Panda's food at the Reitz Union is great! I always get a bowl of Black Pepper Chicken over greens. $9.03 with a cup of water. Yes, the price has climbed like many places. Summary: Quick service and tasty food. -- Many of the reviews here are from W A Y Y Y back when. As of mid-March 2024, you should be happy with the food. They cook often for small batches so it's fresh and does not sit for hours like tpical food court Asian meals. read more

Panda Express - Black Pepper Chicken at the UF Reitz Union Yummy! - Chinese Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

Note: There are 2 Yelp entries for this same Panda Express location w/same address. Review: Didn't even have a fraction of the items advertised on their in-person store menu. No white rice, no brown rice, no teriyaki chicken, no this, no that ... what do you have? They didn't run out - they just opened and had no plans to prepare any. 15 minutes later, they were totally unprepared for the onslaught of high school students onsite for a weekend convention. Curious how they handle the volume during the school week. read more

Inside the Reitz Union they have a small food court with a number of your typical fast-food spots. One of those is a Panda Express. I am not a huge fan of Panda, but when you are tired of eating burgers and the line for a sandwich is out the door to the elevators downstairs, you succumb to having something different. There are two lines available at his particular location, though only one was active on the day of this visit. As you get to the front where you go down the line ordering, you can see the food they are scooping out of the steam table. Unfortunately, the ventilation is not very good so the window is steamed up, making it hard to see what you are ordering. Throw in the fact that the signs labeling what is in the various bins are half missing, and it makes ordering various items a bit tough. The line wasn't ridiculous, and I was able to order my food relatively quickly. The one thing I missed was getting some soy sauce with my food, which would have been nice since they don't seem to season very well. I took my food downstairs to eat in peace, and the food was edible. At least it wasn't another burger! Edit: OK, I am upgrading this review, because it looks like they went above and beyond on this weekend. Normally they are scheduled to not open on the weekends, but with SwampCon they opened up and served food, which was a really good thing because the lines would have been unbearable without them. So for that, good job! read more

Wait a minute... What?! How does the Panda Express in the Reitz Union have 1.5 stars??? I have been to this location at least 25 times if not more and the food is always super fresh, hot, and served with a smile and sometimes a wink (not really a wink). The food is always super fresh because all the damn college kids eat it up. Do not let these reviews fool you this place is legit and from someone who knows food and knows college food. This place is the bomb. I have been working in higher education for 10 years and been on more than 150 different college campuses and this Panda does a great job. I am normally here during the busiest time of day, lunch! Usually they have both lines open so the wait is usually less than 10 minutes. Just like every other Panda you can ask for samples. The food is always fresh and the kitchen staff works really hard to make sure its the best possible quality. I normally get the plate with half chow mein and half fried rice, orange chicken and mushroom chicken. Sometimes on the slower days in the plate they give you 2 big scoops of meat. I love those days. But even on days where they are pretty busy, they try to be generous. I've noticed if you get a bowl you get way more meat. Just like other Panda expresses they have a wide variety. The prices here are no different than the other 2 Panda's in town. I find the food super tasty at this Panda express and I think it's because it's always fresh! Now one thing that is super nice and new is you can order Panda through Grub Hub and pick it up at the front of the line. If you do this you do have to pay an extra 75 cents. So if the line gets to big this is an option. Please go try this Panda in the Reitz Union out. All the other people must be having bad days when they wrote their review. read more

I'm sorry but I didn't like the food my kids got. The orange chicken bowl with white rice wasn't good at all for me. They liked it but I didn't because the rice was dry, with no flavor and the chicken was hard and it tasted like old. The service was very very good but unfortunately was not a good deal for me pay almost $16 for a big smile and bad food. Lo siento, pero no me gustó la comida que mis hijos ordenaron qui. El tazón de pollo naranja con arroz blanco no me pareció bueno para nada. No me gustó porque el arroz estaba seco, sin sabor y el pollo estaba duros y sabía como viejo. El servicio era muy bueno, pero por desgracia no fue una buena idea para mí pagar casi $ 16 por una gran sonrisa y mala comida read more

Panda Express - Chinese Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

This is your typical fast food Chinese place and identical to other panda restaurants. I had the bowl option with a protein and side. The fried rice was bland with no taste at all and many rice pieces were not fully cooked. The chicken and mushroom with zucchini was average, but could have used more sauce to kick up the entire serving. read more

