Panda Express

Great staff! Its our first time here to the Castaic store. Its clean, great atmosphere. Near a br21 flavors. Cool spot!

Where do I start? This place never has anything ready to order. What’s the point of having a drive thru to tell me I have to wait to have stuff made. The other day I went through the drive thru at prime dinner time (around 7pm) and they told me fifteen minutes for grilled teriyaki chicken and cream cheese rangoons (not the first time rangoons weren’t ready either). Well I didn’t really have much of a choice but to wait bc a car pulled in behind me in the drive through. So I told the cashier as much and her response was well do you want the chicken and rangoons or not? Wow. Beyond rude. I will no longer support this Panda Express. You’ll find me down the street at Woks Cookin.

If I want Chinese food I’ll come here it’s closest to home. It’s been good overall. I like being able to see who’s cooking my food. Yes the food has never been perfect. But I noticed that when they have new people cooking it lacks in something in the flavor. But usually when there’s experience people on the back in the kitchen the food always taste good. I also like how clean they keep this place I like eating inside.

Not the best but not the worst Panda I come too. Staff is always friendly. Every time I go i usually have the luck of waiting for a side entry that I want or the chow mein. But overall its a good Panda.

Worst Panda in town. Even though I’m usually hanging out right up the street from this Panda, I will drive into town to the location off of Newhall Ranch Road, because the Castaic location gives out almost half the food of other stores. Usually the service is good but I always leave feeling ripped off. Between my takeout box being half empty and the chow mein being mostly veggies rather than noodles, I’ll skip this location.

Drive thru took too long for food that wasn’t even that good compared to other Panda Express restaurants. Did not seem fresh and wasn’t that hot. Will not be back!

I had a late night yen, so I headed to Panda Express at 8:45p on a Sunday, hoping they were still open. I made it just under the wire (they closed at 9p) and went thru the drive-​thru.
I’m always pleased with their Orange Chicken and was going to get a two-​item meal, both items the Orange Chicken. BUT! I remembered they had just started serving the BBQ ribs, so I changed my mind and ordered the 2-​item meal with the ribs and Orange Chicken. Also did half fried rice and half chow mein, and added a bag of crispy noodles. (I do want to say here that it drives me crazy PE calls their soft noodle stuff «chow mein.» Every Chinese place I have ever been to calls that dish Lo Mein. Chow Mein is a US-​created concoction of mixed veggies in a sauce, that may or may not have meat added, and is served over rice. Picture the Chung King cans one finds in a grocery store. So why then, does PE call their noodle stuff chow mein??? Are we not already confused by foreign foods without having ONE place muck it up even more by renaming dishes something they’re not??? Drives me crazy! *lol*)
ANYWAY… Both items were out, so I had to wait 7 – 8 minutes for them to be made. I felt sorry for them because I’m sure they hoped I would go with something they still had already made… But I wanted the OC and ribs and so I agreed to wait. All the better for me because if they had to make it, it would be fresh! Win! And guess what? Two cars behind me must have ordered the same because they were waived off to wait as well. Good. I didn’t feel so bad then.
Ok… So the Orange Chicken came thru with flying colours as usual. The chow/​lo mein was fine. The fried rice, a little dry, and reminded me of why I usually get the chow/​lo mein only. The ribs? A little puzzling for me to be honest. It seemed pretty peppery and had a flavour I wasn’t expecting, and was a little odd. I’m not SURE what it was… Maybe cinnamon? I love Chinese spare ribs in general… But PE has either put their own spin on a traditional favourite, or the cook was a little off that night. I can’t say I loved or hated them. They just made my face scrunch up into a «what am I tasting here?» look.
Overall, I got the things I was yenning for, I tasted something new and my late-​night hunger was sated. A plus score. *s*

I was not terribly impressed with this Panda.
To be fair, I came for food around 1:45pm, which is a little past the normal lunch rush, but not by so much that the food should be a bit stale … which, sadly, it was.
I got a 2-​entrée plate, and the white rice was totally fine. No issues there.
Had to get orange chicken as one of the entrees, right? Yep. It didn’t have that subtle crunch or softer interior. The pieces were just sort of chewy and unimpressive.
The beef with broccoli was worse. The beef seemed like it hadn’t been moved around in a bit. I’m wondering if that dish isn’t as popular as it used to be, and the turnover wasn’t enough to get me anything close to fresh.
I’ve been to at least 8 – 10 Panda Expresses in my life, and this one needs to do a bit better on the food side.
The service was very good, so at least there was that!

Worst service ever. We got stuck in the drive thru for over 30 minutes. The people in front of us actually turned their car off since it was taking so long, needless to say I would not recommend going there if you are looking for a quick meal.

