While they both have immigrant founders, as a first-gen American I have a lot more respect for the Panda Express founders and their story. They knew what they were good at and stuck to it, whereas the PF Chang founders sold what they had as soon as they started to get rich. I think it's also telling that PF Change marketing and rhetoric often tried to emphasize the "authenticity" of their dishes (or at least they used to), but Panda Express never wasted time on that. Some people like to harp on it for not being authentic, but to me that's a selling point. It's not Chinese food, it's Chinese-American food, and that's its strength, not its weakness.
I also get annoyed at people who claim immigrants owned businesses are t authentic if the modify dishes to suit their own preferences. There is an incredibly old dim sum restaurant in the Mission District of San Francisco. It was opened around 1880 and is a huge restaurant, its two massive floors and on weekends you have to get there by 1000 or you’re not having lunch. They also only speak Cantonese, it’s hilarious to watch your groups from mainland china come and try to speak Mandarin… yeah not happening. Anyway, one of owners about 100 years ago discovered peanut butter and basically fell in love with it. He created a hybrid sesame ball that utilizes the same dough, but matcha powder is added, making it a pale green when fried. The filling instead of red bean paste, is a mix of sweetened peanut butter with more matcha. The balls are also the size of baseballs, rather than the traditional golf ball size. They are amazing, I am addicted, I have had the old lady who runs the place surprise me with a feee order to go because my love of them amuses her. Now, are these authentic traditional Chinese sesame balls? No, but as they were created by an authentic traditional Chinese American and the restaurant is the play to host wedding receptions, I think they deserve to be considered legitimate Chinese food.
Exactly, Panda Express doesn’t pretend to be what it isn’t. It’s just serviceable food at decent price (used to be a lot better but that’s the times we live in). PF Changs is just pretentious overpriced Chinese take out quality food. Actually I prefer Chinese take out. They claim to be authentic when they are anything but. There’s a reason you don’t see many Asians eating there.
@@MasterMayhem78P.F. Chang’s is far from authentic, but like you said it is very satisfying. I went there with my girlfriend a long time ago and the bill came to over $200 with a free appetizer coupon. The full bar contributed to most of that I must say.
Yeah, I’ve only ever been once and couldn’t believe the prices. I can think of a dozen Asian restaurants that are independently owned, have better food, and are both cheaper and closer to home.
I think KFC is gonna go out of business within 5 years. Every time I drive by one it looks borderline abandoned, whereas the Popeye's down the road will have a full parking lot and drive through line around the building.
I’d pick Panda Express in a heartbeat. If I want a nice dinner at an Asian restaurant I have countless better (and usually cheaper) options than a casual dining chain, but Panda Express perfectly fits those times I don’t really want fast food but only have fast food money.
@@misteral9045 How much is the price range of PE usually? I'm in the broke college student demographic and have one across the street from my job (McDonalds). If they're pretty cheap I could probably justify spicing up my dinners before I grow to hate everything on the McDonald's menu (The same food all the time gets old fast, even if economically it benefits me to take advantage of meals I get for free.99)
P.F. Chang’s used to own Pei Wei, which is probably a more apt comparison, or even something like the mall chain Master Wok. This is pretty much like comparing Five Guys to Red Robin.
Pei Wei was mentioned in the video but yeah weird comparison when these are essentially 2 different types of restaurants. Sit down dining vs fast food and the only similarity is that they are Asian American. Funny enough I would actually place Five Guys over Red Robin.
That's actually a much closer comparison than what this video does (comparing a drive-thru offering w/ a fancy-ish sit-down restaurant) This is like comparing...Arby's vs. Al's Italian Beef or something lol
The biggest difference is that one is cheap and the other is very overpriced for what it is. Changs is like a Asian Fridays pretending to be something else and Pandas is one of the only fast food restaurants that I go to because mom and pop Chinese restaurants have gotten too expensive for me.
They’re both very diluted Chinese food experiences. One is like a cheap bad beer. The other is like an overpriced champagne. P.F. Chang’s is delicious though. Panda Express is just greasy fried rice and overly seasoned hard to digest fast food.
@@gedaman it does not matter if it is "diluted" if it is what their customers want. The only way to get real, authentic chinese food is to eat if from china. Anywhere else is an imitation and is diluted.
I'm a Chinese-Canadian who loves mom-and-pop restaurants. And I still love Panda Express. Orange Chicken and Walnut Shrimp forever. i can't fault a Hong Kong and Taiwanese immigrant for making a spin on the food they grew up on mixed with the country they adopted and making a billion dollars off of it.
One aspect that makes Panda Express my personal preference over the independently owned places is with its cleanliness. Panda Express always rates well with the regional health inspectors where I live. Whereas the local independent Asian restaurants have a predilection with substandard food handling/storage hygiene and are frequently cited for health codes violations.
You bring up a good point, it's true in my area too. Complaints of food poisoning come up more often for example than other non-Chinese independent places.
I read the weekly restaurant inspection report for my county. It seems that it's usually the Chinese buffets are the ones that get shut down (between ten to thirty days) for over having too many violations. This is just one of many reasons why I will never ever eat at any buffet again.
I once worked a side job cleaning out a Chinese buffet that had been shut down. It was a pretty disgusting experience to say the least and put me off eating Chinese food for a good couple of years.
I have worked at PF Changs for a few years at a location in Arizona where the higher-ups in corporate frequent because they live in the area, and because of that, my location has been subject to a lot of testing before changes hit the rest of the locations, and honestly things do not seem to be going well. They have been offering a ridiculous amount of promotions and coupons, to the point where many people were able to combine them and take 50% off their totals. They tried changing portion sizes so that their were entrée options that aren't meant to be shared, and lunch offers of getting your food in 20 minutes or it's free. I think they said something along the lines of them trying to shift away from being a place that people eat on special occasions and closer to that casual dining experience. They are ridiculously expensive, to where I rarely order their food even with my employee discount, but I was always able to justify the price because everything was made to order fresh in-house, but unfortunately that is not the case anymore either. Most things come in proportioned and practically premade now. In the last couple of weeks they stopped making the famous lettuce wrap sauce fresh too. We now get that from a bottle that is not appetizing at all if I am honest.
It's been an incredibly difficult 4 years for businesses of all shapes/sizes. But we can finally breathe more easily: Better times are just around the corner.
Philip Chiang's mother having a Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco was distinctive with serving Mandarin cuisine, as that region was predominantly Cantonese when it came to restaurants and take-out.
ProTip: Skip both places and find a local Ma and Pa place where you get more food, better quality and fresh than a large corporate chain. Look for ones where they keep scooping food and the ToGo box can BARELY close!
SOME are high quality, but most just give you cheap quality meats if any. I’ve been served orange chicken where they didn’t have ANY chicken inside, I was just eating crust.
I agree with your sentiment, but I'd suggest skipping Chinese altogether and eating at a Vietnamese or Thai restaurant. The food is more complex and tasteful.
@@jeffhatmaker817 Problem is that, in my case, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants (or let alone, Pinoy restaurants) are basically non-existent here in Puerto Rico. Chinese and Japanese restaurants are the most dominant here, and it wasn't until a few years ago where Korean BBQ joints started picking up steam on the island.
I order Panda Express every Wednesday almost ritually for my coworker and I to start the week. As truck drivers always on the go, we want something that's healthier than greasy burger and fries but still relatively cheap and quick to pick-up on the way to work. Sometimes we mix it up with Chipotle but Panda is our reliable go to. Food is fresh, service is friendly, the nrw rewards program is neat, and they pay their employees pretty well! Here in California they start new hires at $21-$24/hr and managers $40/hr+! A friend of mine made $32/hr as a full time cook there. Tasty quality food, convenience, friendly service and good employee pay packages. For those reasons Panda is always a win in my book.
I def like Panda Express better mostly because Panda is one of those "you know its not as good as authentic local resturant but is cheap, reliable, convinent and pretty much everywhere" so you have a reason to go there even if you know other Chinese resturants that's better. I honestly didn't find much reason to choose P.F. Chang over proper good Chinese restaurant.
@@matthewwelsh294 Cheap is not terrible. PE offers decent value. Nobody's forcing you to eat junk food like orange chicken and honey walnut shrimp. You can get healthier options if you want.
