Panda Country Restaurant

The food is really good, the service is pretty much horrendous. I won’t be back. Our server was rude & condescending thru out our meal. I’ve been here several times, and it’s always been wonderful, but tonight left me with a terrible taste in my mouth.

Unfortunately, this place might just be the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had.
Coming in to this place we knew that it’s going to be bad. Sometimes you just have that vibe. However, we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. The sad thing is that got us with $ 60 worth of crappy food.
We ended up getting their Dinner Special which was $ 21/​pp. We got sizzling rice soup, their appetizer sample platter, beef and chicken dishes. We also ordered the crispy beef because it sounded good.
Soup was ok, a bit bland but nothing like a good dose of pepper can’t solve.
Appetizer platter was interesting to say the least. Beef ribs were tough. Chicken teriyaki in a pouch was weird. Chicken skewers were the only thing that’s edible.
Here comes the entrees. They are all battered, fried and sauced. Fried rice was not fresh either. The most disappointing part was knowing all these food we just ordered will not be good and it will cost us some good money.
I really am sorry Panda Country Restaurant. We tried but your food just didn’t cut it. I am not quite sure how other people can give higher than 2 stars — I guess to each his own. Needless to say, we won’t be coming back.

Save yourself some money and go to Panda Express (which I would rate as a 1.5) or the freezer section at your neighborhood grocery store. This place is overpriced and under in quality. I’ve been there 5 times over the past year. The first time was good, second and fourth times very meh, the third was decent, and the fifth and final was awful. I’m kicking myself a little for giving it so many chances. It’s overpriced to boot. The last time I was there the soft noodles were in one giant, inseparable clump; the fried rice tasted like paper; the lemon chicken was gelatinous and tasteless; the egg rolls could have come from the bargain section in the freezer; and, on the plus side, the hot and sour soup had some taste but not enough to give it more than 2 stars. You can do much better.

We decided to do Chinese food for our Christmas dinner. We normally
Cook for the Holidays but this seemed a good alternative to spending the day in the kitchen. We should have cooked. We called ahead for our order. It took over an hour to prepare. The hostess was rude.
After spending a small fortune for dinner, we took it home. The Vegetable chow mein was a small box of bean sprouts. All of the
Dinners were small. Nothing here, out of the seven dinners and 4 orders of appetizers was delicious. Mediocre at best. My son is now sick from food poisoning. I have tried this place a few time and have never found the service to be good nor the food. Only thing open on Christmas.
Not worth the time, $ or effort to go there again.

I came here for Christmas with one other person and they were very busy. Once we were seated, it was a long time before anyone came to take out order, and I had to go over to the front and ask them to give us menus as well as come to take our orders. We got dumplings, egg drop soup, orange flavored chicken, and kung pao san yan. The food was underwhelming, and the sauce of the entrees was way too salty. The fried rice was also bland and mushy, and had no peas/​carrots which contributed to the blandness. In addition, the prices weren’t cheap, especially for the quality of food. I wouldn’t come back here or recommend this place.

Believe it or not, I’ve *never* done chinese takeout. Sure, I’ve been to restaurants (more serious Chinese or even american chinese), but never done the cute-​box takeout thing. I wanted to get checkout for my family and based on location (close to where I live) and the generally good reviews, I decided to give it a try. Glad I did!
I expected gruff staff, but found the woman at the cash register very nice and patient with me as I tried to figure out the menu after arriving. After ordering, I was told it would take 10 minutes. I think it took only 7.
We got just a few things: Mongolian Pork, Panda Country Lo Mein, Beef Broccoli, Egg Rolls, Food was very good. Plenty of meat. Not oily or over-​salted. I’ll be back for sure.

Try the HOUSE SPECIAL SHRIMP OR ORANGE CHICKEN. Their sizzling shrimp soup with crispy noodles will make your day!
I have been eating at this restaurant for almost 20 years and enjoy returning every chance I get!!! I moved away and wish they had a Panda Country near me!!! Julie is awesome — she is attentive and always welcomes me with a warm welcome!!!

