Panda Express

In general, the food at Panda Express isn’t bad if you’re not expecting to have an authentic Asian experience. However, as others have mentioned, the food at this location hasn’t always been the freshest.
What has really pissed me off is that there have been multiple occasions where we got there an hour before the posted closing time of 9p, and they had already put away all of the food and were in the process of cleaning. We watched several other customers also get turned away in the few minutes we sat in the car trying to decide on a place that actually served food during normal business hours. If you’re not going to serve food after 8p, why don’t you just change your hours of operation? Extremely inconvenient, and it’s not worth going to this location.

Wow. So, my office decides to use the group order feature on the website. There were 4 orders and we ordered our food at around 11:45 am, with pick up for 12:40 pm. I came in at exactly 12:40 and was confused because I didn’t see any boxes bagged up or any indication that my order was ready. I went to the cash registered as directed and explained I had a group order. The guy at the register looks at the receipts that are still attached to the receipt dispenser, untouched and says that’s my order. Then he proceeds to go to the beginning of the buffet line to put together the FOUR orders. I interrupted him to ask him why these were not even started until just now (because I set it for 12:40 pick up, not 12:55 pick up which was when I ended up getting it all) and he said it was the store policy to keep the food fresh. I asked if there was something I could do in the future that would enable me to come in and actually have my food ready to grab and go as I operate on a very tight work schedule as do my co workers. He SHRUGGED HIS SHOULDERS AND IGNORED MY QUESTION. Then a big group of people come in, and of course they are stuck waiting for this kid to put the orders together and bag them up for me because apparently it’s just this one kid working the buffet (a woman was in the back but not helping him at the time). So because of the long line, he starts rushing the orders. Sure enough, when I got back to the office to distribute the food to co workers, half the orders were incorrect. Completely unacceptable. I called the restaurant to speak with the manager, and when I told her the situation, she said and I quote «I’m sorry ma’am.» Then there was a pause where I expected she would offer to remedy the situation in SOME way. After a few seconds of silence, she said, «what do you want me to do?». Her tone indicated that I should have no expectation of timeliness or even to get what we paid for. I will NOT be returning to this location and I am turned off the chain indefinitely for the time being. I demanded a refund on my credit card and the manager signed heavily and said «well, if you come in the store with your receipt, I’ll see what I can do.» So done.

Food option choices were low as didn’t make the food look appealing. Sadly this isn’t the first time it has happened.

I’ve read the previous reviews, & most are spot-​on (except I’ve been lucky enough to never have seen the old food many have complained about). I do want to say, though, that anyone who walks into a Panda Express & complains that the food is not authentic Asian or that it is «Americanized» is (IMO) a pretentious idiot in the extreme. That’s like complaining that the hamburgers at McDonald’s aren’t authentic Hamburg, German.
SMH
I would caution the reader to ignore any review that damns this fast-​casual restaurant for not serving «authentic» Asian cuisine. Stir-​fried? Yes. Asian style flavor? Yes. Americanized? You bet. Does that make it bad? Not unless you’re foolish enough to expect authentic Asian cuisine outside of the Asian sections of town or any restaurant that has locations in shopping malls…
Food: very good
Portion sizes: generous
Value: excellent
Dining area cleanliness: needs work
Dining area climate: too hot
Restaurant windows: filthy
The place is good, and could be great (for fast-​casual) if they’d get to work on cleaning.
Just my two cents.

I have been a long time fan of Panda Express. I mean it’s cheap Americanized Chinese food but it gets the job done. However, this location is a no go. It was EXTREMELY dirty, everywhere. The food looked like it had been sitting around for hours & the employees could care less about customer service. It left a bad taste in my mouth… literally.

Good food. I thought the bowl was not enough food but it was. My belly was full for hours.

This Panda Express is so damn nasty! I walked in and walked out. VERY dirty, AND NOT clean

11:11 am on a Saturday and the doors were locked. There was no food on the steam table and no employees insight. We stood at the door for a couple of minutes before we went back to the truck; sat there for another 10 minutes and nothing changed. Needless to say, we left and found somewhere else to eat.

Nope.
I confess — my husband has taught me a lot about authentic Asian cuisine, vs the «Americanized Fake Stuff» — guess which one Panda falls into…
So, ok — I get it. It’s a good lunch spot to grab something when you get a craving for — Americanized Fake Stuff.
The teriyaki chicken is honestly the only thing I can stomach here. That is, when they have it.
This particular location (Weslayan) has a terrible habit of running out of dishes. You’re probably wondering why I go there often enough to realize they always run out of food — well, it’s because one of my coworkers thinks this place is the bee’s knees — (He hasn’t been taught very well apparently).
So they’re either out of brown rice (how does that even happen?) or the chicken teriyaki… both of which I usually order just for lack of better options.
The best thing they have is iced tea. Seriously. Don’t waste your money.
I resent how they get defensive when you ask why they consistently seem to run out of food. I’ve honestly been there four times since the holidays (within about two months) and every single time they were out of someone’s entrée. That is a pretty bad record.
One star for the iced tea. The rest — just go next door to Smoothie King and get a fruit lunch. You’re far better off.

What a delightful customer experience. The reviews for this place are old; there must be new management. Today, I watched the employees patiently help every customer in line make a selection and even get fresh entrees and sides just because. Sometimes it’s easy to get frustrated with people who don’t know what they want but it was all smiles from the team.
It’s still fast Chinese food, but the fact that the food is fresh and I can count on a good service experience is what will retain me as a customer. Good job, this location.

