Panda Express

I was doing 10,000 errands in Joplin that day and got hungry. While stopped for gas I looked around and saw the sign for Panda Express behind me. I asked someone next to me if they’d tried it — they said yes, it’s ok — so I googled it first. Eggplant Tofu is what made me go in, unfortunately this wasn’t served at this location.
This is a different type of Chinese restaurant — buffet viewing style but not eating style. More like a Subway-​style, make your own dish restaurant. You pick one or two entrees and a sidedish. You can also grab an appetizer or two. I chose Mushroom Chicken, honey walnut shrimp, with a side of fried rice. Apparently their specialty is orange chicken, because while I was deciding, that got suggested to me 2 or 3 times.
I loved the mushroom chicken — a healthy serving of tasty large mushrooms and zucchini with chunks of chicken in a flavorful sauce. The honey shrimp, which added a dollar to the bill because it was a premium choice, wasn’t so great. That could be a personal preference but it was also a much smaller serving. Hey I paid $ 1 more so at least as big of a serving as the chicken right? They fill half your plate with the sidedish but that’s understandable because these are definitely budget prices and the rice was good. I left filled.
All the food is cooked directly behind the serving counter in plain view and everything in the counter was fresh and hot. The three servers/​cashiers were pleasant and polite, one more so than the other two but no complaints.
I will definitely go back to try some of their other dishes

They use MSG but swear they do not. Sick for 2 days because of it. I got the impression they did not believe (or care) that some are highly allergic.

The place was very clean when I visited and the food was nice and hot, I love the steamed veggies, nice and crisp and tasty. The lemon chicken was very good and moist. I like this place a lot because the prices were nice.

The food itself is fairly average. I’ve been plenty of times, and if you’re looking for a place to eat a large quantity of food and conserve time then this place should do nicely.
The pricing is typical of a fast food restaurant in the Joplin area. You’ll wind up paying about $ 8-​$ 13 for yourself. It’s generally kept clean, though the soda machine area is often a little messy (straw wrappers, spilt soda, etc.). Overall it’s very very average, but it will do in a pinch.

Be careful. The chow mein is really weird. Not sure what it is??? The black pepper chicken was quite tasty. No, I would not eat here again.

I had VERY low expectations after reading the negative reviews here and hearing similarly bad things from friends and family during the months since Joplin’s Panda Express opened. But I simply had to try it for myself, and I was not unhappy with the food I received. Against my better judgment, I went to the drive thru to place my order and the employee was extremely difficult to understand and I had to repeat my order several times before she got it — very simple order of Honey Walnut Shrimp and mixed veggie bowl and 3 crab rangoons. At the time (Dec 2014), my total was under eight dollars for this, which I didn’t think was too bad given the quality of the shrimp which was way better than I expected for fast food. It was not a large portion but the shrimp were very good and battered lightly with an appropriate coating. The sauce seemed to be mayo based and there were a few candied walnuts thrown in, reminding me of Walnut Shrimp dishes at authentic Hong Kong style restaurants. So that kind of blew me away and caused my rating to go from 3 to 4, to be honest… I didn’t think I’d get that kind of flavor at Panda Express. The mixed veggies were crunchy and just barely steamed, which I happen to like, but it did feel like I was eating the contents of a plain steamer bag from the supermarket, nothing special. The crab rangoons, an afterthought for me, were not something I’d repeat as they were small and very oily with a super strong onion flavor to the filling. I know several people who would love the crunchy & ultra oniony rangoons though, so that is just my personal preference speaking. Overall I have to say I will be back sometime. The price wasn’t crazy and using their nutritional info as a rough guide, they fit my lifestyle pretty well. I would say this is one of the fresher tasting fast food options available right now.

This was my first trip to a Panda Express. Overall, I was disappointed. First of all, we arrived at opening time and there were no selections on display. The associate ask us to tell her what we wanted and they would cook it. We had children with us, that really needed to see the food before ordering. We waited quite a while for our entrees. The food was ok, but the steamed vegetables were nearly raw. The manager seemed a little testy when we returned the vegetables and the second time they came back, they were still nearly raw
Very small portions of protein, they heap the plate with rice «cheap».
I’m not a fan.

Was at the store at 10:47am. it was supposed to open at 10:30 & the chairs were still on the tables-​we were told the food was not ready and they weren’t open yet. They locked the doors when we turned & left. THERE WAS EVEN AN EMPLOYEE SITTING IN A BOOTH WITH A DRIVETHRU HEADSET ON doing nothing! Get off your hiney, start turning chairs over, open the store on time & take pride in your work.
I came back through the drive thru 20 minutes later & still had to wait over 10 minutes because the food wasn’t ready.
The day time manager needs to be replaced immediately.

(Star Rating: 2.5) The overall vibe of this place is cold and unfriendly. Service is not what I’m used to, it’s like subway style ordering, and the girls working the counter couldn’t tell me about the entrée flavors/​ingredients. The entrees are alright, though I think it is a bit overpriced. The side of rice and/​or noodles was disappointing (bland rice, dry noodles).
They do make good black pepper chicken, though. Not overly spicy with good flavors.

Something is wrong with the way this store is ran. When I was there last they were missing ingredients so some of the entrée options were non-​existent. The food that I ate this time was better… but as some of the fresh veggies were gone, everything I had to eat was fried. The girl working the counter plated me and then said; «Someone will be here to ring you up.» She then away and I could see her milling around the drive thru area. So I stood there making eye contacg with any employee I could find for 3 minutes until finally someone came to help. Panda is better then this.

The store opened at 11:15 which is 45 minutes after they were suppost to. Service was slow. The employees were in a bad mood. napkins wasnt stocked and they dont have any madarin sauce for the dry teriaki chicken. So disapointed!!!

Second visit, barely warm food, can’t make an order spicy (the employee said because everything was pre-​made) portions are very small. With a drink it was $ 10. No thanks

Still working out the kinks, apparently, but for fast Chinese it’s hard to beat. Pepsi products. Clean interior.

Of course this is a chain but it’s pretty good for take out Chinese! The service is very friendly and the place is very very clean. Be prepared for a wait on the weekend as they seem to be super busy!

So I walk in and it’s pretty damn hectic. 5 minutes til the close and they are rushing me to hell as fast as they can. It’s pathetic. And the manager is sitting here like it’s good. They talk so quick I can’t understand them and they had almost no food? Like everything was out. Lol no more panda