After reading the reviews I see a common theme of either 4 or 5 stars or 1 star usually due to bad service. I have been coming to hands country for 3 years and never experienced this or observed it. The staff does seem to speak limited English and I think patrons see take this as rude. You should give them a try. The prices are excellent considering McDonalds is comparable in price for less. The food is consistently good and I've been here 30+ times. Yes if you go to mira Mesa or san diego you can get more authentic Chinese cooking but for American style Chinese utvis good. The portions are on the larger size. They are almost never full but its because they have so much take out orders that the restaurant almost always has space. It's always clean. Last thing I will say is my wife is Chinese so I have tried everything San Diego has to offer, and spent weeks in China. This restaurant in my opinion is very good considering the food taste and portions, price, good service and ease of parking with no waiting. If you haven't tried them you should, if you have and didn't like, give them another try. Skip a fast food dinner and give them another shot, for about the same price. I recommend them. read more

Surprised that on a Saturday night there weren't many people but then again it was lightly raining. It's in the Vons shopping plaza so s good location. Seems authentic based on walking in. Dad had sweet and sour chicken which he enjoyed. Vegetarian egg rolls were yummy. Mooshoo chicken delightfully messy and tasty. With respect to pad Thai, perhaps the Chinese version is meant to be different? Very spicy, heavy on noodles, had a lot of green peppers and very little chicken. No nuts. Not a huge fan of this style. But the moo shoo chicken made up for it. read more

Panda Country Restaurant - Mooshoo contents - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

See all

Disappointing food Egg rolls were blah, chicken special Was really bbq and overcooked. Service was good and fast but not the Chinese food I expected. read more

I visited with a group of revelers, the birthday gal picked this place for lunch. Some lunch specials are posted on a chalkboard out front, but there are other lunch specials on the menu. The specials on the chalkboard are especially inexpensive. Lunch specials include soup, spring roll, and rice. I ordered shrimp pad Thai which did not seem to have bean sprouts and definitely didn't have the requisite peanuts. Still, it was tasty (and cheap). The rice seemed redundant since the noodles were rice noodles. Service was efficient and perfunctory. read more

Haven't been in awhile, came for pick up and was pleasantly surprised how great the food was, the personal was polite and quick to get out to go order. The place looked over all clean and everyone pleased. We will be back!! read more

Panda Country Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

See all

This place is always the absolute best. The lunch items are so cheap and they come with a spring roll and soup!! We come almost every single week. The service is always so quick and nice. The restaurant is clean and always welcoming! read more

See all

We came in about 330 and it was nice and quiet and cool in here for the summer temperatures. We got sweet-and-sour chicken and egg drop soup. And white rice and it was all very good. They also had a really good oxidized brown tea that is fantastic. The service is immediate and the family is very sweet. read more

See all

Pretty good Chinese food. Nice sit down accommodations. The Indonesian fried rice was delicious. Also the sweet and sour chicken and sesame seed balls with black beans paste was a treat. read more

Panda Country Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

I usually order Ubereats from here but finally had the time to stop in to eat in person last night. We came around 8pm (they close at 9:30) and we were the only table dining there. Restaurant was a moderate size and it was very quiet inside without music. My go to dish is the Indonesian fried rice! So good and flavorful. Tried the salt and pepper shrimp last night and they were delicious as well! You can't beat the prices for around $13-17 a dish, each was a big shareable portion. Service was quick and to the point. I would come back for another nice comforting meal and to try some of their other items. read more

See all

Middle of the road Chinese food, fine for Santee. Clean restaurant, not so friendly waiters, but they were quick. Started out with hot and sour and egg flower soup. These soups were clearly sitting around for a long while. Lacking flavor. Salt & Pepper Wings- I actually loved these. Not overdone nor heavy breading. Good flavor and great crisp. Kung pow chicken- fresh with lots of zucchini. OK flavor. Combo Lo Mein- fresh, not a lot of meat. OK flavor. Overall its fine for Santee. The food lacked a lot of flavor but you could doctor it up. We will go back read more

See all

Order off of door dash. The portions are pretty big for the price. Food was very tasty and was enough food for my family of 3. Spent around $40 for 3 items. Got the egg flower soup, chicken lo mein, and sesame chicken. There is an option to add $2 fried rice but the fried rice was plain just soy sauce and eggs no veggies. Good for takeout and something quick. read more

