Very bright and spacious place. Even though it is a chain I have not had a bad experience other than the line sometimes can get long especially around the 7:00 pm time frame. The staff seems friendly though they may could use one more individual at their peak times. You cannot really beat the price for the amount of food you get here. The premium dishes can add some cost to the total bill but I stick with just the main selections. Be sure to enter thru the main door and not the side door for then you have to navigate over into getting in line. Will be back for sure! read more

This place gets a bad rap, and I'm not sure why? I witnessed a very upset costumer go in circles about her experience while the manager was trying her best to help her... even having to tell the customer to calm down because she was so rude. Not mention she came in without her mask on her face potentially contaminating all the food or spreading something to other people who were there. She was offered not only a refund but to replace the entire meal and instead she chose to storm out. Yes the online ordering is a little wonky but they're open during a global pandemic and they're trying their best. Cut these people some slack. The food is always good, and if you can't wait an extra 5 mins while they whip up a new batch then you can stay home with your homemade meals. Enough is enough. read more

I checked the closing time online (official website) because of COVID hours. It was supposed to close at 9:30. I come at 9 pm and an employee says they are closed. So they can just pick and choose when they close? They didn't say why they were closed so I went to the other door to see if there was a sign with their store hours. The sign said it closed at 9:30. They should at least close the door where people take orders??? Or put a sign that says closed. When I was waiting at the other door (the closed door with the hours sign) while I was looking at my phone for other places to buy food, the same employee comes over, moves the table that was blocking the door, and says again that they are closed. I heard her the first time. Very inconvenient and a waste of time. If you are going to order food from here please call ahead in case they have closed early. read more

A big lunch for 3 for $27? Count me in. The staff working this Saturday were uniformly friendly, courteous and most importantly - efficient! Yes, it is fast food and not a gourmet meal - but I had shrimp and beef in splentiful portions over noodles. The food was mildly spicy (which is my sweet spot) and there were options which were not breaded and deep fried. The spring rolls were also excellent. Was it as good as the mom and pop restaurants in any Chinatown? No, but I enjoyed my meal, it was a nice change of pace and it did not break my budget. read more

The lady in the black shirt was rude when I was ordering and I was like okay what's your problem girl. Then when I got my plate I dead ass had half a piece of chicken like 3 bites and this is the only panda who give the smallest portions. When I was about to pay can I get the sauce for the chicken and some chili sauce. She said cool but I got home and she didn't even put them in. Tried their chow main and it was burn. Sucks that this is the only bad location I been too read more

So I go here all the time! I love coming in and the people just smile at me. However I sometimes get food that is not made properly by a certain cook. Thankful for Alma because I come back in and she fixes me right up. Without her here I probably would never come back to this Panda express. read more

Panda Express - Dry as all get out honey sesame chicken! - Chinese Near Me - Petaluma, California

I ordered sesame chicken, sweet fire chicken, and chow mein. Clean restaurant. Open on a holiday. Delicious meal. read more

Panda Express - Chinese takeout - Chinese Near Me - Petaluma, California

Fast friendly clean. Love the fresh steamed vegetables. Tried the new Crispy Almond Chicken, not bad but I'd really like to have a knife available when dining in... not sure but the pandemic is probably still affecting plastic utensil availability. read more

It took almost 20 minutes for them to come up with one plate with vegetables.There were five or six employees back there but no one seem to have a clue what they were doing. This will be my last visit there. read more

I don't know what wrong with their computer system but it is the most difficult to navigate at any given time it will lock up. They want you to order for delivery and you can't on this system. I'm disgusted with trying to get an order for my wife and me. I'll go somewhere else. read more

Another Corporate Chain restaurant travesty. KorpKuisine (tm) Krap. This place sucks. I've eaten at more than 5 Panda's while on the road. The one in Modesto is better than this Petaluma location. You need to be really hungry and not care about possible gastro-intestinal consequences to chow down on this stuff. I have a pretty tough Iron stomach and this junk made me feel ill. I work at the hospital down the street and need to get evening shift food frequently. I will never return here. My advice: Avoid! read more

So, there's no shortage of good Asian food here in the Bay area. Why eat at Panda Express? Because my stricken Mother in Law loves the place... so when we are with her we comply. Some of the dishes are very good - the orange chicken is legendary. Soups are a bit too salty and the fried appetizers spend too much time on the steam table after being in the fryer, but otherwise not too offensive. The trick with this place is to avoid the carbs as much as possible and choose the proteins and veggies as side dishes rather than the combo plates that fill you with empty calories. Take that approach, and choose whatever looks freshest! read more

