Panda Express — Restaurant in Pleasanton

Update: 3.20.24 Not greeted when I was standing at the counter. Server glanced up at me, said, "Just a minute," and began combining freshly made food with whatever remained in the woks already at the serving counter. So I waited for her to finish, and she then said, "What do you want? What do you want?" (Yes, twice.) I requested a Panda plate (2 entrees & one side), with eggplant tofu and chow mein side. Chow mein portion was good, and it was fresh. After starting to spoon the first eggplant tofu serving, server said, "What else do you want?" I replied, "Eggplant tofu, please. Both entrees the same. Thanks," but she didn't get it, and said again, "What do you want?" as she was using a serving spoon to point where the second entree would go on the plate. So I repeated again, still politely, "Eggplant tofu, please. I would like two portions of the same dish, both eggplant tofu." She got it that time. I wasn't really watching what she was spooning into the plate, but was really disappointed when I got home that the portions were very small. One side had only 2 really small cubes of tofu (1/2" square - never have had tofu cubed this small at any Panda Express) with 3 pieces of eggplant, the other had four 1/2“ cubes of tofu and 2 pieces of eggplant. I should've taken a picture, but didn't think about it until I had already started eating. Tofu is cheap. It's the primary source of protein in that meal. I paid nearly $14 for approximately 1/10 of a standard slab of tofu with about one half of a Chinese eggplant. There was ONE tiny piece of yellow bell pepper in each of the two eggplant portions. It's important to note that the actual plates they are using seem to be the same size but the depth of the indentations where food is placed on the plates is reduced significantly now. So even if I had gotten a bigger portion, it might look more generous, but is still overall smaller than the portions prior to this change in their plates and cartons.

Also, there was nothing left in the serving dish, so rather than asking me to wait a few minutes for the chef to prepare more eggplant tofu, she took the one portion that was left & divided it into two.

Yes, this is LOTS of detail, as I'm hoping someone at this Panda will read this review and make necessary changes, but while they can't do anything about the pretty sneaky smaller plates, they could still give a fair portion size.

Interestingly, both people ahead of me, who were ordering honey walnut shrimp, orange chicken, etc. received surprisingly generous portions.

I will add that the cashier was friendly & I suspect that she was a manager, but I did not get her name. I don't know that I will be coming back to Panda Express at all, as I have had ongoing issues with even finding eggplant tofu, add now, increased prices, with smaller servings. The imperfect orange chicken was sadly canceled not long after they introduced it, which was super disappointing, and Panda has not introduced a single vegan-ish entree in years besides the imperfect orange chicken or the eggplant tofu. We don't understand that, and unlike other restaurants where you could hold the cheese, a dressing, butter etc., Panda Express entrees are not easily adaptable even if they were willing to customize, which they are not, & are very oriented toward meats and seafood.

Lastly, I ordered a drink intending to have their freshly brewed iced tea. All they had were Coke products. The brewing machine for tea was on the counter, but not being used, just like last time. So I had nothing to drink as I don't drink coke, etc.. .................... One of the few Panda Express locations that actually has eggplant tofu. However, it did not look particularly fresh and there was only enough for a medium sized serving. It still tasted good however. Lots of chow mein freshly made. Steamed stir fried vegetables were fresh & nicely seasoned - lots of broccoli! Restaurant appeared clean, disappointed that the sweet tea was empty. Cashier was friendly. would go to this location again even though it is somewhat...

I usually don’t write review, but this store made me write this. One fine Friday evening (7/18) I went to this Santa Rita Panda Express with my kid and ordered one Large Kung-pao-chicken and chow-mein. They packed the chow-mein and asked me to wait for kung-pa-chicken. The service person told the chef immediately about refilling the Kung-pa-chicken. Mean time I paid the bill. I was waiting almost 25 minutes , but the chef was keep refilling other items , even those item was already there to serve. I asked the cashier to cancel it and expressed my disappointment. She said it’s getting ready and please be wait, I don’t have any concern with cashier. I waited and again the chef was making something else. Finally I end up my patience and told even you don’t cancel , I don’t want the food. I gave the receipt and walked way without food and my money back. I really don’t recommend this store , service was very poor, especially the chef attitude...

My wife ordered the food for pickup at 5:30pm, paid online. Traffic from work wasn’t bad, got there at 5:10pm. They couldn’t find the order. I said it was scheduled for 5:30, and I was early. Manager eventually came over, said I was at the wrong Panda. Finally he looked up the order number, and gave me a bunch of attitude. “Your order says 5:30. You have to call us and let us know if you change the time.” I said I’m here now, I’m letting you know, the time is now, 5:15. He told me he cannot change the order, it is for 5:30. I said, you want me to wait here until 5:30, and then you’ll make the food? Finally he agreed to fill the order. I have never been treated so rudely. He has real anger issues, and very poor service skills. Of course the receipt didn’t have a code to give feedback. I’ll use other Panda Express going forward. Not worth...