Panda Express

Panda Express is fast Americanized Chinese food, and that is exactly why people use it: hot plates, quick service, and a menu built around familiar saucy mains. By our assessment, it is good at consistent mall-court and takeout food that tastes the same from one location to the next more often than not. The trade-off is obvious, because the style is simplified and sweetened for mass appeal, so it is not the place for regional Chinese cooking. In practice, the line moves fast, the portions are filling, and the experience is more about speed and predictability than delicacy. Compared with independent Chinese restaurants, Panda Express sits on the chain side of the scale, with standardization doing most of the work. It is for people who want a quick, familiar meal without much thought, and it is not trying to be anything more elaborate than that.