Don’s Café Phuket is a culinary institution on the island of Phuket. It is rare to meet any Phuket expat residents who has never been to Don’s Café and from all the restaurants reviewed in this handy online Phuket guide, Don’s Café is the Phuket restaurant which I have visited most often during my years living on this gorgeous island in the South of Thailand. Don’s Café has seen a lot of expansion over the years. What started off as a simple restaurant has turned into what best can be described as a food mall. Don’s Café is now part of Don’s Mall which also includes various other businesses which Don has started over the years and which are all food and beverage related. I will offer additional information about the various outlets at the Phuket Don’s Mall later on in this review of Don’s Café.

Don’s Café and Mall is located between Nai Harn beach and Rawai and is open 7 days a week from 08:30 until 22:30. Phuket Don’s Café has been around since 1997 and has ever since been a favorite eatery in the Phuket expat community. Not only is the food and ambience great at Don’s Café but one of the main reasons why this wonderful Phuket restaurant is so popular is because of the owner himself. Don is a retired NASA engineer who retired on Phuket and even at the age of 75 he still takes the time to personally greet and chat to all of his valued customers. There are only too many restaurant owners on Phuket who simply don’t have a clue how to manage and operate a restaurant but this is certainly not the case with Don. He is simply one of the nicest guys I have met on Phuket over the years that I have staying on Phuket. Don will be more than happy to share some of his amazing NASA stories with you.

The menu at Don’s Café is more than impressive. Whenever someone has requested something that wasn’t on the menu, Don seems to add it to the menu so that next time the client returns he is able to order his favorite dish. The menu at Don’s Café Phuket includes a lot of US style home cooked meals and his steaks and burgers are especially legendary. Be sure to try out his excellent T Bone steak during your next visit to the Phuket Don’s Café and Mall. A lot of the staff working in service and in the kitchen have been trained by Don personally and have been employed at Don’s Café since the day it opened 12 years ago. This type of employee loyalty is unheard of in Thailand and especially on Phuket.

Don’s Café is also well known in the local community for frequently organizing special theme dinners for events such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you enjoy a good barbeque then please note that there is a very affordable and excellent Texas barbeque buffet at Dons Café Phuket every Saturday evening.

Another business of Don which is located right next to Don’s Café is the Don’s Wine Cellar and Catering services. It has always been a problem for regular clients to buy good quality affordable wines on Phuket which is why Don started Don’s Wine Cellar. Customers can purchase a few bottles to take back to their Phuket residence and he offers over 100 different wine labels. If you have some special type of event or party you would like to have catered then please be sure to contact Don’s Catering Services. There is also Don’s Bakery where you can buy a variety of different freshly baked breads.

Don has also expanded his food company to new location under the name of Dons Food Company Limited. They operated branches in Chiang Rai, Bangkok and even Kunming China. This company provided whole sale food to hotels and restaurants and specializes in high quality meat products such as steaks.

Another outlet at Don’s Village Mall is a small yet well stocked international supermarket where clients can purchase their favorite food products or beverages from back home. There is also an outstanding Phuket butcher at Don’s Village Mall where you can buy the best meat products available on the island of Phuket.

It has recently come to my attention that Don’s Café and the other businesses of Don have been put up for sale. Don is 75 years now and wants to take it easier. Who can possible blame him? For more information please be sure to visit his website at: http://donsphuketmall.com/

Don’s Café Phuket Contact Information

Don's Cafe and Mart
48 / 5 Sai Yuan Road Moo 8
Rawai Beach, Phuket 83130
Telephone: +66 - 76 – 289314
Fax: ++66 - 76 – 289319
Email: info@phuket-dons.com
Website: http://www.phuket-dons.com/

Do you have Questions on Dons Cafe?
Ask them at Tripsofa.com for free.