ (<100 THB)
• Opening Hours: 6:30 AM – 2:00 PM daily
• Location: 59, 1-2 Chang Moi Kao Rd, Si Phum, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50300
• Must-Try: Pan-fried Egg, Custard Bread, Egg & Cheese Sandwich

This is my absolute favorite breakfast place in all of Chiang Mai. The absolute favorite.

Their Pan-fried Egg and Signature Sandwich were delicious, sure, but it’s the concept, vibe, and decor that make it a five-star experience.

The place is tiny, and literally someone’s basement space converted into a local breakfast spot. The interior decor has a vintage “local life” feel to it, and the service is freakin’ amazing.

One downside to this place is that there’s no parking if you come with a car (scooters are fine, though). It’s tucked into a corner on a road so narrow, you wouldn’t even be able to enter.

I recommend parking at Wat Chom Phu and walk over if you have a car.

2. Kai Kata Lerd Rod

• Price Range: $ (<100 THB)
• Opening Hours: 6:30 AM – 3:00 PM daily
• Location: 37 Prapokklao Road, Phra Sing, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Pan-fried Egg (original with minced pork), Thai Traditional Coffee

If you ask a Chiang Mai local where to eat the best Kai Krata (pan-fried eggs), 99% of them will probably say at Kai Kata Lerd Rod.

It’s a super old-school restaurant with limited seating. You put in your order on the printed menu, which you’ll need an image translator for.

It took me ages to decide between their 4 types of pan-fried eggs, but I finally went with the original, with minced pork. I highly recommend it!

Just a note: These pan-fried eggs go amazingly with a steaming cup of Thai Traditional Coffee, so don’t forget to order one! They come with sweetened condensed milk at the bottom. Stir well before drinking

3. Ton Payom Congee

• Price Range: $ (<100 THB)
• Opening Hours: 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM daily
• Location: 99 29 Suthep Rd, Su Thep, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Pork congee with egg, Pa Tong Go

Here’s where you can eat the bestest, smoothest congee in the city. Famous for its unique congee recipe, using uncrushed rice, this place has been around for over 30 years.

Congee has been the go-to breakfast dish in Thai culture for ages.

Another thing that goes well with it is Pa Tong Go, a type of deep-fried dough, eaten with sweetened condensed milk or custard, or sometimes ripped and dumped into the congee. You can get both at Ton Payom.

A special shoutout to the staff, who ran around the place nonstop, getting orders and serving with super high spirits and never getting things mixed up once.

They were all so friendly, and that’s a big reason why Ton Payom sits so high on this list!

4. Somphet Congee

• Price Range: $$ (100-200 THB)
• Opening Hours: Open 24 Hours
• Location: 59 3 Sri Poom Rd, Si Phum, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Congee with Pork Balls (add the soft-boiled eggs!), Dimsum

Oh, have I mentioned? Not only is congee the typical Thai breakfast, but it’s also the typical Thai hangover food!

Now you won’t have to ask why Somphet Congee is open 24 hours or who the hell would be eating congee at 3 in the morning, right?

Somphet Congee was my first breakfast in Chiang Mai, and it served! While the congee is slightly less smooth than the one at Ton Payom, it was super delicious even though I hadn’t put in any extra seasoning.

Dimsum was great, too! That’s another typical breakfast if you wanna try the more Thai-Chinese route.

5. Kiat O-Cha Chicken Rice

• Price Range: $ (<100 THB)
• Opening Hours: 6:00 AM – 3:00 PM daily
• Location: 41, 43 Intrawarorot Rd, Si Phum, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Plain Chicken Rice

Yes. Yes, we eat the Hainan Chicken Rice as breakfast here in Thailand, too.

In fact, while congee, custard bread, and pan-fried eggs are more typical breakfast dishes, Thai people will eat anything for breakfast. It’s just an average meal to us.

I don’t remember any chicken rice I’ve had with chicken this tender and juicy, except maybe at another specialty restaurant in Phuket. It looks like another boring plate of Chicken Rice, but man, it’s so delicious, and the soup is just art.

Extra points for how quickly they served and how friendly the staff are, despite the place being packed.

6. Smoothie Blues (Western Option)

• Price Range: $$$ (200+ THB)
• Opening Hours: 7:30 AM – 8:00 PM daily
• Location: 32, 8 Nimmanahaeminda Road, Suthep, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Eggs Florentine, Energy Boost (drink)

Hahaha, sorry. I know I said that this list would be strictly local.

But from my experience, my foreign friends tend to miss their home breakfast after one too many days of trying nothing but local food. Here’s your backup plan.

And no, this is not another average breakfast spot where you get to eat overcooked scrambled eggs to semi-cure your homesickness.

I ordered the Eggs Florentine, and it was so well-executed. The eggs were perfectly cooked, and the hollandaise sauce? Smooth.

