Panda Express

Not a lot of choices in Tresidder and this one isn’t as bad as others. The food is really strong — garlic, salt, sugar, oil, and other strong overwhelming flavors.

Today I decided to try out Panda Express on campus. After queuing for quite a while, I arrive at the cashier. The lady was handing out fortune cookies to everyone. However, when I arrived, she just suddenly frowned and didn’t hand me any! She was also rude when I asked her for chopsticks and refused to give me, claiming that they ran out of them although it was obvious she still had some! Who does that? I am very disappointed with the customer service.

Long line in the Stanford Campus for this restaurant! Unfortunately all the entrée options were non-​vegetarian so had to opt for a helping of just the chow mein noodles. Extremely delicious though!

Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad. Just bad.
Alright, enough words for a review? –_–

No Panda Expresses offer anything vegetarian (including their vegetable dishes). Panda doesn’t really advertise this, but many vegetarians find about it eventually. The downside is that this panda offers catering on campus, so I occasionally find myself in a position where I’m unable to eat anything at a lunch meeting. It’s a pretty lousy feeling being the only one (or one of a small handful of people) caught without a plate at the more social meetings, and makes you stick out from your peers. The organizers generally think getting vegetarian options by ordering vegetable dishes, but in the end, the vegetarians are left hungry.
Catering aside, I wonder how many new vegetarians and international students who are vegetarians for religious reasons end up eating at Panda Express not knowing that they’re eating meat.
If Panda doesn’t want to cater to vegetarians that’s their right, but they should at least make a point of advertising that nothing they serve is vegetarian, and that their catering options are unsuitable for many events. If Stanford and RD&E’s mission is to foster an inclusive community, they should replace Panda with something decent.

Convenient when you have absolutely nothing to eat because they’re open during odd hours when other food places on campus are closed. Cheaper and faster than options around the area but you’ll always regret it after you eat…

I like inauthentic greasy Americanized Chinese food. Around noon the line can get long.

I am not a fan of Panda Express. I pay too much and in return I get small portions of mediocre Chinese food.
The portions at this location are tiny in comparison to the Panda Express on El Camino Real.

Well, after being there a few times, I have to say, «is this really some goddamn Chinese food?» Trust me you don’t want a second try, though Stanford only has so few food options.

It serves pretty standard Panda food, so there’s not much to say. Unfortunately, it does not accept meal plan dollars, so you have to pay out of your own pocket.

Pros:
–Centrally located on campus
–Cheaper & faster than Coho & Treehouse
–Open later and in between dining hall meal hours
–Open during most dining hall closing holidays
–Calories are labeled for everything
Cons:
–Low quality food
–Doesn’t accept meal plan dollars
Summary:
It’s a Panda Express on the Stanford Campus. Providing quick, reliable food. I only wish they accepted meal plan dollars like Subway does.

It is Chinese Fast Food, so it is what it is. But I didn’t expect shrimp tails still on in my breaded shrimp dish. Yuck!

A haiku for Panda Express–
Food is cheap
Sometimes cold sometimes hot
But always filling and worth it

Great selection and service. Have recently diminished portions-​ie, they put the rice in the plate and then they flatten it to make it look like alot versus putting more in. The catering is the best but they do not deliver. If you have their service for a party-​everyone will be thrilled. The calorie count on the menu is terrific in assisting with control but who can resist all the yummy items Pay attention to what is spicy and not-​got a surprise tonight! Enjoy-​convenient, fast, and yummy!

This place works for Stanford staff and students. It’s centrally located and open longer hours every day compared to other campus eateries. The line moves quickly and the service is friendly albeit brisk. The food is consistent. I can get a Panda Bowl with rice, chow mein or veggies plus an entrée for a little over $ 5. They post their calories on each item so it takes the guesswork out of tracking them.
I have no complaints about this Panda Express.

The food is not good. I regularly crave great Chinese food, and this place never satisfies the craving. Nonetheless, I come here occasionally, for three related reasons.
1: They’re fast– much faster than CoHo or Treehouse– and sometimes I don’t have a lot of time.
2: A friend likes to come here a lot, and I don’t like to be finicky.
3: They post calorie counts, so you can learn that even though the broccoli beef is no worse than the beijing beef it has 400 fewer calories. More places should do this, even when the law doesn’t force them to.

