Seriously, they do a lot of cleaning

September 9, 2016 10:35 AM

One Day at Panda Express
posted by almostmanda (51 comments total)

Huh. I had no idea there were any Pandas Express outside of mall or airport food courts.
posted by Etrigan at 10:38 AM on September 9, 2016

One tie at the Panda Express at our mall I saw the employees sharpening their knives ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR IN THE HALL BEHIND THE RESTAURANT. That is all.
posted by mynameisluka at 10:47 AM on September 9, 2016 [6 favorites]

They probably washed them after that. Maybe.
posted by maryr at 10:50 AM on September 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

What a weird commercial.
posted by sibboleth at 10:50 AM on September 9, 2016 [20 favorites]

I always wondered what kind of revenue places like that pulled down. At $7000+ a day, they're breaking $2.5m at one store a year. I imagine they have slower days, so let's say $2m. Even at ~35% food costs they'll probably get $1.3m or so before paying wages. With 12 employees that's $100k+ per worker. But there's no way they pay even the manager more than $50k.

I've never seen a better case for a $15 minimum wage.
posted by dis_integration at 10:54 AM on September 9, 2016 [30 favorites]

Even at ~35% food costs they'll probably get $1.3m or so before paying wages. With 12 employees that's $100k+ per worker. But there's no way they pay even the manager more than $50k.

I've never seen a better case for a $15 minimum wage.

You're leaving out burden rates (benefits, admin, etc.), maintenance, and rent (typically the largest or second-largest cost for a restaurant). Also, that location presumably has more than the 12 employees who were there for that particular day. Yes, the minimum wage should be higher, but back-of-the-envelope calculations leave out a lot.
posted by Etrigan at 11:09 AM on September 9, 2016 [26 favorites]

I am an unashamed fan of mall food court Chinese, and Panda Express will do in a pinch, but it's not really the best expression of the style. It's all a little too flavorless; I suspect it's their no added MSG thing. The food really needs some MSG.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:09 AM on September 9, 2016 [13 favorites]

Somehow I'd always assumed the vegetables were all pre-cut at a central location and shipped frozen to the stores. I had no idea they did them all in-store.

The times I've eaten at a Panda Express I've always been impressed with the efficiency of their kitchen and how they cook the food on-site in smaller batches so it's never left sitting around for long. I contrast this with the Safeway Asian food which I've basically given up on eating because they cook large batches and the turnover is low enough that I don't think I've ever had Asian food from a Safeway that seems freshly made unless I just happened to be there right at the jackpot moment of the food being brought to the service display.

I'm lucky enough that my tiny little town of 10K has one of the best Asian restaurants I've ever eaten at, but dinner there for two can run $30, so it's not the sort of thing I'd grab for a quick meal like I might with Panda Express.

(For the record, the BEST Asian restaurant I've ever eaten at is Gourmet House Of Hong Kong in Phoenix. Holy crap, I miss living 2 miles away from that place!)
posted by hippybear at 11:12 AM on September 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

When you go to diabetes education classes they often use Panda Express as the example of the worst thing you could possibly do for lunch. There are people in that class who can't feel their fingers and have turned bright yellow.

I don't fault panda express or people who eat it or people who have trouble with diabetes. I do, however, want to get the word out that most of their meals have sugar in abundance.
posted by poe at 11:16 AM on September 9, 2016 [4 favorites]

Yeah, most of the panda express stuff has a billion calories. Not all of it, and some of the sane calorie stuff is pretty good, but some of it is staggering. It's easy to go over 1000 calories in a meal.

I like their food a lot but I try to avoid going unless I've done something big that day, like biked 35 mile or something.
posted by Mitrovarr at 11:55 AM on September 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

I contrast this with the Safeway Asian food which I've basically given up on eating

I've given up on our Shop-Rite, too. ( funny thing, they're down the block from my go-to Chinese delivery "Dragon Fried Fish" on Watervliet Ave. )

For the record, the BEST Asian restaurant I've ever eaten at is Gourmet House Of Hong Kong in Phoenix. Holy crap, I miss living 2 miles away from that place!)

The Little Bear, Bearsville NY. (mic drop)
posted by mikelieman at 12:31 PM on September 9, 2016

"The customer's full two minutes at the menu board drives the daily order average up a whole four seconds."

