Panda Express — Restaurant in Ames

The first time I tried the Ames location was not a great experience. I pulled up to the drive-thru and asked the employee taking my order for another minute as I hadn't figured out my order . After hearing I wanted a minute, a loud audible sigh was my response.

I place my order, pull up, and they tell me they are out of an item. No big deal. They ask if I would like to wait or select a substitute item. I say I'll select a substitute but I don't remember all the options. They just stare at me and I tell them I need a moment because I need to look up the menu on my phone. Eventually pick my item, wait, then they come back and say "oh sorry that item is gone too, but if you want to wait for your original item, it'll only be 5 mins." I tell them that's fine I will wait and they ask that i pull around and park and someone will bring it out in just a few minutes.

I sit in my car, filling out the survey, and notice that it's now been 5 minutes. I continue to wait, watching the door, as another ~7 minutes pass. I decide I will go inside and check if there's a problem. Get inside and there are about 4 people waiting in line, lobby not super full, and a full pan of the entree I was waiting for on the line. Upon seeing me, and remembering I was waiting outside, the employee runs over to the line, puts my entree in a box and I'm on my way.

Upon eating our food, the entree I had elected to wait for, string bean chicken, was disappointing. The onions and beans were still raw. The chicken was cooked but the onions were very strong and not cooked enough.

I will try it again as I am guessing it was just simply an Off day. I have heard others had great...

My actual score would be 3 1/2. I’ve been here multiple times and I can say tgat there are up sides and down sides. The good thing is that the food is always good. It’s amazing. The downside would be if they have the food you came for. Several times they didn’t have steamed rice. So much so that I stopped coming for a bit and went to a different one whenever my mom is in town. But since it is on campus, it makes sense. Today, I got the steamed rice and amazing food. I also got a drink and I have to say that the drink was the downside. I’ve onky ever gotten a drink here once before and I remember it being subpar. I am a huge fan of rootbeer. Not only did I dump the rootbeer cuz it was unusually light in color, i also ended up throwing away the whole cup of Dr. pepper. I didn’t have time to check it cuz I had a bus to catch, which I ended up missing, so I just trusted it would be okay. It was also low on syrup. I would say that the staff is friendly and the food is always amazing and you really just need to know the busy hours if you want to get through quickly. The only downside is something is always lacking/missing, rather it be the sides, entrees, or drinks. It’s because of this that I give...

We were at the South Duff location this evening and recieved horrible service and food. If I could do no stars I would! There was no greeting when we wlked in. No one even came up to is or looked at us. Then finally a girl yells out "let me know when your ready!" Most the bowls were empty so I asked if they were making more? Her response was " we slow down on making food when it is close to closing but I guess we can make somemore but you'll have to wait." The cooking area was dirty and employees were yelling at each other. We will not be back and will not recommend this place. I don't think there was anyone in charge and clearly whoever owns this store needs to shut down and train the staff! Hands down...