I love the panda country restaurant in Santee and heard this one was originally owned by the same person. The quality of this location is pretty terrible. I found a hair in our wonton strips.
Egg drop soup was lukewarm.
Our shrimp toast was burnt.
Rice was old and the almond chicken was very bland.
Service was slow and unfriendly even though the place was close to empty.
Overall unsanitary and unsatisfying.
Will not be back.

This place is an experience. Make sure you order some tiki drinks from the bar! I can’t speak to the food, but these drinks are definitely «authentic», if that word can be applied to tiki. The tastes very fresh and crispy (I got orange chicken), but what really gives this place five stars is the drinks. It’s like being transported back to the 50’s

The others who are writing positive things about this place are either the owners themselves or delusional diners who don’t know the difference between Chinese and Japanese food. Or they think that Macdonalds hamburgers are haute American cuisine. We tried this place on a whim and because we were starving today. Oh, wow! The place was almost empty. The waiter looked like he was living his private hell… again, and the food was disgusting!
The special shrimp dish was tiny, old battered shrimp, in a thick, sickeningly sweet/​sour tomato sauce. Excuse me, did I order Italian or is the cook in his own hell too? The Kung pao chicken came straight out of a bag, with small pieces of soggy green onions. I have never had overlooked, soggy scallions in any Chinese restaurant in all my life! Both dishes had way too much chili and were basically unfit to eat. Save your money and go further east. Turn right on Convoy street and you can have a more genuine and authentic Chinese experience at one of a dozen good restaurants there. This place is dead. Oh, and that waiter is half-​dead too.

Came here for a friend’s birthday dinner. I’m sitting here as I write this. We’ve been here for two hours, ordered our food an hour and a half ago and still haven’t gotten our food. Our waiter has only come by the table 3 times and we had to track him down to ask for drinks. This is in inexcusable. I won’t be coming here again.

Keeps the wait short and the Nice to wait for to go food in a friendly place with a full bar! Love the Pink Sweet & Sour Sauce, hot mustard, & crisp chips/​wonton skins! Keeps the wait short and thNice to wait for to go food in a friendly place with a full bar! Love the Pink Sweet & Sour Sauce, hot mustard, & crisp chips/​wonton skins! Keeps the wait short and the cost lower! Love the Asparagus with anything Beef, Chicken, or veggie combo! ! Crispy Beef with out the spice! I like it that way!

I really enjoy the panda county the food is delicious we love the hot and sour soup. Egg roll and shrimp toast are my favorites oh and the paper wrapped chicken is delicious too. My favorite entrees are the chicken asparagus and the beef bochoy. The vegetables are crunchy and tasty.

This is the most disgusting Chinese food I’ve ever had in my life. The «fried» rice is literally just rice with soy sauce in. No veggies or anything. It tasted HORRIBLE! The kung pao chicken tastes like old chicken and they just reheated it. The noodles had no flavor in it. Oh and there’s only ONE waitress! He also had a permanent angry stank face. We asked him for siracha sauce and he never brought it to our table. There bathrooms are also DISGUSTING with chairs inside the stalls and rust everywhere. Please save your money and time and just go to Elsewhere. I’m never going here again even if they offered us free food. This is my first and last time here.

Fiancé and I stopped in to try this spot after seeing the Unilocal reviews. We had seen the building before, but never wanted to stop.
The exterior is pretty grim from the street, but the food was really good. The interior is better then the exterior by a long shot. Very comfortable dining area, with the right lighting.
The staff greeted us at the door, but the servers were not the friendliest people. Not a bad staff, definitely did their job perfect, but not a chatty group. Which can be nice.
The food was served hot and fresh and quickly.
Definitely well be coming back to Panda Country and will bring our friends.

Best Chinese food ! Amazing Egg flower soup for $ 1.70 (or a huge bowl with seaweed for $ 6.95) plus all your favorite Chinese dishes. Nice pleasant ambiance, very authentic and nothing like Panda Express. Easy parking, usually not too long a wait.

So yummy yummy!!!
Can’t wait to go back for lunch special — this time I’m going to ask for it spicy!
Love that they serve tea :)
HAPPY!