I haven’t been in a Panda Express in many years, and after this trip it might be just as long before I return.
This Panda is on the corner of a busy strip, so parking is always an issue.
I also realize that we came at an odd time at around 3pm, but still — the obvious issues were:
Food that was way past it’s prime sitting on the line. We were staring at the VERY end of an old pan of fried rice. The dregs of Orange Chicken. I ended up only getting one order instead of the double I wanted so someone else could have some.
I also realize that white rice and fried rice sound a little similar, so maybe the staff should be selectively listening for the distinction?

I came on a Sunday around 5pm hoping to have some decent food. Surprisingly I had exactly the opposite, only two employees on duty, there were only about four dishes to choose from that looked like had been sitting there for hours and hours. The rice was extremely dry and the food, walnut shrimp and mushroom chicken, tasted way old and sticky. It just looks like the employees did want to work because even though the front where all the food was supposed to be was almost empty, the guy in the back was not preparing any more for the day.
Definitely not coming back at all to this location again!

For some reason, they just are always out of food, which I feel like is easy to anticipate if it’s around lunch time. If you’re craving a specific Chinese food that other Panda Expresses may carry, you should not come here… because they will likely be out. They were even out of the fried rice at one point, which I feel like is something you should never run out of when you’re a fast-​food Chinese place.

Very disappointing. Overpriced asian «wanna-​be» food.

Good quality, good service

Normally, I like panda express but this location had the worst food EVER! The fried rice tasted like dead fish… The only thing I can think of is maybe someone cooked some shrimp and then used that same pan to cook the rice… Yuk!

The Panda gave me a very disappointing experience at lunch following a Thursday morning that really, really had not gone well. So I decided I needed some delicious Americanized-​Chinese in my belly to kill me slowly and deliver me into a food coma so I could be oblivious, dumb, fat, and happy for the rest of the day. This was a two entrée adventure, but could have easily turned into three … keep reading about the food presentation appearance issues.
Unlike the Taylor St Panda with the marvelous drive-​thru where I am on a first name basis with most of the staff, this place requires parkage and walkage to go inside, shuffle through the line, and all of that nonsense associated with fast food that is trying Wei (see what I did there?) too hard to put on airs that it is not fast food. Hello Panda, I sought you out because I wanted your panda paws all over me like a double-​double bacon cheeseburger (a Daniel L. custom at several Whataburger locations, NBD) — so quit trying to act all uppity. You are fast food. You are good for two things, which always overlap: (1) curing a hangover with your salty flavors and (2) eating here on a day where you will not put the fork down until you hate yourself a little less.
Like other reviewers mention, the food presentation is kind of a big fat flying fail. Most dishes are either totally out or on their last dregs. Fried rice? I got the scraped remains of fail from the bottom of the bucket. Orange chicken? I got the reject pieces that were misshapen, ugly, and off-​color that were not suitable for all other customers who came before me for lunch.
Soda machine: only Pepsi products. Yikes! But at least it wasn’t flat, although Diet Pepsi really makes you think about how Pepsi is so comfortable with a motto of «second or third best»
The only thing that was done right is that I asked for extra soy sauce and chili packets, because I like to soak my fried rice in a biblical flood before I devour it. I got one extra package of each. Wow. Thanks pal, I might totally bankrupt the company if you do like at my beloved Taco Bell on Vermont at Shepherd when I ask for extra fire sauce, everyone is well trained to know that means like ten extra, to use most, and apportion the rest among my fire sauce package deposits in my car, in my office, and at home. «Extra» means extra — «one more of each» means one more of each.
I am very disappointed in you Panda. Do not put your paws up, you go sit in the corner and think about what you did to ruin my lunch.

Okay, before you judge me, hear me out. We all have that one thing that we all hate to admit we love… french fries, chocolate cake, beer… MMMmmmm, beer.
Before I get side tracked by my love of beer I’ll let you know what one of my gotta haves is the fried rice from Panda Express. EWWWwwww, I know, but don’t hate me… I love this stuff. I think it stems from what a pain in the backside making fried rice can be… lots of oil and cutting tiny veggies. I’d rather get a large side of fried rice from here and add my own stuff at home like chorizo or char siu!!! Yummy! Whenever I go in and order from them they ask if I want anything else (I never do), be warned, nothing is as good as the fried rice… or so I’ve been told.

I had to come here for a meeting… I knew the food would suck… seriously…how did this place make it to have so many location… Y would any1 eat fake asian food… well anyway… I ended up eating this food and had to quit eating… it suck… the drinks was cold n good

When I have a craving for some quick Chinese food, this is my quick fix. It’s not the best but hell I’ve tasted a lot worse. My favorite thing to get here is the Bejing Beef… mmm sweet meat. They say orange chicken is their specialty but I don’t think it’s good. I’ve been having this craving for Honey Walnut Shrimp, and they happened to have it. It’s just ok, think they poured too much sauce on it. but the walnuts are good. Anyways, steamed rice is usually kinda dry and hard though. But nonetheless, it’s quick food. I’ll eat it every now and again.

Panda Express just opened in the Costco plaza. Ok, it’s Panda Express, so we’re not expecting too much. Food was ok. But for $ 8 including a drink, my portions were too small. One scoop of sweet and sour chicken — usually you get a half-​hearted second mini scoop at least. Along with small portions, their other revenue enhancing strategies seemed to be asking everyone if they wanted chicken egg rolls with their order (maybe they had a lot sitting around, but I suspect they’re just more expensive than other side items). And when you ask for a soft drink, pointing to the only size cup sitting on the counter, the large and seeing if you’ll take it. The small cups were cleverly hidden away. Between that and the crazed «welcome to Panda» screaming every time someone walked in, I think we’ll stick to Costco pizza.