Panda Inn Restaurant

Long wait. Loved the fried rice and egg drop soup. The pad thai was very mushy and very sour aftertaste

Food was terrible! Cold Orange Chicken was bad! Panda Beef was dry and too crispy. Skimpy portion of plum sauce with chicken in lettuce cup!
Service was worse. Waiter admitted they were under– staffed. They were paying attention to a table in private room. Saying sorry doesn’t cut it.

This place is simply great. Great food, service and comfortable seating.
My favorites:
Aromatic shrimp
Mapo Tofu
Garlic Noodles

Went here with a group of 6 and I recommend it for groups I’ve been to the one in Glendale, CA & got to say this one is much nicer and fancier. The food is really good and the best part is you can share with the whole table if you get different plates (the portions are good sizes). You can dress up or dress casually, both work with the environment.
Would recommend for a family dinner or for large groups.

This location was just ok, I actually preferred the food and ambiance at the Glendale location, which I understand is now temporarily closed. Not really much better then eating at Panda Express; correction, I prefer the food (orange chicken/​kung pao chicken) at Panda Express over this location.

I’ve never been to panda inn but i’ve heard good things before.
Went in for the Sunday Brunch and got the buffet with some mimosas.
The buffet was on point but of course I mostly stuck with the sushi and the honey walnut shrimp. You can never go wrong with their honey walnut shrimp. If there was more football, I would have stayed all day at panda inn.
However the best part to me was their service. Our server was Danielle and she was very attentive to serving us but also was easy and fun to talk to. If I come back, I’m going to request for her table again.

Super bomb food here. Owned by Panda Express but both different so if you are needing something quick and «fast food» then panda express will be just fine for you however if you want really delicious Chinese food that’s more than a few steps up as far as flavor and quality then come here to Panda Inn. They have lunch specials and I had the Black Pepper Beef. I did pick through the mushrooms but only because I don’t like them. The zucchini was surprisingly good and I really enjoyed the beef it was tender and flavorful. The lunch deal also came with soup, rice, salad, and a veggie spring roll. I mixed the rice with my beef and it was very good and the spring roll was great even if it had veggies in it. Didn’t eat salad since I had my veggie fill with the spring roll. People inside were nice and I’d stop here again no doubt. Don’t forget a fortune cookie they are half dipped in chocolate.

The only great thing about this place are the cute fortune cookies.
Kung Pao shrimp is a no no. It has a very unpleasant after taste which now has me sick, literally.
They also gave me two of the incorrect side dishes. Surprise, surprise.

I’ve been coming here for years and the food and service are always great. The staff is always friendly, professional, and attentive.
My favorite dishes are the Steamed Chilean Sea Bass and Asian Spiced Beef Short Ribs. The sea bass is steamed till perfectly soft, flaky, and buttery. The sauce is intentionally mild to let the freshness of the sea bass shine. The beef short ribs are super tender and needs no knife. It cuts easily with a fork. It’s served on a bed of spinach and udon noodles.
The portion sizes are generous and the prices are affordable.
At the end of the meal, everyone is presented with a special vanilla-​dipped fortune cookie gift-​wrapped in a shiny metal foil.
The place gets packed at night, but luckily they take reservations.

Chinese food is my absolute favorite.
It doesn’t matter if it’s made to order and fit for an emperor or if it’s one of those shady places that has trays and trays of food baking under heat lamps for hours on end. I just love it. My fellow Korean brothers and sisters may call me a traitor for forgoing my ethnic heritage, but my heart (and arteries) belong to China through and through.
In the past, it was a struggle. Do I go to a buffet where there’s tons of variety… but the quality might not be up to par? Or do I forgo variety/​having options and instead just pay up for better food?
With Panda Inn, I discovered I could have both. Eureka!
Panda Inn’s sunday brunch is to die for. Imagine all the tastiest chinese foods brought under one roof, cooked to perfection. In addition to the standard chinese fare you’d expect to find, they also had some specialty items like roasted pork belly, duck, and even a made-​to-​order soup station which saw people getting seconds and thirds.
All in all, one of the best brunch experiences I’ve ever had, hands-​down. Definitely will have to come back again.
Tip: if you’re thinking of having a large event, do it on a sunday so that you can take advantage of the brunch variety and pricing (I believe it was $ 27.50/person).