Never been to PF Changs, but I have nothing but nice things to say about Panda Express. Tried it randomly one time in a strip mall, thinking it was going to be really subpar but to my surprise it was fast, cheap, and tasted at least as good as any local Chinese food place. That isn't to say it was the "best thing ever" but as far as fast Chinese food goes, it was really very good. Honestly, just watching this video makes me want to go there right now, but there are sadly none anywhere near me. I've only ever seen them when traveling other places. :(
Another interesting similarity between Panda Express and P.F. Chang's: Both sell their products in grocery stores. Panda Express sells bottles of its sauces, while P.F. Chang's sells frozen versions of some of its entrees like the aforementioned lettuce wraps, chicken lo mein, General Chang's chicken and even its white rice. I'd say it's been a good way for P.F. Chang's to get their name out there, especially since not every town is near a P.F. Chang's while Panda Express is becoming more ubiquitous. That frozen rice is about as much as I've ever had from P.F. Chang's, while I went to a Panda Express onceat my local mall in the late '90s and wasn't all that impressed.
I've been to both quite a bit. PF Chang's is more upscale to dine in(their lettuce wraps are DELICIOUS 😋). HOWEVER, each has quality food and their share of the market.
What are your menu favorites as a member of staff? Do you get a decent discount or free meal per shift? What is the menu item every staff worker avoids I do not live near a PF Chang, so it is a mystery to me menu wise
I live in Seattle, where you would think there would be lots of great Chinese food options….and there are a few if you’re looking for truly authentic. But if you’re looking for the Americanized stuff, Panda wins for me with value, taste, and food safety. I’ve tried about a dozen other places and I’ve decided to just go to Panda when I want that style. Instead of $17 for an entree, $2-3 charge for rice, $13-15 for fried rice, I can get the plate for sub $11 before taxes with 2 entrees and fried rice.
P.F. Chang’s slaps here in Mexico, and my American sweetheart agrees too. The menu is not only Asian-American but Mexican too, so I think they managed to bring the best of both worlds. Also, I won’t say they are the nicest restaurants here but they are definitely an experience with the decor and customer service. On the other hand, I’ve had Panda Express in the USA and whereas I like the flavors the meals are so sweet and caloric, so I prefer to go to a local Asian restaurant instead.
I have family that is in Panda (corporate) . The founders are very saavy (no surprise they’re very very smart, esp Peggy/wife), their expansion to now multi billion revenue is wild, with the founders still having a very direct hands on approach. I have gripes with some of the ingredients used for Panda (certain oils) but overall, Panda Express is very excellent for what it is. The business-logistics/back end is very cool and it is highly modernized (data driven) due to Peggy. Their work culture seems very fun (if you’re into that stuff).
Unhealthy oils are the hidden toxin in most restaurant food. I used to work for In-N-Out corporate. I could order the burger without the bun and avoid the fries and drinks, but due to the sunflower oil they use for cooking, I could never truly consider it acceptably healthy.
@@DeeDee_Stands_On_Business my main local independent shop has great value. Their General Tso chicken lunch special is $12.50 (in NYC) you get a large portion of chicken, large portion of rice, and 1 pint of any of their soups on the side. The food is really good, but the old owner sold it to other immigrants a few years back, and the portions arent as massive. The original owner, Mrs. Chan, for lo mein, would use a potato masher to pack in as much as she could into that little container. New owners fill it well, but not quite as much. But still good food, good value, and you can ask them for American level spicy and China level spicey.
I like them both. I think Panda Express is a somewhat better value but the difference is not prohibitive. Thanks Company Man. The video is appreciated.
Most places don't have an upscale chinese restaurant which was an opening in the market for PF's but the food quality, while decent, is painfully expensive.
P.F. Chang’s is Applebee’s Grill & Bar, while Panda Express is Wendy’s. I’ve only had the pleasure of dining at P.F. Chang’s once, but I some times purchase their frozen entrees to cook at home. On the other hand, I’ve had countless meals at Panda Express, and among their dishes, the Kung Pao Chicken stands out as my favorite. In my opinion, Panda Express has the upper hand.
Ah yes, but Panda actually sells bottles of their orange sauce in supermarkets. Which lets you make a lighter calorie/carb version by not frying the chicken in batter, and you can add some vegetables to round it out a little,
I had never heard of P.F. Chang's before I watched that episode of South Park, and I've been up and down the entire East Coast and most of the Southeast. I have seen 1 since I moved out West. Panda Express is just everywhere; standalone, mall, airport, train station, and I saw one in a gas station when I was in Kansas. PE is just beyond compare to PF Chang's. Secret tip: get half-half fried rice and lo mein, and add sweet and sour sauce. Makes the chicken even better.
As a Chinese immigrant, I’ve actually never been to a P.F. Chang’s and only recall only 1 place I’ve seem them exist (that has since closed down) but I’ve been to a lot of Panda Express, and I can imagine P.F. Chang being only able to compete in a place where there isn’t a huge Chinese immigrant community (where there’s a lot of more authentic restaurants) because at that point, if you want Chinese-American food, you would just go to Panda Express, and if you want something that involves more effort, you would go to somewhere more authentic.
Exactly. My Chinese wife and I usually eat authentic Chinese food but occasionally eat Panda Express every now and then. But we only eat at P.F. Chang's when we have a gift card we need to use. 😂
As a Chinese, would you say Panda Express is somewhat close to resembling true Chinese cuisine? Or is it more of an American inspired version? I would like to visit China one day and I imagine the food here is no where near what real Chinese food is like in China
@@FastGuy1 It’s a limited set of dishes of Chinese (mainly Cantonese) origin modified for an American palette. It’s not a night and day difference; I think it would be more accurate to say that there’s just a lot more to Chinese cuisine than what you can find at Panda Express. In fact, Chinese consider there to be eight great types of Chinese cuisines, each from a different region of China. There is great, relatively authentic Chinese food in America; it’s just not Panda Express. I’m in China right now (and have been here many times), and the food I eat here (recommended by local colleagues) is more diverse but ultimately not that different from what I’ve had back home in Southern California.
@@MayTheSchwartzBeWithYou oh okay. Yeah I’ve always imagined that Chinese food is more diverse than what’s sold here in America. Partly due to China’s huge size so I can imagine each region has its distinct cuisine. I’ve seen many Sichuan restaurants too
@@FastGuy1 I've been in Beijing this past week, and every day, my local colleagues have treated me to a different type of restaurant: Sunday lunch: Cantonese (from Guangdong) Monday lunch: Hotpot (forgot which region) Tuesday lunch: California-style healthy food (lol) Tuesday dinner: Hunan Wednesday lunch: Cantonese Wednesday dinner: Hangzhou (city in Zhejiang) Thursday dinner: Chaoshan (a cultural-linguistic region in Guangdong) Friday lunch: Sichuan Friday dinner: Beijing (including Beijing roast duck) Saturday lunch: McDonald's (I like trying McDonald's in different countries to see what unique things are on the menu; I had a chicken sandwich and chicken wrap, each with bamboo shoots, and they were pretty delicious) Saturday dinner: Beijing (at Beihai Park) It's been pretty awesome! I eat at "authentic" Chinese restaurants on a regular basis in SoCal, but I still encountered quite a few new dishes this past week.
Panda Inn for the win!! They still have some locations here in CA and it’s amazing. Imagine Panda Express’ orange chicken made fresh every time rather than being cooked then waiting on a dish to be served, and that’s what Panda Inn is!!
I'm actually not the biggest fan of their orange chicken. When I go to Panda Express it's ALWAYS fried rice, honey walnut shrimp, and my absolute favorite meat from them: teriyaki chicken! This video made me think you should compare those major mall Chinese food court restaurant chains like Master Wok, Manchu Wok, China Master, Asian Chao, Mandarin Express, and Pei Wei Asian Diner. In my area, Pei Wei has renamed almost all of the dozens of Mandarin Expresses that were around. I had no idea they were started by P.F. Chang's!!!
Panda Express is in malls, it’s more popular because they’re fast food, while PF Changs is more of a gourmet restaurant! That’s like comparing McDonald’s to Red Robin!
Applebees and Burger King both sell burgers and fries... therefore they must be the same thing! D: I almost wonder if the comparison of the two is some kind of soft-racism, it's baffling.
Even as a Chinese person living in Vancouver, I would love to have Panda Express in Canada. There are many great Chinese restaurants here, but it's hard to know which places and which items are good. It can also be unhealthy and get pretty expensive. On the other hand, Panda Express is consistent and cheap. If you get the non-fried items, you can get a decently healthy and tasty meal. I wouldn't go if I wanted good Chinese food, but if I just need to eat after a long workday, I would rather have Panda Express.
6:28 yeah, it should be remarked that they didn't simply "work hard and take risks." They also had a lot of people from the local community of other Chinese families investing money into their business. And that tends to be an often ignored part when it comes to the back story of these "self-made" billionaires: the part where they're not so self-made because other people invested copious amounts of money into their business idea. Now that's not the take away from the fact that they had a great product, and the ambition to pursue capitalizing off of it. But I would venture to believe that most people would be successful in this country if their ideas, talents, and creations were backed up by people willing to invest in them financially. And that just has not been the case for a lot of people, particularly those who come from marginalized and underprivileged backgrounds.
