Panda Express

OK, so here is the deal. I like Panda Express. I get that it is the McDonald’s of Chinese food, but sometimes I want cheap, fast, and easy. So the 1-​star is specifically due to problems I have witnessed at this location.
I just moved nearby and have been to this location twice in the last month. The first time, one of the employees who was serving food to customers turned around to help the kitchen by emptying the kitchen trash (a very gross looking full bag of juicy kitchen trash). That’s all fine, but SHE DID NOT WASH HER HANDS before turning back to serve food again. I was disgusted and reported the issue to management (no response).
Tonight I went back and was there more than 1 hour before they closed. Do you want rice? Hope so, that is all they have. Whatever, they cooked me what I wanted in just a few minutes. So what happened this time? When I asked for a side of sweet and sour sauce, the employee (not the same employee from the trash juice incident) filled the sweet and sour cup and spilled some sauce down the side. «Oops» he says as he wipes the excess sauce off with his finger. Not a napkin. Not a kitchen towel. His finger. The same finger he has been handling debit cards and cash with at the register. Apparently he sees the disgust on my face as he explains they don’t have any more sweet and sour sauce. So, I eat my meal without the sauce I like (because it went to live in the trash where gross things should go) all the while wondering how many disgusting things happened to my food based on these two experiences.
In addition to what seems like incredibly poor employee safety/​cleanliness training, this location also seems to be lacking general customer service as they have been generally grumpy both times I have been in. I WILL NOT be coming back to this location next time I have a craving for cheap, quick Chinese food.

I’m not going to lie and say the food was incredible… It’s Panda Express so I’m not exactly expecting authentic gourmet Chinese cuisine. I ran into this Panda Express to grab a quick meal. I ordered a bowl with mixed veggies and string bean chicken. The service was super quick and the woman didn’t act like her career was on the line when I asked for some sweet and sour sauce and hot mustard from behind the counter. Parking is terrible, but the restaurant itself was very clean.

Every time I eat at Panda Express I’m reminded of why I never want to eat at Panda Express, but somehow get coerced by others in search of cheap orange chicken. The food is mediocre if you’re lucky, and the service never reaches mediocrity.
Today was another prime example. It took everyone on duty to attempt to sell me a gift card. They took my money but never gave me a receipt. Then when I asked for my receipt they had to call someone else to actually activate the card and sell it to me. I wanted a $ 20 card and the shift leader couldn’t figure out how to put $ 20 on one card so he tried to tell me the maximum was $ 10/​card. I told him the sign on the gift card rack says $ 10 minimum. Finally after about 20 minutes I got one $ 10 card. I gave up and had him give me the remaining $ 10 from my $ 20 back. I finally sit down to eat my, now cold, food and my daughter finds a hair in her orange chicken. The shift leader refunded all but the cost of my grandpa’s lunch which he’d mostly finished. Thankfully there’s a Panera nearby. We finished lunch there.

This was your average Panda Express. Nothing special. It was clean and the people behind the counter were friendly. It was a bit odd that we had to ask for a key to use the restroom, but maybe that is because it is across the street from the University.

Mexican food has Taco Bell to ruin its good name. Chinese food has Panda Express to do the same.

This location has always been dependable when I have needed a quick Chinese fast food. Come on, it’s Panda.

Gross food. It is an insult to the citizens of the People’s Republic and the heritage one of the World’s oldest civilizations to label this as «Chinese food». In keeping with the theme of the other review, since I used to live nearby I sometimes stopped here to use the restroom on the way to or from UNM or Nob Hill or someplace better than here. About the only thing this place is truly useful for, I learned after a few unpleasant experiments involving ingestion of their «cuisine».

This is a review only of their vegetarian egg rolls.
I was desperate to use a bathroom, so we ducked in here and purchased an inexpensive item on their menu to establish us as customers (only customers can request the bathroom key). One of the cheapest items turned out to be an order of vegetarian egg rolls (2 rolls per order) for about $ 1.90, so that’s what we got. Turns out they were surprisingly tasty, even after sitting in a coat pocket for several hours and then refrigerated overnight and reheated.