Chef Andy Kao of the Panda Express restaurant in Hawaii claims to have created the original Chinese-American orange chicken recipe in 1987. Since then, the chain’s presence across the U.S. In 1985, a second branch opened in the Westside Pavilion. It was in October of 1983 that the Cherngs established Panda Express, a fast food variant of Panda Inn, at the Glendale Galleria after being invited by Donahue Schriber Real Estate, the mall’s manager. While running Panda Inn, Andrew met Terry Donahue, then the head football coach at UCLA, and his brother Dan Donahue, who worked in real estate. Peggy began working with Andrew in the restaurant industry in 1982. Andrew had to entice patrons to dine at Panda Inn with discounts and gifts because business initially needed to be faster. In 1973, Andrew and his father opened the first Panda Inn restaurant in Pasadena, California, venturing into business together for the first time in the United States. Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, is where Andrew and Peggy Cherng met and graduated. What do you need 100 restaurants for?" she said, before continuing, "He was a good child who usually did listen, but in that instance he didn't." Thank goodness he followed his dreams so all of us can enjoy orange chicken and broccoli beef all over the world.Panda Inn, Panda Express, and Hibachi-San are all franchises of the same firm, which was started by the Cherng family-Andrew, Peggy, and Andrew’s father, Master Chef Ming Tsai Cherng.Peggy Cherng was born in Burma and reared in Hong Kong, while Andrew Cherng and his father are both native Chinese. Los Angeles Magazine says that Andrew once told his mother that "he planned to someday open 99 more restaurants." His mother said she remembered being flabbergasted. With new restaurants opening worldwide, it's safe to say that the Cherngs have come a long way since Andrew Cherng opened his first restaurant. That's a whole lot of orange chicken! And it's not just shopping malls where you can find Panda Express - they are also located as stand-alone restaurants, in airports, at universities, theme parks, casinos, and military bases. The most profitable Panda Express is located at the Ala Moana Center food court in Honolulu, Hawaii and it brings in about $4 million a year, more than any other Panda Express restaurant. Nonetheless, the company has been transparent about this so that diners can make up their own mind based on their dietary preferences and any allergies they may have. Some vegetarians discussing the cross-contamination issue on Reddit have a problem with the idea of their food being cooked in the same pans that have prepared meat, while others don't. When it continued to give us excuses, we sent out an alert, and our supporters wrote the company over 234,000 times demanding change," PETA explains.īut one issue that strict vegans may have with these new dishes is that although they don't contain meat or animal by-products, Panda Express notes that they are still prepared in the same kitchen as the meat items, using the same space and cooking equipment. "When Panda Express told PETA that its vegetable-based dishes were still prepared with meat-based flavoring, we urged the company to get with the times and offer vegan options in its 2,000 stores across the globe. It's a story of taking the recipes and the repertoire of their own culinary skill set and making it appeal to an national palate." They did, and came up with authentic American Chinese.Īccording to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), this change was thanks to their supporters. You rarely see people ask if Pizza Hut is authentic Italian food, or if Chipotle is authentic Mexican food, because it's pretty common knowledge that both of these fast casual restaurants are "Mexican-inspired" or "Italian-inspired." Andrea Cherng told Business Insider that Panda Express is "a story of immigrant Chinese chefs and families coming to the US, for what they hope will be a better life. As American palates evolve, we will continue to take inspiration from the local flavor profiles of both Chinese provinces and American regions." Our ever-evolving style of food was born from adapting traditional Chinese recipes, flavors and cooking techniques to American ingredients and tastes. Culinary director Jimmy Wang told Restaurant Drive, "American Chinese cuisine is very authentic to Panda Express.
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