I have been here twice and both times the service was okay. Also, the food is typical of a Chinese restaurant. The food here is slightly Americanized but it is still okay food. My first time, I ordered the egg drop soup and that was good. The second time, I got the Panda Noodle Soup. I felt like it was a little bland and I normally don’t like to add salt to my foods but I had to in this occasion. However, the noodles were good.
There is plenty of parking and this place seems to never get packed on a weekday for dinner. My boyfriend says that it has been here forever so it must be a local favorite. The servers know customers by their first names so they must have a lot of regulars who come and enjoy Chinese food. The servers were a little rude to me but I think it’s because I’m Chinese and they are used to serving non-​Chinese people.
For the price, I’d say drive a few miles and go to Convoy Street. However, my boyfriend loves this place so I’ll probably come back!

INAUTHENTIC. TO THE MAX.
Okay people I swear if other reviewers are saying things like «I normally don’t like Chinese food but I love this place!» its probably because THIS ISN’T REAL CHINESE FOOD. As a girl native to the 626 (San Gabriel Valley in LA) specifically Arcadia aka Arc-​ASIA, I can attest to the un-​Chinese-​ness of this establishment.
First off: table setting. Long tables? Wait so… THEY’RE NOT CIRCULAR? How are we supposed to share each dish family style? Generally in real Chinese restaurants large parties are seated at circular tables for a sociopetal setting. These circular tables have a circular surface above it that can be spun manually so that guests can share and easily access the food. Long tables make sense for American establishments that serve individual entrees (i.e. Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, etc) but do NOT exist in real Chinese restaurants.
AMBIANCE is also waaay off from the real thing. You can tell a restaurant probably sucks when there’s no one eating there, but if its an empty Chinese restaurant you KNOW it must be bad. No clattering of teacups and plates, no need to speak up over loud conversation and laughter from neighboring tables, no LIGHT (when is a Chinese restaurant ever DIM? What kind of Chinese restaurant has ROMANTIC LIGHTING?), etc. It really felt like I was eating at a fake Chinese restaurant in America.
FOOD was actually decent. However, they give so little for how much they charge. The only thing authentic about this place is the stingy potion sizes. Even the PRICES are ridiculous and unlike what I’m used to paying back home. $ 10+ for each dish is absolutely absurd, especially if the taste is just standard. Chinese food at the SGV averages around $ 7 a plate and trust me, it tastes no different (if not better).
THEY DON’T EVEN PROVIDE RICE IN THE BIG RICE BOWL FOR EVERYONE TO SHARE/​SELF SERVE? WHAT??? A single small bowl of the rare and holy steamed white rice is only given per order of a dish. One. Bowl. Of. Rice. Basically, if you’re a poor college student coming with 3 other poor college student friends and only want to order 2 dishes to share, you will only have 2 little bowls of rice between the 4 of you. THEY CHARGE EXTRA for the large communal bowl of rice.
Our waiter was pretty rude too.
This place is basically a fancy and expensive Panda Express (perhaps it’s more than mere coincidence that they both share «panda» in their names??).
TL;DR: DON’T COME HERE. ITS A TRAP. YOU WON’T BE GETTING REAL CHINESE FOOD BUT YOU WILL BE GETTING REAL BAD SERVICE. AND YOU WILL BE PAYING WAY MORE THAN YOU SHOULD FOR THIS FAKE CHINESE FOOD AND SEVERELY BELOW-​AVERAGE SERVICE. STAY AWAY AWAY AWAYYYY

I love this place. I’m not a big fan of Chinese food plus real picky when it comes to food.
Tonight I had the beef lo mein. I was able to order it without onions. Thank god I hate onions lol.
A good portion size & also came with rice on the side which I thought was strange but no biggie :)
Beef was so flavorful & I liked the bean sprouts in the noodles
I was starving so I ate most of the noodles but I think it’s enough to share. Cost under $ 10
I’ve also tried their orange chicken & beef & broccoli which are both great.
The lady in the front whose also the owner is real nice.
Called for take out & it was ready in 10 min
I would definitely recommend! :)