Panda Express — Restaurant in New York

Having temporarily relocated to Flushing, I’m surrounded by so many great, authentic Chinese restaurants. But I must confess, having grown up with American-Chinese takeout, sometimes I get an inexplicable craving for just that.

My university back in Charlotte, North Carolina had a great Panda Express on campus and it was such a popular lunch spot that, waiting in line, you could watch the employees cook tray after tray of chicken and slather it on with that addictive teriyaki sauce.

I was feeling nostalgic for that sauce (and for the honey walnut shrimp, which is totally worth the extra $1.45) so I put in an order for Panda Express in Forest Hills.

Verdict: The teriyaki chicken had little to no sauce and because of that, was dry. The super greens, which I wanted to try in order to ease the guilt of ordering greasy takeout, were wilted and altogether a little blander than I expected. The chow mein could’ve been helped with some small vegetables scattered in, but as it was, both flavor and appearance were pretty plain. Appearance of food can be plain if it tastes amazing, but it wasn’t the case here.

The honey walnut shrimp was the only saving grace (and for an extra $1.45, I would be frustrated if it wasn’t) but then again, I feel like that’s the only dish out of the ones I ordered that you’d have to work really hard to mess up. Also, they do not have duck sauce, but they do have plum sauce, which tastes -almost- similar, but with a herby flavor. Mixing it with a bit of their chili sauce makes a pretty good dip for egg rolls.

Props for a medium drink that is actually quite large (though also filled with 50% ice) and the most thoughtful fortunes-within-restaurant-fortune-cookies ever. “A surprise gift will leave a lasting impression.” Did they mean the food I ordered…? I mean, it never specified that it was positive, just lasting…

Do I love Panda Express? Yesss, I have much guilty affection for it. Would I visit the one in Forest Hills again? Probably not. We did have a really big snow storm in Queens lately, so that might’ve impacted the number of employees who could come in, or the delivery of fresh ingredients. But while I can empathize, I’m not sure I would take the chance on this...

I’ve been coming to this Panda Express location religiously since 2022, at one point everyday often driving 15 minutes sometimes through traffic just to eat here. Sadly, the quality of service and portion sizes have noticeably declined. Today, I ordered a Bigger Plate and was extremely disappointed. The rice filled only half the tray section, and the “double” orange chicken portion looked more like a single entree. For $13 after using my reward points, I shouldn’t feel like I received a kid’s meal. This is becoming a trend and its happening too often.

Over the years, I’ve seen different staff come and go. Some of the older team members are friendly and give proper portions, but when I visit during peak hours especially on Fridays and Saturday afternoons the experience is consistently poor. Portions are tiny, service feels rushed, and the cashier today was unfriendly.

It’s frustrating because I used to really enjoy eating here. I’ve cut back on visits lately because I leave more disappointed than satisfied. That said, I do want to acknowledge the store manager she's always been kind and professional when serving me. I believe she cares, but she needs to focus on improving staff training, both in customer service and portion standards. I remember her asking me to give the store a review with my receipt and I gave her a great review at the time she deserved it. I followed it with 2 more. Scored some free entrees in the process.

One bright spot is Jasmine, she consistently gives excellent service. This store could really use more employees like her.

I think you guys may have lost me as a customer, I may have to avoid coming here all together. I'm tired of the...

I always come here. I am always happy with this store. Today 4/6/2023 was by far the WORST experience of my life. I was just to start by… Ingrid has horrible horrible customer service. I asked for super greens and she said “no more”. That wasn’t even the problem. She speaks in her own language calling the other employees “slow”, “dumb”, etc…. The employee may not understand, but customers who speak Spanish understand which is super embarrassing. She’s constantly screaming at the employees. She had us waiting for 10 minutes while she took care of online orders. She told me “no more super greens we’re not calling no more food” **proceeds to call for honey walnut. The whole store is a mess. Dining room is messy. Food all over the tables, garbage all over the floor, garbage cans filled to the top. The worst of it all was, Ingrid accidentally threw a spoodle into the black pepper steak. The handle of the spoodle was inside the black pepper steak and the spoon part was touching the glass. She picked up the spoodle and touches the food with her bare hands while trying to pick it up. DISGUSTING. Osha wouldn’t be too happy. I will be taking this matter to the fullest extent. Treatment towards customers is not ok and most importantly treatment to your fellow co...