Big Panda

Very good — not greasy. Owner was very sweet. We tried crab rangoon, spring rolls, shrimp fried rice, beef lo mein and veggie mei fun.

We ordered 2 things for take out — General Tso chicken and sesame chicken. It came with white rice — clearly old and weird smelling rice. My sesame chicken had such a sour odor you could smell it through the bag. What I discovered upon tasting it was the sauce was like a tomato sauce and it had a weird sour smell. When I cut into a piece of chicken it was so hard it couldn’t be cut, with a fork. It also appeared as though someone had taken non-​fried cooked chicken pieces, put batter on them and tried to fry them. All the batter just fell off and the hard pieces of chicken were left.
My husband’s general Tso chicken was the exact same flavor as mine with some vegetables and something to add a little spicy flavor. So after spending $ 25 and after one bite on each our parts, we actually didn’t eat the food. We would have taken it back, but we had a huge storm last night. Perhaps the worst takeout food I have ever had.

Owner is very friendly, but the food is just not there. I cannot understand the high ratings for this tasted terrible. The fried rice was hard and dried and there was nothing in it. The sesame chicken was loaded with breading and small bits of nondescript chicken. The egg roll that came with the luncheon special was a grease bath. Extremely disappointed.
The owner is your cashier, server, bagger, and queen of the «I’m sorry».
You ask for water and you get warm water, no ice, no straw. «I’m Sorry» from Owner as she disappears into kitchen.
You ask for Low Sodium soy sauce. «I’m Sorry we do not have».
You ask for extra napkin. Twice. «Im sorry, I forgot». You get one napkin. You are the only person in restaurant for lunch.
Nope, I’m Sorry For I will Not Be Back.

I continued to be amazed at the stellar reviews people in Sarasota give restaurants. My wife and I try them and 80% of the time we leave scratching our heads at what other Unilocalers see. Big Panda was another one of those. The food was so disgusting we actually drove back to the place and returned it (we did take out). The Lo Mein was cooked in some really bad, burnt oil. It was inedible. The shrimp and scallops had no scallops and the shrimp were so over cooked, they tasted like shoe leather. The honey chicken was also over cooked. The chicken was dry and the breading was soft and mushy. The frozen crab rangoon was okay. I ate that. Very nice owner. She apologized profusely to me. Really really bad food.

I LOVE this place, we live around Orlando (whenever we visit Sarasota this is one of our top places for amazing food), so we have several places to compare to Big Panda ~ Sarasota. Everything at Big Panda is so extremely fresh & made to order, but most importantly…, DELICIOUS! cannot recommend this place enough and such wonderful people there too!!!

They will make anything you want off menu. Best shrimp in town. What a great couple who run the place. If you are in the area. Highly recommend steamed dumplings and sweet and sour chicken. Both the best I’ve had.

The food is delicious, and I would definitely take my family and friends here.

The food was great, the service was excellent. We went for lunch and the serving size was large and well priced. We will definetly be back when looking for a casual place to eat.

Have to admit that I was a bit skeptical when I walked in during dinner time and saw no one was there. Realized it was a Monday night and that it could just be an off night so I gave them a shot. VERY GLAD I DID. I have been a vegetarian for over a year now, so it has been a while since I have been able to have the steamed dumplings I love because everyone else makes them with pork. Found some vegetarian ones here that were better than any I remember having when I was a carnivore. The filling was extremely flavorful and the dumpling had to have been made fresh from scratch that afternoon. Ordered vegetables with garlic sauce, extra spicy and they nailed everything. The peppers and broccoli were perfectly cooked and the sauce was incredibly flavorful with a very nice kick.
After I ordered my food, I noticed customers coming in and out. They seemed to do a very fair business in delivery and take out and kept quite busy for the rest of the time that I was there. Will definitely be back. The owner and the chef couldn’t have been nicer or more pleasant.

If I’m looking for a cozy hole in the wall gem this is where I go. The owners are the only employees and they’re very nice! They use quality meat and you can tell when you’re eating there. The best part is since nobody knows about it you rarely have to wait! However, some meals as stated will take longer than others but that’s because they’re cooking it fresh and to order! Also since they don’t have a lot of employees you’re paying the same as you would for places that don’t make their own food and use cheap ingredients.
The bad reviews obviously are fans of the overly hyped Americanized Chinese Cuisine. I will gladly pay what they ask because I know what kind of meat I’m eating, I can’t say that about other places.

Nothing special. Your standard ol chinese food in a shopping center. had high hopes but fell completely flat. & was pretty expensive as well for what it was. there’s way better bang for your buck around the area.

Surprisingly good. Lunch specials great. Spring rolls and fried dumplings very tasty. Not busy at lunch but the food was great. Now that we have a weekend house in Sarasota, we will definately be back.

I was expecting your standard take out place and was pleasantly surprised to find that the quality was a cut above the basic. This won’t top my more authentic favorites in Tampa (Yummy House and TC Choy) but it is definitely more reminiscent of the old family style sit down restaurants from years past. The egg rolls were better than most, shrimp w/​lobster sauce was excellent, and the house special fried rice was pretty good.

It’s standard American Chinese, but they use real dishes and flatware, no styrofoam. Service was great, didn’t have to ask for water or a refill.