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With Google’s 300,000-square-foot data center ensconced in the giant old office building across the street, you’d think the pleated-pants crowd might overrun this compact Thai spot. But fear not; with its sassy, skirt-wearing servers (male) and toned, tattooed clientele (of both genders), this place still screams 1990s Chelsea. Unfortunately, it also hews to the old neighborhood dining template that values a scene above good food. Appetizers give promise, like moist sake-ginger-marinated fried chicken, chili-infused tom yum soup, and coarse-cut green papaya salad. Pad Thai’s entrees stumble badly, though. Syrupy, sweet sauces are liberally ladled over vegetables and proteins, even on dishes labeled “garlic” or “spicy.” With a giant tilted mirror on one wall that enables 360-degree cruising, most patrons don’t seem bothered by what’s on their plates anyway. Pad Thai belongs to the same restaurant stable as Regional Thai Taste around the corner and Orchard Street’s Sticky Rice, neither a culinary beacon. And note it has no relation to the similarly named place twenty blocks up Eighth Avenue. — Michael Kaminer

Steamed summer rolls, $6; lemongrass tom yum soup, $3; sake-ginger-marinated fried chicken, $5.95