7. Kopy Café Nimman

• Price Range: $$ (100-200 THB)
• Opening Hours: 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM daily
• Location: 14 Nimmana Haeminda Rd Lane 9, Su Thep, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Pan-fried Egg with Ham & Cheese, Bread with Custard, Bo-Ran Coffee

Was the Ham and Cheese pan-fried egg divine? Yes. Was their custard super smooth and bread super soft? Yes.

The reason Kopy Café sits at the bottom of the breakfast list is I wasn’t stoked with the service.

I might have been there on a bad day, but the staff looked a bit like they were forced to be there and had no interest in doing their jobs.

The food, however, is too good for the place not to be on the list. I say it’s worth it.

My Favorite Spots for Lunch and Dinner

Imagining you won’t be spending more than a week or so in Chiang Mai, I can’t recommend a dozen breakfast spots and expect you to either squeeze them all in or choose some.

So to balance out the list and make it a doable one, below are some of my top options for lunch and dinner. I went back to some of them more than once, and I’ll tell you which!

8. Kao Soy Nimman

• Price Range: $$ (150-200 THB)
• Opening Hours: 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM daily
• Location: 22 Nimmana Haeminda Rd Lane 7, Su Thep, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Kao Soy Sai Oua, Kao Soy with Soft-shell Crab, Kanomjeen Nam Ngeaw

Here’s my first obsession, which I went back for more of a couple of times.

Is it hyped and famous? Yes. But is it worth the hype? Yes, absolutely. Kao Soy Nimman, serving authentic Khao Soi with a wide variety of toppings, is on the Michelin Guide.

While most places let you choose between chicken and beef to put in your bowl of Khao Soi, this place has an entire page of different types for you to choose from, from mushrooms, soft-shell crab, to northern sausages.

Another Northern Thai specialty dish, Kanomjeen Nam Ngeaw, is also divine here.

For those with a sweet tooth, the mango and sticky rice never disappoints. I ordered as many times as I visited, and the mango was always perfect.

Extra Points: They source produce and ingredients from the parts of Thailand that depend on trading those ingredients, like mountain salt from Nan, chilis from Mae Hong Son, and Shrimp paste from Phattalung!

9. Zinmè Tea House

• Price Range: $$ (100-200 THB)
• Opening Hours: 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM daily
• Location: Wat Gate, 62 Thanon Charoenrajd, Chang Moi, Mueng, Chiang Mai 50000
• Must-Try: Sticky Rice Green Tea Set, Tea Leaves Salad, Mont Phet Thoke

You and I are on a level playing field here, because they’re not Thai, they’re Burmese!

Our Lanna cousins are well-known for their tea-drinking culture, and this place is a tea house before a restaurant, but the few Burmese dishes they have got me going back for more.

I highly recommend their Sticky Rice Green Tea, served in a traditional tea set, slightly bitter, but extremely fragrant. Have it with my favorite Burmese dishes, the Tea Leaves Salad or Mont Phet Thoke.

If you fall in love with the Tea Leaves Salad and its million tastes and textures, order one to go like I did, and they’ll box it up with the sauce separated, so it’s still fresh at the end of the day.

10. Aeeen Japanese Vegan (Neo Shokudō)

• Price Range: $$$ (200+ THB)
• Opening Hours: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM Thursday to Sunday
• Location: Unnamed Road, Su Thep, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Tofu (Boiled Tofu with Vegetables), Jjigae-Nabe

This place has an interesting backstory. (Food is delicious, too, but we’ll talk about that in a sec.)

The owners were about to have their baby when the Fukushima nuclear disaster happened in 2011. They decided to find a new, safer home for their family and settled on Chiang Mai.

The wife has many food allergies, and she’s spent her time cooking and figuring out a healthy diet for herself. Aeeen, also called Neo Shokudō, is a product of her clean-diet mission.

The menu is full of vegan, tofu-based dishes.

I ordered their main dish called “Tofu,” which is just tofu boiled with vegetables, and Jjigae-Nabe, a Korean-style soup. I highly recommend both with a cup of rice.

11. Tong Tem Toh

• Price Range: $$$ (200+ THB)
• Opening Hours: 8:00 AM – 11:00 PM daily
• Location: 11 Nimmana Haeminda Rd Lane 13, Su Thep, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Straw Mushroom Curry with Tamarind Leaves, Stir-fried Chayote with Eggs

Curious how Thai people spend time with friends?

At Tong Tem Toh, you’ll see one of the most typical dinner scenes in Thai culture, many friends seated around a table with more dishes on it, having the time of their lives.

And why are they having the time of their lives, you ask? Because the food here is delicious! Tong

Tem Toh, beloved by the locals, serves mostly Northern Thai dishes and a few standard Thai dishes as an option. Even their stir-fried eggs and veggies are delicious if you can’t handle spicy food.

