Cozy Noodles n' Rice opened in the summer of 2003 in Wrigleyville, set back from the neighborhood's main strip in a small brick building that's easy to walk past. The atmosphere blends Thai and American touches by design — co-owner Tee M. has said the look of the place matters as much as the food, and wanted it to feel different from a typical Thai dining room.
That shows up everywhere in the room: shelves lined with hundreds of tin toys — steamboats, cars, trains, animals — collected over the years, mosaic-topped tables balanced on vintage sewing machine legs, and a life-size Elvis statue stationed near the entrance.
The menu is presented like a retro-illustrated booklet with detailed descriptions running through appetizers, soups, salads, curries, and noodle dishes. Pad woonsen (stir-fried glass noodles with shrimp, chicken, and vegetables), lard na (wide noodles in a thick sauce), green curry, deep-fried shrimp rolls, and tom kar coconut soup are among the dishes that turn up in write-ups of the place.
Service gets singled out often as attentive and personal, and the Wrigleyville location — close enough to draw a game-day crowd alongside neighborhood regulars — remains part of what keeps people coming back.
That shows up everywhere in the room: shelves lined with hundreds of tin toys — steamboats, cars, trains, animals — collected over the years, mosaic-topped tables balanced on vintage sewing machine legs, and a life-size Elvis statue stationed near the entrance.
The menu is presented like a retro-illustrated booklet with detailed descriptions running through appetizers, soups, salads, curries, and noodle dishes. Pad woonsen (stir-fried glass noodles with shrimp, chicken, and vegetables), lard na (wide noodles in a thick sauce), green curry, deep-fried shrimp rolls, and tom kar coconut soup are among the dishes that turn up in write-ups of the place.
Service gets singled out often as attentive and personal, and the Wrigleyville location — close enough to draw a game-day crowd alongside neighborhood regulars — remains part of what keeps people coming back.