r/PandaExpress

Today my store had to do the module for the new limited item coming soon. Took longer then I expected but honestly from what I saw not too excited for it. I see it being a hit or miss for customers as well.

Maybe im just a little sad to see dynamite go already but I will enjoy while I can and I suggest yall do the same if you really enjoy it like me.

Won't say what the new item exactly is but its not gonna have any type of spice to it!

Hey everyone. I just completed a second interview and I believe I’m going be potentially starting next week. For any current or previous employees, how was your time at panda? I am most likely going to be becoming a shift lead. I was excited to apply due to it being listed as a Top Workplace, but a friend of mine who just started as well was put on a 13 hour shift today. I told him to tell them he doesn’t want that; and if I start I will not be doing 13 hours, that’s against my willingness to do for any company. So with that being said, how was everyone’s experience? I’ve been reading mixed things which concern me.

[supprimé]

I’m the customer. I went into my local Panda Express on Friday and ordered a family meal. There was only one other person in the restaurant when I got there and no one was behind me. This is what I wanted a box of fried rice, a box of chow mein, for the entrées, orange chicken, string bean, chicken, and mushroom chicken.
When I walked in, they were a little short on Rice and mushroom chicken. They had everything else. The server told me it would be five minutes for the mushroom chicken and the fried rice was being made at the time.
As I stood waiting for the mushroom chicken, other people begin to come into the restaurant. Rather than fill my boxes with the entrées I had ordered. They filled all the other orders, and by the time the mushroom chicken was finished, they were short on everything else. I had to wait in the restaurant over 30 minutes for them to continue to cook each entrée as it ran out. I brought it to the attention of the manager, he seemed un concerned. When I walked out, he gave me my box and never offered any type of apology at all. Is this normal?

And when you ask them to wash their hands before they prepare your food, they will put on the soap like its hand sanitizer and wash it off in not even 2 seconds. You're not washing off any bacteria doing that.

I’m about 2 months into training at Panda Express and I’m honestly starting to think I might not be able to keep doing this.
I knew it would be hard, but the long shifts and constant pressure are starting to really get to me. I keep going back and forth because I also know quitting this early isn’t exactly an easy decision, especially right now with how expensive everything is.
Part of me feels like I should just push through it, but another part of me is wondering if I’m just not meant for this kind of job long term.

For anyone who quit Panda (or something similar) - what did you end up doing after? Did you regret it or was it actually the right choice?

And if you stayed… what helped you survive those crazy long shifts without burning out?

I’d really appreciate real experiences.

Panda insider here: Don’t know about yall but I’m excited to know that Hot Orange is coming back in July.

was wondering if this was a thing for other areas/stores. I’m currently BOH/sometimes FOH and our store closes at 9:30. Our ACO is having managers write us up if we are not done and leaving by 10. It’s been easy when closing FOH but I have only been at panda for a month and a half and I find it difficult to finish on time on the weekends when it’s very busy. I usually get out at 10:10-10:20 on fridays and saturdays. Even with only getting out 10 minutes late Im being threatened with disciplinary action.

This is probably a really dumb question but I couldn't find an answer anywhere. I did my onboarding paperwork, but I didn't see a section on Workday for schedules. When will I know I start training? Does the schedule drop somewhere else?

Thanks to anyone who can help out 🫡

I was told my assistant manager training would take around 6 weeks, but it’s already been 2 months and I still feel stuck at the front of the house all the time. Sometimes I literally have to ask if I can work in the back of the house, and even then I barely spend any time there.
There are also so many things I was never taught, like cutting vegetables or doing inventory. At this point I just feel like a regular FOH employee instead of someone actually being trained to become an assistant manager.
It’s getting really frustrating because I never planned to stay stuck in FOH forever, and I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. Has anyone else dealt with this during management training?

Is it chosen by the owner/manager, or does Panda Express HQ just contract to a 3rd party company that provides whatever streaming package for fast food restaurants?

I ask because I was eating in there the other day and noticed they started playing music by Jolin Tsai and then Rainie Yang. These are both like pop stars in Taiwan from the 2000s. After those two songs, I was wondering who else they would play, but they broke the streak with Coldplay.

Anyways, if it is done by a person at Panda Express, I'd like to put in a request to play some S.H.E., I think that'll round out the 2000s pop music theme going.

Hi guysss, I recently applied to panda and went through 3 rounds of interview after 2 days of applying, now schedule to go to an ojp in a couple of days, was wondering how thats like? What things are they looking for etc. And if any advice or insight from current/previous gms would be great! Thanks