Panda Express — Restaurant in San Jose

Arrived on a Sunday evening an hour before close and boy was it a surprising and quite disappointing visit. As far as customer service goes, was never greeted and the interaction while selecting my food felt rushed and tepid. Most of the entrees were empty which meant I would have to wait for the few I requested (Black Pepper Angus Steak, Honey Walnut Shrimp and Orange Chicken). I was somewhat okay with this because of a past experience having dealt with this same dilemma (which isn't a good thing to be used to of any business/restaurant). Began my 20-minute wait in line until more and more folks started trickling in which prompted me to sit at a nearby table to adhere to social distancing protocols while at the same time reducing congestion in the queue. A gentleman was perplexed about the many empty entrees and upon inquiring got a reply from a worker that "we're almost closed" despite there still being an hour left until the store actually closed... Had this worker been the only person working at the time, this review would've only adhered 2-stars however there was another worker who had most likely come back from her break that attended to helping out the several customers who came in after me. She seemed a lot more engaging and more empathetic toward the customers compared to the first person interacted with. Overall, food was Panda quality and customer service was subpar. The comment about "we're almost closed" extremely irks me because people go to a restaurant/store expecting to purchase specific entrees/items and lack of having said desirables available/in stock directly leads to negative experiences. I'm glad to be a patient person to not mind waiting but few of the customers who came in after me were not and ended up getting a random entree that wasn't empty instead of the one they initially wanted. Apologize for the long review .. last point I'll end with is that there shouldn't be empty entrees on display if theres more than 30 minutes left of store operation. If I've learned anything from this pandemic its to always assume customers will come during the last hour or so and sometimes in waves so having shelves stocked or entrees filled truly makes the difference between a customer leaving the store having either had a satisfactory experience vs a disappointing one.

Last but not least wanted to address a review recently read regarding the possibility of maybe having been overcharged.. I thought the same until examined my receipt closely (since I too also ordered 2 plates and not big platters) and realized the 2 chicken egg rolls were rung up as entrees which (I presume?) is actually cheaper. After realizing this, was nice of the employee to ring it up that way (this employee who rang me up was the 2nd employee interacted with - not the first one for clarification). Hope this helps you get closure on your dilemma! If ever...

This location is just ok. Sometimes staff is nice sometimes you can tell they just don’t want to be there . Can someone explain to me why I got charged $10.10 for a bigger plate when I ordered a regular one ? Granted I did get an egg roll and honey walnut shrimp… and I know the shrimp is extra and I do realize maybe the egg roll has something to do w the pricing but I said plate ???? Which is $8.60…. I’m not an expert on panda pricing so I could be wrong but I feel I was overcharged ? Like I said I could be wrong . When I asked a worker about it the one who took my order , she said it’s cheaper this way. I didn’t try again. It’s clear I won’t get is resolved …. I’d love an explanation tho pls. I at least thought it would be 8.60 for a regular plate with the 1.25$ charge for the shrimp. Not $10.10 for a bigger plate ? I’m lost …. (I know the drink price is accurate tho and the donation. Everything I feel fine about except the plate price ???) the part that felt rude and hurtful was that she started laughing when I clarified , what is wrong w me clarifying how much I spent ? And my chow mein and rice were cold practically . I also find it funny how I waited for fresh almond chicken cuz they were out and it still didn’t taste...

This place is awful! Their food looks nothing like the pictures on here. All the staff are grumpy except for the dishwasher. The dishwasher is the happiest person I've ever met, he greets everyone and asks how they're doing. He seems like he enjoys what he does.

I approach the cashier to pay for my food and as soon as she sees me, she walks away and goes back into the kitchen. No one else can ring me up because they didn't know how to operate the register. Then after a few minutes, she comes out and walks right by me, in front of me and looks directly at me twice and ignores me, then finally with an attitude she grabs my food and rings me up and she has the tenacity of asking me for a tip. I'm not sure what was wrong with her but I'm never going back here again. Also, the food is tasteless and bad quality. I was so close to walking out and leaving...