Panda Express — Restaurant in Panama City

The first thing that I noticed as I walked into the place, was how unkept the customer dining area was. It was Tuesday evening approximately 630 pm. The appearance had a Waffle House, night after partying at 300 am feel though. The majority of the tables were open (I’d say 75%) and all had some kind of food remnants left from previous customers. The floors matched what the eyes could see on the tables, plus dirty napkins. I saw three employees make their way into the seating area and not one thought to bring a broom and items to clean up after what apparently was the dinner rush.

However, I did see two employees wipe down the shiny new silver finish from the exhaust hoods and pull the filters off while food was being prepped for cooking. So at least hopefully the place won’t catch fire one day.

The employees seemed to be having fun, I saw a few smiles and heard laughter so that was nice. But, I kept hearing one of the employees (I assume the shift supervisor) asking for items to be refilled on the serving line... only to be ignored by the staff.

Remember the napkins that I mentioned were on the floor? The napkin dispenser was empty and needed to be refilled. Remember the employees that I mentioned walking into the dining area... one overlooked this to refill his soda. I approached the counter, hoping to make eye contact with one of the employees. I was targeting one specifically. He had stood near the cooking tops for probably 10 minutes and did literally nothing. Wait, no he removed frozen potstickers from the fridge and set them on the counter. He had a headset on, like he was taking orders from the drive-thru, but this guy never took an order or filled an order. He just stood back there handling frozen bags of food. Anyways, I stood awkwardly for what felt like a minute, where he made eye contact and quickly looked away three times. I mean, I really hated to break his concentration of playing around with whatever he was doing back there, but I broke the awkwardness to tell him the napkins needed refilled. He acknowledged and repeated to me that they needed refilled. I said “thanks”. Only to see the lady behind the counter that had been ignored to come refill the napkins. She was very nice, and brought us a handful. Thanks!

I saw a lack of guidance... real true guidance of the employees. Someone previously mentioned they were lifeless. I can see that. I don’t think they’re lifeless, I think they lack direction. I think the supervisor also lacks the ability to inspire employees and recognize important ways to bring the group back together again.

Owners... my feedback is this; please make sure employees understand the importance of a clean dining area. After rushes, someone needs to clean it and it should happen without someone being told to do so. Customers are the priority. Ignoring someone that is standing at the counter is not good customer service. Bad news doesn’t get better with time. Only one napkin holder in the restaurant? Please add another one. Finally, take time to teach your supervisors how to effectively supervise. They are challenged with teaching our youth how to enter the workforce and be productive members of the team.

Good luck, if you eat here, remember it’s new and they are experiencing growing pains. It’s not a total loss and has plenty of potential to be a great place...

It took me 25 minutes to receive my food, but I am still giving it a 5/5 because:

First of all, the food is excellent. The chicken actually taste like they were marinated properly, spicy is indeed spicy, and the sweet and tangy is not overpowering. You can actually taste the individual flavors of the meat and vegetables which means that the ingredients were well taken care of and not frozen for too long.

Next, the manager Elaine was quick to respond to a mistake that happened during lunch time. My drink that I ordered did not get charged so I ended up paying twice. This is a simple mistake during busy lunch hours so it's okay.

Here is what really ticked me off a bit though:

I was told that the veggie sides would take around 8-10 mins and was told to wait in the parking lot because the food will be brought out to me. The food never came. At around 20 mins later at 12:18 pm I went inside to look for my lost cold order and was told that the order was now waiting for more kung pao chicken. It was looking like I was going to get my food 30 minutes after my order, which meant that me and my family would have been waiting in the parking lot for 30 mins with the engine running along with the AC (we have small children). I got a little upset.

Since I come to this chain often, I felt the need to find out if this is a regular occurance so that I could go eat somewhere else instead if I was in a hurry. I needed to speak to the manager.

Now this is what impressed me.

Manager Elaine actually agreed with me and empathized with me on the bad experience without any arguments at all! She told me that if she was the customer experiencing this, she would have done the same thing as me. She immediately spoke to her employees and their attitude changed immediately and furnished my meal exactly how my family wanted it. I for one am convinced that my experience is a rare occurance and even if it does happen again, I have a feeling Elaine will make it right.

So even though the experience at panda express was a longer one than expected. The experience was still 5/5. Thank you for the tasty meal. I would still recommend this place to my family...

“Kweli Requires performance Counseling”

I’m writing to share feedback about a frustrating experience I had at your restaurant involving the manager, Kweli. I placed my order through the app shortly after 7:36 PM and arrived at the location six minutes after the app indicated my food would be ready. Despite this, I waited an additional 33 minutes before receiving my order. I still remain patient and polite because I understand the mechanics of the Restaurant business.

During that time, I observed not only a lack of urgency but also a concerning level of unprofessionalism from Kweli. She was rude to me, the guest before me, an Uber driver, and even her own cook. Her demeanor was dismissive and cold, which made for a very unpleasant atmosphere in the restaurant.

Unfortunately, this lack of professionalism extended to the food itself. The chow mein and cabbage were undercooked, and the orange chicken seemed rushed and not properly cooked … likely due to the high volume of in-person guests and takeout orders. It’s clear that operational stress, poor communication, and strained staff relationships are impacting food quality and service.

Only three out of every 100 people speak up when they’ve had a bad experience, and just one in three of those actually take the time to write a review. That raises a serious question: how many guests are walking away from this location disappointed because of Kweli’s attitude, without ever saying a word? If even a few of us are speaking up, it’s likely many more are simply choosing not to return.

As a business owner myself, I understand the challenges of managing high-volume operations. However, having a manager who treats guests and team members poorly … no matter how efficient she may be in other ways … is a liability. A strained relationship between a manager and the kitchen staff will always be reflected in the guest experience and in the final product served.

I hope this feedback is helpful in guiding improvements that will elevate both the service and quality standards at your establishment. Thank you for taking the...