See all

First time here and I have to say Thanks and a big SHOUT OUT to the folks in Santee on FB. Their recommendations were spot on. Paula and I were looking for a new Chinese Restaurant closer to home as some of our favs have closed down or gone down since Covid. Panda Country was amazing. From the moment we walked in, we could sense this was gonna be good as I watched another tables food being delivered with steam rising from the plates. The decor eloquent, the furniture neatly organized and the entire dining room just shouted high standards. The server was extremely attentive and took our orders for sake and beers immediately. Her timing was impeccable as she took an appetizer order and once they were delivered gave us some time to enjoy the cheese wontons and the egg rolls. Both were absolutely FRESH, HOT and delicious. We then ordered entrees, Sweet and Sour Pork, Chicken Lo Mein and the Szechuan Beef. All these dishes came out perfectly prepared, fresh and hot. I can't say enough good things about this little gem hidden away in Santee but if you have never been there, go. It will surely become your 'go to' Chinese restaurant. If you are wondering about the price tag, trust me you will not have sticker shock. The prices are better than most others in the county. read more

See all

Omg cannot go for lunch with friends , so pushy , constantly coming over and taking dishes , then sweeping around us , we ask if they close for lunch , no was the answer in a negative way ! The lady is so quick to get you in and out ! Not a fun place to dine ! Hot and sour Soup has lots of starch in it ! Let's vote for a better Chinese restaurant in Santee ! read more

We stopped here for a quick lunch today and got a couple of their lunch specials. Pork with garlic sauce and Mongolian beef. Honestly it was okay. The pork tastes like sweet and sour pork to me so it makes me wonder if I got the correct order. Kind of generic dishes that's been Americanized to appeal to those just wanting to have some Chinese food. The lunch specials included crispy noodles, soup, spring rolls, and the main dish. You get a lot of food for the money. The staff were very friendly and we received our lunch rather quickly. Might come back and try some of their specialty dishes next time. read more

See all

We had the lunch specials of Orange chicken and shrimp chow mein and chicken chop suey. It was accompanied by white rice and egg rolls and egg flower soup. It's been almost 20 yrs since we were here last and the food is still delicious. The service was fast and courteous. read more

See all

It really pains me to leave a small business a bad review, unfortunately it was bad enough for me to feel the need to. I tried to give them grace because we did come into dine on Christmas Day. We were seated promptly regardless of the abundance of takeout orders they had, the staff was very unfriendly and short. They do get two stars for the very fair pricing, the clean restaurant, and cute decor. Onto the bigger issues, we tried to order from the kids menu as we had two children in the party and we're informed they were not doing kids menu because of the holiday, and then we wanted to order some soup, but they were not doing one person portions of soup because of the holiday as well ? So, finally we all ordered, and then we were informed the person in our party who had a special order due to severe allergies would have to wait 40 minutes for their dish because of the allergy accommodations, so she chose another dish no big deal, then everybody's food arrives, except for two people in the party out of our party of six. Finally, one more dish comes out for the fifth person, we are all dining, and my husband still has not received his food so he kind of picks off my son's plate.... Fast forward a bit more and we are all just about done and he still has not gotten his food. Well, they bring us our check. My husband asks the server about his food, They said it is still being made and it would be about 30 to 40 minutes for his food to come out!! This is absolutely ridiculous as we had all finished our meals already, why would we want to sit and wait 40 minutes extra for one person to get their dish? I understand that dishes will come out at separate times but I've never had an experience like this. The food was OK, not worth the return. I am usually willing to give restaurants a second chance, but we will definitely not be returning. The inconvenience, the poor hospitality, and an un-organization are simply just not worth it. again, I understand it was a holiday so things were a little crazy, but maybe they should stick to just take out on holidays. A sidenote, they brought out a stack of plates to dish one of the plates out onto as it's meant to share, I grab a top plate and put some of my rice and meat on it and as I'm eating, I look over at the stack of plates and the plate right under the one I grabbed was dirty, so I picked up that plate to look at the one underneath it and that one was dirty and so was the one underneath it. So that's pretty gross. read more

Delicious. Good service. Reasonable prices. We've been going here for years and it is always good.

