Panda Express

Panda Express is a fast casual restaurant chain serving Americanized Chinese cuisine. It operates mainly inside the United States of America, in shopping malls, supermarkets, airports, train stations, strip plazas, theme parks, college campuses and The Pentagon. It is one of the largest such chains of Chinese fast food restaurants in the United States.

In 2004, the company began opening stand-alone restaurants with drive-through windows. [Bruce Haring, "Panda gains higher visibility for chain amid shift from malls, food courts," "Nation's Restaurant News", 9 August 2004, 6.] Panda Express has 1,054 restaurants covering 37 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, as well as 2 locations in Japan [cite web |url=http://www.pandaexpress.com/locations/locator.aspx |title=Panda Express Restaurant Locations |accessdate=2007-12-17 ] .

The chain offers a wide variety of food such as Orange Chicken, Beef with Broccoli, Mandarin Chicken, and Kung Pao Chicken. Combo meals are served with fried rice, steamed rice, chow mein, or mixed vegetables. No MSG is added to any of the items at Panda Express after it has been delivered to the restaurant.

Panda Express is headquartered in Rosemead, California. It is a faster, more casual equivalent of the more upscale Panda Inn, from which the chain concept was derived.

History

The Panda Restaurant Group, parent company of Panda Inn, Panda Express & Hibachi-San, was founded by Andrew and Peggy Cherng and Andrew's father, Master Chef Robert Cherng, all of whom used to live in the Yangzhou region of China's Jiangsu province. [ [http://www.pandarg.com/aboutPRG/corpOverView.asp Panda Restaurant Group History] ] They started their first Panda Inn restaurant in 1973 in Pasadena, California.

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 born. [James Flanigan, "Cooking Up a Powerhouse of Chinese Fast Food," "Los Angeles Times", 8 October 2001, C1.] The chain has steadily expanded across the United States since then.

In 2007, The Panda Restaurant Group had annual sales of over $1 billion and over 13,000 employees. [ [http://www.pandarg.com/aboutPRG/corpOverView.asp Panda Restaurant Group information page] ]

In 2008, Andrew Cherng and his wife, Peggy, were the recipients of the 2008 City of Angels Award, given by the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce [ [http://www.laxcoastal.com/ LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce website] ] , for their contributions to the greater Los Angeles area. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_Feb_8/ai_n24253738 "Andrew and Peggy Cherng of Panda Restaurant Group Receive City of Angels Award Honoring Contributions to the Los Angeles Area"] , Business Wire, February 8, 2008.]

Overview

With 1,054 [cite news| title=Positive Thinkers | url=http://www.rd.com/content/the-success-story-of-panda-express/ | last=Bartiromo | first=Maria |date=November 2007] locations, it is the largest Chinese fast food restaurant chain in the United States. It is also one of the few fast-food chains in the United States to pay its employees significantly more than federal- and state-mandated minimum wages. [cite news| title=Panda Express spreads Chinese food across USA | url=http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2006-09-10-entrepreneur-panda-express_x.htm | last=Krantz | first=Matt | work=USA Today | date=2006-09-13 | accessdate=2007-01-17]

The company's highest revenue location, bringing in over US$4 million annually, is located at the Ala Moana Center food court in Honolulu, Hawaii. [cite news| title=Orange Chicken on the house | url=http://starbulletin.com/2007/01/17/features/story01.html | last=Shimabukuro | first=Betty | work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin | date=2007-01-17 | accessdate=2007-01-17 ]

Panda Express does not offer vegetarian entrees. According to their corporate web, Ian Lauder most of their entrees contain a chicken base that is used as a flavor enhancer, even the mixed vegetables.

In popular culture

* The company is referenced in Blizzard's April Fool joke in 2005. Blizzard announced a new feature for their game World of Warcraft which would allow players to order food inside the game through a company named "Pandaren Xpress".
* In 2002 the movie Eight Crazy Nights, features Panda Express and their famous orange chicken. The panda logo was also brought to life.
* Panda Express was referenced in the 2007 movie Knocked Up as being similar to Yoshinoya Beef Bowl.
* In 2007 a Panda Express box appears in a scene of the Chuck TV series episode #2, "Chuck vs. the Helicopter."
* Hibachi-San, one of the Panda Restaurant Group family of restaurants, appears in the movie Bad Santa
* In an episode of George Lopez, the Lopez family had Panda Express takeout.
*Panda Express was referenced in the movie Rush Hour with Chris Tucker, saying he would leave Jackie Chan at the Panda Express.
*Panda Express is often shown in the US television series The West Wing as late night food for staffers.
*In 2008 a Panda Express carry out box can be seen in the movie Hancock (film) after a fight between Will Smith and Charlize Theron emerge.
*In one season of America's Next Top Model, One of the contestants incorrectly noted, while she was in Japan, that the only Japanese food she had ever eaten was at Panda Express. Unfortunately, she didn't realize the Panda Express only serves Americanized Chinese Cuisine.

Notes

References

*Flanigan, James, [http://www.asianweek.com/2001_11_30/biz_panda.html "Fast Food Powerhouse"] , Asian Week, Nov. 30 - Dec. 6, 2001 issue. Associated Press story.
*Foodservice Equipment & Supplies (FE&S) magazine, [http://www.fesmag.com/archives/2006/04/chain-profile.asp Panda Express Profile]
* [http://www.asiasocietysocal.org/index.php?id=407 Andrew Cherng Profile] - Asia Society, Southern California.
* [http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200611/20061114_cherng.html Andrew Cherng interview] , The Tavis Smiley Show, original airdate November 14, 2006.
*Jennings, Lisa, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_31_39/ai_n14918454 "Having words with Peggy Tsiang Cherng: chief executive and co-chair, Panda Restaurant Group"] , Nation's Restaurant News, August 1, 2005.
* [http://atmizzou.missouri.edu/jan04/PandaExpress.htm "Panda Express is Alumni Brainchild"] , @Mizzou, University of Missouri–Columbia, Alumni Association magazine, January 2004.

External links

* [http://www.pandaexpress.com Panda Express]
* [http://hibachisan.com/ Hibachi-San]
* [http://pandarg.com/ Panda Restaurant Group]
* [http://hoovers.com/panda-restaurant-group/--ID__47673--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml Hoover's Financial Data on the Panda Restaurant Group]