Panda Express — Restaurant in Phoenix

Never again. I should have learned my lesson the last 2 and only times I've visited this location. I will NOT be returning. I have yet to have a positive experience, in fact I've yet to have a neutral experience. The service here is lacking and frustrating. I will go 5 additional miles in the opposite direction just to avoid stopping at this panda. It happens to be close to my house but I'll make the extra commute for the better experience. Having said that, lets address the positive. This review is based on the my experience inside the establishment, NOT the drive-thru. My 2 stars are for the following: The cooks are on it! They are turning out the food fast, clean, hot and with that great Panda taste that everyone loves. There was not an empty platter nor people waiting for something to be cooked in the entire time I was there. Good job to the kitchen staff you're doing great. The initial contact team member (that first girl that greets you and asks what you'd like) has a great disposition. She was very nice friendly and didn't fluster nor give a snarky tone when asked addition question. Nor did she lose her cool when the drive-thru attendants swarmed around her to plate food for other customers. NOW THE NEGATIVE Needs to work on: WAIT TIMES!!! I was in line with only 6 people ahead of me for 1 hour and 10 minutes (yes I clocked it!) Food is being prepared and amazing speed and available so it's not the cooks. Clear responsibility. Who is doing what? I can tell who the drive thru attendants were because of their headset. And I noticed one girl who seemed to be a "runner" carrying the ready food to the serving station and bagging food. But that was it! She was told by 3 customers (myself included) after having bagged the plates "can I please pay I'm not waiting on anything" she threw her arms up and yelled out for another girl who came from some unknown corner to the cash register. Very rude and hoisting a very large chip on her shoulder. When I was ready to pay and leave, my food was bagged by said girl placed next the register and she walked away to have a drink of something around the side where there were supplies. Another team member asked if I needed anything because I was just standing there. To which I reached out grabbed my bag and said "I need to pay, but if it's too much trouble I'll just take this and go." Again she yelled for the cashier who took her time getting there. She arrived 7 minutes later (yes I timed it). Have supplies at the ready. I was ordering a "Family Feast" it doesn't go in normal to-go containers. I made sure to look down the food station to order food that was already available so that I wouldn't have to wait any longer. The moment I said "Family Feast" all he'll broke lose to find the boxes for my order.

I feel I can sum up these shortcomings to lack of management and an atrocious attention to assembly line procedures. Please teach customer service to your employees and have them manning their stations. And CROSSTRAIN CROSSTRAIN CROSSTRAIN! So the next time the "runner" gets asked by a customer if they can please pay. 1. She'll be able to do it and 2. She won't respond rudely by throwing her arms up and screaming for...

I decided to stop by this place for lunch today, to eat in, because my last two Uber eats orders were not correct, either that or I received old dry food. I went into the restaurant to order my food. I was told that I had to wait on chow mein for my bigger plate. I go take a seat, and I’m waiting patiently in the lobby. They begin to take other customers orders. I’m still waiting, and I haven’t received my food, so I walk up to see what’s going on, and another lady ask me what did I have. I told her what I had, and she shows me a plate that they had made while I was waiting, I asked for another plate because I’ve been waiting 15-20, already and I know that food is cold. (Also, the portions were also very small and not even half way full on the tiny plates that they have) Immediately some guy steps up, and says hey this what your gonna get all rude, so I immediately told him that I wasn’t going to pay for that. If You have a customer that’s already had to wait, wouldn’t you wanna make sure that they are satisfied? Like, I never have had a positive experience at this place whether in person or virtually ordering online. It’s always some rude employee or clerk. They try to save the food by giving you the bare minimum of everything, when Asian cuisines are suppose to be plentiful. They are going to have more loss if they don’t give out larger portions of the food, as well, because when the minimize the portions by saving it, it becomes burnt, then they have to throw it away. I watched an employee go to lunch and make her plate, it didn’t look like what they had gave me, her food was falling out of the box, and the plate they tried to serve me didn’t have even half of the amount of the employee meal. I’m just saying that manager should have been aware of that before anything, your telling me this all I’m going to get, but also experiencing loss in other ways, by letting your employees get double size entrees, and or extra food. There was also a mother that had gone before me of another race that they serviced, and her plates were full to the top, and could not close, so I asked him simply to fix my food like the others I’m not paying $18.00-20.00 for a plate of food that is not full!!! He said this is all your going to get, after I had already been waiting, and then had to come remind them that I been waiting. I’m African American and the entire staff was Native American or Latino, so I already expected to be treated differently than other customers, but my money is the same as theirs, so treat me as you would treat them, or you won’t get my business, and that’s exactly why I left the restaurant. My food should have been free simply for that!! It’s way too expensive for the portions to be made smaller, as well! And To be honest this place needs to be re-staffed from management on down the line of associates. They do not know how to...

I ate at this Panda Express several times, but the last time will remain my last time, because when I was there last the manager was serving at the counter, and he argued with me about what I ordered . . . not just a little, but on and on, telling me I ordered white rice, when I ordered fried rice. It's as if he couldn't believe that he could possibly have heard me wrong. The crazy thing is I ordered the same thing every time I went there, four weeks in a row, and every other person got my order right, didn't seem to have any problems understanding me, and my whole experience was good the previous times. Life is too short for me to subject myself to the frustration of dealing with a manager who is full of himself though, and has no idea what good customer service is, so I won't be going back there again. I'll just go to one of the other two-dozen or so restaurants available for me to choose from in the area. What an idiot that guy is!

EDIT: Now, after reading some of the reviews here, I realize I never should have given this Panda Express my business. I got lucky the few times I had a good experience, obviously. Now I know why the dining room was so empty every time I ate lunch here (around 12:30 each time). Obviously an argument with the manager would be just one of the many possible bad experiences I would likely have if I were to visit this location again. How about roaches in the...