We found this one, after the one closed during the pandemic off of Clariemont. Not sure if there is any relation between the 2. Came Saturday early afternoon, greeted and seated right away. We ordered the dinner for 2 where we got appetizer, soup, and an entree. They are very very generous with serving sizes, we forgot ourselves and couldn't eat it all. But who doesn't like left overs? Food came out hot and quick! And most importantly tasty! When I say tasty, it has a very nice flavor and freshness with vegetables and meat cook to order. I had the pheasant soong chicken, chicken lettuce cups essentially. Generous size, definitely enough to share for 2, comes with rice of choice. Nice and coated, not dry and smooth tender chicken. Would get again. The 3 ingredient taste, a surf n turf with shrimp and beef. A little on the bland side, but in plenty of shrimp and meat. The wor wonton soup, broth was a nice veggie taste with the added ingredients veggies, shrimp and meat wonton. Not my favorite personally only bc the pieces were so big, it felt more like a meal it self, however can appreciate it for what it is. The appetizer came with fried egg rolls, cream cheese wonton, shrimp, meat sticks... plenty plenty plenty of food. The price per person serves well for what you get and the amount of food. We enjoyed it, not enough to call a favorite place... but a place we will add in rotation where we and when we eat different types of food. Solid 4 stars maybe 3.5 however service was speedy and friendly and they pack up your leftovers. Plenty of parking Restrooms are clean Very lovely inside and can seat large parties! Enjoy! read more

See all

1st time back in many years. It's still the best crispy beef I have found. Got there at the beginning of the dinner rush. Place was empty when we arrived, but was full by the time we left. Service was a little jumbled. Our server may have been new. read more

I ordered the moo shu pork. Very tasty. Lots of vegetables like wood ear mushroom with the meat. They give a decent amount of pancake as well. read more

Fantastic food with one of the most diverse menus on the planet. If you can't find it here you're not going to find it. Service is marginal, you're just sort of wondering what you're going to get. We are concerned with the yelling and screaming in the kitchen. It's very aggressive and vocal. Not a very pleasant sound when you're dining out. read more

We used to dine at this restaurant a lot since it was one of the few sit down Chinese restaurants that was open late in east county. The food was okay and we never had an issue with the service until one night. We arrived to dine approximately one hour and 10 minutes before closing and we received the rudest treatment from the staff. The waiter seated us at a booth but continued to berated us for showing up so late. "Did you just get off work or something? You need to get here earlier next time." The waiter didn't even give us menus or ask what we wanted. He just annoyingly pointed at us and rattled off the same two menu items we had ordered on a previous visit then went to the kitchen. After the food arrived at the table, the staff went out of their way to avoid us until we were finished and then quietly dropped the check at the table. We were out of the restaurant a good 15-20 minutes before closing! I've never been one to show up last minute at a sit down restaurant and overstay my welcome and keep the staff from going home, but I feel showing up an hour and 10 minutes before a restaurant's posted closing time is not unreasonable at all! If the staff felt that was too late, they should have politely turned us away at the door, not seat us, rudely berate us for being late, and proceed to give us the most awkward dining experience they possibly could. Unfortunately for them, they lost two regular diners that night. read more

I'll keep this short and sweet. We ordered 7 different dishes and every single one was fire. Bomb flavors and large portions. You can't ask for more at a Chinese joint. This is definitely my go to take-out spot going forward. read more

Food is great and service is quick. It's never too busy so I've never had to wait for a table. Cool little spot to check out. I'd recommend it. read more

The food had great flavor & large portions. We ate lunch, I had sweet & sour pork. My wife had the three ingredients. It came with egg roll & egg drop soup. The place was very clean. We had immediate service. I would recommend this place to all my friends & family. read more

There is 1 waitress there who very pushy . I couldn't even finish eating before she wanted to clear the dishes . And I have been going there for a long time. And the quality of the food has been on the decline in quality. It's a sad thing because I used to love that place . But not anymore ! Don't go there. read more

My family has been going to Panda Country in Santee for years. Always go there on New Years Eve. Went last night and was so disappointed. They were totally understaffed. The restaurant wasn't even packed. Waited for so long for our food. Never got more tea, or rice or noodles as we requested. Then at the end, after paying the bill, the waitress came back and said she noticed she only charged for one soda, and we had two, so she was going to charge us another 2.95 for the second one. 6 of us, 135.00 bill, and she's worried about 2.95 with totally lousy service. We won't be going back. Since the restaurant changed ownership, it has gone downhill. It's a shame cause we've eaten there literally over 100 times easily. read more

Love this place ! We always order Togo, every time we order is great! All the ingredients tasted really fresh and is no over salty like other places read more

Despite being extremely busy during a (justifiably) popular lunch rush, we were taken care of to the highest degree, given the best possible Chinese Food Experience that East County can offer. read more

See all

Failed to take pictures. The food was good, had large portions and my pickup order was ready very quickly. I loved the green beans and beef noodles. The sesame chicken was also tasty. Service was quick and staff were friendly. read more

