Panda Express

A typical Panda Express in Fort Worth, Texas (2014)

The Panda Restaurant Group, parent company of Panda Inn, Panda Express, and Hibachi-San, was founded by Andrew Cherng, Peggy Cherng and Andrew's father, Master Chef Ming Tsai Cherng.[11] Andrew Cherng and his father are from the Yangzhou region of China's Jiangsu province, while Peggy was born in Burma and raised in Hong Kong.[12] Both Andrew and Peggy Cherng are alumni of Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas (where they first met).[13][14]

Andrew went into business with his father in the United States in 1973, opening their first Panda Inn restaurant in Pasadena, California.[12][13] At the beginning, business was lacking to the degree that Andrew had to offer special deals and freebies so that customers would dine at Panda Inn.[15] In 1982, Peggy joined Andrew in the restaurant business.[12] While operating Panda Inn, Andrew became acquainted with then-UCLA head football coach Terry Donahue, as well as Terry's brother Dan, who happened to be in the real estate business.[12] It was because of this connection that in 1983, Donahue Schriber Real Estate, the manager of the Glendale Galleria, invited the Cherngs to develop a fast-food version of Panda Inn for the Galleria's food court, and Panda Express was launched that October.[16] A second location was opened two years later at the Westside Pavilion in 1985.[17] The chain has steadily expanded across the United States since then. Chef Andy Kao claims to have developed the original Chinese-American orange chicken recipe at a Panda Express in Hawaii in 1987.[18]

At first, Panda Express restaurants were found solely in food courts in major shopping malls.[12] During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Cherngs began experimenting with supermarket-based branches, through a deal with Vons, and then stand-alone restaurant locations.[12] In 1997, the company opened its first stand-alone, drive-through restaurant, in Hesperia, California.[19] Today less than 2% of its restaurants are in malls.[20]

Because Peggy had worked for several years as a software designer and engineer for defense contractors like McDonnell Douglas, Panda Express computerized its operations early on.[12][13] Peggy also brought a systems analysis perspective to the business and worked through the logistics and standardization issues necessary to scale up the concept.[12][13]

In 2005, Panda Express began to open units in food courts on college campus, some of which participate in the residential student meal plans.[21] In 2008, the Cherngs were the recipients of the City of Angels Award, given by the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce,[22] for their contributions to the greater Los Angeles area.[23] As of 2007, the company's highest revenue location, bringing in over US$4 million annually, was located at the Ala Moana Center food court in Honolulu, Hawaii.[24] On November 23, 2009, it was announced that Panda Express had selected Trusonic to provide Asian themed background music to its store locations.[25]

On the ABC News TV program Nightline, April 18, 2011, there was a feature segment on Panda Express and its success. The segment described how Andrew Cherng encourages his workers and management to go through self-help programs emphasizing Landmark Education.[26]

In 2011, a suit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Panda Express because it was reportedly treating its Hispanic employees differently than Asian employees.[27] In June 2013, it was announced that the restaurant chain will pay $150,000 to settle another EEOC action on behalf of at least three female teenagers who were allegedly sexually harassed between 2007 and 2009 by one male kitchen supervisor in Kauai, Hawaii.[28] In addition to the fines, Panda Express revised its policies and was required to provide anti-discrimination and sexual harassment training for employees.

Later that year, Panda Express opened its first location in the western Pacific by opening a location in the American territory of Guam.[29] The first location in the state of Alaska was later opened in December 2015.[30]

As of 2017, the Panda Restaurant Group had annual sales of over $3 billion and close to 39,000 employees.[31] The Cherngs also opened Panda Innovation Kitchen in Pasadena with their daughter, Andrea Cherng, overlooking a majority of the restaurant's business.[32] The idea for Panda Innovation Kitchen is to experiment with new flavours and ingredients to come up with new menu items. In addition, they also opened a tea bar to introduce Taiwanese drinks such as boba milk tea and new drinks like the Fortune Cookie Shake.[33]

In December 2017, Panda Express had opened the chain's 2,000th location, which is located in New York City near Columbia University.[34]

On June 22, 2020, an employee was fired from a restaurant in Grand Prairie, Texas, after a customer accused him of using a fake Chinese accent.[35]

Panda Express also operates in Canada, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, El Salvador, Philippines, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. The first location in Mexico opened in Mexico City in September 2011.[36]

In October 2013, the first Panda Express located in Canada opened its doors on Hunt Club Road in Nepean, Ontario but has since closed.[37] The first location in Calgary was opened in October 2016.[38]

The first location in South Korea was opened in Seoul in September 2014 as a joint venture with Seoul-based SF Innovation Co.[39]

On May 26, 2014, it was reported by Arabian Business news that Panda Express would be opening a restaurant in the United Arab Emirates.[40] The first Panda Express restaurant in the Middle East was open in Dubai in November 2014.[41]

In July 2016, Panda Express opened its first location in Guatemala, in Guatemala City.[42]

In September 2017, Panda Express opened its first location on the Dutch Caribbean country of Aruba at the Queen Beatrix International Airport.[43]

Although no reliable source can be located when and where Panda Express had opened its first restaurant in Saudi Arabia, there is reliable information that the second Panda Express in Saudi Arabia was opened in the capital city of Riyadh in January 2018.[44] Both Saudi Arabian restaurants are operated by Gourmet Gulf.[45]

In July 2018, Panda Express entered El Salvador for the first time by opening 2 locations in the capital city of San Salvador[46]

In September 2018, Panda Express announced its joint venture with Jollibee Foods Corporation to bring its stores in the Philippines.[47] The first Panda Express restaurant in the Philippines opened in December 2019 at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong as joint venture with Jollibee.[48]

The first Panda Express in Russia opened in Moscow in September 2018.[49]

Panda Express previously had eight locations in Japan that were operated under a franchise agreement that later lapsed.[16] In November 2016, the company returned to the country by opening a new location in Kawasaki.[50] This new location is operated as part of a joint partnership with Ippudo.[51] As of June 2019, there are four locations in the nation.[52]

In October 2020, the South China Morning Post reported that a fake Panda Express restaurant in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming had been reported for trademark infringement, and was closed during an investigation.[53] The reportedly fake restaurant used the same Panda Express logo, and its menu reportedly included the same Kung Pao Chicken and Tangerine Peel Chicken as the company's restaurants.[54]

In 1999, Panda Express launched Panda Cares to give back to the community. They provide funding, food and volunteer services to children in need and disaster relief efforts.[55] The company installed donation boxes in all the Panda Express restaurants in 2010. The charity has raised $107 million, with $89 million coming from in-store donation boxes, and $41 million has been donated to "The Leader In Me", a program to teach leadership and life skills that has been rolled out to 865 elementary schools in 39 states. The organization has also donated $37 million to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, to support medical costs for poor children, and also supports disaster relief efforts.[56]

• List of Chinese restaurants

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panda Express.

• Official website
• Hoover's Financial Data on the Panda Restaurant Group