Only tried P.F. Chang's once for a family dinner, its good but I would rather go to the numerous authentic Chinese food restaurants for their price. They're always authentic feeling compared to how corporate celebrity stylized Chang's is. If I want the Taco Bell equivalent to Chinese food I'll go to Panda Express for cheap food. I don't see how P.F. Chang survives anywhere there is a simple Chinese family running a restaurant. Also of course both franchises opened in the Southwest, Chinese have a strong connection to that area in American history.
It’s such a random comparison. Yeah, they’re both Americanized Chinese food, but the similarities pretty much end there. Nobody really says “Hmm, Panda Express or P.F. Chang’s for dinner?”
Love the video as always but I despise these chains. Give me a family owned place any day. At least a good one😂😂😂 Khoo Kitchen Chinese Malaysia fusion... primo
Especially when it comes to people from Asian cultures, that mom and pop shop I guarantee you is treating their employees like shit. I worked in a few while I was in college, was paid cash (less than min wage; which is normal for those types of restaurants, at least in my area). I remember clocking in and the boss using my sub min wage pay to be her personal mover instead so she wouldn't have to pay a moving company what they're worth. Then when we made it to to her neighborhood. 6 huge 2 story homes in a gated community... she was trading houses with her brother because they got bored w/ the house each was living in but makes sense how her family would be rich enough to have it like that when they're paying everyone in their restaurants below min wage. Oh yeah, if we close at 10, we stopped getting paid at 10, doesn't matter how long the cleanup took, so that pay stops at 10 on the dot (Cleanup was commonly about 30ish mins unless we are busy and ppl don't leave right at 10; we can't even start the cleanup FOH until the last customer is out the door. After a couple of those types of jobs, lol l stopped supporting the mom and pop shops; they don't treat their people any worse than a corporate/chain restaurant (oh and the restaurant in question; her husband just bought her a restaurant because she was bored at home, THose people were loaded
@LilT2o00 I know that can be true but not in the case of the place I mentioned. I have heard similar stories like what you said from other people. One w a s fed up so she started her own place.
Ok as someone that travels the country for work and eats food all over. I will always choose a small hole in the wall take out Chinese restaurant over Panda Express. In fact that's what I did last night in Nashville. Tends to have better flavors then the generic taste of Panda Express. Now my wife doesn't like to brave the small no name strip mall Chinese restaurants and will always go to Panda as you can count on it to be consistent. As for P.F. Chang I feel it is over priced but the quality of the food is far better. You know you are gonna get a upper scale meal that is fresh and taste good...though pricey. So to sum up I would rather pay more and get P.F. Changs if I had to choose between the two, but will always choose local small Chinese restaurant over Panda Express 100 out of 100 times.
I agree. Panda Express is just nasty fast food. The food isn’t cheap either. Everything is loaded with too much pepper and where are the soups? The only reason I could see going to Panda Express is when there are no little Chinese takeout joints around or they are terrible (you see this sometimes in the south).
I don't think it's as simple as that, as where I am hole in the wall places aren't very good, and seem to source all their stuff from the same restaurant supply companies. It's like opening a restaurant serving Hello Fresh and Factor mealkits, lol. I think it all depends on where you're at.
recently moved and while out, we walked by a P.F Chang's and decided to go because we usually would stop by panda expresses, or local asian spots if i was picking up dinner, it was relatively empty because it had just opened up roughly an hour before we walked in, as someone who knew it was a restaurant, most of my interaction with anything PF chang related, was the grocery store freezer section (was a little surprised that was never mentioned), we loved the look and the service was nice, but the pricing and atmosphere was more of a pseudo luxury feeling, it definitely felt like a dinner place, like a nice dinner date or a special family dinner, instead of the casual lunch stop like we did, we plan on going back again, but probably not in our shorts and mixed matched socks like we had
LMFAO I started cracking up right when you mentioned Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley going to PF Chang’s. I can only imagine that conversation was very interesting and very hilarious. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I like P F Changs better than Panda Express. Panda Express is okay in a pinch but it's not my go to Asian food. It tends to be bland, overcooked, or have a stale taste. I have started making my own and it tastes great.
I'm shocked that every commenter so far does not have a Chinese Buffet, or for some reason do not go to them. BTW, some are better than others, but the dishes will be vastly more like PFC than PE. And the quantity will be in certainty higher than both. Many under $10 at lunch. Why are we still talking?
@@jameswendellmiller Do you mind telling me what state, and better yet city that this applies to? In every city I've lived in you get 20 times the value. Maybe 10. Care to back up that provocative claim?
@@jameswendellmiller Might you be so bold as to provide examples with details? If your claim has merit, I'll appreciate that. Everyone will. But your silence WRT specifics suggests lameness instead. Well?
As an Australian, we have mostly authentic Chinese here. I've never seen or tried 'Orange chicken'. Australian Chinese restaurants (which have mostly gone) sell Lemon Chicken though. I assume it's similar. Would like to try it though.
Grew up down under, then worked my way round the world. My mum would actually run the kitchen at the Mandarin Club in Sydney back in the 70's (when the regulars were on vacation or out sick). I can tell you Aussie Chinese food is not exactly authentic either, but definitely closer than is available in the US. Neither is any regional cuisine at restaurants, anywhere in the world. If you want authentic Chinese food, you need to find a small hole in the wall type restaurant in an out of the way location where the majority of customers are clearly local first-gen Chinese immigrants. Same for Indian etc. Or go to their home province and find some street food dealers - but not anywhere they cater to tourists. Many signature Chinese dishes in Oz (such as beef and black bean) will draw blank stares from the staff at Chinese restaurants in other countries (and, yes, I've also worked in Asia). All ethnic cuisines are adapted to the tastes of the local market and population to some extent. As for Lemon Chicken - had that in a couple of countries and they are all different beyond containing chicken and having a lemon-flavored sauce.
@@stainlesssteellemming3885 Things have moved on since the 70's. That kind of Chinese food only exists in tiny country towns served to boomers. What is served now, particularly in the cities, it pretty authentic now.
I went to a PF Changs recently for the first time out of burning curiosity. I remember people saying how high-end and delicious it was for years, but now it was like expensive, less flavorful Panda Express. The latter was true.
The closest PF Chang's is about an hour away from where I live, so I've never eaten there before. Thankfully there is a Panda Express down the road and I love their orange chicken with fried rice. It's one of my favorite fast food meals. It's clear (at least in my area) that it's very popular, since the drive-thru line is always wrapping around the building.
Panda Express has just been so consistent all my life. The day I got my license I drove my friends off campus to go to Panda Express. Those were the days.
Thanks for posting this video. I absolutely adore P. F. Chang's lettuce wraps, but the nearest location is about 30 minutes away. The nearest Panda Express is about 10 minutes away, but I've never had their orange chicken. So, I prefer Panda Express (lower cost and more convenient), and I'll definitely give their orange chicken a try on my next visit.
When my grandma from Hong Kong was still able to visit the US, she very much prefers Panda Express than any other Chinese restaurants in the US and certain chains back in Hong Kong as well. We've never taken her to PF Chang's so can't do a comparison there.
As a person who was born and raised in Southern California i only lived like 15-20 minutes away from the original Panda Inn in Pasadena. Its still open for people to eat there and they serve fresh authentic Chinese food but sadly theres only like four restaurants opened in Southern California with the other three located in Glendale, La Palma, and Ontario
@@METALMAN4Wii My fault. I thought you said grocery store. A&P was the first major grocery store which went out of business in 2015. I’ve never been to a Meijer.
@gedaman Yeah A&P owned Farmer Jacks here in Michigan but they had a promotion in 2004/2005 find an expired item get the good one free people were filling their carts full of them and them texting their family members to go do the same.
@@METALMAN4Wii I think that was A&P’s downfall. They were buying up other grocery chains like Super Fresh, Pathmark, Waldbaums. Also their prices were too high without offering anything special like a Whole Foods Market.
Panda discontinued their eggplant/ tofu plate. It was really good and it was one of the few vegan dishes they offered. I was sad when I went thru a drive thru and was told that that item was taken off the menu.. Bring it back Panda. Plz.
@vu4uboo582 Chang's doesn't have a eggplant tofu combination dish. Though we use to have a fried eggplant dish up until around 3 months ago, before corporate removed it with the new roll out. But lucky for you if you like tofu, we do have a new Mongolian Tofu dish.
The bulk of my PF Chang's experience is with Pei Wei. The food is of better overall quality than Panda and the experience is more consistent (sometimes Panda is a bit off). It's also more expensive than Panda, so there's that. Honestly though, it's a bit of a toss up between the two as to which is better. I thought Panda's orange chicken was waaaaay better than Pei Wei's version. If I want to dine in I'd prefer Pei Wei but for take out I'd lean towards Panda.