Party of 5! We Just left after a long, But delicious Christmas Eve Dinner. Service is stellar, Food is awesome, décor, atmosphere everything is top notch. Everyone was welcoming and attentive. Everything we had was so palate pleasing.
Gigi (the Manager) went above and beyond to make sure our dinner was perfect. My Mom has been ill and does not get out much and she so enjoyed the Christmas décor and the food. If you are ever in the mood for some traditional Mandarin Cuisine with excellent service Please come and enjoy dinner here. Thank you staff and Management. Paula

WARNING: FOOD POISONING!
My husband came here the other night for a work dinner and came home complaining of a stomach ache. Now I’ve eaten at the Panda Inn at the Glendale location, so I know that this is far from what i would call good Chinese food. It is very greasy Americanized Chinese food. I figured it was just a case of indigestion caused by greasy food.
He went to lay down for a few minutes while I made myself dinner. We took the dog for a walk and he was feeling ok, but about 10 minutes into the walk he had to bow out. I came home and he was white as a sheet. He had been violently ill.
Now this is a man who had no stomach issues when we traveled to India or ate fried street food in Colombia. A little Orange Chicken from here though and he was throwing up every hour for 8 hours. Thankfully this morning the worst of it seems to have passed. It is not how I wanted to start going into the holiday break, and his sister is in town visiting.
Just be careful if after eating here your stomach does a rumble. You may be in for a lonnnngggg sleepless night.

We went back and gave Panda Inn another try. The manager is one of the nicest and most gracious people around. She thanked me for the feedback and made sure our dining experience was as good as it could be. I understand that the restaurant must keep changing and growing and sometimes that involves leaving behind ways and menus that are familiar and good, hopefully for the better. I mentioned the value of consistency and she responded favorably.
In short, we will continue to keep Panda Inn as a dining option and really, for the kind of Americanized Chinese food they serve, they are still one of the better places in the area.

I came across an article highlighting Panda’s founders and they talked about having a 5 year plan to become recognized as the world leader in people development. What an incredible vision and this prompted me to dine at Panda Inn.
I’ve eaten at Panda Express but wasn’t aware that there was a sit-​down restaurant! There’s always a stigma that Panda’s menu is not authentic Chinese food and let me tell you, it is authentically Chinese but with an American twist — what a win-​win situation!
Sometimes, I think it’s important to leave our comfort zone and to really experience innovative kitchens such as Panda’s.
To my surprise and complete opposite to what I’ve been hearing, the dishes here were delicious. I highly recommend ordering the wok-​fried jumbo scallops with sauteed spinach in wine sauce. That was my favorite dish. The sweet and aromatic shrimp was also really good (looked exactly like the menu’s picture)! I was inspired to get a little creative and enjoyed the shrimps with my chicken lettuce wraps! The ingredients were fresh and the portions were also very generous.
Friends who advise us that if we want to experience «authentic» Chinese food, we need to go to A, B or C restaurant instead. However, if you want great service, comfort and ambiance, Panda Inn is where you need to take your family to. It’s a festive and elegant restaurant to host holiday parties (great for both family and company events!).
Another reason to support the Panda family of restaurants is that instead of focusing on prosperity, they are heavily focused on developing people to become the best version of themselves. If that doesn’t sound inspirational, I don’t know what would.

Sunday’s buffet is $ 27 plus tax and tips.
Not very good, some of the dishes are similar to Panda Express food.
Not for vegetarians, the only vegetarian dishes in the buffet are the vegetable egg rolls and a lettuce salad.
Horrible place to eat. Don’t go there.
For $ 27 you can have a better buffet at any Chinese restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley

Panda Inn first opened in 1973 in Pasadena, CA. It was very successful and in the 80’s the owners opened the well known fast food chain Panda Express. Panda Inn has an upscale atmosphere and the taste and quality of the food shouldn’t be compared to Panda Express because they are two different experiences. When I walked inside it was clean and I loved the décor. I was greeted right away and offered a menu when I said I was placing a to-​go order. They have lunch specials that run Monday — Friday from 11 am until 3 pm. When I went to place my order it was close to 3:30, so I was surprised when the girl who took my order said I could order off the lunch menu. Nice! My order was prepared fresh and I was pleased with the portion and price. I’d come back when passing through town again absolutely.
Orange Chicken ($ 10 lunch special) — Nice portion of orange chicken and it was crispy and delicious. This lunch special also came with a veggie egg roll that was really good, white rice, side salad and egg drop soup. I was so full from the chicken, rice, salad and egg roll that I couldn’t finish my soup, but enjoyed what I did have.
Catering is offered and you can place your order online, over the phone or in person if you aren’t eating inside.