This Taylorization feels a bit harsh.
posted by mecran01 at 12:35 PM on September 9, 2016 [5 favorites]

Thanks for posting this one; I really enjoyed getting a look at a typical day for the staff. Places like Panda Express are ubiquitous but I rarely see fast food discussed online without contempt for the employees or the customers, so I found the presentation refreshing. I know when I worked in food service I would have appreciated someone taking any interest in what I did.
posted by thetortoise at 12:38 PM on September 9, 2016 [16 favorites]

Yeah, most of the panda express stuff has a billion calories

I spent like two years eating The Most Panda Express for lunch every Sunday, almost without fail. Of course, I was also 23 years old and lifting a lot, so I was still ridiculously skinny. I'm pretty sure that one of those lunches today would make the buttons pop off of all my pants, even the ones that weren't actually on me at the time.

But goddamn if I don't want a giant plate of orange chicken and lo mein right now.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:40 PM on September 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

This is neat. I don't think I've ever eaten at Panda Express, but I have a soft spot for "American" (as Xi would call it) food.
posted by quaking fajita at 1:04 PM on September 9, 2016

The Panda Express near me posts calorie counts on their menu, which I think is admirable. On the occasions when I get a hankering for food court Chinese, I go for the steamed rice plus one of the ~200 calorie entrees, which totals to something like 600 calories.

But, yeah, if you get the plate with fried rice and two of their more sauce-heavy entrees, you're very easily getting into supersized Big Mac meal territory.

(And, well, I really do hope they spend a lot of time cleaning.)
posted by tobascodagama at 1:06 PM on September 9, 2016

You can still eat at Panda Inn, the original restaurant (now with 5 locations).

For the adventurous, there is also the Panda Express Innovation Kitchen, where you can build your own creations, such as a Kung Pao chicken quesadilla and other gourmet delights.
posted by mogget at 1:47 PM on September 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

the original restaurant (now with 5 locations)

That's.... not what "original restaurant" means.
posted by hippybear at 1:48 PM on September 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

What a weird commercial.

I feel kind of sad that I just saw a company get a better blowjob than I've ever received.
posted by GuyZero at 1:49 PM on September 9, 2016 [5 favorites]

There's really no way to make this comment without sounding like a typical ugly American glutton, but what I don't like about Panda Express is that their portions seem very...corporate driven. I try not to eat at fast food Chinese take out too often, but when I do, I find that many of the hole in the wall local places will serve you overflowing plates that I, even as a person with portion control issues, can easily make two meals out of. When I go to Panda Express, the portions are small enough to make it evident that there is some sort of corporate directive dictating exactly how much of each item can be served per order. Kind of the dining equivalent of going to a bar where they precisely measure how much liquor goes into each drink vs. one that gives more generous pours.
posted by The Gooch at 1:53 PM on September 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Pffft, as much head-office approval as this piece had it was still interesting to see the process, work and enthusiasm these people put into their job.

But yeah, if they're not putting MSG in there then they're doing it wrong.
posted by sektah at 1:56 PM on September 9, 2016

When I go to Panda Express, the portions are small enough to make it evident that there is some sort of corporate directive dictating exactly how much of each item can be served per order.

Well, that is how fastfood chains work. You need predictability and regularity. The numbers have been crunched.
posted by dis_integration at 2:02 PM on September 9, 2016 [6 favorites]

I live in the San Gabriel Valley, about 15-20 minutes from the Panda in the story. In case you don't know, this area has a huge Asian population and a plethora plus of every sort of Asian restaurant under the sun. I'm vegetarian so I don't patronize Panda, but I'm apparently in the minority. Greasy and salty for the win.
posted by Sassenach at 2:20 PM on September 9, 2016

Goddammit. I just got home, and now I have to go out and get some Chinese food.

(Live in a rural area, they don't deliver here)
posted by dirigibleman at 2:34 PM on September 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

What's with all the MSG love here?
posted by kozad at 3:36 PM on September 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

Probably people like it?
posted by koeselitz at 3:44 PM on September 9, 2016 [10 favorites]

This was basically interesting but the whole presentation has a very odd advertisement/infographic vibe that left me feeling cheated in a way I don't know how to describe.

