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Those who worry about Sripraphai getting too big for its britches will appreciate the simple intimacy of Elmhurst’s Chao Thai. There are only 25 seats, enlivened by little more than green walls, a strand of Christmas lights, and a few anthropomorphic knickknacks. Fiery-tart papaya salad comes speckled with peanuts then garnished with crinkle-cut carrots and a tangle of vermicelli-thin beet strands. Plump green beans balance decadent rectangles of pork belly in the ruddy pad prik khing. Jungle curry is easily the hottest item available—coconut-milk-free, swirling with eggplant, pumpkin, and bamboo shoots—and it might also be the healthiest. The bright-orange storefront is often filled to capacity with almost entirely Asian customers, though not necessarily Thais. The giveaway? The bypassing of the traditional spoon-and-fork approach for chopsticks. — Krista Garcia

Som tum, $7.95; pad prik khing, $11.95