I stopped by for a weekday dinner and found parking right away. I was greeted and seated promptly and could tell they were busy because there were several people waiting for their to-go orders and their phone kept ringing as did their uber order notification. The restaurant was clean and inviting and the server brought a plate of wonton strips to the table right away. I felt rushed to order and the server misunderstood me but I ordered their three-ingredient taste, orange chicken, and mixed meat chow mein. The orange chicken was very tasty but the other entrees were bland, lacked flavor, and only came with 2 shrimp. The meal includes your choice of either white white or fried rice and I tried their friend rice which fell short of my expectations. There was no music playing and when I brought it to the server's attention, they just said it didn't work. Overall, I was unimpressed with the quality of the food, price, and service. read more

Panda Country Restaurant - Entrance - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

Used to be the best in Santee. With new owners the flavors now are bland. Crispy beef was not crispy. Shredded beef was beef slices.

Gotta say, ordered Panda Country delivery......spent less than $70.00 which included a $10.00 tip for the driver. Ordered the C dinner for two...got House Special chicken,Crispy beef...came with cheese wontons,teriyaki beef sticks,fried shrimp and egg rolls. Also wonton soup with shrimp and rice!!!! Swear it could feed 4 people! Was amazing!!!! This place deserves a great rating!!!!!! read more

Everything went great. We love this place. The food is hot and very good. This is our go to place.

We ordered take out online. We ordered the item C9: Kung Pao San Yan and it costs $17.99. I thought it was expensive for an entree, but historically this place has been good. I came home and opened the bag and there was no rice, only the to-go container of the entree and two forture cookies. I called them up right away explaining there was no rice in the bag. The woman said rice was a separately orderable item online. I did not argue, just told them I have never been to a Chinese restaurant and bought an entree (especially for $17.99) without getting rice. If you look at their menu: http://www.pandacountryrestaurant.com/Menu All entree's say: SERVED WITH RICE at the top. I do have to say that the food is still good. It just that the service and clarity of what your ordering sucks. So, the total cost including: Entree Kung Pao San Yan $17.99 Service Charge $0.75 Tax 7.75% $1.45 Gratuity 18.09% $3.39 Total $23.58 What a rip off just for the entree in a to-go box and two forture cookies. I am not going back read more

Panda Country Restaurant - NO RICE and a generous tip of 18% for take out. - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

Wonderful setting. Relaxed and very clean. The service was great as well. And the crowning touch....the food. My husband said it was the best Cashew Chicken he has eaten. I am Vegetarian and the Vegetable Egg Food Young was outstanding. Do not be put off by prices, the food is meant to share. We had enough left over for dinner. Lets keep these people in business. They deserve every bit of business we can give them. read more

4 stars for the food and 2 stars for the service. If you come here knowing the food is going to be delicious and the service is going to be awful then there are no surprises and you accept what the circumstances are here . I personally was shocked the first time I was treated poorly and didn't come back for over a year. Now I just warn people how it is and we will have a good meal here . They have great lunch specials and the dining room is cute. This is your best option for Chinese food in Santee . read more

See all

Excellent! Ordered Kung Pao Chicken and Panda Beef for delivery. Food was delicious and arrived super fast. Panda Country is the best Chinese food in Santee! read more

I had ordered takeout here one day for dinner because I was really hankering for some Chinese food. I typically go for Szechuan Chinese food but there weren't any restaurants nearby in Santee. But a friend did recommend Panda Country because apparently one of their specialties is the Walnut shrimp and to be honest that's what I really wanted. I had ordered three items which were walnut shrimp, sauteed dried green beans, and their salt and pepper chicken wings. Walnut shrimp was very good and they did give a really nice portion. The salt and pepper chicken wings were good as well but a tad bit too battered. Lastly the green beans were just okay, it wasn't your typical sauteed dried green beans as I had hoped. Overall though I would order here again because the customer service was so nice and I really did enjoy the Walnut shrimp. Also! They use jasmine rice which was really fantastic opposed to your basic American white plain rice. (Rice is not rice, there is a difference! Lol) read more

Panda Country Restaurant - Green beans, walnut shrimp, salt and pepper chicken. - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

Usually this place is okay but I went there yesterday got my usual and it was not as good as it usually is, I don't know if it was sitting too long but I got there an hour after they opened and then I started to eat and had a big piece of black hair in my mouth anyway that's pretty much it for me going back there. read more