• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

How do you feel about Panda Express?

Status
Not open for further replies.
It's good, but I would almost always prefer to get Chinese food from one of those typical hole-in-the-wall places that all have the same menu.
 
Went once while visiting the states.

Seemed like crappy American Chinese food.
Though I'm spoiled in my area for actual Chinese food.
 
I used to really like it, but there's some caveats to that. I lived in an extremely rural town, so there was no Chinese food within like 30 miles. PE was near the closest movie theater and we'd go there after sometimes. Enjoyed it. When I moved to a city, I've only had it like once since then. Wasn't bad, but now oddly enough it's less convenient to go to it versus closer places or places that deliver.

I like their orange chicken and chow mein, which is strange as normally I'm much more of a fried rice person.
 
BearPawB said:
There are probably 30 better take out Chinese places in my shitty part of North Carolina that are all leagues better than panda express.

Less accessible? How much of a rush are you in?
Click to expand...
I don't know dude. I'd take Panda Express over any of the Chinese places in my area. At least I can trust Panda Express to be homogenized somewhwat safe food.

Actually good quality Chinese food spots are hard to come by.
 
I'd never go to one if I had another option. The food is too sugary for me. Living the life of a remote employee in Texas who goes to Los Angeles half a dozen times of year, I die inside a little each day without access to Flame Broiler for my rice+meat fix.
 
There's an interesting book called The Fortune Cookie Chronicles that covers the history of Chinese food in America (and places like Panda Express). How the food has changed and some of the stories behind the people that make it.

IIRC, for a time being a Chinese food delivery man was one of the more dangerous jobs in NYC.
 
I only get the orange chicken when I go with either chow mien or white rice. They need to work on their fried rice it's awful. If you've ever been to Houston and to a more "ghetto" area, we have a local chain called Timmy Chan's. It's hit or miss taste wise depending on what you get, awful for you health wise, but gives enough food to feed a family for CHEAP.
 
I went in there once, saw that there vegetarian options were practically non-existent, then walked out empty-handed.

So, I feel they're a bit behind the curve, since nearly all other "fast casual" restaurants cater to this demographic with flying colors.
 
FinKL said:
Orange Chicken + Mixed Veggies thats a good meal
Click to expand...

That's my base right there.

Ususally go with:

Half Chow Mein / Half Veggies
Orange Chicken (I don't know what it is, but their Orange Chicken is SSS-tier)
Mandarin or Surf n Turf (when available) or Golden Shrimp (if I've eaten relatively little that day)
 
It's never toward the top of my list of places to eat, but every once in a while I'll get something there. Their noodles and rice and not very good. Their orange chicken and beef and broccoli can be good if they were just cooked, but if they sit out for a while in the warmers then they are not very good either.

It's not a replacement for real Chinese food, but it's fine for a fast food option.
 
It was good for what it is. When I was in college I used to eat Panda Express every couple of weeks and it was pretty solid. It's not like what you get at a buffet is much better.
 
It's alright, but there's better not-Chinese food in my area that isn't much more expensive. However, the real kicker is that my Panda is so severely understaffed that they have to close the drive-thru fairly often, as the staff there can't man both the drive-thru and the inside at the same time.
 
Since I'm on a diet, I fucking love it.

Panda bowl with mixed veggies as the side + teriyaki chicken = 380 cal


I really like them in general but this meal has been a staple for me and it's really good.
 
I like it. Depends on who's cooking and how much time the cook is letting it cook in the wok. With the ingredients, it has the potential to be perfectly fine just depending on the cook's skill. The fried rice is usually garbage because it's done way too hastily with barely any soy sauce or seasoning. Usually get shanghai steak and kung pow. Enjoyed the discontinued firecracker chicken too.
 
If I go I get the Teriyaki chicken(no sauce) bowl with half white rice/mixed vegetables. It's actually not the most unhealthy thing in the world. it stays under 600g of sodium which for fast food is crazy. It also tastes really good to me.
 
Love Panda as a standalone not in mall establishment. Fresh vegetables and decent quality meat. My go-to is Vegetables and Sweet Fire chicken.
 
Chow mein and orange chicken is pretty good. Do they still have Bejing beef? That was really good.

Havent had Panda Express since 2011 so, had none last time i were in the US 2015.
 
If you are the type to count your calories or macros, it's actually a pretty good place relative to other fast food options in a pinch. A plate of vegetables (with chili sauce) and something like teriyaki or firecracker or string bean chicken makes a very reasonable meal, even with strict macro goals. In a mall type setting, their quality tends to be a step up from standard mall food. I'm all for it.

Obviously not the case if you load up on shit like fried rice and orange chicken though. If you are going for pure pleasure, just go somewhere else (though the orange chicken can be tasty).
 
I've never seen one outside of a mall food court.

I've definatley never seen one with a drive thru.

Personally ive eaten it a few times, and i havent hated it. But generally when i chose it, it was the best thing out of a really crappy selection.
 
Never been a fan as the taste I can't get past. Thankfully only two of my friends enjoyed it so it was rarely suggested as an option to eat for our group.
 
I really like it. They moved out of the region years ago, but they've started opening some drivethru locations here in the last several months. Quick, cheap, good. Really bad for you. All the essential ingredients for amazing food.
 
Drive thru?

Ive only ever seen one in mall food coirts. Maybe if you live in the boonies whith no Chinese people, but there are literally hundreds of Chinese restaurants around me that are so much better.
 
BarrenMind said:
untitled0sshq.png
Click to expand...

This is funny but this is some BS.

I am mostly Chinese, and Panda Express is the legit best Chinese food in the world. And I say this unsarcastically.

It's consistent, it's not unhealthier than any other Chinese food, and you know they have the health code conditions locked down.

I know I can go into Panda Express and not suffer a horrible fate, or sit in a gross dilapidated hole in the wall that smells like a hockey locker room.

I don't like those buzzfeed videos where Chinese grandparents balk at the food. My dad is from China and he thinks Panda Express is legit.
 
American Chinese food is pretty depressing, but I've found that Panda Express beats any Chinese chain I've found in America, and if you go there once you can get a free entree if you keep the receipt next time. The value for money is pretty awesome.

I miss my 'English Chinese' where I can get a shredded chicken chow mein and a side of curry sauce and eat like a King.
 
Eh.

S'alright.

Pei Wei is better but also more expensive, so you get what you pay for I guess.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

  • Poll
How often do you nap?
2
61
640
Sticks replied
How do You overcome laziness?
2
63
1K
German Shocks replied
How much do you love tacos?
2
75
1K
Tunned replied
How much do you love tacos?
7
404
Avid Reading Horse replied
How do fat people do body workouts?
29
30
Dr. Suchong replied
Top Bottom