I applied for a bartending position at a P.F. Changs about 11 years ago. The GM was such a colossal asshole I got up and left halfway through the interview.
Am I the only one who would rather hit up a mom-and-pop Asian buffet that some american-bastardized version of their cuisine? I mean, to be fair, I know even the local chinese buffet ran by chinese-americans isn't exactly AUTHENTIC, but it's far closer to the real thing. Heck, when I was in college, I took Chinese for my language (Japanese wasn't an option). I managed to convince our professor that our final exam should be a real-world practicum. We went to a nearby chinese buffet and our grade was based solely upon our ability to order and converse with the staff in Chinese. Greatest final exam of my life. Tastiest too lmfao
Pei Wei was one of my favs until Chang’s sold it. Now I go to Panda. The consistency there is very nice and their limited-time food and drinks have been really good. The current Blazing Bourbon Chicken is one my the best things to come out of a fast casual restaurant in years and I’m going to be disappointed when it’s gone.
Idk if it's me or a lot of local Chinese restaurants near me I've been to had left me with mixed feelings and Panda Express is the only safest place to go that's good enough.
Yes. That's how we started going to Panda Express the last two years. We had one local shop we went to religiously for a decade but the owners sold and the food was different.
You should talk about how Chinese family associations, and community associations from China helped build the infrastructure of Chinese restaurants around the world. Also, it helps to see the similarities between restaurants across the US.
The most important been price is vastly different in both. In Panda you can get a full order for around 12 (rice, 2 meats or side) while in PF Chang just the meat alone is like 20 dollar and does include rice, but only white rice. If you want the fried rice is additional cost at like 12 dollars...so yeah way more expensive to go to PF Chang with the taste been similar to other chinesse restaurant in general.
I haven't tried Chang's but Panda Express is really good value. The bigger plate has 3 entrees and a side for $11.30, and you earn enough reward points to get a free entree after spending 25. Sure you can get more food for that price at Taco Bell or Domino's but none of the other places give you big scoops of chicken chunks or beef strips for that price.
@ just the inflection of your voice. I know you’re not being sarcastic and it doesn’t make me enjoy your videos any less, it just sounds that way to me. Considering it doesn’t seem like anybody else feels this way it’s probably just a me thing.
I have also seen P.F. Chang's open up "To Go" restaurants around the NYC area. Basically offering their whole menu but only as a take out option. P.F. Chang's also has frozen foods you can purchase and make at home. I don't think Panda Express ventured to the frozen food market.
My college town is 40 minutes from where I went to work after graduation. They have a panda express back there. I miss it. Whenever I take the drive.. I'm tempted to grab some
Both are dining options that were previously available in my local mall (although not at the same time). Panda Express definitely fit the setting better, which is probably who they had a much longer run and I ate there far more often.
I actually went to P.F Changs in Mexico City today, had the lettuce wraps and the Mongolian beef. I like P.F haven't tried Panda yet but I'll look to try it in the next week or so.
I remember PF Changs in the late 2000s and early 2010s seeming more “high end” with bigger food portions. They would also do table side sauce mixing for you. And maybe an odd thing to notice but the bathrooms were always clean and had thick, soft, folded paper towels. Fast forward to last year when I went. Overpriced, a lot dingier, the portions were smaller, and no sauce mixing. The bathrooms also used generic paper towel rolls from automatic dispensing machines. Whenever PE firms buy a company, the service and quality tend to get gutted.
Chinese here. Actually go to grap a bigger plate at Panda Express at least once a weak. Just think about it, 12 bucks will only brings you a small burger, French fries and a coke but in panda express that will be a one stable food and three dishes plate. When I am burning both side of candles I'd always want some fast food like Panda Express to eat
While they both have immigrant founders, as a first-gen American I have a lot more respect for the Panda Express founders and their story. They knew what they were good at and stuck to it, whereas the PF Chang founders sold what they had as soon as they started to get rich. I think it's also telling that PF Change marketing and rhetoric often tried to emphasize the "authenticity" of their dishes (or at least they used to), but Panda Express never wasted time on that. Some people like to harp on it for not being authentic, but to me that's a selling point. It's not Chinese food, it's Chinese-American food, and that's its strength, not its weakness.
I also get annoyed at people who claim immigrants owned businesses are t authentic if the modify dishes to suit their own preferences. There is an incredibly old dim sum restaurant in the Mission District of San Francisco. It was opened around 1880 and is a huge restaurant, its two massive floors and on weekends you have to get there by 1000 or you’re not having lunch. They also only speak Cantonese, it’s hilarious to watch your groups from mainland china come and try to speak Mandarin… yeah not happening. Anyway, one of owners about 100 years ago discovered peanut butter and basically fell in love with it. He created a hybrid sesame ball that utilizes the same dough, but matcha powder is added, making it a pale green when fried. The filling instead of red bean paste, is a mix of sweetened peanut butter with more matcha. The balls are also the size of baseballs, rather than the traditional golf ball size. They are amazing, I am addicted, I have had the old lady who runs the place surprise me with a feee order to go because my love of them amuses her. Now, are these authentic traditional Chinese sesame balls? No, but as they were created by an authentic traditional Chinese American and the restaurant is the play to host wedding receptions, I think they deserve to be considered legitimate Chinese food.
Exactly, Panda Express doesn’t pretend to be what it isn’t. It’s just serviceable food at decent price (used to be a lot better but that’s the times we live in). PF Changs is just pretentious overpriced Chinese take out quality food. Actually I prefer Chinese take out. They claim to be authentic when they are anything but. There’s a reason you don’t see many Asians eating there.
Yeah, but Chang's has higher quality food, Panda is kinda ass.
P. F. Chang's is shockingly expensive.
But it’s a nice dining experience and the food is really good, maybe not authentic but still very tasty.
@@MasterMayhem78P.F. Chang’s is far from authentic, but like you said it is very satisfying. I went there with my girlfriend a long time ago and the bill came to over $200 with a free appetizer coupon. The full bar contributed to most of that I must say.
Eating at a Bistro is more expensive than eating at a fastfood place
Yeah, I’ve only ever been once and couldn’t believe the prices. I can think of a dozen Asian restaurants that are independently owned, have better food, and are both cheaper and closer to home.
I haven't been to a PF Changs in about 5 years, but I can still vividly recall how orgasmic their lettuce wraps were.
Panda express is inside malls while PF changs is across the street from them
This is so true even in my city lol
Malls? They still have those things?
@@andrewbuhman1066 There are lots of malls, and they are filled with lots of people.
I've never seen Panda in a mall. And only seen Changs once
@@andrewbuhman1066Right, no one goes to the malls anymore except for juvenile delinquents and homeless people.
There's something very satisfying about these video essays. Hard to pinpoint exactly why.
It's probably because they teach people interesting things about companies.
@@alexmapp5444 he just reads directly from wikipedia
@@HeroicRecaps lol no
@@HeroicRecaps Lol
@@HeroicRecapslmao nah
Cannot wait for your KFC vs. Popeyes video.
Popeyes is opening up in my scottish town. Can’t wait
KFC vs Popeyes vs Chik Fil-A vs Raising Cane's
At least that would make sense.
🎶 "Love that chicken from Popeyes".🎶
I think KFC is gonna go out of business within 5 years. Every time I drive by one it looks borderline abandoned, whereas the Popeye's down the road will have a full parking lot and drive through line around the building.
I’d pick Panda Express in a heartbeat. If I want a nice dinner at an Asian restaurant I have countless better (and usually cheaper) options than a casual dining chain, but Panda Express perfectly fits those times I don’t really want fast food but only have fast food money.
they’re a good value for money honestly
Panda Express is almost entirely carried by college students.
@@misteral9045 How much is the price range of PE usually? I'm in the broke college student demographic and have one across the street from my job (McDonalds). If they're pretty cheap I could probably justify spicing up my dinners before I grow to hate everything on the McDonald's menu (The same food all the time gets old fast, even if economically it benefits me to take advantage of meals I get for free.99)
@@gregvs.theworld451 Google it.
@@gregvs.theworld451 We are talking $12 foe a massive plate, that is on campus prices though.
P.F. Chang’s used to own Pei Wei, which is probably a more apt comparison, or even something like the mall chain Master Wok. This is pretty much like comparing Five Guys to Red Robin.
Pei Wei was mentioned in the video but yeah weird comparison when these are essentially 2 different types of restaurants. Sit down dining vs fast food and the only similarity is that they are Asian American. Funny enough I would actually place Five Guys over Red Robin.
