Panda Express

The food is the food, same as any Panda, which is fine. It’s supposed to be fast food and the line through the store everyone talks about is because no one in there moves with much urgency. They’re slow. Sllllooooooowwww. The staff is friendly enough, but standing there for 10 – 15 or more minutes waiting to order and have your meal put together is frustrating when interrupted by their banter and lack of ability to multitask. If they picked up the pace to stay on par with how busy they get, there’s be more stars here.

Horrible, horrible, horrible! Bad service and you’d think the portion they give is coming out of their paycheck. When you ask them to put more they get angry. My husband had the teriyaki chicken and it was burnt not to mention the hour we had to wait in line. To say it was a very bad experience would be an understatement. If you are in the mood for panda, do yourself a favor and go elsewhere.

Why is this line always so long I do not understand, it literally wraps around the restaurant. I only come for a bowl with steamed rice and orange chicken but it takes at least 20 minutes to get my 1 item.

I am usually very happy with Panda Express but I just had the worst experience. My friend and I came in and ordered two bowls and they put maybe one scoop of chow mein with only 4 honey walnut shrimp on top. It did not fill the bowl. My friend asked for more rice in hers and she only put a scoop (not a lot). Excited that Id have at least one thing, I decided to open my fortune cookie only to find out that It did NOT have a fortune in it. That was not ok.

It’s just awful. I’d rather go hungry. Met my sister here because she loves it, which I can’t understand. Food is hot and freshly cooked, but horrible awful can barely chew it, forcing myself swallowing the food without chewing as I’m stuck in the car, starving, watching her sleeping baby. Potstickers had almost no filling and were bland. Veggie Spring Rolls were disgusting, like deep fried baby food. Honestly the worst I’ve ever had– I don’t even know how they get them so mushy on the inside. Got the ‘famous’ Orange Chicken. Taste like deep fried dirt balls flavored with orange. How can it be dry and deep fried? They manage it. Broccoli Beef was the least awful, tasteless baby food texture beef (and very little of it) but the big chunks of raw broccoli were good– because they’d didn’t get a chance to ruin it I guess with their death by cooking techniques. Has got to be the worst meal I’ve had in ten years.

This was the WORST panda that I have ever been too! I mean it is chain so I do not expect much. Also food was good. Because you know it’s panda. I waited 15 minutes to start my order with 2 parties in front of me! Then once I told them I wasted chow mein I waited another 15 minutes! RIDICULOUS.

Their orange chicken is super flavorful! I’ve been to the other Panda Express locations in Vallejo and American canyon whose orange chicken seems to be dry and inconsistent. However, I give this place 5 stars. Also their customer service is great! They never rush me when I asked questions. The employees are efficient, so the line moves quickly.
This is my go-​to after class because Panda is located only a couple minutes from the Napa Junior College!

Why is the line here always so long?
Interesting observation: the cooks and most patrons are Mexican. I don’t know if it means anything, but the food is still good, fast (when its not prime meal time) and fresh.

Only Panda around so I have no choice. Love the food when I’m in the mood for quick Chinese. The problem here is not the food its almost always great, hot and fresh. The problem is customer service is crap, your lucky if they get your order the first time and usaly it take repeating yourself, Its over crowded and the wait can take forever we seriously need a second panda in town. Overall it’s a once in a while treat order online and save some time. The noise level is also insane when they get super busy

Great place to have lunch. I love the way they show the veggies in a nice fridge and let us know how fresh they are.
Why 3 stars instead of 5?
Staff.
I try to be nice to staff and they don’t really seem to appreciate it. Specially one lady called Rosa.

Service is usually terrible but Juan the manager was great. He fixed my issue quickly and politely.

Typical Panda Express, except for the insane lines. Been here twice, once at about 5pm and once at 730pm during weekdays. Each time the line has been insanely long.

Employees are incredibly rude and have a real lack of giving a sh! t. They hate their jobs and its really obvious.

