Panda Express — Restaurant in Florida

Panda Express is one of my favorite places to eat. It is affordable, and the food is great! Thank to Joseph ( works at night ) I will start going back to the Panda in St. Augustine. This particular location is on my way home, and I would rather eat Panda over any "Fast Food" place. I started going to this location about 3 months ago, and there was this 1 worker that was just terrible. Even though they close at 9, when I would get there at 8, they would be out of food and tell me they couldn't cook anything else because they were trying to keep food cost down. ( They did have some food, just not was I was wanting. Teriyaki chicken & Bejing beef) Not only did they start running out of food, but 1 time I arrived there at 8:30 and the doors were locked! I tried to call management and speak with the manager (Kevin) about it, but I could never catch him there, and he wouldn't return my calls. I was so disappointed. Then one night I was in a store and as I'm checking out I hear the conversation between this guy and the cashier. He was telling her how he was going to spend all the money he could on his mom for mothers day. I thought oh, what a sweet young man! I looked at him on the way out, and noticed he had on a Panda Express shirt. I assumed he had just gotten off of work, so I decided maybe I should try Panda again. Maybe he is a new employee......The following week I went back to Panda, and he was there! Excellent service, Food was fresh, and he was so polite! This young man really made a difference! Went back again, last night, I was so happy to see him there. Same great service, they had plenty of food, everything was fresh! I got his name last night so I could write this review. I don't know if the management, or if the young man himself will ever see this, but I just want to say, as long as he is there, I will highly recommend this place. Thank you JOSEPH for making a difference! Your kindness, and courtesy have helped make a positive change....

The service is usually questionable. Sometimes it’s decent, not Chick-fil-a type of service, but other times the guy who’s always there comes off very sarcastic. Last night was extreme. We waited 15 minutes to get to the window (no exaggeration) and another couple minutes to order. None of which are apart of the complaint. When asked if we wanted “fried rice, fried rice, or fried” natuarally I thought it was this guys usually border line rude scarcasm and I asked if they had chow mein. He responded with “if I had chow mein I would have offered it”...😮. Taken aback, I still went through my order, still given sarcasm and rudeness like no other. Already at this point I am FLOORED at how this guy is talking to me until out of no where I get “please wait while my coworker Steven takes over because apparently he’s better than me”. Gladly I’ll talk to someone else but also whatever drama is going on inside needs to be kept inside and not awkwardly included in my ordering. Second guy is no better. I’m completely caught off guard by this service I’m getting that when my order is repeated back to me it goes over my head. So I ask if they can repeat it because at this point all my confidence is shot in them. He then replies “what, did I say it too fast or something?”. I mean wow Panda. My kid is now in the back completely devastated that I decided to drive away and says “maybe they are mad because they haven’t gotten a break”. We have now VOWED to never EVER EVER return to this Panda. Drove down the street to a Chinese Restaurant and got our food in 15 minutes. We actually got it two days in a row now because they didn’t offer me “fried rice,fried rice, or fried rice” and they were decent people to us. That’s all we need to give people at...

Racist employee(s). I walked in about 15 mins before closing on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. I ordered on Uber Eats so all I came to do was pick up my order. Upon walking in I see this employee (heavy set white girl) assisting a customer (white male). When she was done with him she never acknowledged me. She left me standing there.

None of the employees (all white) acknowledged me. I saw one throwing hot water on the wall with a spoon. And the another employee pacing for a while before disappearing. Over 5 minutes later the heavy set white girl returns pushing a bucket from the mop handle (mop was inside the bucket). She then finally asks me what I would like. I stated I’m here to pick up my order and I showed her my Uber Eats confirmation. She handed me my order and never said a word to me. Not have a goodnight, not sorry for the wait, nothing. And touching someone’s food after pushing a mop and bucket is unsanitary.

This was my first time here as I’m visiting from out of town. I’ve never experienced this treatment from a Panda Express in my life - and I’ve been to a few on many occasions. And the racism was evident to me. The way that employee dealt with me was like night and day when comparing it to how she interacted with the white male customer before me. And not to mention the other employees also seeing me stand there when she disappeared, yet never asking me if I...