That's actually a much closer comparison than what this video does (comparing a drive-thru offering w/ a fancy-ish sit-down restaurant)
This is like comparing...Arby's vs. Al's Italian Beef or something lol
@@bryantunknown4233 I might be alone, but I think Red Robin and Five Guys are both crap.
I thought the same.
Exactly, both are trash just like 5 guys and Red Robin are
The biggest difference is that one is cheap and the other is very overpriced for what it is. Changs is like a Asian Fridays pretending to be something else and Pandas is one of the only fast food restaurants that I go to because mom and pop Chinese restaurants have gotten too expensive for me.
Panda express' model increasingly feels like the only business at a mall food court that can turn a profit.
They’re both very diluted Chinese food experiences. One is like a cheap bad beer. The other is like an overpriced champagne. P.F. Chang’s is delicious though. Panda Express is just greasy fried rice and overly seasoned hard to digest fast food.
Nah pf is god tier
@@gedaman it does not matter if it is "diluted" if it is what their customers want.
The only way to get real, authentic chinese food is to eat if from china. Anywhere else is an imitation and is diluted.
@@gedamanTerrible analogy lmao
I'm a Chinese-Canadian who loves mom-and-pop restaurants. And I still love Panda Express. Orange Chicken and Walnut Shrimp forever.
i can't fault a Hong Kong and Taiwanese immigrant for making a spin on the food they grew up on mixed with the country they adopted and making a billion dollars off of it.
good point.
No one cares.
Love their walnut shrimp!
@@clvrswineI care and the shadow cares.
As a Mexican-American who loves taco bell, I get it. Authentic no, cheap and delicious, yes.
One aspect that makes Panda Express my personal preference over the independently owned places is with its cleanliness. Panda Express always rates well with the regional health inspectors where I live. Whereas the local independent Asian restaurants have a predilection with substandard food handling/storage hygiene and are frequently cited for health codes violations.
You bring up a good point, it's true in my area too. Complaints of food poisoning come up more often for example than other non-Chinese independent places.
I read the weekly restaurant inspection report for my county. It seems that it's usually the Chinese buffets are the ones that get shut down (between ten to thirty days) for over having too many violations. This is just one of many reasons why I will never ever eat at any buffet again.
Health code violations add taste
I once worked a side job cleaning out a Chinese buffet that had been shut down. It was a pretty disgusting experience to say the least and put me off eating Chinese food for a good couple of years.
Ive been food poison twice by independently owned chinese restaurants. Havent been to one in 15 years
I have worked at PF Changs for a few years at a location in Arizona where the higher-ups in corporate frequent because they live in the area, and because of that, my location has been subject to a lot of testing before changes hit the rest of the locations, and honestly things do not seem to be going well. They have been offering a ridiculous amount of promotions and coupons, to the point where many people were able to combine them and take 50% off their totals. They tried changing portion sizes so that their were entrée options that aren't meant to be shared, and lunch offers of getting your food in 20 minutes or it's free. I think they said something along the lines of them trying to shift away from being a place that people eat on special occasions and closer to that casual dining experience. They are ridiculously expensive, to where I rarely order their food even with my employee discount, but I was always able to justify the price because everything was made to order fresh in-house, but unfortunately that is not the case anymore either. Most things come in proportioned and practically premade now. In the last couple of weeks they stopped making the famous lettuce wrap sauce fresh too. We now get that from a bottle that is not appetizing at all if I am honest.
It's been an incredibly difficult 4 years for businesses of all shapes/sizes. But we can finally breathe more easily: Better times are just around the corner.
This is like comparing oranges to really bad oranges
Orange juice to orange slices?
Which is which?
Okay Chinese food to bad Chinese food
It's like comparing oranges of inconsistent quality at a reasonable price to good oranges at a price that is too high for what it is.
@@g-dub🤣🤣😭🥳 👍🏽 Good One
Philip Chiang's mother having a Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco was distinctive with serving Mandarin cuisine, as that region was predominantly Cantonese when it came to restaurants and take-out.
I love your random clips in the video that have nothing to do with the content, like the random dude scratching his chin at the end. 😂
Alrighty.
🤔 = same enegy
ProTip: Skip both places and find a local Ma and Pa place where you get more food, better quality and fresh than a large corporate chain.
Look for ones where they keep scooping food and the ToGo box can BARELY close!
SOME are high quality, but most just give you cheap quality meats if any. I’ve been served orange chicken where they didn’t have ANY chicken inside, I was just eating crust.
I agree with your sentiment, but I'd suggest skipping Chinese altogether and eating at a Vietnamese or Thai restaurant. The food is more complex and tasteful.
Thai food is elite @@jeffhatmaker817
@@jeffhatmaker817 Problem is that, in my case, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants (or let alone, Pinoy restaurants) are basically non-existent here in Puerto Rico.
Chinese and Japanese restaurants are the most dominant here, and it wasn't until a few years ago where Korean BBQ joints started picking up steam on the island.
@@IIXLR8IIthis. Op is an idiot
I order Panda Express every Wednesday almost ritually for my coworker and I to start the week. As truck drivers always on the go, we want something that's healthier than greasy burger and fries but still relatively cheap and quick to pick-up on the way to work. Sometimes we mix it up with Chipotle but Panda is our reliable go to.
Food is fresh, service is friendly, the nrw rewards program is neat, and they pay their employees pretty well! Here in California they start new hires at $21-$24/hr and managers $40/hr+! A friend of mine made $32/hr as a full time cook there.
Tasty quality food, convenience, friendly service and good employee pay packages. For those reasons Panda is always a win in my book.
I def like Panda Express better mostly because Panda is one of those "you know its not as good as authentic local resturant but is cheap, reliable, convinent and pretty much everywhere" so you have a reason to go there even if you know other Chinese resturants that's better.
I honestly didn't find much reason to choose P.F. Chang over proper good Chinese restaurant.
But cheap is terrible. I would rather go to an authentic Chinese restaurant
@@matthewwelsh294 Cheap is not terrible. PE offers decent value. Nobody's forcing you to eat junk food like orange chicken and honey walnut shrimp. You can get healthier options if you want.
One of the weirdest thing about Panda Express is that they hardly serve any pork dishes.
Not kosher and we Jews appreciate that. Mazeltov!
Yes, I love that!
Even weirder is that they never serve any panda dishes.
@@MayTheSchwartzBeWithYouYou think that chicken is really cat?
It’s panda.
Pork is extremely common in traditional Chinese cooking but a lot less common in Americanized Chinese food
P.f. Chang's is a sit-down chain restaurant, panda Express is fast food. This is like comparing Wendy's to red lobster
Except Wendy's is better, lol.
Well... P.F. do offer delivery service by Uber Eats and/,or DoorDash, plus carry-out, at least in Puerto Rico.
Yeah……. He went over that in the video……
@ZykoMike yea I'm still kinda wondering why compare them
@ because everything else is the same besides the format….. keep up
Never been to PF Changs, but I have nothing but nice things to say about Panda Express. Tried it randomly one time in a strip mall, thinking it was going to be really subpar but to my surprise it was fast, cheap, and tasted at least as good as any local Chinese food place. That isn't to say it was the "best thing ever" but as far as fast Chinese food goes, it was really very good. Honestly, just watching this video makes me want to go there right now, but there are sadly none anywhere near me. I've only ever seen them when traveling other places. :(
Another interesting similarity between Panda Express and P.F. Chang's: Both sell their products in grocery stores. Panda Express sells bottles of its sauces, while P.F. Chang's sells frozen versions of some of its entrees like the aforementioned lettuce wraps, chicken lo mein, General Chang's chicken and even its white rice. I'd say it's been a good way for P.F. Chang's to get their name out there, especially since not every town is near a P.F. Chang's while Panda Express is becoming more ubiquitous. That frozen rice is about as much as I've ever had from P.F. Chang's, while I went to a Panda Express onceat my local mall in the late '90s and wasn't all that impressed.
I've been to both quite a bit. PF Chang's is more upscale to dine in(their lettuce wraps are DELICIOUS 😋). HOWEVER, each has quality food and their share of the market.
Love watching this right before I clock into work (at PF Chang’s)
Ha, I have a few hours until my shift at Panda Express.
@ same here
Same, I work at Chick-fil-A
What are your menu favorites as a member of staff? Do you get a decent discount or free meal per shift? What is the menu item every staff worker avoids
I do not live near a PF Chang, so it is a mystery to me menu wise
Morning PF Changer.
I live in Seattle, where you would think there would be lots of great Chinese food options….and there are a few if you’re looking for truly authentic. But if you’re looking for the Americanized stuff, Panda wins for me with value, taste, and food safety. I’ve tried about a dozen other places and I’ve decided to just go to Panda when I want that style. Instead of $17 for an entree, $2-3 charge for rice, $13-15 for fried rice, I can get the plate for sub $11 before taxes with 2 entrees and fried rice.