This panda sucks. I always order ahead and it's NEVER ready. What's the point of ordering ahead if I'm still waiting ten+ minutes. Totally ridiculous. You've had 30 minutes to make one plate and couldn't do it. 10 plus people also waiting for their orders too who ordered ahead. WTF read more

I used to like this location but it has gone down hill. Walked in with a line wrapped around tables. There was one employee serving food AND cashing out customers. The two people cooking looked lost like they didn't know what they were doing. During the 20 minutes it took to get to front of the line several customers walked out without ordering. The food was okay but I've had better. Disappointing! read more

Man. What a bummer of an experience. We don't live in town but came in tonight because we had a long road trip again of us and my kiddos were hungry. Got there 45 minutes before close and they were already cleaning up. Fair enough, we were the only ones there so I didn't mind that they were trying to get their stuff done. I go up to order and they have almost zero food out and simply stated they wouldn't be making any more. One of my kids wouldn't have eaten any of what WAS left so I said I'll just take a small side of chow mein. They still charged me for a full kids meal. With no entree? Thats crap. Then I asked if we could sit and eat real quick and they said yes but started putting up chairs as we sat down. (30 minutes before closing? Ok....) I was in disbelief as they started with the table NEXT TO US!!! not across the restaurant....literally right next to us. Made me so uncomfortable. I was like "I thought you guys close at...." And before I could finish she was like "we close at 10:30" Also, as I was ordering I got a medium drink The lady that was behind the counter flatly said "thats fine but we have no ice." As I filled my drink something was dripping down the soda spout into my cup. Smelled like some kind of cleaner so I threw it out. :( That was basically a $35 stomach ache :( Let me just add....I manage a popular locally owned pizza/Italian restaurant and we would NEVER treat customers like this. Will never be back. read more

This Panda Express is an embarrassment. I ordered online, which was simple to use and user friendly. However, when I went to pick it up they informed me they don't have most of our order at this location ever. They also refused to give me my money back so I was stuck. Never will we go back to this location. We've had much better experiences at the Santa Rosa location. read more

They never have teriyaki chicken ready. NEVER! I've asked for it every time I've been here and ALWAYS have to wait or get something else. If someone asks for teriyaki chicken, they should never be told "20 minutes". I could walk to Safeway, buy the chicken, and come back and cook it myself in that time. The area with the soda machine is always wet and sticky. The machine is out of something half time time too. At least the tables are relatively clean. EDIT: Looked at other reviews (only AFTER writing mine as to not be influenced) and see A LOT of other complaints about the long waits for the teriyaki chicken that have been responded to by Panda Express. The issue HAS NOT been fixed. Look, I don't want to DM you for a coupon or something...GET THEM TO FIX THIS and I will return. I don't need a coupon or something. read more

The food was below par but one can only expect so much from Panda Express. Today, March 10th at 9:30 PM, I witnessed the most patient employees I've ever seen deal with a "Karen". The Karen in question brought in 2 "service animals" without a leash in sight and the employees wouldn't serve her. I mean, any service animal owner knows that their dog must be on a leash at all times when working but she was obviously going through a very bad day. The employees could've been yelling or making a scene like the customer was doing when telling her the rules, but they were incredibly calm, collected, and reasonable. In the dog owners defense, the pets were well behaved but rules are rules! If you're going to say that your pets are service animals when they aren't, at least know and practice the main minimum requirements cuz you're messing it up for others that get by using that loophole buy follow the rules lol. Anyway, bravo to the employees for putting their foot down in a respectful manner at the very end of the night when they are fully exhausted by that time. read more

RACIST!!! I was in line the only Hispanic all caucasians in line and this Asian lady was serving the plates. I saw the way she treated everyone else, went an extra mile for the customer in front of me changed her chow mein to fresh one as soon as she got to me her demeanor changed she was rude did not pay attention on my order ended up putting what she wanted i told her that is not what i ordered she got mad and started throwing everything out. I could feel the difference in treatment i can only say it was due to race. Everyone else got excellent customer service. read more

Just had to walk out. The lady in from taking out the trash- packing it down and touched the food- then cooked it. Cross contamination is no joke. read more

We have ordered twice from this location. We have a large family to feed and usually order two large family meals. The first time we did this we did not order ahead of time and were basically told to never do it again as they didn't have enough food ready. Today we ordered ahead using their app to pick up at 11:30. After arriving and waiting over 10 minutes without my order completed I asked how long it would be. Was not given a time just told that online orders print out 5-10 minutes ahead of their pick up time and they had to make our food. I did not leave the restaurant until almost noon with my food. Very disappointed with the service and ended up with a lot of barely warm food because they had been slowly filling boxes and not putting them in a warmer to stay hot while waiting for the rest to finish cooking. read more