As food chains go — you can count on consistency with Panda food. Food from this location is as expected. The location is what is the worst part about this Panda Express.
I’ve been here 3 times and each time the parking was horrendous. I think it’s because it sits almost directly next to a Starbuck’s. There is NO drive thru (for any establishment). Additionally, there is always a LONG line. I mean like you have to wait 20 minutes in LINE before you can even order. That is certainly not acceptable for a quick food joint.
The only upside to this location is Aaron. He’s the first Panda employee that greets me to take my order. He is cheerful, and fast. That being said — why is the place so slow to get you out the door? On my last visit in I was careful to observe why. And here is what I think is the problem. It’s the other front line staff (3 of them) who kept finding other things to do. They would walk away from their post and change the garbage or put out more soy sauce. Really? During the dinner rush hour you are going to let food sit on the counter while you replenish the soy sauce? There also didn’t seem to be any sense of urgency that the line wrapped down and around all the way to the back of the store by the pop dispenser. This created a whole different sort of jam up.
Aaron was the only one cranking it out! He was running circles around the other 3.
I saw a sign for ordering on-​line and picking up the order. I think I’ll do this next time and avoid the line (I hope!)

Longest line ever! Food is cool. Employees don’t care. It’s so slow and tiring waiting for this line here. If you have no life, please wait by all means. The food is still consistent. Just takes forever.

I have a love hate relationship with this place. The food is good but the service and consistency is absent. My father went in for lunch today and ordered a bowl with orange chicken. The lady have him two large scoops of orange chicken. Then when he took my brother and I for dinner the same lady gave me HALF a scoop of chicken. When I asked «is that all you’re putting on» she mumbled something I couldn’t even understand. Like really people, if you want people to come in you need to be more consistent. It wasn’t like they were running out of chicken either. They’re just stingy.
On top of that the line is always way too long, we’re talking a 10 – 15 minute wait.

I’m writing this review while standing in line. The lines here are always hella long, and I think it’s an indication of how starved Napa it’s for a passable Chinese place.
Aside from the lines, this shop is pretty decent. It’s clean and the staff is friendly and efficient. I’d say that it’s medium in size for Panda Express, but the crowds make it seem small and congested.
It’s in a shopping park with a Raley’s grocery store, Home Depot, Target, etc., so it’s conveniently located if you have other errands to do. And there’s plenty of parking.
I’m still in line by the way…

I love panda for quick food. Not the one on soscol, not ever again. I went there, arriving second on line. It took forever for them to get someone at the front to take an order, and mine was simple: a single large entrée. I moved forward and waited for my order, but ten to fifteen minutes, after waiting ten for my order to be taken, discovered that they somehow lost the box marked with my order.
I didn’t realize this happened until they served two people behind me, from the last of the steam table. They told me that new chicken would be up in ten minutes, and were unapologetic as I told them they just served my order to the people behind me. This was the second time they lost a single-​entry box on their «assembly line.» So I spoke to the manager to explain their problem.
The manager was inexplicably rude to me, so I just left. Forever. Good game, Panda. Your Soscol place needs to stop ruining your reputation.

Can’t help myself. I love the orange chicken. Used to have one near home but no more, boooo. When I run across one when traveling, I try to have more. I almost never even try their other dishes, but when I have, they’re good too. I just crave the orange chicken!

Panda Express is a pleasant change from the usual. However, it is wise to eschew it on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening. On a Sunday night, it was chaotic. The line wound through the dining area; there were dirty tables. Nobody was wiping off the tables regularly, so it’s left up to the customers. To add to the chaos, two cops from Napa State Hospital showed up (as customers) as well as their food delivery. This was during the dinner rush. The delivery didn’t come through the back door because it isn’t designed that way (there’s drive-​thru for Starbucks instead)
I ordered the chow mein, Mandarin Surf&Turf, and the Sweetfire chicken. It was all delicious, I got good service. Too bad it was waaay too chaotic and dirty. Note to self: Avoid the lunch and dinner rush. And weekends.