Panda Express — Restaurant in Plymouth

Upon arriving at Panda Express, my body was sent into a state of shock. Arctic temps made it unbelievably uncomfortable to even stand in line for food to go, let alone dine in the establishment. It was a sharp contrast, even to the 65-degree day. Judy has been trying a gluten free diet, and she needed to request either white or brown rice. Her request was met with lies (that they were out of both brown and white), and a suggestion that she eat the noodles or fried rice. When she politely told them that wasn’t an option, the employees magically found a 10-gallon tank of white rice. In order to transfer the rice to the serving dish, the employee used his ungloved hand, and Judy was appalled by receiving finger rice. The misleading didn’t end there. There were no forks available, and we approached the employees who questioned us every step of the way. Eventually, he sauntered from behind the counter and handed two individually wrapped forks to us. I was also disappointed to see there was no root beer selection or fortune cookies included with our meals. I appreciate reading my lucky numbers, but my Judy relies on her fortune to guide her throughout the week.

On our way out, we were ironically met with a sign stating their mission and values, “Our mission: deliver exceptional Asian dining experiences by building an organization where people are inspired to better their lives. Our values: proactive, respect/win-win, growth, great operations, giving.” We scoffed that their first value was proactivity when we had to ask for every basic need, such as rice and eating utensils. Should have gone to...

As other employees stood idle, and focused on their phones, Lee was the only one that was responsive to our needs, and attentive about filling our order correctly. Since their idleness was obvious, he finally walked over and spoke to them and they retreated to a back room area out of view. Sad for one employee to be carrying the weight of three! Having visited multiple Panda Express locations, it was clear that there is a habit of under portioning here, even with the bigger plate order. One can conclude that this is likely a directive from the owner to try to save cost, while compromising the brand expectations. My Hope Is that corporate will review this, and hold them to a higher standard as other locations visited in multiple states. My partner also had to wait for beef broccoli, which is a common staple, because it was not on the line. The idle employees were likely the ones responsible for ensuring that it was there, and as a result there was extended wait. Compared to other locations, the only shining star was Lee, who was working overtime in his efforts to try to take care of his customers, While others were not carrying their own weight. The food was good overall, but the experience was...

Update: as of the last couple months, they have really turned this place around, food is almost always fresh, and the chef is on point if anything is running low. You can still get some old stuff if you go in during odd off hours like 2pm , but compaired to how this place was at launch , it's quickly becoming my favorite panda.

As a regular to this location I can say without a doubt it's not only the worst panda express in Minneapolis, it's the worst managed fast food restaurant as well. It's open about 30% of its listed hours, and during those hours the grill is heating up, so their more popular foods are not available. On the topic of food availability they frequently have dishes many hours old and never refresh them, and that's only for the limited selection they have.

I frequent here because I like panda and I'm fine with orange chicken and white rice , which is the only meal they always have , when they are open. Which is often not until after 5pm on week days and who know when they open on weekends.

In conclusion , please avoid this location like the plauge and try some of the other much better offerings around the area until they get...