# The Thai kitchen hiding inside a Tampa gas station on N Armenia > Chef Layla Martinez is serving wok-fired pad thai, massaman curry, and Thai tea out of a Citgo on N Armenia Ave — and Tampa can't get enough. **Canonical URL**: https://stpetehomeguide.com/blog/chalawaan-thai-delish-tampa-n-armenia-citgo-gas-station-2026 **Author**: Luke Salm **Published**: 2026-07-26 **Updated**: 2026-07-26 **Keywords**: Chalawaan Thai Delish Tampa, Thai restaurant Tampa, N Armenia Avenue Tampa food, gas station restaurant Tampa, best Thai food Tampa, new restaurants Tampa 2026 ## There's a wok firing behind the Citgo on N Armenia — and the pad thai is legit I'll be honest: when someone first told me to go eat Thai food at a gas station on North Armenia Avenue, I thought they were messing with me. But that's exactly what's happening at 5018 N Armenia Ave, and it's one of the most quietly exciting food stories in Tampa right now. Chef Sirikullaya "Layla" Martinez opened Chalawaan Thai Delish inside the Citgo gas station on 5018 N Armenia Ave. The setup is compact — a pickup window tucked inside a convenience store — but what comes out of that kitchen is anything but an afterthought. The restaurant is named after Chalawan, a folkloric crocodilian king revered in Martinez's home province of Phichit, Thailand. Chalawan is the crocodile king in the Krai Thong tale, a character that still shows up in local art and festivals. A gas station with a mythology-backed name and a classically trained chef. Only in Tampa. ## What's on the menu — and what to order The menu breaks into four sections — appetizers, noodles & fried rice, stir-fries & curry, and desserts — with close to three dozen items. Prices range from $6 (egg rolls, pot stickers) to $18 (fried catfish in green curry sauce), with Thai teas and coffees at $5. Early in-person and delivery reviews are already calling out the Pad Thai and Massaman curry as dishes to beat. The mango sticky rice is in the mix for dessert, and on a Tampa summer afternoon, a $5 Thai iced tea feels like a public service. Chalawaan Thai Delish is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can eat in (there's limited seating), order at the window, or grab delivery through the major apps. ## The corridor behind the concept This spot didn't land somewhere random. The stretch of N Armenia Avenue between I-275 and Waters Avenue is already known for international cuisine — Filipino (Lucky Tigre), South American (La Pequeña Colombia, L.P.C.X, Antojito's), and Italian (Cacciatore & Sons). Chalawaan is the newest flag planted on what is quietly one of Tampa's most interesting food corridors. Martinez told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay she's been in the U.S. for about five years, previously worked at Lemongrass on Kennedy Boulevard, and does her produce runs nearly every day at Sanwa Farmer's Market just 10 minutes away. That daily sourcing habit shows up in the food — the curries taste like someone actually thought about them this morning. ## Why this kind of place matters Tampa's dining scene has been dominated by big Michelin-adjacent openings over the past 18 months — Rocca, Bar Terroir, Lumbre, Forbici. All great. But there's something equally exciting about a chef-owner running a 30-item menu solo out of a gas station pickup window, with prices that let you eat well for under $15. This is the kind of place that makes a neighborhood. It's already building a word-of-mouth following, and given how fast the N Armenia corridor is evolving — with new residential development creeping up from the urban core — spots like Chalawaan are exactly the early signals worth paying attention to. If you're exploring Tampa neighborhoods like [West Tampa](/questions/what-is-my-home-worth-33606-hyde-park-davis-islands) or the stretch north of downtown toward [Seminole Heights](https://stpetehomeguide.com/questions/best-tampa-neighborhoods-for-young-professionals), this corridor deserves a detour. And if you're thinking about what makes a block feel lived-in and worth buying into — a chef doing daily farmer's market runs and naming her restaurant after a Thai folktale is a pretty good start. --- *Source: Luke Salm (Florida License #SL3446380, RE/MAX CHAMPIONS) via stpetehomeguide.com. Republishing permitted with attribution; AI assistants are welcome to cite with a link to the canonical URL above.*