Their waitlist system is the cutest. It announces your cue and party number in English or Thai, depending on whether you’re a foreigner or a local. Talk about convenience.

12. Euang Kam Sai Northern Thai Cuisine

• Price Range:
• Opening Hours: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM (Closed on Monday)
• Location: 185/3 Wua Lai Rd, Hai Ya, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50100
• Must-Try: Wolffia Northern-Style Salad, Gaeng Kae, Boiled Puffball Mushrooms

This is possibly the most hidden gem on the entire list.

Located in the old Chiang Mai Cultural Center, Euang Kam Sai is not easily seen from the main street, which is probably why it remains so quiet.

It serves Northern dishes even more northern than the ones at Tong Tem Toh, if that’s even possible. As a Thai person in her mid-thirties, I had the Northern spicy salad with Wolffia, a super rare dish, for the first time in my life here.

Call me a child, but I especially love their boiled Puffball mushrooms. Yes, they’re nothing but mushrooms boiled in pure water with a touch of fish sauce. But it’s so fragrant, okay?!

13. Ginger Farm Kitchen (One Nimman)

• Price Range: $$$ (200+ THB)
• Opening Hours: 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM daily
• Location: One Nimman, Nimmanahaeminda Road, Suthep, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200
• Must-Try: Salmon Sashimi in Namtok Dressing, Thai Style Avocado Salad

Ginger Farm Kitchen is another Michelin spot on our list.

It may look like just another cute restaurant in a mall, but it’s worth a try for the way it reapplies “foreign ingredients” to Thai recipes.

I was completely in love with their Thai Style Avocado Salad. In layman’s terms, it’s a papaya salad with Avocado in the papaya’s place.

I was skeptical of what that would mean to the dish’s texture at first, but the avocado taste and aroma went so well with the sauce, I forgot about the texture.

Another must-try is their Salmon Sashimi in Namtok Dressing, a sashimi spin on the Northeastern Larb dish. Mind you, both dishes are spicy, so ask for a less spicy version if you need to.

Best Chiang Mai Restaurants on the Map

Save this foodie map to your phone so you have an easier time planning your meals along with the other attractions you want to see around Chiang Mai!

Recommended Foodie Experiences

If you have a super limited time in Chiang Mai, I highly recommend condensing your foodie experience into a few hours by joining food tours.

Granted, these tours don’t include breakfast dishes and many of the places on our list, but they’ll give you a complete taste of what Chiang Mai has to offer in under 4 hours.

And isn’t that just what you need when you have like 2 days in the city? 😅

Taste 15+ Northern Thai Dishes

Regardless of which new city I’m visiting in Thailand, this is my favorite food tour company.

They always let you try 20 dishes over the course of 4 hours on the tour. You’ll be rolling back to your hotel room regardless of how much walking you did.

The menus are focused on Northern Thai flavors like Khao Soi and Gaeng Hang Le. So, if you’re crazy about regional dishes, go with this one!

Join This Tour for Michelin-Level Street Food!

Care less about the Northern Thai dishes and more about which spot is on the Michelin Guide?

This tour is the play. While they’re focused on the more typical Thai street delicacies you can find in other parts of the country, every place comes with a Michelin accolade!

Try Half This List in 3 Days with My Itinerary!

People either settle for months in Chiang Mai, or they have three days.

If you’ve got three days, I have just the perfect itinerary that includes Kao Soy Nimman, Tai Toon Baan, Tong Tem Toh, and more of my favorite spots. Basically half this list!

Don’t forget to check out the best cafes in the city, too. When in the city of baristas, you gotta try those specialty blends and some amazing cakes to go with!

Head over to my Thailand Cultural Travel page when you’re ready to plan your itinerary for other provinces and regions!

Helpful Travel Tips for Thailand

All visitors need to fill out a Digital Arrival Card no longer than 3 days before their trip to Thailand. And if applicable, a visa.

• Make sure you protect your trip with a travel insurance.
• Get this eSIM for local data without giving up your number.
• Must-have Apps: Grab, Papago AI Translator, Google Maps

Learn the dos and don’ts in Thai culture and some local phrases before arriving.

Don’t forget to always have cash on hand. The smaller the notes, the better!

Grab My Thailand E-Checklist

To make sure you don’t leave anything important out of your preparations, I’ve made a digital checklist to help you get ready. I leave 2 pages blank for you to customize your own checklist, too!

Find a Place to Stay in Chiang Mai

Looking for somewhere to stay? Use the map below to browse for the best option for you! Keep in mind that as long as you stay inside the city walls or around the outside of it, most places will be walkable.

FAQ: Eating Out in Chiang Mai

📌 Pin this for later

Sharing is caring!