In the grand scheme of urban cuisine, Thai food has been on the rise for the past few years. If you ride the Red Line down to the Belmont stop in Lakeview, you’ll see that Belmont Avenue is practically overflowing with trendy Thai restaurants. Get off a little sooner, at the Argyle stop in Uptown, and you’re in for a more “authentic” Thai experience, although you may have to wade through the Laotian, Cambodian and Vietnamese restaurants to find those that serve Thai food.

Thai food, as a mixture (or “fusion” for those who prefer that term), draws on influences from Chinese, Malay, Indian and Portuguese cuisines. The principal flavors, already palatable to the tastes of Americans because of their similarity to the Americanized Szechuan cuisine, are lime, coriander, ginger, garlic, sweet Thai basil, chilies, coconut milk, peanut sauce made with chilies, lemongrass and fish sauce.

I think it’s pretty safe to assume that we’re all familiar with many other stock Asian cuisines and their Americanized counterparts. Chinese has been around forever — General Tsao, sesame chicken, chicken lo mein, etc. The fact that these dishes are more American than Asian doesn’t seem to bother those who eat them. Japanese food similarly means Westernized sushi, tempura or hibachi – California roll, anyone? The Indian food we all know and love includes curry, vindaloo, paneer, samosas and of course naan and chutney, all of which have made their way here through the tame-tastebud filter of Great Britain. Now, increasingly, Thai food’s place in the canon of pan-Asian cuisine is solidifying.

Thai cuisine was practically unknown in America until the 1980s, when it began to become popular for a number of different reasons. Not surprisingly, the U.S.’s military presence in Southeast Asia twenty years earlier contributed to the American “discovery” of Thai flavors. But that wasn’t the only factor affecting Thai food’s growing visibility and popularity. A surge in immigration to the United States from Southeast Asia accompanied revisions to immigration law in ‘65 that relaxed regional quotas. This led to a small but growing Thai population throughout urban America. Today, there are somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 Thai immigrants spread between Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

And how do you make it in America? Start a business. Open a restaurant.

Regionally, Thai food is more complicated than the standard American Thai restaurant would lead you to believe. So to simplify things, we’ll deal only with American Thai food, which is know for curries that come in the same colors as a stoplight (red, green, yellow… panang?) and of course, the best known, pad thai. That it’s the best known isn’t that surprising since “Thai” shows up right there in the name.

Pad thai is a relatively simple dish with a few main ingredients. The flavor comes from mixing lime, tamarind, coriander, sugar and fish sauce. These ingredients are thrown together in a stir-fry with rice noodles and a little bit of egg. Many restaurants garnish it with sprouts, crushed peanuts and scallions or chives.

South of campus on Davis Street, there’s a pad thai restaurant on practically every block. Joy Yee’s Noodles Pan-Asian Cuisine (521 Davis Street, 847-733-1900) serves the iconic Thai dish as one of several Thai dishes on the menu. You can also find pad thai at the slightly more swanky Lulu’s (804 Davis Street, 847-869-4343). And farther still is the kitsch-and-pez-dispenser-ridden Cozy Noodles & Rice (1018 Davis Street, 847-733-0101). But the best, most expansive restaurant offering Thai dishes is the uncomfortably spacious Thai Sookdee (1016 Church Street, 847-866-8012).

Joy Yee’s (top), Cozy Noodles (middle) and Thai Sookdee (bottom) (Photos by Ian Epstein / North by Northwestern)

Joy Yee’s, Cozy and Thai Sookdee offer take out or delivery, which is a great alternative for dorm residents or lazy chefs. Takeout also means you don’t have to tip. And a single order of pad thai will easily stay piping hot for the entire walk home.

Differences in the atmosphere and offerings of these restaurants aside, pad thai differs quite a bit from each of these places in price, in quality, in quantity. I compared the dish itself (I ordered Chicken pad thai at each place) from Joy Yee’s, Cozy Noodle and Thai Sookdee.

Joy Yee’s pad thai ($8.50) is by far the most generously portioned of the three — which is good, considering it is also the most expensive. Granted, they were all quite generously portioned, but Joy Yee’s has a reputation for quantity and quickness. Their pad thai (written “Tai” on the menu) is also the most orange and the most bland of the three that I tried. The copious servings make up for the lack of strong taste and it’s easy to make one order last two meals.

Cozy Noodle’s pad thai ($6.50) was generously portioned and a little less orange with a stronger flavor. The people at Cozy Noodle are, more or less, just as fast as the people at Joy Yee’s — chances are you’ll be pleasantly surprised when, five minutes after you order, your pad thai shows up steaming hot and fresh. This pad thai also has more flavor to it. Yet it remains solidly in second place…

Thai Sookdee pad thai ($6.75) was easily the best of the three. Interestingly, it was barely orange at all. Maybe orange-ness is an indicator of pad thai quality — the less orange the better. Thai Sookdee is located a little more off the beaten path, but it delivers quickly just like the other two. Thai Sookdee’s pad thai had the best and most complex, satisfying flavor. Unfortunately it was the smallest as far as portions are concerned, but just barely — an order of pad thai from Thai Sookdee is probably only good enough for one big meal or two small meals.

The offerings abound and pad thai is just one of many available orders. Where quality is concerned, Thai Sookdee takes the blue ribbon. And if you like spicy, you might also explore the curries.