Panda Express is Panda Express: better than other steam-​table Chinese chains, not good for much of anything else. You can get it all over the place; why did it have to come to the Stanford student center food court and push out the previous Chinese place, which at least was different and not Panda Express all the bloody time, and had really good salt-​and-​pepper chicken wings?
I’ve only eaten here a couple of times, but I have to report that one lunchtime recently was the only time I’ve ever had really bad service at a Panda Express. The server taking my order was just utterly clueless and had no idea what I wanted, either when I said it or pointed to it, and mostly stood there looking dim. I gave up and walked out, had a teriyaki bowl at the Treehouse instead. Much better, and not the exact same thing I can get in a million other places.

Here’s an update with the hours for Panda Express:
Monday — Friday: 10:00am — 10:00pm
Saturday — Sunday: 11:00am — 8:00pm
Their phone number is (650) 330‑1906

I was surprised to the this Panda Express in Tressider when it first hit campus, but it is a nice addition to the Subway and Treehouse that also find themselves in the same pavilion.
All Panda Expresses serve virtually the same food, but this one is one of the few that also serves an Eggplant dish, good enough to please those vegetarians who want more than rice, spring rolls, and their veggie medley.
When the line is long and the restaurant is packed, the food quality is pretty good, but after 7p.m., the quality begins to decrease and some of the food starts to taste like its been sitting out for a while. This is more true of their deep fried entrees (sweetfire chicken, orange chicken, beijing beef, etc.) moreso than their grilled, sauteed entrees (Kobare Beef, Mushroom chicken, etc.), so choose your items accordingly.
The staff is friendly and fast, and they always give free tasting (granted I think they have to offer, but it’s still nice!). Great place to stop off to get your midday lunch fix when you’re not feeling another sub or Mexican!

A relatively recent addition to the «Union Square» portion of Tresidder, Panda Express seems to have found a place in the heart of Stanford students. It’s open later than the other options in Union Square, although I’m not sure if there’s really much of an argument that it might be better than some of the other options there (just a different style of cuisine is all).
So, what can I say about Panda Express?
Well, I hate fast food, and I hate chains. But Panda Express is surprisingly an option that I don’t mind at all.
And don’t make any mistake about it; even though it markets itself as Chinese food, the calorie counts are as high as any other fast food establishment. Consider that if you buy a two-​entrée plate, and chose a side of chow mein (490 calories) and entrees of their signature orange chicken (420 calories) and Beijing beef (690 calories), you’ll end up with a 1600-​calorie meal, you’d end up with far more calories than a Big Mac and fries (which clocks in at only 956 calories, 576 for the Big Mac and 380 for the fries).
Aside from the fact that this is fast food in disguise, the dishes aren’t bad. They aren’t great (they sit under heat lamps, so that has a certain effect), but they aren’t bad.
A few dishes that I’ve had at Panda Express:
— The orange chicken is one of their most popular items. It has a sweet flavor to it which is complemented by a mild spiciness. Pretty good overall!
— The sweetfire chicken is decent, but not great. It has a surprising amount of vegetables for an Americanized Chinese dish!
— The string bean chicken is a good option if you’re watching the calories. It doesn’t have the flavor of the orange chicken, but it has a good enough flavor for a low-​calorie item.
— The black pepper chicken is another good option for the calories. Personally, I prefer the string bean chicken, but this one also has a good (not great) flavor to it.
— The Beijing beef, honestly, is just a bit too much for me. It has a very rich, sweet and tangy flavor to it, and I can see how some might like it, but personally, I do not.
— Their hot and sour soup is just okay. It doesn’t have enough spices to it to bring out the «hot» side of the dish.
— Both their spring rolls and their egg rolls are just okay. Not much flavor to them.
— Same deal with the pot stickers. Nothing really brings out the flavor of the meat in their potstickers.
— I like the cream cheese rangoons. They have a wonderful mild cheesy flavor to them.
— As for sides, go with the chow mein. White rice is white rice, which is to say boring. Their fried rice isn’t very good. Go with the chow mein.
One last tip before I sign off: I discovered recently that you can order a single entrée, for only $ 3 or so. Then, you can avoid all the calories from their side dishes, and frankly, the side dishes are the low point of the meal anyway. Get your favorite entrée and then pair it with your own sides from home!