Panda Express

We visit here 2 to 4x monthly. It's very conveniently located off highway 5 and Lathrop road exit. They have a public restroom, which is generally pretty clean (except if you use it for #2, it won't flush it down due to a ridiculously low flow water source on the toilet). The food is typical panda express quality, so meh. And it's an easy stroll from the nearest electric car chargers, Just 2 blocks away. So overall a decent value. You can feed a family of 3 for under 65 bucks. Sometimes less if premium items are skipped. Sadly this site has a greatly reduced panda menu, so most of my favorites are not available, which is frustrating. But I'm sure they do that so they can keep up with the food volume they generate every day. This restaurant is always busy. Day and nite.

The place is casual, and the workers are very efficient with order-taking and filling. The staff was attentive when I went back to the counter for water cups and the code for the bathroom. He r3cognized that I was waiting, and even though he was in the middle of a task, he asked me if I needed assistance. Another worker was really helpful when she saw me trying to use the bathroom code that didn't work at first. I appreciated her attentiveness and genuine concern. The store was clean, workers were helpful, and the food tasted good. The fried rice at some other locations would sometimes have hard rice, or undercooked. This location had well-cooked rice. I felt that the team here was cohesive and they care for the customer's needs.

I was on my road trip to Sacramento on Wednesday night… and decided to stop in Lathrop for some panda express because I was literally dying to eat after not having eaten for a whole day. The next thing you know, it turned out to be the most quickest, and most convenient drive-through that I have ever gone through (not to mention, knock on wood, that it is PANDA EXPRESS!) I got their plate with chow mein, broccoli beef, and teriyaki chicken. When I tell you that they cooked everything really well, they actually did, and it didn’t taste too dry or too runny. I love the consistency and the texture of how juicy the teriyaki chicken was, and how saucy the broccoli beef was as well. The person that was taking my order was really helpful, and even asked me to donate to charity for a cause… and

Found a hair in my food. Disgusting. Not only that, but given how hungry I was, I tried a piece of chicken and it was stale and tasted bad. Mind you, I am not a picky eater. There was no one else in the drive-thru, which makes sense as to why my food I purchased was stale. A truly gross experience, I don’t think I’ll ever eat at Panda again. Let’s stick to the grocery stores folks. Too expensive for too low quality…times have changed

We always make a point of stopping here for lunch when in the area. The food is fresh and hot, good quantity too.