Panda Country Restaurant — Restaurant in Santee

This place has become my family's favorite go-to for a good Christmas dinner. While I typically deplore the idea of making anyone work on such a holiday, I am not going to turn down a family dinner, and this place has earned our business 3 years running. The food is always very, very fresh. The ingredients are all very well picked, fresh, and you can taste the quality as opposed to many others. When going for Chinese lately it seems that Panda Express is about the level of quality you can expect in most places, where you can tell the meat is drowned in sauce to try and cover up the fact it is low quality, but not here. As far as I can tell, all the ingredients are what would be a first round choice, and they don't simply try to hide the flaws the meat or veggies may have by covering them with excessive sauce or a crunchy outer shell.

The actual restaurant has downsized a little from the first time we went, which unfortunately without a reservation could mean you will be stuck waiting for another party to finish before you can be seated. But the actual food os worth the wait, and while they don't blatantly rush you through your meal, they will make sure you're satisfied in a timely manner so they may serve other customers. We did not feel rushed, our drinks were kept full, and the food came relatively quickly, which made it easier to eat then go tour the Christmas lights around town. Even with the downsizing, the dining area was not cramped; in fact it seemed like the tables were spread out a little better adding to the comfort for the meal.

The menu is very comprehensive, guaranteed to have something for everyone, with pictures and actual brief descriptions so you arent left totally guessing what is what. I chose the Crispy Beef, which is similar albeit much better than Panda Express' Beijing Beef. The difference that stood out to me was the fact there were good chunks of beef, and what I assume was a rice wine vinegar in the sauce that gave it an almost pickled taste that really worked well.

If you are looking for a quality Chinese place around town, you surely cannot go wrong giving Panda...

Update 12/23/23 Today we're dined in for lunch we ordered the panda country lo mein Kung pao shrimp lunch special and the sweet-and-sour chicken lunch special everything was excellent highly recommend it

Update 5/31/22 Tonight we ordered bbq pork and the walnut shrimp. The bbq pork was terrible it was so dry even when it was covered in all the sauce. We will not order that again. The walnut shrimp wias outstanding as usual, 20 big shrimp perfectly cooked. Still our go to place to order Chinese food.

Update 4/25/22 Ordered the moo goo gai pan and sweet and sour pork lunch specials with no rice thru Grubhub. Moo goo was excellent and the s&s pork was good also The food arrived early as usual and was delivered by the restaurants' driver not a Grubhub driver. Highly suggest this restaurant 😃

I ordered Walnut Shrimp and Wonton Soup The Walnut Shrimp and soup was excellent. Definitely found our new Chinese restaurant. Next we're going to try the Moo Go Gai Pan, spareribs or sweet and sour pork

We've been trying to find good Chinese food in Clairemont ever since Panda Country on Clmt Mese Blvd closed due to covid. We've been going there for 30+ years. So today we thought we'd try this one in Santee.

We got Kung Pao San Yan, not spicy and wonton soup for later. The flavor was pretty good, but way too sweet for Kung Pao. The chicken and shrimp were cooked well, but the beef was tough and chewy, not tender at all. Glad we didn't order Mongolian beef. That would have been a nightmare to try and chew. The wonton soup was excellent and so were the crunchies that go with it. We give it a 8/10 compared to to our original restaurant. Probably try one more time before...

It has CHANGED! We ordered the Po Po Platter and 3 main dishes. All the food was under-seasoned, NO SALT, and little if any garlic. The onions were sliced large while the other veggies were diced small making the onions under cooked and the veggies over cooked. The shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, and ribs were all over cooked and dry. For 4 dishes we were given 2 soy sauce packets and one thumb size sweet and sour sauce container. The "spicy" Kung Pao had little to no heat. The rice was not tradition rice, it was almost like a minute rice. Lastly, we were given 1 fortune cookie and 2 small cookies that I have no idea what they were. We have been patrons for over 20 years so this change is very disappointing (this was the third takeout order with the same results). This is an EAT IN only restaurant. The staff are helpful and kind. Dipping sauces and condiments are always available on the table. Their traditional food of the past certainly outweighs what is being served now. May 2025. We tried again My husband requested ordering assistance from the hostess. The food was absolutely delicious. It was if the original owners had returned. The chicken, beef, shrimp, pork and rice were fresh, moist, and perfectly seasoned. The noodles were perfect. The vegetables were fresh and crisp. It was a GREAT dinner. Our compliments to the...