A bit like being invited to dinner by your friend and it turns out that the whole thing is a MLM scheme pitch.
posted by Soi-hah at 3:45 PM on September 9, 2016 [5 favorites]

I do agree, the FPP felt more like a puff piece or a bit of marketing than anything else, but I did find it interesting, and even in the middle of all the "wow, they're trying to really sell this to me" I felt like I got some insights about what it's like to work in a quality-controlled, close-to-the-mothership Panda Express.

How well this expands to include all the other Panda Express locations I might encounter, I have no idea. But I enjoyed reading it even despite all the YouTube autoplay loops that didn't give me any mouseover information about the length of the video or any control other than to click to stop playing.
posted by hippybear at 3:51 PM on September 9, 2016

And there are bottled Panda Express Sauces in the Asian Food aisles at most major supermarkets. Ingredients list for "Orange Sauce": "Sugar, Water, Distilled Vinegar, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt, alcohol, rice vinegar, lactic acid), food starch-modified, contains less than 2% of salt, spices, xanthan gum, natural flavors (includes yeast extract), lactic acid, caramel color, hydrolyzed soy protein." Of course, sugar is first ingredient (but at least it's not corn syrup). As for their "Mandarin (Teriyaki) Sauce": "Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybean, Salt, Alcohol, Rice Vinegar, Lactic Acid), Sugar, Water, Food Starch-Modified, Contains Less Than 2% of Ginger, Sesame Oil, Salt, Dextrose, Garlic, Corn Syrup, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Xanthan Gum, Spice, Citric Acid, Caramel Color." Let the eater beware.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:58 PM on September 9, 2016

Can't get that delicious, delicious caramelization without sugar.
posted by hippybear at 4:00 PM on September 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

Etrigan: Huh. I had no idea there were any Pandas Express outside of mall or airport food courts.

Which is funny because my only view of Panda Expresses, for years, were outside of the mall and airport food courts. When I started traveling more, I thought it was weird to see them in airports. Even today, the one nearest to me is in a mid-rise pedestrian area in northeast Seattle (though there is, of course, one in Northgate Mall).
posted by fireoyster at 4:14 PM on September 9, 2016

For the fast-food-averse, Eater has also done the same type of presentation for Portland's Kachka, a Russian restaurant. Link here.

I've always been interested in the management and operations of a restaurant, so these articles are catnip. If anyone has other examples, would love to see em.
posted by raihan_ at 4:49 PM on September 9, 2016 [8 favorites]

For the record, the BEST Asian restaurant

There's no such thing as "Asian food." And even if there were, Panda Express would certainly not be it--even the chef in this story, from China, considers it American food.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:29 PM on September 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

Okay, fair. Gourmet House Of Hong Kong is pretty specific with where its cuisine is from. Here is their menu.
posted by hippybear at 6:55 PM on September 9, 2016

tobascodagama: The Panda Express near me posts calorie counts on their menu, which I think is admirable.

They're following new FDA guidelines.
posted by matrixclown at 7:22 PM on September 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

I eat at Panda Express sometimes on long road trips, because with a bit of care you can get a non-greasy lunch for not much more than a burger place, and with more flavor. It's not fine dining, but it's fast, easy, and reasonably tasty.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:30 PM on September 9, 2016

Even though Panda Express is American fast food, at least it's owners are still actually Chinese people. You can't really say that for most "ethnic" fast food chains. Or even some fancier chains like PF Chang's.
posted by FJT at 10:53 PM on September 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

You're leaving out burden rates (benefits, admin, etc.), maintenance, and rent (typically the largest or second-largest cost for a restaurant). Also, that location presumably has more than the 12 employees who were there for that particular day. Yes, the minimum wage should be higher, but back-of-the-envelope calculations leave out a lot.

