Panda Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in St. Ann

My wife and I have ordered from Panda at least two to three times a month for the past two years. The food is solid with fresh vegetables and a good meat to veg ratio and it always arrives earlier than expected. They don't have any problems with special orders and have even called us a few times to make sure we intended to order the items that we selected online, especially in cases where they weren't the 'normal' version that people usually get (such as Orange Beef instead of Orange Chicken, which was delicious!)

The one time that they missed a special request on an order they apologized, brought us the correct item and refused to take back the incorrect one. My sole complaint is that their dumplings aren't like traditional pot stickers and are kind of like a cross between a wonton and a small ravioli. The fried ones come fried on one side, which makes for an interesting consistency, but not that 'traditional' pot sticker experience. This might just be a personal preference however, because they certainly taste great and are a good value for the price.

Order one more entree than you need for dinner because almost everything from here reheats wonderfully for lunch the next day. They use good quality to-go containers with firm lids as opposed to other North County Chinese restaurants that use styrofoam which can cause leaks and are never cheap with rice or with condiments. I'm serious when I say my wife and I order from here two to three times a month - we recommend...

This is that truly special hole-in-the-wall kind of Chinese place. Panda might not do anything new or surprising, but what it does do, it does exceedingly well. I fell very quickly and seriously in love. The service was quick, friendly, and charming. (You order up at the counter and then go sit down and wait.) The attention to detail in the food is conspicuous if you're a lifelong Chinese food fan like me. The sauce on the lo mein is perfect, that secret-family-recipe kind of good, the best I've had in St. Louis. Seriously. Crab rangoon actually contains crab meat, which is always a good sign, though I must admit, Chinese Noodle Cafe on Delmar still has the best crab rangoon in town (sorry Panda). Sesame chicken was scrumptious, the sauce savory and sweet without being too much, and the meat was cut up into just-right sized bites (no awkwardly huge chunks). Broccoli was cooked to a perfect al dente (again, not super exciting, but something too many places get wrong). We ate in and the portions were hugely generous, close to twice what you would get via take-out. If you can, eat in. After stuffing ourselves, our leftovers just barely fit inside their assigned containers. We professed our newfound love to the owners, promised to return,...

Edit: Unsanitary cooking practices.

Old: The taste of the food is absolutely, totally, delicious and awesome. They have good portions. However, I would take caution when ordering any meat from them as I have seen a big bowl of chicken sitting out for God knows how long-more than once. And if it's not bought out for the day, is it going to be used the next day while sitting out again until it's completely sold out? That's not healthy so I stopped ordering it. I'm not a fan of their soda. While the lady who takes your order is kind, sometimes ordering feels rushed. It'd be nice if they would wear gloves too. No matter what restaurant I go to, it totally does not sit well with me to see the person handling the money touching food with bare hands. It's also disgusting to hear a cook cough while preparing food. Catch my drift? I've seen one of the cooks eating out of what appears to me to be a food chafing dish, hopefully it's that cook's own dish that has no use or dealings to the customers. Also, I prefer to not have the soy sauce, duck sauce, and plastic utensils condiment bin on top of the trash receptacle cabinet. I have concerns about their sanitary practices and the things I have noticed. But like I said, the food still...