The footage of the tiger and panda laying next to each other was clever.🐯🐼
Bravo to your editor.👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
What would happen if you were to put a panda next to a tiger? Would they get along with each other or would they start fighting?
@@mrjinkorea : that's how white tigers and red pandas are made.
P.F. Chang’s slaps here in Mexico, and my American sweetheart agrees too. The menu is not only Asian-American but Mexican too, so I think they managed to bring the best of both worlds. Also, I won’t say they are the nicest restaurants here but they are definitely an experience with the decor and customer service. On the other hand, I’ve had Panda Express in the USA and whereas I like the flavors the meals are so sweet and caloric, so I prefer to go to a local Asian restaurant instead.
I have family that is in Panda (corporate) . The founders are very saavy (no surprise they’re very very smart, esp Peggy/wife), their expansion to now multi billion revenue is wild, with the founders still having a very direct hands on approach.
I have gripes with some of the ingredients used for Panda (certain oils) but overall, Panda Express is very excellent for what it is.
The business-logistics/back end is very cool and it is highly modernized (data driven) due to Peggy.
Their work culture seems very fun (if you’re into that stuff).
Unhealthy oils are the hidden toxin in most restaurant food. I used to work for In-N-Out corporate. I could order the burger without the bun and avoid the fries and drinks, but due to the sunflower oil they use for cooking, I could never truly consider it acceptably healthy.
my local chinese place has been around since 1981 and I love it there, just a small mom and pop shop founded by an immigrant from Hong Kong
I agree...I stick to locally owned spots.. much better value and keeping the dollars in the community...
@@DeeDee_Stands_On_Business my main local independent shop has great value. Their General Tso chicken lunch special is $12.50 (in NYC) you get a large portion of chicken, large portion of rice, and 1 pint of any of their soups on the side. The food is really good, but the old owner sold it to other immigrants a few years back, and the portions arent as massive. The original owner, Mrs. Chan, for lo mein, would use a potato masher to pack in as much as she could into that little container. New owners fill it well, but not quite as much. But still good food, good value, and you can ask them for American level spicy and China level spicey.
A Panda Express plate with white rice, honey walnut shrimp, and orange chicken is my favorite meal at any fast food chain.
Absolutely delicious.
I like them both. I think Panda Express is a somewhat better value but the difference is not prohibitive. Thanks Company Man. The video is appreciated.
I will say Panda Express new Blazing Bourbon Chicken is addictive.
Yep an it's in collaboration with the Hot One's show too.
I hope you liked that limited time offering. It's disappearing quickly.
Is this you Sean Evans?
It’s not there anymore. Went last night , it’s gone 😢
Just tried this one a few days ago and can confirm, it’s fkn delicious.
Picked up some Chinese food on the way home for lunch. I opened up UA-cam and this is the first thing that came up.
Most places don't have an upscale chinese restaurant which was an opening in the market for PF's but the food quality, while decent, is painfully expensive.
P.F. Chang’s is Applebee’s Grill & Bar, while Panda Express is Wendy’s. I’ve only had the pleasure of dining at P.F. Chang’s once, but I some times purchase their frozen entrees to cook at home. On the other hand, I’ve had countless meals at Panda Express, and among their dishes, the Kung Pao Chicken stands out as my favorite. In my opinion, Panda Express has the upper hand.
I’d love see a comparison between AutoZone, O’Reilly, and NAPA.
Only 1 has a GOAT commercial jingle.
00:57 “The size” 🥶
Perfect timing to look at the comments
@ lol
Let’s not forget Panda Inn. A sit down version of Express with far better food.
There are also Panda Express locations with sit-down.
At 1:23 ...This is because Panda is more of a fast food place than a restaurant...
You missed out on saying anything about PF Changs frozen dinners that are in every major grocery store and often sold out weekly.
lol sold out weekly? Then you have one or two crazy people buying and hoarding them all.
Ah yes, but Panda actually sells bottles of their orange sauce in supermarkets. Which lets you make a lighter calorie/carb version by not frying the chicken in batter, and you can add some vegetables to round it out a little,
They're not, where I live. Overpriced and doesn't even taste good
I had never heard of P.F. Chang's before I watched that episode of South Park, and I've been up and down the entire East Coast and most of the Southeast. I have seen 1 since I moved out West.
Panda Express is just everywhere; standalone, mall, airport, train station, and I saw one in a gas station when I was in Kansas.
PE is just beyond compare to PF Chang's.
Secret tip: get half-half fried rice and lo mein, and add sweet and sour sauce. Makes the chicken even better.
As a Chinese immigrant, I’ve actually never been to a P.F. Chang’s and only recall only 1 place I’ve seem them exist (that has since closed down) but I’ve been to a lot of Panda Express, and I can imagine P.F. Chang being only able to compete in a place where there isn’t a huge Chinese immigrant community (where there’s a lot of more authentic restaurants) because at that point, if you want Chinese-American food, you would just go to Panda Express, and if you want something that involves more effort, you would go to somewhere more authentic.
Exactly. My Chinese wife and I usually eat authentic Chinese food but occasionally eat Panda Express every now and then. But we only eat at P.F. Chang's when we have a gift card we need to use. 😂
As a Chinese, would you say Panda Express is somewhat close to resembling true Chinese cuisine? Or is it more of an American inspired version? I would like to visit China one day and I imagine the food here is no where near what real Chinese food is like in China
@@FastGuy1 It’s a limited set of dishes of Chinese (mainly Cantonese) origin modified for an American palette. It’s not a night and day difference; I think it would be more accurate to say that there’s just a lot more to Chinese cuisine than what you can find at Panda Express. In fact, Chinese consider there to be eight great types of Chinese cuisines, each from a different region of China.
There is great, relatively authentic Chinese food in America; it’s just not Panda Express. I’m in China right now (and have been here many times), and the food I eat here (recommended by local colleagues) is more diverse but ultimately not that different from what I’ve had back home in Southern California.
@@MayTheSchwartzBeWithYou oh okay. Yeah I’ve always imagined that Chinese food is more diverse than what’s sold here in America. Partly due to China’s huge size so I can imagine each region has its distinct cuisine. I’ve seen many Sichuan restaurants too
@@FastGuy1 I've been in Beijing this past week, and every day, my local colleagues have treated me to a different type of restaurant:
Sunday lunch: Cantonese (from Guangdong)
Monday lunch: Hotpot (forgot which region)
Tuesday lunch: California-style healthy food (lol)
Tuesday dinner: Hunan
Wednesday lunch: Cantonese
Wednesday dinner: Hangzhou (city in Zhejiang)
Thursday dinner: Chaoshan (a cultural-linguistic region in Guangdong)
Friday lunch: Sichuan
Friday dinner: Beijing (including Beijing roast duck)
Saturday lunch: McDonald's (I like trying McDonald's in different countries to see what unique things are on the menu; I had a chicken sandwich and chicken wrap, each with bamboo shoots, and they were pretty delicious)
Saturday dinner: Beijing (at Beihai Park)
It's been pretty awesome! I eat at "authentic" Chinese restaurants on a regular basis in SoCal, but I still encountered quite a few new dishes this past week.
I worked somewhere that made ingredients for Panda Express - they’re very thorough in their food safety program!
I've never been to either. We have many local places to choose from.
Good for you!
Panda Inn for the win!! They still have some locations here in CA and it’s amazing. Imagine Panda Express’ orange chicken made fresh every time rather than being cooked then waiting on a dish to be served, and that’s what Panda Inn is!!
Panda Inn in La Palma!
Panda Express, by far. If I want to spend PF Chang money, I will go to an actually nice local place. Panda Express is just yummy and cheap.
I'm actually not the biggest fan of their orange chicken. When I go to Panda Express it's ALWAYS fried rice, honey walnut shrimp, and my absolute favorite meat from them: teriyaki chicken!
This video made me think you should compare those major mall Chinese food court restaurant chains like Master Wok, Manchu Wok, China Master, Asian Chao, Mandarin Express, and Pei Wei Asian Diner. In my area, Pei Wei has renamed almost all of the dozens of Mandarin Expresses that were around. I had no idea they were started by P.F. Chang's!!!
Panda Express is in malls, it’s more popular because they’re fast food, while PF Changs is more of a gourmet restaurant! That’s like comparing McDonald’s to Red Robin!
The taste is about the same you just gotta pay more, wait more and tip 😅
But my local mall has a red robin lmao
Exactly.
Applebees and Burger King both sell burgers and fries... therefore they must be the same thing! D:
I almost wonder if the comparison of the two is some kind of soft-racism, it's baffling.
