Panda Express — Restaurant in Jackson Township

Saw a clip on YouTube about their apple pie roll they were giving away a free one. Thought "I haven't had Panda in a little while so perhaps I'll go to the grocery in Belden Village instead of my usual location(I'm near Louisville) and pick it up afterwards for dinner." Put in the order on my phone; the offer for the free apple roll on the main page of the app, but didn't seem to add it without a $2 charge, so I figured they'd offer at the restaurant or I'd just have to ask for it. When I got there absolutely nothing doing. "Sir, it's not on your order so I can't give you one." -"Okay, show me then how to do it on my phone it shows right here 'Free apple pie roll' the very first thing when opening your app!!" The woman(who also was the manager) looked at my phone and agreed but told me "I'm sorry but if it's not on your order, I can't give it to you, I see it says you get a free one but I don't know how to put it in and we don't have any training on how to use the app, I can't give you free food or I get in trouble, yes I'm the manager but it doesn't matter" etc., etc. etc. Me: "I'm not trying to scam you; it's right here on your app(that I originally saw on YouTube too). And it's not 'free' food! I drove over here and ordered dinner from you guys which I'm paying the full price for, and you can't honor it?!?" Her: "No; we're not allowed to do that." Me(leaving at this point but thinking to myself): What kind of "manager" can't honor a coupon for a $2 item or what kind of company is this? Penny "wise" and Pound foolish! Also, seems like a total "bait & switch" situation. Offer something, you've already paid on your phone, and then when you get to the place to pick your food up find out they screwed you. Granted, a free dessert isn't worth much, but then again they got me to drive all the way over there, buy a full meal, and not go to another restaurant. Well, then 1 star for you Panda "Express"—wasted a bunch of my time too! Final note: The meal was decent enough...but their portions are getting small...

The last time I had Panda Express was in a food court years ago. When a stand-alone restaurant opened up near me, I figured I'd give it a try. The layout and design of the place is nice, but that's not what I'm here for.

I decided to get the Bigger Plate so I could try a variety (3) of the entrees and a side. I wanted to get the Beef and Broccoli, Mushroom Chicken, and Orange Chicken. You would think with it being lunch time this wouldn't be an issue, but they were out of my first two options. Ok, moving on, I guess I'll get some of the Spicy Chicken and one of the Shrimp entrees. Turns out that's an extra $1.25. Well, that's not cool. The price isn't an issue here, it's the fact that I wouldn't have gotten it if my original selections were available. The total came to about $10.50 (no drink), I pay and go to get a fork and napkin and the condiments area is in total disarray. Random napkins and forks laying around with soda spilled on the counter.

After grabbing the napkin and fork, I look around to find a place to sit. Then I notice that this is probably one of the dirtiest restaurants I have been to in a long while. There was food on nearly every single table that wasn't occupied, as well as the floor in the general walk-in areas, and under tables. Napkins and wrappers and crushed fortune cookies were even under some of the tables.

With all of that being said the food was okay. Nothing to write home about. Not great, not bad. It just felt like I was paying more for what I could have gotten at a Mall food court, along with a slightly dirty feeling to go with it.

If they can manage to keep the food stocked and keep the dining area clean, I'm sure they will do just fine, but I will say for this trip anyway, I was less...

I ordered food for my family through the Panda Express app. I arrived at the drive through and retrieved my order at the window. The bag containing my food was sealed. My assumption was so it could stay closed as all of the items were in only one bag. I therefore asked the young lady at the window if the plum sauce and teriyaki sauce were in the bag as well. She assured me they were. Usually I would pull to the side to check my order but in this instance I did not. I had a 20 min ride back home and wanted the food to be as hot as possible when I arrived. Big mistake. Needless to say the plum sauce and teriyaki sauce was not included. But they also failed to include the double order of teriyaki chicken I ordered for my sons. They did, however, include the rice and beef and broccoli but not the either two items that made up the 3 entree order I placed via the app. At this point, I had taken the 20 min drive back home and would have to drive another 20 minutes back to the store and then 20 more minutes home. Before doing so I called the store and spoke with an employee named Carlos. I told him about the missing items but asked if the food could be replaced with a fresh order since now the food would be sitting for an hour instead of the 20 min ride home I initially planned. Carlos informed me he could only add the items I was missing and maybe some appetizers but he could not replace the ~$47 order. Even after explaining the total commute time and potentially having my food sit for an hour because of a mistake they made, his position didn't change. This made the decision easy for me to forego the missing items. It also makes it easy for me not to return to this...