Come here almost weekly to get food for my father and they’re always friendly and wee-​stocked. The drive-​thru is also convenient and you can even call ahead of you’d like.

the shopping center at this location looks run down but the food and service were worth stopping for. all employees were helpful and even rang a bell when we were paying and everyone shouted «thank you». don’t judge a book by its cover…

I’ve been coming to this location for about a year but I’ve noticed service has gone down recently. The last two times I ordered food at the drive thru left me greatly disappointed and tonight was the final straw. Ordered the family feast with Kung pao chicken, Beef broccoili and Honey walnut shrimp. Paid extra for the shrimp but that’s ok. Told to park in lot as one of my items would take a few mins. Ok, no problem. What was a problem was finding out 45 mins later after I drove home my Kung pao chicken wasn’t included. Urgh. Tried calling the store directly but only go a busy signal. Tried over a course of an hour and a half just to see if I could get through. No such luck. Did they leave the phone off the hook intentionally?
Update Oct 2014:
Received a call and apology from the gal who took my order with a promise to replace my missing food. Appreciate the response and offer. I also received a call from corporate with and apology and offer for three 2 entrée meals with drink. Wow. They made it right 2x.

Fast Food that is very good for what it is!
Fast Food that can’t be beat.
Half & Half and orange chicken + peach tea!

This place is purely horrible, I went there a couple months ago with my grandmother and the service I received was less than satisfying. They are very stingy and did not give us the right order. The food was very unflavorful. This place should have left before Burger King in my opinion.

So we got over charged HA, small portions and $ 1.25 extra for the seafood and the angus steak? I have no problem paying Extra but back in my town they only charge 1 $ extra! And then for medium drink they gave us a small drink size? Wow, definitely not coming here again

Service is bad. I walked in and in the middle of my order the girl place my plate down and ran in the back to answer her cellphone. She was on the phone for only a minute, came back to me and said «Me and my boyfriend are having a fight.» Then asked another girl to help me out. The new girl I believe her name started with a C, rolled her eyes and took it out on me. Deep breaths every time I asked for something. I had to wait 10 mins for one of my sides. The orange chicken was as cold as orange juice.

Have been here several times and regret it afterwords almost always. Several times ive gone drive through and ordered items (during middle of day. Not close to closing or anything) and been told it will be 5 min wait and then asked if i would rather have something else. After 3 or 4 items being a 5 to 10 mins wait i finally just give me orange chicken and whatever else you have. Then i pull up to window pay and end up sitting there for 8 mins. I watched the clock! might as well have ordered what i wanted and «waited». And to top it off lady at window was rude. After handing me, my food she imeadiatly walked away and i had to wait another 3 mins for her to come back so i could ask for sauce and napkins. This was similar experiance on almost every visit. Going inside was slightly better ecperiance. I wont be going back here .
en

*Disclaimer* Now normally I wouldn’t review a fast food restaurant, but this place sucks just enough for me to bend the rules. I pulled up to this God awful drive-​thru for a late night bite. I ordered the two entrée & one side meal. Steamed white rice, mushroom chicken, & honey-​walnut shrimp, please? Oh, $ 1.25 extra for the shrimp? Yes, that’s fine. A three minute wait you say? Cool, no problem. Problem, problem, PROBLEM! Three minutes turned into about 12 – 13 minutes. A tad ironic don’t you think? Considerings it’s a «fast food» place, you know. I would’ve left had they not already raped my wallet. So I wait frustrated, receive my food, & book it. I get home & begin to forget about the pain in the ass wait as I prepare to feast. You can imagine my dismay when I open the container & see fried rice as opposed to steamed. Strike one, I hate fried rice. Whatever, I dig in anyway. The rice is obviously a day old. Like hard & chewy. Strike two. The shrimp was almost inedible. It was horribly fishy. As if it were sitting all day too. Strike three. The chicken was decent. All in all, a shit meal. & I like fast food too. Avoid this one if possible.

***** Attn: Owners — YOUR STAFF SUCKS ASS! *****
This has to be the slowest Panda Express I’ve ever been to in my life. The two girls working could care less about helping customers. They are more concerned with who went on break next. Both of them needed swift kick in the ass from a customer service specialist. Both of them had crappy attitudes as well.
As for the food, well it’s Panda Express. They always taste the same no matter where you go. This is one of the main reasons I like Panda.
You can bet your sweet ass I’ll never stop at this one again.

Hmmm… I have been slacking on my reviews, but its because I am going to a Vegas Business Trip next week. I guess I can celebrate by taking myself to lunch at Panda Express.
The location of this Panda Express is next to the Ralph’s, Burger King, and Chase Bank. It is also across the McDonald’s. This would help future drivers where to go if they are headed to San Francisco or people just stuck heading to Los Angeles.
This Panda Express has a drive thru. I never had Chinese through a drive thru before. I guess I can mark that off my list with the list of Castaic places I have been to. When you order, they have huge pictures of the entrees, unlike the burger spots where they they just list the names and prices. I was greeted by Kayla right off the speaker. I guess I was little surprised to hear someone mention their name. Usually, its, «May I take your order?» That’s great to say their name instead of a magical box., «Hi Kayla».
I ordered the Two-​Item Entrée ($ 5.75). I had half and half with Orange Chicken and Broccoli Beef or I prefer saying this better, Beef Broccoli. My total was $ 6.31. The portion size is average, not packed like Mom and Pop type places. I still love their Orange Chicken which is always cooked right. However, when it comes to the Beef Broccoli, the broccoli is never cooked right. I am a fan of broccoli, but I didn’t like it at ALL.
I will have to visit more places in Castaic and I will be mayor soon… lol. Any suggestions?! Anyways… one more day until the Vegas Convention with the company and I’ll try as many reviews as I can when I return.
Have Fun here and Keep Unilocaling!