Panda Express — Restaurant in Austin

This low star review could have been avoided during my discussion with management to make things right, but the manager exhibited poor customer service. I placed an online order at 3:10 pm (clearly after the lunch rush) and the email confirmation stated a 3:20 pick up. I showed up at 3:28 pm just in case they were running behind on orders. I got there and they hadn't started making my order yet. They continued to prioritize orders for the customers in line and the drive thru, so I eventually received my food 5 minutes later. I would have received my food faster if I had just placed it in person based on how fast the line cleared out. When I asked to speak to management, the cashier looked annoyed and rolled her eyes (trained customer service professionals know better). The manager gave the excuse that only 1 employee makes the online orders and that they only receive them 5 minutes before the scheduled pick up time. She still recommended placing online orders during the lunch rush. I asked for a free drink because of my poor experience and having to wait 13 minutes past the scheduled pickup time, but she said no. I asked why they don't have a better system for online orders and she just said sorry. Not once did anyone ask how they could resolve this poor experience and I even gave them an out that would have fixed the bad taste in my mouth. She said as long as the order was correct, they did their part and I wasn't owed anything for my wait. I only gave 2 stars instead of 1 because the food was good. I won't be coming back and I'll tell my 24 employees not to support this business less than 2 minutes away from us. If someone reaches out to me, then I would be happy to discuss a resolution to avoid losing customers and keeping a bad rating. Thanks!

Update: I gave them another chance, but they did not meet expectations. I went after the lunch rush was over, but I still waited 17 minutes past the ready time listed in my email. They didn't even offer a free drink like the Panda Express in Kyle did. The location in Kyle has much better customer service. I will not be visiting this location again until someone...

Disappointed in the service that was provided. I paid for a bowl with beef broccoli and fried rice, the time was 10:20 when I got to order so 40 minutes before they close tonight as their hours are 9am-10:30pm for lobby & 11pm for drive thru. I had noticed when I pulled up to the drive thru line that they were already refusing to let customers into their restaurant as soon as 10:20pm (when I got there) which it was a bit strange. When I ordered my food they were offering limited food available saying that they didn’t have anymore. As a normal customer to Panda Express this is not the service I’m used to but I drove from my house to eat some Panda so I just accepted the limit. When I got to the window I kindly asked for the Manager, which was Annabel who I spoke with. She informed me that they do make more food but it’s just more of a wait, so after all they do make more food but couldn’t accept my order through the drive thru speaker. So I tell her it’s okay I’ll take what’s been ordered already since I already ordered and already have accepted the minimum they will give earlier. Mind you she gave the wrong change back, also when I got home to eat my food I noticed that they proceeded to give me 2 different rices to make up for the last of the rice they refused to make more of. Finally I’m very disappointed, dissatisfied and disgusted with the quality of food and service I got today. If I could drive back and get a full refund for my food tonight I would but they are now closed and my food sits here next to me untouched. Better service is expected. No matter the time the restaurant closes. Shows lack...

I moved about a year and a half ago and was excited to have a Panda nearby. However, on my first visit, I had a hair in my food. It was black and I have blonde hair, so definitely not mine. It was gross but the manager refunded my money and stated he would retrain to have those with longer hair wear hair nets, etc. After a few months I decided to give it another chance. All my meals were good until a few months back on 11/12/23 (I know because I checked the date of my sick time for work) when I got food poisoning within a few hours after eating dinner from here. This was the only takeout/restaurant food I had that day and I felt healthy until very shortly after eating. My stomach felt weird/queasy within the hour and within a few hours I was up the entire night with vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, etc. I had to call in to work the next day, but was feeling mostly better by the next evening. I work in healthcare and am very confident this was food poisoning given my health prior to eating, the timeline, and my symptoms, not to mention my prior experience with unhygienic practices at this location. This location ruined Panda Express for me. I used to go at least once a month. Not only have I not been back to this location, but I haven’t been able to go to any other location either due to my new aversion to Panda Express and fear of getting sick again. Most cases of food poisoning are due to unhygienic practices of restaurant workers and I was sad to read other reviews of food poisoning incidences from this location. Disgusting and they need a visit from a...