Panda Express — Restaurant in San Jose

Pretty good for Americanized Chinese fast food. Years ago they used to have a dish called MANDARIN CHICKEN that I miss oh so much 😢 I still don't understand why they 86'd it. The closest replacement they have is "Teriyaki Chicken." The sauce and texture are close, but the chicken tends to be too dry quite often. I'm not sure if they overcook it or don't let the meat rest before slicing or if it just dries out sitting in the pan, but I have learned to ask for extra sauce on the side in an attempt to remedy that situation. Also be warned that the teriyaki chicken is very messy when they use one of those cardboard Chinese takeout boxes and the sauce is likely to spill inside the bag if it tips over at all, so asking for sauce on the side might not be a bad idea.

The last time I went the broccoli in the broccoli beef was really hard -- almost like it was completely raw or just hardened from dry heat. The stalks were too hard to even chew on and the flourettes were barely edible. 😬 Looking at the broccoli beef, I eventually realized it didn't have any sauce. Even the beef was pretty dry and not a drop of sauce in sight. This could very well be the reason why the broccoli was so hard and dry. Broccoli beef is supposed to be made with oyster sauce! This adds so much flavor and softens the broccoli while cooking. Odd thing is, after looking at other people's photos, it looked like their broccoli beef was dry without sauce as well! I doubt they all stopped in on the same day I did, so it makes me wonder if the lack of sauce is intentional. 🤔 The beef clearly makes the dish non-vegan, so I don't know why they'd skip the sauce. I suppose it will remain one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries. 😂

During my visit they were doing some fundraising for a charity program of some sort. I don't know what it was because the cashier seemed unable to pronounce the name of it and stammered a bit while asking, but I donated a dollar anyway.

Orange chicken seems to be their most popular dish and I do like it. Still a little strange to me that they don't have sweet & sour pork, but I suppose chicken is more Californian style.

There's just something satisfying about hot Chinese takeout on a cold, rainy day, isn't there? It's easy to eat your fill and save the rest for later. It's easy to reheat and just as good the next day. I'm also glad they switched to plastic to-go containers because the paper fold-over style just soaks up any sauce or moisture from the food...

American style Chinese food is not my preference, but my son likes their orange chicken, so I occasionally indulge him. This review is not about the food, however, because it is what it is. The one star is because they are not practicing good sanitation! When I came in, my order was not ready, despite my being 15 minutes later than the scheduled time, so the young woman, who I had just watched ring up several customers, started plating my order, without washing her hands first. The state and federal requirements are that you wash hands before preparing food, if you did anything else before that task. I stopped her and told her she needed to wash her hands first. The rice that she started scooping, with those unwashed hands, went back into the big pot of rice. Yuck! Someone who was working on the food line assembled our order, and right as I was about to receive it, I watched another young female employee go from her dinner break (eating at a nearby table), to cleaning a couple of things from the tables and counters, then straight to the food line and start to grab a box to assemble an order. I stopped her as well, and told her she needs to wash her hands too.

I am a professional chef, and have helped teach sanitation classes in the past, so this is a subject I know very well. Washing your hands between tasks is a minimum sanitation requirement!! There were other small issues, such as visibly dirty towels on counters in the kitchen area, but the lack of hand washing, and the fact that they did not even seem aware of the need to do so, is a serious concern. Don’t believe me that this is a big deal? Familiar with Chipotle’s multiple food poisoning outbreaks? (Chipotle has since cleaned up their act) I will be filing a complaint with the county health department, as well as Panda’s corporate office. I question whether any of their employees have the required food handlers cards, and I was told there is no manager at that location. If that is the case, then who holds the manager’s sanitation certificate?! Shame, shame, shame. Your first responsibility as a restaurant it to provide safe food, for anyone one who might eat there, including young children, seniors, and the immune compromised.

My advice? Do not eat here, or reheat your food to 165+ before you eat it to kill anything that...

Hello, I'm really really disappointed on the services and our meal today, location 1320 El Paseo de Saratoga, San Jose, CA 95130, My wife went over to panda today to grab dinner she had the worst experience ever, the person serving was rushing her demanding her second entre saying "anything else anything else anything else" my wife said hey there's no body behind me what's the rush, and the person completely ignored her and moved away. She then called me to ask me what I wanted while she was getting her plate served. I wanted to try a new special, so I asked for that. And the person behind told "what do you want, anything else" while she was on the phone with me, They rushed her to the cashier, she also asked for broccoli beef as well while she was paying cashier told , "You waiting on cream cheese ragoons." My wife said no I asked for broccoli beef, there was broccoli beef on the dish and also it's on the box B1, why are they asking her if she is waiting for creemecheese ragoons. Then they asked her to pay, $30 dollars didn't offer her any drinks nor to make a donation. Yes, a donation is part of the 5 demands that panda asks for a cashier. As I worked at panda for 3 years as chef/ lead, under Cris,Fady Nina, and Ignacio aka nacho one of the regional chefs my locations were the valley fair mall, Campbell location north and 1st oakridge mall, and others . Panda is and will be one of my faves. But the way she came back almost crying for the poor quality and services is not right. She didn't get any receipt of the order. No sauces, no utensils, and to top it off, I open the plate half my chowmein is uncooked her broccoli is hard to bite. This was my worst plate ever. I don't like to make complaints, but Panda, you let me down. I would like to receive some sort off recompense or an apology, I wish I could attach the pics here. Please contact me back I'm frustrated and angry this was in fact the worst...