@planescaped i think comparing taco bell to on the border or chili's must be closet racist too idk
Even as a Chinese person living in Vancouver, I would love to have Panda Express in Canada. There are many great Chinese restaurants here, but it's hard to know which places and which items are good. It can also be unhealthy and get pretty expensive. On the other hand, Panda Express is consistent and cheap. If you get the non-fried items, you can get a decently healthy and tasty meal. I wouldn't go if I wanted good Chinese food, but if I just need to eat after a long workday, I would rather have Panda Express.
no franchise or restaurant food is ever really healthy. They are only better options than others but only food made at home from scratch is.
6:28 yeah, it should be remarked that they didn't simply "work hard and take risks." They also had a lot of people from the local community of other Chinese families investing money into their business. And that tends to be an often ignored part when it comes to the back story of these "self-made" billionaires: the part where they're not so self-made because other people invested copious amounts of money into their business idea. Now that's not the take away from the fact that they had a great product, and the ambition to pursue capitalizing off of it. But I would venture to believe that most people would be successful in this country if their ideas, talents, and creations were backed up by people willing to invest in them financially. And that just has not been the case for a lot of people, particularly those who come from marginalized and underprivileged backgrounds.
Only tried P.F. Chang's once for a family dinner, its good but I would rather go to the numerous authentic Chinese food restaurants for their price. They're always authentic feeling compared to how corporate celebrity stylized Chang's is. If I want the Taco Bell equivalent to Chinese food I'll go to Panda Express for cheap food. I don't see how P.F. Chang survives anywhere there is a simple Chinese family running a restaurant.
Also of course both franchises opened in the Southwest, Chinese have a strong connection to that area in American history.
It’s such a random comparison. Yeah, they’re both Americanized Chinese food, but the similarities pretty much end there.
Nobody really says “Hmm, Panda Express or P.F. Chang’s for dinner?”
It's what I thought. This is like having a video comparing McDonald's to Ruby Tuesday or something.
Agreed. It's like comparing egg drop to hot and sour soup.
I concur. It's like comparing P Diddy and Keanu Reeves
Maybe people meant Panda Inn
Should have compared Panda Express to Pei Wei.
Love the video as always but I despise these chains. Give me a family owned place any day. At least a good one😂😂😂
Khoo Kitchen Chinese Malaysia fusion... primo
Yeah I honestly watched the video to learn more because my local family owned chinese joint here in town has been my mainstay since childhood.
Especially when it comes to people from Asian cultures, that mom and pop shop I guarantee you is treating their employees like shit. I worked in a few while I was in college, was paid cash (less than min wage; which is normal for those types of restaurants, at least in my area). I remember clocking in and the boss using my sub min wage pay to be her personal mover instead so she wouldn't have to pay a moving company what they're worth. Then when we made it to to her neighborhood. 6 huge 2 story homes in a gated community... she was trading houses with her brother because they got bored w/ the house each was living in but makes sense how her family would be rich enough to have it like that when they're paying everyone in their restaurants below min wage. Oh yeah, if we close at 10, we stopped getting paid at 10, doesn't matter how long the cleanup took, so that pay stops at 10 on the dot (Cleanup was commonly about 30ish mins unless we are busy and ppl don't leave right at 10; we can't even start the cleanup FOH until the last customer is out the door.
After a couple of those types of jobs, lol l stopped supporting the mom and pop shops; they don't treat their people any worse than a corporate/chain restaurant (oh and the restaurant in question; her husband just bought her a restaurant because she was bored at home, THose people were loaded
@LilT2o00 I know that can be true but not in the case of the place I mentioned. I have heard similar stories like what you said from other people. One w a s fed up so she started her own place.
The fact that Panda Express has its original owners and has grown to where it is today speaks to how well it’s run. Undefeated Chinese-American food
Ok as someone that travels the country for work and eats food all over. I will always choose a small hole in the wall take out Chinese restaurant over Panda Express. In fact that's what I did last night in Nashville. Tends to have better flavors then the generic taste of Panda Express. Now my wife doesn't like to brave the small no name strip mall Chinese restaurants and will always go to Panda as you can count on it to be consistent. As for P.F. Chang I feel it is over priced but the quality of the food is far better. You know you are gonna get a upper scale meal that is fresh and taste good...though pricey. So to sum up I would rather pay more and get P.F. Changs if I had to choose between the two, but will always choose local small Chinese restaurant over Panda Express 100 out of 100 times.
I agree. Panda Express is just nasty fast food. The food isn’t cheap either. Everything is loaded with too much pepper and where are the soups? The only reason I could see going to Panda Express is when there are no little Chinese takeout joints around or they are terrible (you see this sometimes in the south).
I don't think it's as simple as that, as where I am hole in the wall places aren't very good, and seem to source all their stuff from the same restaurant supply companies. It's like opening a restaurant serving Hello Fresh and Factor mealkits, lol.
I think it all depends on where you're at.
RIP English.
I don't think I've ever eaten at either one, but I would like to try both!
PF Changs is MASSIVELY overpriced.
recently moved and while out, we walked by a P.F Chang's and decided to go because we usually would stop by panda expresses, or local asian spots if i was picking up dinner, it was relatively empty because it had just opened up roughly an hour before we walked in, as someone who knew it was a restaurant, most of my interaction with anything PF chang related, was the grocery store freezer section (was a little surprised that was never mentioned), we loved the look and the service was nice, but the pricing and atmosphere was more of a pseudo luxury feeling, it definitely felt like a dinner place, like a nice dinner date or a special family dinner, instead of the casual lunch stop like we did, we plan on going back again, but probably not in our shorts and mixed matched socks like we had
LMFAO I started cracking up right when you mentioned Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley going to PF Chang’s. I can only imagine that conversation was very interesting and very hilarious. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I like P F Changs better than Panda Express. Panda Express is okay in a pinch but it's not my go to Asian food. It tends to be bland, overcooked, or have a stale taste. I have started making my own and it tastes great.
I'm shocked that every commenter so far does not have a Chinese Buffet, or for some reason do not go to them.
BTW, some are better than others, but the dishes will be vastly more like PFC than PE. And the quantity will be in certainty higher than both. Many under $10 at lunch. Why are we still talking?
the ones that go seem to be the ones that have no good local places around.
Chinese buffet is a great way to spend 3x more and get worse food .
@@jameswendellmiller Do you mind telling me what state, and better yet city that this applies to? In every city I've lived in you get 20 times the value. Maybe 10. Care to back up that provocative claim?
@@jameswendellmiller Might you be so bold as to provide examples with details? If your claim has merit, I'll appreciate that. Everyone will. But your silence WRT specifics suggests lameness instead. Well?
As an Australian, we have mostly authentic Chinese here. I've never seen or tried 'Orange chicken'. Australian Chinese restaurants (which have mostly gone) sell Lemon Chicken though. I assume it's similar. Would like to try it though.
Grew up down under, then worked my way round the world. My mum would actually run the kitchen at the Mandarin Club in Sydney back in the 70's (when the regulars were on vacation or out sick). I can tell you Aussie Chinese food is not exactly authentic either, but definitely closer than is available in the US.
Neither is any regional cuisine at restaurants, anywhere in the world. If you want authentic Chinese food, you need to find a small hole in the wall type restaurant in an out of the way location where the majority of customers are clearly local first-gen Chinese immigrants. Same for Indian etc. Or go to their home province and find some street food dealers - but not anywhere they cater to tourists.
Many signature Chinese dishes in Oz (such as beef and black bean) will draw blank stares from the staff at Chinese restaurants in other countries (and, yes, I've also worked in Asia).
All ethnic cuisines are adapted to the tastes of the local market and population to some extent.
As for Lemon Chicken - had that in a couple of countries and they are all different beyond containing chicken and having a lemon-flavored sauce.
@@stainlesssteellemming3885 Things have moved on since the 70's. That kind of Chinese food only exists in tiny country towns served to boomers. What is served now, particularly in the cities, it pretty authentic now.
Huh!? These are not in the same market. Panda is fast food. PF Changs is a sit-down restaurant.
NYC has PF Changs express options that mimic Panda Express. I'm not sure if he mentions it in the video.
1:53
I went to a PF Changs recently for the first time out of burning curiosity.
I remember people saying how high-end and delicious it was for years, but now it was like expensive, less flavorful Panda Express.
The latter was true.
P.F. Chang’s is far superior - hands down. Nothing like fresh chicken lettuce wraps vs orange chicken that’s been sitting out for hours.
PE Orange Chicken sells out long before it can sit out for hours.
The closest PF Chang's is about an hour away from where I live, so I've never eaten there before. Thankfully there is a Panda Express down the road and I love their orange chicken with fried rice. It's one of my favorite fast food meals. It's clear (at least in my area) that it's very popular, since the drive-thru line is always wrapping around the building.
