Danville Restaurant Makes List Of Best New East Bay Spots

DANVILLE, CA — Diablo Magazine named new Danville Thai restaurant Zaya Thai Pantry as one of its “Best New East Bay Restaurants.”

“With a full bar, a beautiful interior, and even more beautiful plating, Zaya is a perfect example of the evolution Thai restaurants have recently undergone in the East Bay. Fortunately, the downtown Danville destination does not sacrifice substance for style,” the magazine said of the Hartz Avenue restaurant that opened in July.

Yanika Yawikham, a native of Chiang Mai, Thailand, opened the new restaurant with her husband in what used to be Tower Grille sports bar. Yawikham, who goes by PJ, spent her childhood working at her grandparents’ restaurant and “loved it so much that when she was away from the restaurant she would often play restaurant with her stuffed animals and dolls,” according to a biography on the restaurant website

After graduating college, she moved to Orinda to work at her cousin’s Thai restaurant, and eventually opened up her own restaurant, first in Oakland, and now in Danville. The restaurant serves a full Thai menu, including shrimp rolls, crispy tofu, chicken satay, pad thai, and a number of creative stir-fries, curries, and decadent entries and desserts.

Diablo Magazine recommended curry puffs, green curry, and short rib khao soi as the "three to try," and called the thai and coconut crepe cakes "works of art."

Zaya Thai Pantry is located 301 Hartz Avenue is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. on weekdays, and noon to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. on weekends.

Zaya was one of eight new restaurants selected by the magazine, and the only one in the Tri-Valley. Five out of the eight new restaurants are located in Walnut Creek.