This is the most understaffed restaurant I've ever been in for it to be considered "fast food" there's always a line and there always out of something primarily the thing I want (grilled chicken) I hate this experience !!!!!!! Update: lines still long but the manager did apologize and she replaced my order which meant a lot to me Good job Panda read more

I found some metal thing that looks like it's from a dish cleaning sponge in my food. Always liked Panda Express but this really disgusts, disappoints, and angers me. Never will I look at Panda Express the same after this. read more

Panda Express - Chinese Near Me - Petaluma, California

This Panda not only skimps on serving you a normal portion for panda express, my panda bowl wasn't even half full. Food tastes the same as any other one. Also, someone needs to talk to their counter service staff: No hello, no smile, Abi just stood there, waiting as if I was an inconvenience and didn't even finish my order with asking if there was anything else I wanted. The lady at the register didn't say hello either, a Hispanic woman. Also, no one was in line at 2:55 pm on a Thursday. Management needs to have a talk with this location. A manager was present and didn't say a word about any of this. Apparently this is how you treat paying customers these days at the South McDowell location. Don't visit here, go to another location. read more

This is hands down the slowest panda express in the entire Bay Area. It should not take 30+ minutes at a FAST FOOD restaurant. Seriously how hard is it to quickly scoop all like 15 options they have? Doesn't help that the people in the line stand there for 20 minutes then suddenly realize they have no idea what they want only to order rice with orange chicken like they did the last 100 times they went there but not without pondering their options for 2 minutes. On top of that they are always out of teriyaki chicken...it's literally the most popular item just have chicken on the grill at all times so I'm not having to wait an additional 10 minutes because you are too dumb to see that it's almost out and maybe you should start the next batch. Love panda but dear god fire the entire team and start fresh. Even paying takes forever...it's like they all move in slow motion No joke you could drive to Rohnert park, get the panda there, get back in your car and drive back to Petaluma and it would be faster. read more

Waited 10 minutes and barely moved in the line so decided to leave as there was still 4 people in front of me and the employees weren't moving too fast. I noticed the mixed vegetables were dried out and look pretty disgustingas if they had been sitting there for 10+ hours. Chow mein looked pretty dried out as well. I could tell by the way the employees were moving extremely slow that it probably would have taken another 10 minutes before I could leave the establishment with any food. I only noticed two people working the front counter and one person cooking so this could be part of the problem as well as them just being extremely slow. One person spilled a container of sauce they were getting for a customer & it took the 2 counter employees to start and clean it up, that is when I knew it would take forever & opted to leave instead of wasting my time and money on poor & slow service as well as dried out food. read more

Visited for the first time around 5pm on 6/4/18. Clean location. Food was hot. Every single menu item was available. Fabiola was friendly, professional and attentive. 4 stars instead of 5 because the manager (Xiao...?) allowed Victor to chat with friends the entire time I was there while Fabiola attended to all the customers. Here's how it went; I walked in around 5:08pm. Fabiola was serving a guest, the manager was at the register ringing up a customer (where he remained), one guy was drinking a soda in the kitchen, one woman was cooking and Victor was at the very start of the line chatting with two boys his age. This went on ...and on...and on for 20 MINUTES. Fabiola finished with the guest ahead of me then attended to me, then took the next two guests, then wiped down tables, then went back and attended to two MORE guests all while Victor chatted with those two boys, eventually served them a tiny pint of food and as soon as they paid he followed them to the table (right next to the soda machine directly in front of the register) and continued laughing and chatting with them. Unbelievable. I sat, ate my food and watched. Second Visit 6/7/18 4pm: Anna was sweet and professional. Served me with a smile and thanked me. Everything was also available on my second visit. read more

I think I consumed a cup of oil. Stopped as I was in a hurry and hungry. The food was terrible. Never again. My mistake. read more

You don't come to this place expecting great food, if you do that is your problem. You come here because it is decent priced, decent food that you can get quick. I have been to a lot of these, they would get a 3 or 4 star based on my expectations above. However, Panda Express is heavily advertising the Walnut Prawns, that is what I was coming in for. On a Wed afternoon, 12:00 they are out of just that. I mean come on, how do you not have what you are advertising. Hello franchisee - duh! You lost a customer today because you don't know how to order! Yep, I called two other PE and they both had Walnut Prawns. As for the food, decent as usual...met the need I was looking, mediocre food but never this spot again. read more

