The Smiling Elephant

The Smiling Elephant is a family-owned Thai restaurant at 2213 8th Ave S in Nashville's 8th South neighborhood, established in 2010 by Sam Kopsombut, who came to Nashville from Thailand and originally cooked Thai food for his auto repair shop staff on the same property. The restaurant is celebrated throughout Nashville for its authentic pad Thai — made with green bean noodles instead of traditional rice noodles — and serves daily-rotating fresh curries with no MSG.

Pad Thai