In highschool/college I worked as the night manager for a Chick-fil-a (yes their politics suck, but I didn't know that as much back then, they did profit sharing and let me set my own hours) that pulled down 3.2-3.5mil a year. Overhead is enormous, food costs are 30%+, then rent, then paper costs, and it took more like 60 employees to keep the schedule full between mostly part-time students and single mothers, only the management and a few hourly employee were anything close to full time. And profit is split 50-50 between the owner/franchisee and the corporate office. All told our location operated at 12-14% net on the operator side, so 24-28% total profitability, so he was making ~230-270k a year for owning it. That's pretty good, but that was also one of the top 50 performing locations in the country out of over 1000 stores at the time (more now I'm sure). Not that they couldn't stand to bump wages, especially out of the corporate side, but it really wasn't the case that management was living large on the yacht while the employees suffered in squalor. Our operator was a good dude, he came in and pulled regular shifts when he needed to, and ran a small profit sharing program out of his side of the books (I can't remember the details exactly, but it kicked in whenever the restaurant was over 13.5% profit, was based on percentage of hours worked over the last year, and amounted to anywhere from a few bucks for the college kids who only did 8hrs a week to several hundred extra per month for the full time employees)
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:02 AM on September 10, 2016

Man I shouldn't try to math before coffee. 12-14% of 3.2-3.5mil is 360-490k. Yea they could probably stand to bump wages some more.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:16 AM on September 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

>Even though Panda Express is American fast food, at least it's owners are still actually Chinese people.

From your link: "Andrew Cherng (pronounced Chur-ng; born 1948) is a Chinese-born American" (emphasis mine)...
posted by Joseph Gurl at 3:19 PM on September 10, 2016

Are American-born Chinese people still Chinese? Seems like they are. Not sure if that's the point, though.
posted by koeselitz at 11:14 PM on September 10, 2016

Kind of the dining equivalent of going to a bar where they precisely measure how much liquor goes into each drink vs. one that gives more generous pours.


The Gooch, the hole in the wall place that gives heaping portions, or the bar with the generous pours? Either that's accounted for in business costs (which take into account how much money it costs, over the course of the year, for everything, down to how much it will cost to give the customers a napkin on their tray, or have a dispenser at the table), or that business isn't going to be there much longer. Margins are extraordinarily thin. That, or the bartender is essentially padding his tips by overpouring...

Overflowing plates and gargantuan portions are a conscious choice that will either show up on the menu price, or in the corners cut to provide quantity.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:33 AM on September 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

Kind of the dining equivalent of going to a bar where they precisely measure how much liquor goes into each drink vs. one that gives more generous pours.

The IBA has actual recipes for their standard cocktails, and for some of them the taste is *very* dependent on the ratio. I don't mind a generous pour on my whisky/rocks, but don't fuck up my Mai Tai!
posted by mikelieman at 6:05 AM on September 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

>Are American-born Chinese people still Chinese? Seems like they are. Not sure if that's the point, though.

Well, if that's the case, then Chinese-born Americans, like Cherng, would be, um, American.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 2:28 AM on September 12, 2016

Or even some fancier chains like PF Chang's.

In PF Chang's defense, most Asian people I know don't consider that place authentic at all.
posted by numaner at 9:01 AM on September 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

>Are American-born Chinese people still Chinese? Seems like they are. Not sure if that's the point, though.

Well, if that's the case, then Chinese-born Americans, like Cherng, would be, um, American.

You can be natively whatever country you reside in for however long it takes for you to consider yourself a citizen of it, but you are ethnically whatever your ancestors' DNA brought into your body. And usually that comes with whatever traditions and cultures they instill in you. You can be American-born Chinese in the sense that your ethnicity and family culture are Chinese; you could also be American-born Chinese in ethnicity only and don't have any connections to Chinese traditions and cultures.
posted by numaner at 9:08 AM on September 12, 2016

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe this discussion about trying to figure out how to parse ethnicity from nationality doesn't belong in this thread? Not least because I don't think either side is considering the full implications of their arguments.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:38 AM on September 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

you're right. I'd much rather discuss how I'm really craving some Orange Chicken from Panda Express right now, and also how I have never had that dish outside of America.
posted by numaner at 9:55 AM on September 12, 2016

Orange Chicken is love.

It's not life because it's got too much sugar in it for that.

But Orange Chicken is love.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:40 PM on September 12, 2016

"Fast casual" orange chicken is the food equivalent of Kool-Aid. I mean, sure, Kool-Aid is delicious, but...
posted by Joseph Gurl at 7:07 PM on September 12, 2016

I drink about a liter of two of Kool-Ade a day. I use a bulk stevia blend, so there's a calorie or two in there, but it satisfies my 70's era calibrated sweet tooth and helps me manage my caloric intake.

Pink lemonade and blue raspberry lemonade are my favorite.
posted by mikelieman at 11:14 PM on September 12, 2016