Panda Kitchen

A Panda Express style Panda Kitchen - pre-pandemic the steam table was loaded with all the dishes. To adjust for covial times, things are made fresh to order to anticipate a little wait unless you call in ahead for an order. It is a hole in the wall mom and pop shop, speaks Cantonese and Mandarin as well. It's a good cheap Chinese food to go place for me when I forget my lunch or too lazy to pack for work the night before. $6 for rice/noodles and a side, portions are packed generously. I always like to get fried rice with sweet & sour pork. As for the fried rice, the rice is more stuck together than other places, I do feel they use fresh made (or made the day of) rice to throw the dish together quick. Yes, it's not best of fried rice quality, but it's good and what I would expect from what a fried rice is. The meat isn't the best and there's more batter than anything at times, but tastes of the sauce is pretty dang good. I can't complain much for the price point. Their stir fry eggplants are flavorful and broccoli beef is as you'd expect (makes me think of Panda Express truthfully). I have only tried the boba drinks once, got a strawberry slushy with boba. It's a nice refreshing slush, but definitely has the artificial flavor aftertaste. The boba is overcooked - at least it still has a bite to it. Not my taste so I'd just grab a bottle drink from their fridge.There is a 50cent charge for credit card use of purchases under $10. I generally just bring cash and tip with the change. I have been coming here since 2017 and only realized now that I never got around to reviewing this place. For condiments, ask the lady up front and she'll grab what you need. Final Thoughts: It's a cheap place to grab a bite to go, a few tables available to sit and eat. The place is very unassuming and nostalgic to the feel of Chinatown restaurants. Yes, the food is a bit oily, but for fast food Chinese - I'm asking for greasy goodness with my rice.

Totally thought this place was closed from the outside until I saw the lit OPEN sign above the open door. Was expecting a Panda Express style fast Chinese food, but was pleasantly surprised that they actually make the combos fresh for you. Tried the chow mein and fried rice (with chicken) and ordered 2 combos for three people because the portions seemed big. The green bean chicken was especially good where the green beans were crisp and fresh. Yum.The pearls in the teas were a little too soft for my taste but the Thai tea was good.The fortune cookies came in a bag for $1 which I thought was decent.

This is a hole in the wall spot that I used to frequent this place years ago and the food was actually better and the fried rice actually had vegetables in it... These days the fried rice and chicken smells funny food is inexpensive and cheap, they are in desperate need for a overhaul and upgrade but I doubt that it will ever happen... As long as they can sell us garbage and we accept it they will continue to do it. If you like below mid Chinese food that's cheap and not clean this is for you. The service is what you would expect from a Chinese restaurant nothing special Hurry and buy.

I passed this hole-in-the-wall while I was walking to Lake Merritt and decided to stop inside to get a drink. I ordered a kiwi smoothie, large size, which came out to $6. Probably not the place to go if you wanted an all-natural health fad style smoothie, but if you have a sweet tooth and wanted a sugar rush and don't want to wait long in line, then this would be a good place to go. They do offer food which seems to be at a decent price as well, although I opted not to get lunch or dinner when I stopped by. A quaint and not particularly glamorous spot, but I do find it charming because of that too and it is convenient if you happen to be near Lake Merritt but don't want to head west.

Made fresh to order, portions are hefty and prices are cheap. Good, fast and affordable Chinese food around this area. Highly recommend if you don't want to drive or walk to Chinatown.

FOOD POISONING ALERTI ordered the sweet and sour chicken with fried rice and chow mein... the chicken honestly tasted weird and I only ate half of it... threw the other half away because it really just didn't feel right.Yesterday I woke up with the worst migraine ever.... and 20 minutes later I was hugging the toilet throwing up 3-4 times....Literally, the ONLY thing I threw up was the sweet and sour chicken.... first I thought it was blood... but no.. it was extremely orange and still had particles of chicken in it as well...... so it was 100% the chicken. Even the sesame seeds came out with it.Then after I threw up all the chicken, I spent the rest of the day in bed feeling like I was hit by a train.... my whole body was aching and weak trying to recover from the food poisoning.... I have never experienced this type of sickness in my entire lifeI called panda kitchen to tell them this, and the guy LAUGHED at me... he laughed and said "haha you're sick the next day? Ok." As if i was lying to him....Never going back and you guys deserve to close down. I spent an entire day in bed because of you and when I call you to inform you, you LAUGH at me....Trash people and trash food. Their chicken must be atleast 4 months old.

This is my cheap Chinese food go to when I'm at work and want/need a cheap lunch. It's usually when I'm too lazy to think of a place to go or order from or neglected to bring leftovers. The of course there's always those days when cash flow is light. If I decide to come here it's usually before 11:30 when all the food is fresh. My go to is the sesame chicken and bbq pork fried rice. For $5.50, it's pretty hard to beat. I will say for a steam table fast food restaurant it is always clean and they don't look like they over crowd the pans, which to me says they turn the food over fairly quickly. Nothing like having soggy deep fried anything. The fried and sauced entrees I've gotten from here have always still had a crispy texture to them. I would recommend this place if you're looking for cheap but delicious eats.

This was the closest spot next to the courthouse where I obtained food during my jury selection lunch break. My first choice was the taqueria next door, but since they only accept cash- I had to get Chinese food (since they accepted card payment). The interior is small, maybe 4-5 tables with a few bar stools on the side wall. The food is "pick and point" style- similar to Panda Express. I was pretty surprised at the selection, which were mostly chicken items. I opted for the half rice/half chow mein option, with curry chicken and fried chicken wings as my main entreè sides. The curry chicken was OK, I think they coated the chicken with flour, slightly fried it then slow cooked it in a curry paste sauce. Some Pieces of chicken seemed on the slimy side...Definitely had to force myself to eat this. The fried chicken wings, were decent. Good crunch but definitely needed hot sauce for added flavor. The chicken fried rice and chow menu were super basic. If anything the noodles in the chow mein were over cooked, and were more like moosh. Good thing is this place is close to the courthouse as a lunch option. They also accept debit/credit card as a payment.

Been living in Oakland for 4 months and I couldn't find a Chinese fast-food that compared to San Jose for the life of me. 1. They accept credit cards. No minimum purchase or a magical fee. 2. They only have pictures of the food under their heat lamps3. They have Sriracha and chili oil. Not whack sambas4. When you order your 3-item combo, THEY MAKE IT FRESH!Bravo!

Good food and large portions for your money. Items are cook fresh so I call in to order 10 minutes ahead and food is ready nice and hot. Highly recommended if you're looking for cheap/good/fresh/hot food.