Panda Express has been a staple of mall foods across the country from its first location in the Glendale Galleria in California in 1983. Since then, it has expanded to 2,300 restaurants that serve American Chinese favorites like kung pao chicken and its iconic orange chicken.
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Credits:
Producers: Ian Stroud, Pelin Keskin
Directors: Ian Stroud, Murilo Ferreira
Camera: Murilo Ferreira, Jay Simms
Editor: Charlotte Carpenter
Executive Producer: Stephen Pelletteri
Development Producer: Ian Stroud
Supervising Producer: Stefania Orrù
Audience Development: Terri Ciccone, Frances Dumlao, Avery Dalal
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This episode on Panda Express is part of a deep dive into mall food in America. Check out our Mall Food Madness package below!
https://www.eater.com/23598450/malls-restaurants-shopping-fast-food-chains
I eat 109 million of that orange chicken
I've never had panda Express
fake asian meals. you see how piss colored that water was this guy put into the "orange chicken"
I've seen panda express but Never had it. Looking at the mall restaurant, I think I'm better off never going to try it. Looks like dried out old food. Thanks for the warning with this video.
Don't forget to support your local Asian restaurant
Always love an origin story, but the mall near me wasn't as diligent as the creator. But Panda Express will always have a place in my memories as a kid.
Wish pans looked like this though
Half the time it looks like it’s been run over or they’re out of something
Panda Express skimps out on food like no other. one of the most scam restaurants out there. the portions r so small I want to throw it in their face lmao scums and it aint even Chinese food don't call it Chinese scums
i'm taiwanese american, and i have a lot of respect for american chinese food. sure, i personally think it's usually too saucy and too sweet. but it's chinese-based food made with the resources immigrants had available, modified to be marketable to the american palate. it might not be "authentic", but it has a lot of history behind it and really has taken on a life of its own.
They perfected that dish
To every clueless american who say they are not making authentic Chinese food. Travel more and learn! As someone who lives in a country with many Chinese immigrants even my grandparents are the first generation who were born outside China. These are real Chinese food! Yeah they make some foods to be a fusion or something but Chinese food are different in each regions like from Yunan etc.
"We're the first taste of Chinese food for people" proceeds to make fake Chinese food.
I always expected that sauce to be pre-bagged and mass produced. It's kinda cool how they make it fresh. No wonder it tastes so good!
It’s interesting how much we vilify fast food chains, this was kind of eye opening for me, as someone who’s always thought of Panda Express and other fast food chains as cheap, highly processed, alternatives.
Orange Chicken is basically Sweet and sour Chicken which we get in the UK
Panda Express is the worst. I can't believe anyone would eat there twice.
Disgraceful stuff. They drench the chicken in high fructose corn syrup and drench it in MSG and oil. Eater, you're better than this.