Panda Express — Restaurant in Chesapeake

Apparently everyone has tried the Panda but me so, today was my day. Having no opinion or suggestions from the man (even though he'd been here many times) I chose a plate of fried rice, mushroom chicken and sweetfire chicken breast, crab Rangoon and spring rolls and a drink. Hubby got beef and broccoli, Mongolian beef and chow mein.

The bad: because we rolled up around lunch time alot of the entrees weren't full enough for an order and since we didn't want to wait 7 minutes for them to be cooked, half of our choices were alternates. I had never had mushroom chicken and I should have known not to order something in a brown sauce where you can't identify which piece is meat because everything was mushy. The 'chicken' wasn't chicken but chicken fat covered in a brown sauce. It was pure disgusting. I told hubby that I was angry I wasted space on my plate for the goop.

The crab Rangoon did have plenty of sour cream, it lacked crab....and flavor.

The fried rice also lacked flavor and needed more soy sauce. Or something.

The good: sweetfire chicken was sweet and spicy and delicious but cleared up my sinuses! Definitely something I would order again. Or maybe just order that and nothing else.

The veggie spring rolls were warm and crunchy with a nice flavor. Also something I would order again.

Hubby insisted I taste all of his items (except his chicken egg roll which was too good to share) and I found the Mongolian beef (or whatever it was-he called it 2 different names so your guess is as good as mine but I remember only this one) to be the best item. The chow mein and beef n broccoli were both just ok.

Would I go here again? Yes, to try some other entrees and spring rolls only.

Oh, our server was quick and pleasant.

A solid 3 stars might have been higher had I not had the disappointing fried rice and yucky...

Food is good but you get ripped off when you get food to go. The cartons are not full plus they charge you extra for items like shrimp but under fill the take out cartons. Employee's when asked questions about the food know nothing. Dumb help here plus you get ripped off on take out by them not filling cartons plus get charged extra for some some food selections. I now avoid this chain and frequent Oriental food places like found in most small shopping centers. They fill the take out cartons and charge a fair price and want you to come back again. I never got the come back again vibe from any of the panda express restaurants I purchased from. If they go out of business then no loss. They rip you off here. One employee might put more or less food in your take out container but never fill the carton up to full. Depending in who puts food in container it can be from half full to 3/4 full but never all the way full to top of container. Very inconsistent in quantity of food in containers. Only thing consistent is that I never got a full container full of food. I do not like getting ripped off. Who likes getting ripped off especially when you paid extra for some items only to leave with your take out and find you got way less. The prices are also more expensive than comparable items from other Oriental...

I am in Virginia visiting Family. I am and was not aware of this restaurants policy on pickup orders. Where I am from we tell them the name and that’s it.

The guy who was at the counter said we needed to show confirmation. I got irritated I said what? why? He said that’s their policy at this location. I said how am I to know that I’m not from here. I didn’t see any signs about that nor did I see a sign saying pickup orders here.

I was with my family. One daughter went inside the other stayed with my family. I told him my daughter was in the car and I was not going to get her phone. My daughter and I showed him our email confirmation and I insisted that he give me my other daughter’s order.

He tells me as I’m leaving that’s their policy. I said I don’t care I’m not from here. You guys don’t even have that posted for me to know.

The food was typical for Panda alright. The chicken usually has too much breading and the rice is dry as the desert. It was $2 but that shouldn’t matter but I think their food is a little worse when you pay...