I was excited when I saw a Panda Express in the Reitz Union during my recent visit to UF. I thought to myself "I wish USF had a Panda Express". However, after having some Panda Express in the Reitz Union, I think I am actually happy that USF doesn't have a Panda Express in our food court. I ordered my usual double Orange Chicken and the food tasted bland, like they didn't even use the signature Panda Express sauce. The chicken tasted like they used real orange rinds and oranges in the flavoring (it did not provide a pleasant aroma or taste). It was when I was biting into the chicken and tasting this Panda Express abomination that I realized that I wouldn't want any respectable food I enjoy to be put into a food court at a college and then be subject to recipe alterations and food quality destruction. I told my friend (a UF student) about my bad experience and she went and tried it herself (don't ask me why) and was appalled with the taste as well. Do yourself a favor and eat somewhere else on-campus like Taco Bell. Oh well... read more

Panda Mehxpress. Seriously. Was excited when they opened at the Reitz Union. Have been there twice, sampled 4 dishes in total. All were... well, meh. I'd bet cat at a suspicious back-ally restaurant would taste better. I won't be excited when the new location opens down by Shands in a few months. My personal Reitz favs are Cheeburger Cheeburger and Arredondo Cafe (which admittedly is hit-or-miss, but all you can eat for $8). Oh, and to not be totally negative - plenty of seating. read more

The lowest of the low of Panda Express. I can honestly say that you'll be lucky if you get subpar fare here. Honestly Unlike most of its real black and white fam I hope that this panda becomes extinct so that it can be aside for something younger and fresher. Most of the time the food has been left out for quite some time, leaving you wondering how rice can be so hard and food so devoid of flavor. I have never seen orange chicken so packed with grease and slime which looks more like it came from a children's tv show them some prepackaged sauce (albeit either option isn't very good). If you are absolutely craving this abomination make sure what you get is fresh and just made, otherwise I'd even advise to make the trek to the Health science center where panda personnel actually know what a wok is. read more

When you walk up to this place you think 'Wow, this places looks pretty good. The display is nice and the food looks good.' this causes you to subsequently order food from here. You will most likely order a two entree as that is what is most advertised. There will be rice and orange chicken, maybe something else, a soda and a fortune cookie. You will look at the serving size and be impressed. Then you will get to the cash register, find out your total and the excitement with go down as it is more than you wanted to spend. Once seated, you begin to eat. The first bite is pretty good and then you take another and another. The grease then comes out from hiding and everything goes down hill. It no long tastes good and you begin to feel sick. You leave the rest of the entree and go to the rice thinking it will be better. After one bite you learn it is not. Move on and learn your fortune. This is the silver lining to the meal! read more

Panda Express went in where Subway used to be located in the Reitz Union, which is on the far western side of the food court. They did a stellar job decorating their space--they even have an awesome tile mural of a panda! However, the food doesn't live up to their smart new location, alas. It's oil-laden, bland, and even for Chinese-American fast food pretty unimpressive. A pity, because Reitz needs decent food that's open late. Subway in my opinion is probably the best bet still (it's now located downstairs where the travel agent once was). read more

The food just tasted really bad. It had not taste. Maybe it was old. Maybe it wasn't cooked correctly. I don't know, but my lomein, orange chicken and beef and broccoli all tasted, simply put, bad. They all lacked flavor and had a sort of weird bad taste to them. The lomein wasn't horrible but the meats were genuinely bad. read more

I went yesterday and it was like 40 mins to closing ..i order teriyaki chicken and they informed me that the didn't have it and they weren't gunna make more either . thats strike #1 . i than ordered orange chicken which wasnt sweet like normal it taste like soy sauce . and on top of that a few pieces of chicken were raw . im never going back i suggest you don't either !! read more

I don't think I've ever had Chinese food THIS bad. I didn't expect too much, considering it is Panda Express on campus, but come on! Every time I've eaten here the rice is always crunchy and bland and the dishes are mediocre. Blech. read more

Traveling to the union for the first time, i didnt have very many options dues to the students being out of school on break. However i did try this chain Chinese restaurant i was familiar with. Food was the way i thought it would be coming from a chain which was nothing special but it was food. read more

Fried rice tastes like booty and the orange chicken doesn't taste like normal panda orange chicken, bottom line is that panda is good but this isn't a real Panda Express, it's garbage and preys on hungry college kids. Your only hope is that they have some teriyaki chicken left by the time you order or you will be done for. read more