Panda Express

I placed an order for 7 trays of foods (chow mein, fried rice, orange chicken and teriyaki chicken) to be picked up for a lunch in the Oakland Hills for a large group on a Saturday. Online the earliest pick up time was 12 noon but we needed the food earlier if possible. I called and talked to Luis who said the order could be ready at 11:30. We were at the restaurant when the doors opened and he and his crew had the food packed and ready to go on time. We even got plates, serving pieces, napkins, condiments, etc. for the meal.
The lunch was a big success as everyone enjoyed the food which was hot and fresh. Worked out great for us.

I’m very disappointed with the food. I’ve been here before in the past and it was delicious, this time it was nothing but crap. I don’t know what happened to this place, am very disgusted with the food and the drinks were diluted. I will not be returning.

I was disappointed with this Panda Express (NOT the chain, just the Oakland part). If you had a bad experience here, please don´t be put off Panda Express, just go 10 minutes down the road to Alameda Island and the Panda Express there is excellent compared to this one. I have noticed that with all the fast food chain places, they can be good elsewhere but going into their Oakland locations means significantly worse quality. It shouldn’t be like that, but unfortunately as soon as you go into Oakland everything seems to get worse.
I ordered a bowl of honey sesame chicken and chow mein noodles. The server gave me a tiny portion of chicken in comparison to Alameda. The food did not taste as fresh as Alameda, it seemed to have been left out longer and a lot of the containers were empty. The noodle portion had more onion than noodles, unlike in Alameda where you get tasty noodles with just the right amount of vegetables. The chicken was pink in one part which I don’t think is acceptable in any restaurant, so I had to leave that piece. Usually I am full after having a Bowl, but this time (my first and last at this location) I didn’t feel satisfied at all.
The servers seemed disorganised and it was busy but no customers were pressuring the servers. When I ordered my food, I had just the one Bowl and it was ready to be paid for, but the people in front of me were ordering extra stuff and a member of staff was only adding things to their plates when it would have been more efficient to pass my thing to the cashier so I could pay and the line would be shorter. But instead, they made me stand there doing nothing for 5 minutes allowing mine and other peoples’ food to go colder. The cashier in Alameda always asks if I want soy sauce and chopsticks, regardless of how busy it is, but in Oakland the casher just gave me the bag with receipt and never asked me if I wanted soy sauce or chopsticks. The staff in Alameda are busy sometimes too but they always try to look after you well at least.

Racist. Let’s just say they cater to a lighter skinned demographic. A woman comes in, pregnant and ready to pop and ordering food. She goes to the restroom and it’s locked. The woman at the register tells her the bathroom is out of order.
Funny. It wasn’t out of order 60 seconds ago when another woman went to the restroom. There were no complaints made from that woman who was allowed to leave the restroom when she left.
When the pregnant lady left the woman at the register told him to put up an out of order sign up on the bathroom. Interesting.
Never will I ever come here again.

I came into this place with my coworker because she wanted something fast, and she had no idea what she was getting into. I did not purchase anything since the last time of my review. But I witnessed the people taking the orders are friendly. The cashier, Jenny, is still very rude who sounds like a robot! She still has very bad customer service! I cannot believe this lady is allowed to greet customers. She touches the food and then touches the money (should she even touch the food contaminating it?) Jenny’s customer service is a disgrace and her choice to touch food and money is disgusting to say the least! Lucky I am not buying my food from there anymore. This person has not changed and even my coworker says this is her first and last time after witnessing what I had.

There bowl with one side of your choice is the best deal. Thats the only thing i eat with satisfaction at any panda express. Service here is good though. Fast.

Idk if the first time I came here was just good luck or what. But every time since has been horrible. The foods either been sitting to long or just doesn’t have flavor. Then today I had to repeat myself maybe 4 – 5 times before I was heard. All around waist of $ 10.

First of all I have to say that this is the only place I could find that had a bathroom. The starbucks, popeyes, and sf soup company had no bathroom for customers so if u go to any of those other places ur shit out of luck. By the way bathrooms are for customers only so you have to buy something which was my case. I ordered a bowl and asked for half rice half noodles and they filed up the whole bowl with with carbs and for my one choice I got orange chicken which they only gave me one scoop of. this place sucks there are plenty of other choices around so go there and save your money for some high quality food. Fyi the food didn’t have any flavor which I don’t understand at all so if you want some empty tasteless calories this is the spot for u. P. s. for some reason as I take a bite and start chewing I get this piercing pain in my head so I threw the rest away. Does this happen to anyone?

looks like they changed the to go boxes and now reduced the size of the portions. Food is good, though no now you get less for your money.

I know, I know, you guys are thinking «why the heck are you reviewing a Panda Express?» That would be like trying to review a McDonalds — you don’t need to.
But as a Panda lover, I wanted to point out several things to other Panda lovers, so they enter this particular branch with full knowledge of what is to come.
1. Portions here are tiny! I have no idea why but unlike in every other branch I’ve been to, this Panda is super stingy on chow mein/​rice and entrees. :/​I ordered a plate with two entrees, both entrees being steamed vegetables and eggplant and tofu, and I got like maybe 3 pieces of eggplant and 2 tofu.
Tip: Asking for a mix of chow mein/​rice gets you more than if you just ask for rice or chow mein on its own.
2. Lines here are so long! And I don’t know why. This Panda probably has the most workers behind a counter that I’ve ever seen but I don’t know why they’re so slow. It’s really a mystery to me. A lot of the time I guess some workers aren’t doing anything or they’re all on the line and no one is at the register. But yep, this is also the slowest Panda I’ve been to.
So there you have it folks, only visit this branch, if you, like me, are desperately craving Panda and can’t make it out to any other branches. Otherwise avoid at all cost! You’d do much better going to Popeye’s or some other chain store.

