China Buffet

Prior to today I would have said 4 stars, maybe 5 depending on who was dishing the food. Sometimes the very friendly young lady is there, sometimes you get a quieter, older lady, but today I got a bossy lady. I asked for string bean chicken. There was a place for it on the line, with its name above the empty spot. I know from past experience that they will make it and tell me 5, 7 or 10 minutes. The nice, efficient lady called it out to the chef and told me 5 minutes. I was delighted! Then the other lady said "No string bean." The first lady looked surprised. I was sad. This is my favorite lunch. I go to the main food court just for this, sometimes more than once a week. (The other Panda took it off their menu. Also, the other Panda has less staff with a long line.) Even some of your other non-spicy foods have small red peppers in them, which makes it impossible to remove them. I settled on teriyaki chicken which was seared too much on one side making it very dry. I understand if the chef is too busy, but today he was not even cooking when I got in line! PS. When a customer says a menu item is too spicy, don't tell them it's not spicy. They have probably tried it and have their own opinion. The cashier was super nice, as always. I went at 12:15 on a Sunday. The line was shorter than usual for a weekend day.

Purchased 2 meals, spent $20. FYI the standard plate is smaller here, less food than average Panda typically serves. Asked for 2 small cups of fountain waters - they dont do that. Denied a glass of water with 2 meals as paying customer. Disgraceful. We are a family of 7 and staying in a budget. This place turns America into 3rd world country.

The Mall of America Panda Express uses different plates so you don't get as much food as at a normal panda. It's kinda annoying when you pay more but get less than you would at the Panda down the street by Target. But I guess that's how it goes at the mall. The food is good and employees seem decent. Can't complain about that, but I'm docking a star for the plates they use to screw you out of an ounce or so of food. C'mon, don't be so cheap.

Dried up burnt food at 12:45pm. To top it off, they have a printed label on the fountain machine stating that water is not available. When I asked they said it is broken. That label has obviously been there a while and I know Pepsi is glad to fix their soda fountains for free. They just want to sell you a $2 bottle of water.