Panda Express

I feel like it’s a hit or miss when you eat at panda express. This location is on campus at the student center. Majority of the workers are students. Sometimes you can get a very generous amount of food and at other times you’re getting one small scoop. Because it’s on campus it’s a little bit more pricey than usual. I usually don’t eat panda express because of the amount of grease. It’s just too much for the portion. I’m actually a really big fan of the eggplant tofu entrée but like I said it’s a hit or miss and today there was excess oil and you can see it on the eggplant and the sauce. Another time I got the fried rice and it was way too dry. I never got it again.

For some reason the food here doesn’t taste like it tastes at other Pandas … The noodles are soggy and taste sour, the chicken is also soggy. I can’t describe the taste but I’ve heard more than one person mention it.

The rice was not cooked! How could the manager allow this rice to be served to the customers? It ruined the whole meal.

I’m Chinese so I never eat Panda Express.
The first time I have to resort to this place this school year, I find orange CHICKEN in my BEEF broccoli. Since when is CHICKEN the same as BEEF

When it comes to quality Chinese food, Panda Express by no means come to mind. It is therefore not constructive for anyone to compare it to some sort of fine cuisine establishment. However, even compared to most Panda Express locations and EVEN compared to those inside food courts like this one, this is one of the worst Panda Expresses I have visited in my life. The employees are great and they always do have a cheery demeanor, but for $ 6 a bowl you would expect more than a smile for the dough you deal out. I have had multiple incidents of chicken «byproducts» in my orange chicken as well as mushroom chicken. The broccoli beef tastes rubbery, and the chow mein tastes like nothing at all. They thankfully give you sweet and sour sauce if you ask, and that can revive your taste buds a bit, but for me weird textured meat from incorrect preparation is a no-​go. Also, I don’t love that they don’t give fortune cookies at the end of your purchase. Those are usually the best!

Even though Panda Express isn’t «real, authentic Chinese» food, I think it’s a pretty darn good dish. Simple, but pretty tasty. Definitely not worth the price, though.
I personally don’t love the sides. Chow mein are thin little noodles, and the fried rice is quite average. Brown rice and white jasmine rice both taste like. well, rice. The steamed veggies are okay (the brocolli I had a few times weren’t fresh!)
I used to go to Panda quite a lot back then. Even now, I come here every now and then. not too often. The orange chicken apparently isn’t authetic but I think it’s simply divine. The teriyaki chicken is so yummy with the sauce.
Not bad, Panda.

I can feed my family of 5 for around 20.00
And this is real food, I like the spicy and my kid loves orange chicken
5 stars for me

First, it’s not Chinese food actually. Second, too sweet, make me sick. Fried rice are too dry to swallow and noodles are just too much oil.

This is life, especially sitting outside and boom Panda is there to save the day.

Panda express is the pinnacle of Chinese food. Once I walk into the student center, and the smell of orange chicken hits my nose, I instantly know what I am going to buy for lunch. One time I ate panda twice in one day.

Smallest portions of main entrees ive ever seen at any panda express or chinese fast food joint. Unless you’re a student at UCI with no other option for chinese food, go elsewhere.

Average overpriced panda express. The only reason I eat here is because it is close and I am sick of eating Subway and Wendys.
Food is not bad, but what annoys me is the small portions!!! I paid $ 8.41 for a 1 side and 2 entrees combo with the $ 1 shrimp upgrade and it is such a rip off. I believe i got 7 pieces of shrimp and a tiny side of orange chicken. Do they really have to be that stingy…
Sam Woo’s 2 entrée combo is $ 5 and literally gives you double the amount of freshly made food, so Panda taste like horrible leftovers compared to that.

I give this place 2 stars because during the summer, the food is really bad.
They give you smaller portions (even if you pay an extra dollar for that almond shrimp entrée) compared to the school year and some of their dishes are dry.
Never again. I would rather just heat up frozen veggies and orange chicken from Trader Joe’s.

My buddy LOVES this place, but I find it kinda so so ish
it’s the closest chinese food around the UCI area. So take it or leave it.
The people either give you hella food or super little. So it really depends if you can get the lucky dude who gives hekka food. GLUCK.
btw if you cant handle oily food much. DONT EAT IT… or else
number 3 will be ordered soon.

It’s Panda Express and it’s on campus. I don’t understand what everyone is expecting. The food is going to be a little crappier and it’s going to be a little more expensive. At least this location stays open when other places like Wahoo’s and Quizno’s closes. Oh and if you go at closing, they give HUMONGOUS portions. I think this place is pretty okay for a place on a college campus…

Not many choices in the Student Center Food Court, so Panda Express gets lots of traffic…
The prices are high and so is the sodium. So much better choices off-​campus, but if you don’t have a car and want greasy «Chinese» food… I guess Panda will do.
Why the 2 stars? They get the line moving when it is crowded and the workers are nice (most of the time.)

Such a ripoff for the amount of food you get… it’s not even that good.
I crave it sometimes but I always regret it eating it after. seriously, one scoop of sides? it’s so tiny. I paid 7 bucks for that peppercorn shrimp side. So not worth it. Might as well go to Mitsuwa and get bigass portions for 6 bucks. UCI seriously needs to improve its dining options.

Orange chicken comes out at 6PM sharp. Thats when its the best.
Line gets long but it moves and a decent rate.

THIS PLACE DOES NOT TAKE COUPONS!
Had another late lunch here and their selection was basically already gone. Instead of ordering more food, they just scooped up the nasty old stuff they had lying around into my plate – which would explain why the food tasted like it had been sitting out all day.
I got the brocolli and beef and the string bean chicken. Both were too oily for my taste and I felt that the sauces overpowered the food.
The chow mein was just all right — I’ve definitely had better at other Panda Expresses

Panda Express just replaced the lackluster Rice Garden in the UCI Student Center about a month ago with the hype of «DIstrict 9» and the results of «Gigli.»
Honestly, I hesitated until today when I was starving to try this place out. Imagine the long Panda bar but doubled, so that 1 line breaks into two. This is a creative factor that I gave 1 star for. The décor and design is like any other franchise with bright fiberglass and colorful & playful photos of pandas eating bamboo. For this, I give 1 more star. If you can make our dark student center bright & cheery, that’s amazing.
After this, my happy experience stopped. During the noon lunch hour, they ran out of ½ orange chicken plates. I asked to wait for the new one to come out so I can get fresh chicken. The server passed my to-​go box around and I had to repeat myself 2 more times. –1 star for lack of organization.
While patiently & quietly waiting on the side, I was rudely interrupted from my texting by the manager with my to-​go box. I gave her a confused and blank stare as if she just landed from a UFO after seeing that the Orange chicken plate was still empty behind the glass. –1 star for not respecting my order.
I asked her politely «did this come from the other side?» when she confidently said, «Yes.» I glanced at the panicked server who KNEW his manager messed up but didn’t have the guts to question her. The new chicken came out and she regretfully (as if it was causing her physical pain) switched out my chicken.
After being handed my box a second time, I discovered that these UCI-​mandated eco-​friendly biodegradable to-​go boxes did nothing for the customer… as it was as soggy and deconstructed as a plate of jelly.
–1 for an overall ignorance by both the staff and the manager.
I am not eating here again. Did I mention that a 2-​item combo here costs $ 7.06? Yes, they feel the need to jack up prices due to the «UCI Rent.»
Yes…