Panda Express has just been so consistent all my life. The day I got my license I drove my friends off campus to go to Panda Express. Those were the days.
I had no idea that PF Changs was even a restaurant chain. I thought it was a frozen food brand. I’ve never seen an advert let alone a restaurant
Thanks for posting this video.
I absolutely adore P. F. Chang's lettuce wraps, but the nearest location is about 30 minutes away. The nearest Panda Express is about 10 minutes away, but I've never had their orange chicken. So, I prefer Panda Express (lower cost and more convenient), and I'll definitely give their orange chicken a try on my next visit.
Thanks, huh?
Must be a center point in your life for it to warrant a "thanks" 🙄
When my grandma from Hong Kong was still able to visit the US, she very much prefers Panda Express than any other Chinese restaurants in the US and certain chains back in Hong Kong as well. We've never taken her to PF Chang's so can't do a comparison there.
PF Changs is the type of restaurant you visit and your eyes bulge out from the price
As a person who was born and raised in Southern California i only lived like 15-20 minutes away from the original Panda Inn in Pasadena. Its still open for people to eat there and they serve fresh authentic Chinese food but sadly theres only like four restaurants opened in Southern California with the other three located in Glendale, La Palma, and Ontario
He's never going talk about Meijer the first Superstore in the us back in 1962.
A&P was the first mega grocery store chain.
@gedaman Did they sell clothes, toys, electronics, sporting goods tho!
@@METALMAN4Wii My fault. I thought you said grocery store. A&P was the first major grocery store which went out of business in 2015. I’ve never been to a Meijer.
@gedaman Yeah A&P owned Farmer Jacks here in Michigan but they had a promotion in 2004/2005 find an expired item get the good one free people were filling their carts full of them and them texting their family members to go do the same.
@@METALMAN4Wii I think that was A&P’s downfall. They were buying up other grocery chains like Super Fresh, Pathmark, Waldbaums. Also their prices were too high without offering anything special like a Whole Foods Market.
Saw the video, saved it. Immediately went to get Orange Chicken from Panda Express to watch said video. Completely satisfied!😌
I would eat at, literally any other Chinese restaurant before either of these two places.
I'd love to see a video comparing Wyndham vs Hilton vs Marriott
P.F. Changs all the way. I grew up knowing that was my household's fav Chinese food place.
I'm liking your comment just for the aro flag
@@Savanna-e9mThank you very much
Panda discontinued their eggplant/ tofu plate. It was really good and it was one of the few vegan dishes they offered. I was sad when I went thru a drive thru and was told that that item was taken off the menu.. Bring it back Panda. Plz.
It might be a location thing because I just had it yesterday from panda. I hope you can find a place where you can get some!
@@KpopIsMyLifeGirlOMG Ur a liar!!! lol...u had it yesterday? Lol....
@vu4uboo582 yes, lol I bought Panda Express before my shift and ate it after finishing my night shift at PF Chang's.
@@KpopIsMyLifeGirl yeah and I finished my shift at Panda and then had the eggplant/tofu dish at PF Changs afterwards...lol lol lol
@vu4uboo582 Chang's doesn't have a eggplant tofu combination dish. Though we use to have a fried eggplant dish up until around 3 months ago, before corporate removed it with the new roll out. But lucky for you if you like tofu, we do have a new Mongolian Tofu dish.
Panda Express Vs Pei Wei is a more fair comparison.
Wait, let me watch the full video first.
The bulk of my PF Chang's experience is with Pei Wei. The food is of better overall quality than Panda and the experience is more consistent (sometimes Panda is a bit off). It's also more expensive than Panda, so there's that.
Honestly though, it's a bit of a toss up between the two as to which is better. I thought Panda's orange chicken was waaaaay better than Pei Wei's version. If I want to dine in I'd prefer Pei Wei but for take out I'd lean towards Panda.
I applied for a bartending position at a P.F. Changs about 11 years ago. The GM was such a colossal asshole I got up and left halfway through the interview.
You (likely unwittingly) reminded me why I like P.F. Changs: their hiring ensures that I'm only served by quality people...
Am I the only one who would rather hit up a mom-and-pop Asian buffet that some american-bastardized version of their cuisine? I mean, to be fair, I know even the local chinese buffet ran by chinese-americans isn't exactly AUTHENTIC, but it's far closer to the real thing.
Heck, when I was in college, I took Chinese for my language (Japanese wasn't an option). I managed to convince our professor that our final exam should be a real-world practicum. We went to a nearby chinese buffet and our grade was based solely upon our ability to order and converse with the staff in Chinese. Greatest final exam of my life. Tastiest too lmfao
I agree. I have great local places in my area, I never need to set foot in any of these franchises.
Glad you talked about Pei Wei. During the first part of the video, I was like, WTF😅?
Pei Wei was one of my favs until Chang’s sold it. Now I go to Panda. The consistency there is very nice and their limited-time food and drinks have been really good. The current Blazing Bourbon Chicken is one my the best things to come out of a fast casual restaurant in years and I’m going to be disappointed when it’s gone.
Shoutout to all the homeless cats working the grills at Chang's over on TFATK.
They tasted very good
Was looking for this comment. Water we dune hair B?
@@Ace2021 It drives me NUTS when TFATK doesn't get mentioned in a Chang's video.
@@OfficialRickHarrison Whoa, B. We don't EAT the cats. We ARE the cats. Water weed dune hair?
PF is more fancy dine in while panda is faster food
Idk if it's me or a lot of local Chinese restaurants near me I've been to had left me with mixed feelings and Panda Express is the only safest place to go that's good enough.
Yes. That's how we started going to Panda Express the last two years. We had one local shop we went to religiously for a decade but the owners sold and the food was different.
You should talk about how Chinese family associations, and community associations from China helped build the infrastructure of Chinese restaurants around the world. Also, it helps to see the similarities between restaurants across the US.
The most important been price is vastly different in both. In Panda you can get a full order for around 12 (rice, 2 meats or side) while in PF Chang just the meat alone is like 20 dollar and does include rice, but only white rice. If you want the fried rice is additional cost at like 12 dollars...so yeah way more expensive to go to PF Chang with the taste been similar to other chinesse restaurant in general.
I haven't tried Chang's but Panda Express is really good value. The bigger plate has 3 entrees and a side for $11.30, and you earn enough reward points to get a free entree after spending 25. Sure you can get more food for that price at Taco Bell or Domino's but none of the other places give you big scoops of chicken chunks or beef strips for that price.
You always sound super sarcastic when you say you want to hear what we have to say lol.
Certainly not my intention. What makes it sound it like that?
@ just the inflection of your voice. I know you’re not being sarcastic and it doesn’t make me enjoy your videos any less, it just sounds that way to me. Considering it doesn’t seem like anybody else feels this way it’s probably just a me thing.
I sure hope so. Sorry you get that impression from it.
I love going to P.F. Chang’s. The spicy chicken and sweet and sour chicken have never failed me. Never tried Panda Express and don’t care to
Florida boy here. Never heard of PF Chang until I watched that one South Park episode years ago
I have also seen P.F. Chang's open up "To Go" restaurants around the NYC area. Basically offering their whole menu but only as a take out option. P.F. Chang's also has frozen foods you can purchase and make at home. I don't think Panda Express ventured to the frozen food market.
My college town is 40 minutes from where I went to work after graduation. They have a panda express back there. I miss it. Whenever I take the drive.. I'm tempted to grab some
The fact that Panda Express does delivery also helps boost it up as you don't have to go drive to the restaurant and sit around to get some food.
Both are dining options that were previously available in my local mall (although not at the same time). Panda Express definitely fit the setting better, which is probably who they had a much longer run and I ate there far more often.
I looooove Pei Wei, had no idea PF Changs created them
I actually went to P.F Changs in Mexico City today, had the lettuce wraps and the Mongolian beef. I like P.F haven't tried Panda yet but I'll look to try it in the next week or so.
I remember PF Changs in the late 2000s and early 2010s seeming more “high end” with bigger food portions. They would also do table side sauce mixing for you. And maybe an odd thing to notice but the bathrooms were always clean and had thick, soft, folded paper towels. Fast forward to last year when I went. Overpriced, a lot dingier, the portions were smaller, and no sauce mixing. The bathrooms also used generic paper towel rolls from automatic dispensing machines. Whenever PE firms buy a company, the service and quality tend to get gutted.
Chinese here. Actually go to grap a bigger plate at Panda Express at least once a weak. Just think about it, 12 bucks will only brings you a small burger, French fries and a coke but in panda express that will be a one stable food and three dishes plate. When I am burning both side of candles I'd always want some fast food like Panda Express to eat