I brought a coupon "Buy a plate or large plate, get one entree free". Plates and large plates are both categorized as entrees on their menu. So I ordered two plates (2 items plus rice or chow mein or,,,) and I expected one plate was going to be free. First, I ordered "plate" to a girl. After she finished one I said "one more plate". But the girl automatically made two large plates which I didn't know till I paid. At the cash register I presented the coupon to a young man. He entered items on the machine and the total came out almost same as two regular plates. I questioned him three times but he didn't make clear explanations. I gave up and I paid. I saw the receipt and I found. (1) The girl filled both plates as large. (2) "Free entree" was incorrect. It was "Free extra entree item $1.50". Please check their website. Their menu doesn't show prices until you place an online order. I should judge this as a shady business with false advertisement. read more

Especially for fast food, this place is a very poor value. The portions keep getting smaller while the prices keep going up. I hope the corporate savings are going to employees' paychecks but I doubt it. Otherwise there would be adequate staff and no long waits. read more

I've been coming to this location for years. Their teriyaki chicken is their best option. I like that you can make smart choices here. The mixed veggies leave much to be desired. It's not much of a mix when it's mostly cabbage and very little other veggies. Since the remodel of the resturant, the service has severely gone downhill. The turnover of employees is a sure sign that there is something wrong going on. I started ordering online a few months ago, because there was always a long line, and the wait was usually 20-30 minutes. On top of that they would be out of items and you would have to wait even longer to get what you want. Usually at least another 15 minutes. If I could give zero stars, I would. I went in tonight to pick up my order, and they left out an entree from each plate. On top of that there were yet again all new people working there. The manager was talking to the cook staff like they were children. You could tell by the look on the cooks faces they were beat down by this poor treatment from the manager. Hopefully the franchisee/ corporate sees the poor reviews that have been left lately, and do something to improve this location. I don't plan on coming back for a while. It's not hard to treat fellow employees with respect, and get orders right. Being in customer service, it is their job. read more

Got everything in our order wrong and the receipt had everything we ordered correct. Went all the way home went to eat our food and it was all wrong. Had to drive all the way back to get everything in the order correct and they didn't really even show an apology or anything for the convenience. The manager handed us our wrong order and when we went back knew everything we ordered to begin with. Bad service! read more

It is fine to eat here. Just be mindful about what they give you. The awareness of cross contamination here is in short supply. I have watched employees snag errant bits of this and that which are spread by the desire to be expedient with regards to customer service which is awesome. They unfortunately do not know what it means when you take a chow mein noodle out of the Walnut prawns and put it back with the rest of the chow mein. I emailed corporate to express my concern. I have an allergy to some nuts. I am certified for both the California food handlers card(employee), and Servsafe certification(manager level authorization to train others). I was pissed because I dumped whole foods pulled pork onto a plate and then the chow mein/rice mix I get from panda and out rolls a prawn. I had to throw the entire plate away. $18 down the drain. I told them that, they offered me a 10% off coupon or something. In that email I was also reporting the two different weird blackness I was pointed out and made aware of. One of them is the fortune cookie below, the other was having to do with the ice machine. They told me it was a "burned" fortune cookie. Anyone else gotten one of these? read more

Panda Express - Chinese Near Me - Petaluma, California

So far I've eaten take-out from here 3 times. Food is to be expected for Chinese fast food... Not bad, not good. My review is not for the food, though: Two nights ago we walked in and ordered. My husband wanted a side of the the teriyaki chicken. The girl at the counter cut it into strips, picked up the small container, DROPPED the container, then put his chicken into the DIRTY container right in front of us without a second thought! I'm pretty sure that's a health code violation... Stupidly, neither one of us spoke up about it because we were both trying to process what had just happened. read more

Awful service. Always understaffed. Just not a well run place. Portions are not consistent and most of the employees are not friendly. You're better off driving to Rohnert Park location if you're in Petaluma, you'll get your food faster. read more

I ordered online because I wanted to go during half of soccer match but I ended up waiting another 20 minutes after it was supposed to be ready. I'm fine with waiting but my food was cold. Once they eventually started my order they asked me if I wanted to wait for fresh chow mein I said yes obviously but then another worker filled my plate with all vegetables and then the other worker threw on a scoop of noodles on top for the cover up. Why did I wait 30 minutes for cole vegetables and a few pieces of warm chicken :/ read more

They lack manners and common sense. If you're going to give me a false explanation as to why you charges me more for something I didn't order, at least make it believable. Have been going to this spot for a few years...and the turn over rate of employees is pretty quick. And the new snotty servers...man! Ridiculous attitudes. Especially Leah.. Really hope they read this. read more

Good food but the 2 guys serving the food can follow instructions teriyaki chicken had no sauce on top like I said I didn't even get it in a container also I said half and half on fried rice and noodles and all I got was a small portion of fried rice.very upset I was expecting my full calories read more

Worst Panda ever, big line, one employee working others talking. Cashier touch food and money. always out of something, plates are terrible with small portion. Dirty place. read more