This Panda location came through for me in a pinch the other day — I was facilitating a work meeting for half a dozen folks and had forgotten we were starting at noon, which meant ordering lunch for everyone was the right thing to do. I went in around 11:30 am and ordered the family feast — 2 sides and 3 entrees for $ 30 — enough to feed 4 – 5 folks.
The food was freshly made for my order and up-​to the usual Panda Express quality — the orange chicken and Beijing beef were delish, fried rice and chow-​mein were so-​so, and my token veggie dish — the eggplant tofu — greasy as usual. The quantity was generous — we had plenty of leftovers.
The service was quick and efficient, and they gave me all the plates, condiments and serving-​ware I asked for without a fuss — so they get a rounded up star for a 3.5 star visit.

If you are looking for lunch at Oakland City Center, this is an excellent place to go. The line is out the door during lunch. For fast food, this is the best choice in Oakland City Center.

I go to this Panda Express during lunch time if I what to get my lunch quickly. It usually has a line that goes out the door. Despite the line, you usually have a short wait. This restaurant is clean and the servers are friendly and very accommodating. The food is reasonably good considering that it’s a fast food chain. One thing I really appreciate about them they do provide healthier choices than most fast food chains. They do give you a choice of brown rice as well if you’re are watching the calories. It is a good place to go for lunch if you have to go back to work quickly. However, it has limited indoor seating. It is better eat outside at this place anyway.

This was my first time at Panda Express. I tried their sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, and chow mein. I kind of liked the sweet and sour chicken… it took some getting used to. While the orange chicken was crispy and the sauce on top was thick, it had an acquired taste. The chow mein had good flavor but it had to be the driest chow mein I’ve ever had in my life. All in all, everything was an acquired taste and costed 10 bucks… which wasn’t too bad considering the portion size allows you to serve two people if you really wanted to. I might go back.

I usually love this restaurant, but this location does not have the great, friendly service that you expect. One thing I have noticed, they are supposed to offer you a trial of their food when you come in, they have not done this once at this location. I go there to eat 2 – 3 times per month and have also noticed that they use onions as «fillers». When I get a dish that has onions in it, I always see more onions than meat.
Their portions of meat has gotten to be less and less. You get most rice and noodles and the other dishes, vegetables, but they make sure to not give you much meat at all.
I do not recommend eating there and I don’t think I want to go back either. They charge $ 1 more for dishes with shrimps or steak, but in the end you get maybe 5 shrimps for your entire meal.
Not worth your money. The place is also not being kept very clean, tables are messy and waiters are slow «with attitude». No for me.

It’s just chinese fast food with many well known american dishes to an extent. Anyways came by today after a coworker inform me of free samurai surf and turf sampler just get the page on your phone or print it out. There wasn’t any wait time as it goes by quick sampler was ready to go with back up trays waiting aside. I got luck out with 7 shrimps and 5 pieces of steak beef stdips add packet of uncles ben’s brown rice it’s a deal of the day. Again nothing fancy just typical chinese food!

first time eatingat Panda Express. had to ask what a side was. thought it was an egg roll, fried won ton, or? nope. it’s fried rice, chow mein or.
lots of items looked breaded and fried, mostly avoided those.
eats: 2 entrees and side (6.59)
side (chow mein) chewy, semi tuff, thin like chewing on shoestrings
–beijing beef
breaded and fried. chewy texture, sugary
sweet & sour taste
also spicy, no beef flavor 1ish stars
–kung pao chicken
flavorful, tender chicken/​veggies 3 stars
some spiciness
leftovers:
–msg/​chemical aftertaste
–small portions, value 2 stars
–fast, smiling, courteous service
(sign this isn’t an authentic chinese eatery
must be stepford chinese replicas here)
–lots of seating inside and out
–self service napkins, forks, sauces

Panda. I hate you, but sometimes, I like you. I definitely need to try some places in Chinatown since I’m only a couple of blocks away and can actually get more authentic Chinese food. But, Panda can be very convenient. Be careful of the shrimp Nazi, though. She’s going to make sure you get the amount of shrimp you’re suppose to get.

The line was out the door at lunchtime for this place. WHY?!
I got three free coupons to eat at Panda Express after finding bones in their chicken two days in a row (at the Palo Alto location, see my review immediately before this one) and then getting gastrointestinal upset from their food on that second occasion. I thought I’d take a friend today to join me in the pain and disgust that is Panda Express.
We both agreed afterwards that the food was awful. As was the case at the Palo Alto location, the rice is bone dry and the food is heavy. The only thing they don’t manage to fuck up (too badly) are the pot stickers.
I have no clue why people line up for this awful, awful, stomach-​upsetting food when there are far better, healthier, and price-​equivalent options within sight of this dump.
I didn’t even have to pay this time. I even have one more free coupon. Never again, Panda! You fucking suck!

i love panda express. but this one gives less food than other stores in Oakland where my friend’s house is located. She loves this place so we come here a few times a month.
the panda express near my home in san jose gives more food than here.