One of my favorite things in life, is brunch. There are very few things in life that make me happier and at the moment I can’t recall what those things are. Panda Inn has my favorite brunch, hands down. Years ago, when I first dined at the restaurant, I ordered off the regular menu during a weekday lunch. When I found out the they had a Sunday brunch, I was definitely inclined to try it. What makes this brunch so impressive is that the food, which is served buffet style, is just as good as the food I ordered off the menu, and it’s all you can drink!
Panda Inn also tries to change it up a little, so the food doesn’t get repetitive. For example, I love scallops and they’ve had a scallops every time I’ve been but almost every time, there’s a different variation. This can be said for almost every other item. Also, they have endless mimosas and nothing bad can come from endless mimosas =).
the food is always amazing, the service is always on point, and nine times out of ten I’m going to make this place my weekly cheat spot.

It’s been about a month so I wanted to try this place again.
We came around 1130 am and were greeted and seated immediately. I guess it’s good to come when it’s drizzling outside.
The food was delicious. There is something extra good about the orange chicken here (I think it’s a bit more garlic). Lots of shrimp dishes today… Tried a spoonful of almost everything and had to come back for some more honey walnut shrimp!
Service was good, but not great. I wish we would have had our server from last time. I ran out of water and no one asked us if we wanted another Mai Thai or mimosa. One for each of us is okay, since I was driving I wouldn’t have had more than that anyway, but it would have been nice to be asked.
The manager checked in on us and wanted to make sure we enjoyed the meal. She was very friendly and I didn’t have the heart to tell her about the drinks. It was still a pleasant experience… And the food was fabulous. Not quite a 5-​star rating yet… Maybe next time?

Ok. I’ll be honest… I basically came here for bottomless mimosas. I am aware there is other places you can get bottomless mimosas at on a Sunday but Panda offers exceptional service. The waiters/​waitresses walking around picking up your empty dishes, refilling your drinks. in my case, my mimosas… and making sure you are doing alright. I loved the fact that whenever I got up to get another round of food, my napkin was neatly folded for me and my mimosa glass refilled! Woo Whoo! For not having to wait for a refill.
As for the food, the food isn’t too bad. They unfortunately do not have the ‘typical American’ breakfast such as omelettes or pancakes but they do have plenty to choose from such as their walnut shrimp (which tasted deliciously fresh and I’m pretty picky when it comes to these), dumplings (they were ok), chow mein of course, fried rice, their famous orange chicken, beef and broccoli, chicken lettuce wraps and of course a few tofu and fish dishes as well such as: spice fish fillet with tofu and grilled salmon in chef’s special sauce. They also had a soup station (my soup was pretty bland but I guess it’s somewhat healthy) and a dessert station with a killer chocolate German cake, almond cookies and chocolate covered strawberries.
I loved that their customer service was attentive without being intrusive and that my waitress didn’t mind refilling my mimosas all through my 2 hour brunch ordeal. Bottomless is bottomless with no judgement and I sure was one happy Panda Inn customer.
#53/​2015

BF took me here for a quick lunch during my break, and who knows Chinese food more than a white American Italian guy? So, I happily accepted his invite. The restaurant itself has a parking lot of its own at the back, so finding a parking spot here during lunch hour was actually an easy task.
After we were seated, our host promptly presented us with their menus and a wine list, too bad I still have to get back to work (No Wine for me). After scanning through their lunch menu we decided to order:
— Crispy Calamari: the calamari was actually very fresh, no fishiness whatsoever. It was served with some sweet and sour sauce, the authenticity was spot on :)
— Beef with Tomato: Another «authentic» Chinese food that I used to eat when I was growing up in Taiwan, fairly delicious, just too oily…
— Spicy Trio: Chicken, beef, and shrimp sautéed in a sugary, brownish, and spicy sauce. And given it’s Panda Inn, that means it’s not that spicy, but rather sweet.
All and all I’d say give yourself some time if you are going to dine here for lunch. Maybe it was during lunch hour, or perhaps I only had one hour to spare, I can’t help but thought to myself that their service was a bit too slow. But again, maybe it’s just that I was on my lunch break… I probably would still come back though, just to take my parents to their Sunday dim sum brunch. Plus the décor was very pleasing to the eye…